Unintentional fasting?

[alexgator]

I'm sure this subject has been beaten to death, but I'm just stunned by how I'm feeling eating Paleo. Stunned speechless (so it's a good thing I have my keyboard).

I can't get my head around the idea of Intermittent Fasting. "Starvation mode" is the last bit of "conventional wisdom" that I can't seem to let go of. But here's the thing. I wake up in the morning and I'm just not hungry. Not because I'm too lazy to cook or even move. I'm up, doing things, having energy, and just not hungry. I get hungry around noon or so and I eat. Then I can go anywhere from four to eight hours without eating anything. Not even a piece of fruit. And I feel fine. I feel great.

Based on the way I feel, I'm inclined to think it's a-okay. But there's still that nagging voice in the back of my head...

I've always eaten like this, really. But previously, I'd go hours without eating and then binge. (I don't do that anymore. I have a normal meal after my short fast.) I was always told that it's not good. I mean, I was on the revolutionary bandwagon of "6-8 meals a day is better than 3." I thought that was the unconventional wisdom. Ugh.

I'm just so torn. Is my body go to snap into some kind of weird starvation mode and hoard calories as fat? Or is this really as good as it seems?

[demonslayer]

Everyone's body is different, but as far as I know, skipping breakfast will NOT put your body in starvation mode. In order for your body to enter starvation mode, you have to severely restrict calories for days at a time, so you're probably going to be fine. But like I said, everyone's body is different, but in general the threat of starvation mode is seriously over-exaggerated.

[Loren Wade]

I have fasted 16 hours a day all week (8 hour feeding window). Down 5.2 pounds. And I fast one full day a week. It works well. I love it.

[alexgator]

@demonslayer: I thought so. It does seem like one of those huge nutritional scares all over again (fat-phobia, carb-phobia, etc).

@Loren: Great! I'm glad to hear some personal experience. Congrats on the weight loss by the way, that's amazing!

[Loren Wade]

Yep! Just trying to give you some real world experience. I don't know the science, but I do know I've been doing it and losing weight. That's anecdotal evidence, but it's all I got.

[gugi9000]

And I fast one full day a week. It works well. I love it.

Wow.

[spezzy]

It keeps your body guessing. It's safe. You won't go into starvation mode unless you stay super low for more than a day.

It's just like doing high cal/low cal days.

If you take in exactly 2000 calories at exactly the same time every day your body will get used to that and expect it and know how to react.

If you keep it guessing, it's more likely to burn fat.

[SuperVitali]

I've done intermittent fasting for the past year (basically fast until dinner time, around 630 or so). More times than not, I only eat one meal a day (dinner).

For a good reference on IF, check out www.leangains.com. Specifically this article: http://www.leangains.com/2010/10/top-ten-fasting-myths-debunked.html

A good resource of info backed by actual studies. Specifically addresses your starvation mode question too. To sum it up, you'd need to be severely calorie restricted for 72+ hours to go into a "starvation mode."

[WizardTrip]

You pretty much described me. I have never been big on breakfast because I too don't get hungry until closer to 11-12:00. I eat at that time, and then not again for 6-8 hours. I don't snack at all, and I've been doing this for years. I just go with the idea of eating when I'm hungry, and stopping when I'm full. Again, like you, many years ago, I would binge eat at those meals. As I've posted before on other threads, sadly my high calorie intake for the week, for a number of years, came from alcohol (happy hours, couple+ beers at dinner, meeting friends out for drinks, hitting it big on the weekends, etc). Cutting that back severely was a huge item that is getting me dropping the pounds. I also eat healthier meals, but still just 2 a day ~8 hours apart.