Fasting for health not weight loss – larger evening meal if 1st meal of the day?

This topic contains 4 replies, has 5 voices, and was last updated by bigbooty 6 years, 9 months ago.

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jdsm

8:34 am
16 Feb 17
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Im interested in fasting for heath reasons not to lose weight. Ive just read the fast diet book and as I understand the health benefit comes from the time that you are without food and your body goes into ‘repair mode’.

For instance say that I eat normally on monday and fast on tuesday, skipping breakfast and not eating until the evening. Does it then matter if my evening meal is limited to 600 calories? Presumably I’ve already had the benefit of fasting.

Amazon

4:53 pm
18 Feb 17
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The calorie limit is purely for weight loss and if you are fasting for the perceived health benefits calorie restriction is irrelevant.

spinny

8:08 am
18 May 17
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I agree. By the time that evening meal comes, you’ve certainly done what’s necessary for the body to repair and rejuvenate to get the general health benefits, and if you aren’t looking to reduce your weight, you may as well sit back and enjoy that evening meal without worry.

Crofty

8:08 am
27 Jul 17
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I have been doing 5:2 for a few years and more recently 6:1. I am the lightest I have ever been in my life and for the past 4 months I have been using a personal trainer to help me gain strength and lean muscle. He has slowly increased my calorie intake which has not affected my weight as I am clearly burning off more calories. He has recommended that I stop fasting as it is not necessary. I am concerned that I am missing out on the other health benefits associated with fasting.
Am I correct in thinking that if I fast one day for 16 hours so stop eating around 8pm and then resume at midday the next day, I will still get all the benefits of fasting, and I would not need to restrict my calorie intake for the rest of that day.Any advice appreciated. TIA

bigbooty

8:19 am
27 Jul 17
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@crofty. Unlikely that your regime is giving you any true fasting benefits unless you already practice a ketogenic diet. Sorry to burst your bubble. Id be looking up Valter Longo on youtube. You can easily measure your ketone body levels with meters that are cheaply available. I use a Optium Neo. It can measure blood glucose and ketone bodies. Perhaps if you are very lean you might be able to get into ketosis by 16 hours. Takes me about 24 hours of water fasting to get there. Measure it and then you’ll know. Anything greater than about 0.5mmol/L of ketones means you are into ketosis.

I reached my goal weight in March 2016 but still water fast every Monday. You can fast, do exercise and maintain weight and get the other benefits like increase endocrine system performance. Increased white blood cell count. Ability to utilise glucose and ketones as a fuel source. Good luck with it.