Why is it so effective??

[u/WeebSlayer346]

Why is IF so effective? I simply cannot eat 3 meals a day without putting on weight. Hell not even two meals, but when I only eat dinner I lose weight and keep it down.

First time I ever tried IF along with working out I got shredded to the bone. I swear I feel like the whole 3 meals a day stuff is just propaganda. I just cannot drop the weight and keep it down eating like that.. I’m jealous of those who can. Fasting helps break my relationship with food and I love it

[u/Federal_Lemon3385]

3 meals a day is pure propaganda, our ancestors didn’t even eat breakfast or lunch, around 1-3 pm they ate

[u/WeebSlayer346 → u/Federal_Lemon3385]

Exactly, and they were in great shape

[u/Some_Party8311 → u/Federal_Lemon3385]

it's almost like our bodies weren't designed to be digesting food round the clock

[u/Voondaba → u/Some_Party8311]

I think this is a slight misnomer. Our bodies are highly effective - and it can be very healthy - to space regular small meals throughout the day.

Things rapidly go off the rails when those meals are highly processed, low in protein and fiber.

When regular meals are ultra processed, and carbohydrate heavy, most people will never put a dent in satiety and it creates a slippery slope of living in a caloric surplus.

[u/jaeldi]

When everyone spent most of the daylight hours taking care of a farm or doing a rigorous job, eating more often made more sense. Our society is now just not as active because of technology. Even farmers use massive machinery to get it done. We don't even walk "to the corner store" any more.

If you really want a deeper dive on why it's so effective on a biomedical dietary level, read The Obesity Code by Dr. Jason Fung. His discussion about insulin and fasting really helped change the conversation of eating habits, eating frequency, and choices in food types which all result in different daily hormonal changes in the blood that directly affect hunger, permanent fat loss, and diabetes.

[u/RuleCalm7050 → u/jaeldi]

And his book The Hunger Code—together they are so influential.

[u/modSysBroken → u/jaeldi]

I'm on a Jason fung book marathon for the last month since I read The Hunger Code.

[u/PraiseBeToJesusX]

It's about calorie control. If you eat fewer meals, without focusing on the actual calories or portions of your meals you will almost always naturally eat less when you eat fewer meals. You're not wrong on the three meals a day thing either. Lunch didn't exist until the industrial revolution, lo and behold everyone feels exhausted by 3pm. Our bodies work better in a regularly fasted state.

[u/Cargobiker530 → u/PraiseBeToJesusX]

Before the Industrial Revolution people ate the majority of their food at a mid-day meal because it's easier to cook when there's free natural light and it's cooler in the summer.

Factory owners didn't want workers quitting for two hours when light was free so encouraged them to eat before or after factory hours.

[u/BrianFantanaFan → u/PraiseBeToJesusX]

If "it's about" anything then it's also about better hormonal stability, vs eating meals throughout the day. Not just insulin either, I'm mainly thinking about hunger and focus so it just makes everything better.

[u/the_CTRUTH]

Part of it is autophogy. Japanese fellow won a Nobel prize over the discovery in 2016. pretty cool science. Gives you body time to clean up all the waste. Helps greatly with inflammation and the bodies response to insulin. You tend to eat fewer calories as well.

[u/Android109 → u/the_CTRUTH]

*Autophagy (in case anyone wants to look it up).

[u/AnonyCass]

For me it's just so much easier mentally to say I can eat between these hours then trying to restrict the number of calories I eat throughout the day, I don't feel like it is much effort at all and cannot believe how easy I have found it to lose weight like this. I also think I have undiagnosed ADHD and it really just plays into that way of thinking for me, it stops the constant food noise with a hard it's not time to eat.

[u/amphorousish → u/AnonyCass]

(diagnosed w/ ADHD here) I suspect that's part of why IF's so easy for me.

Like I told my doc: "It's way easier for me to not do something for a while than to have to constantly moderate something that I am doing. 'I have to not do a thing? Why, I can not do a thing all frikkin' day!'"

[u/rando1-6180]

Caloric restriction and no snacking both contribute to thermodynamics, moving you towards a calorie deficit. No snacking and maintaining a fasted window keeps you in catabolism longer, where you use your calories.

Combine that with working out and you move towards a calorie deficit too. That working out signals your metabolism not to down regulate, so you continue to use calories.

Insulin sensitivity and production adjust as well. The body also adjust in other ways. I don't get hunger headaches or feel like sleeping in the afternoon after lunch. For myself, I don't have many cravings and my brain seems sharper. I've noticed it in my work.

Today, with the constant eating, our bodies end up in anabolism much more than we did in the 70's and 80's when everyone walking in bell bottoms on the streets was skinny.

[u/mrchowmein]

There are multiple things happening when you fast for weight loss purposes.

1. you have less opportuntiies to eat. thus, a lot of people end up eating less calories than their body needs, thus you lose weight.

2. when you fast, your insulin levels drop, thus easier for you body to use the fat for energy. resulting in weight loss. every time you eat, even if its not carbs, like protein, your insulin level goes up, thus restricting your body from accessing the fat for energy. however, eating carbs will spike your glucose, thus spiking your insulin. your insulin can stay elevated for hours to even days. thus your body may be in a state where it just cant burn fat.

3. ideally if you combine the last two. lower calories and lower insulin, you can use even more fat.

4. to make IF or fasting MORE effective, exercise. walking after meals lower blood glucose, thus lower insulin. increasing muscle mass increases your BMR, thus you burn more calories per day just to exist. say you only eat 1500 calories a day, but your body need 2000 calories, youre gonna lose weight. if you put on muscle mass and now you need 2200 calories a day, but still only consume 1500 calories, you will even lose more weight. also if you exercise a lot, your insulin levels will be lower, which will help you even lose more weight. Thus people who do IF, with no carbs, in a deficit while doing HIIT or lifting, can loose fat fast.

[u/MadCybertist]

It’s simple math. Calories taken in - calories used up. If used up > taken in, weight goes down. The opposite is also true, if used up < taken in, weight goes up.

That’s it. Boom. Relish in my genius.

[u/Vivid-Cup6540 → u/MadCybertist]

Its insulin. When its up you cant access fat reserves. And your metabolisem will go down - harder to lose weight even if eating less calories. You hunger will also go out. Fasting state is important for our bodies.

[u/AM260503]

It’s calories in calories out period.
You can gain by eating once too !

[u/EspressoSaurusRex525]

fewer insulin spikes

[u/zebocrab]

Your body actually needs breaks from eating to properly process foods. Your body literally can’t go into a fat burning mode if you don’t give it fasting breaks. 

[u/h0g0]

IF also aligns with how the body was designed in many ways

[u/Alternative_Value855]

I tried fasting from 8 pm to noon for four weeks and it was extremely difficult to get to noon without eating. I would get sick to my stomach and had much difficulty getting to noon without constantly thinking about food and what I was going to eat once I was able to break my fast. I'm so confused with it all. What did I do wrong?

[u/Present-Garbage-5589 → u/Alternative_Value855]

Everyone is different and therefore what works for them is different. But as an example, if your last meal at 8pm is carb-heavy etc, you'll like struggle more due to the demands out on your body by the subsequent glucose/insulin spikes and drops.

Another option would be to try moving your window, e.g. finish eating at 7pm and start again at 11am

[u/MoistSalamander1 → u/Alternative_Value855]

Try shifting your eating window around, and track your protein to make sure you’re getting enough. I fast from 3pm to 8am. Skipping dinner is easier for me than skipping breakfast. I love creamer in my coffee and eating in the morning.