I’m going to try out intermittent fasting for a few weeks, after hearing about it for several years from fit-minded friends. It’s tough to find a link on it that doesn’t have some sort of newsletter popup or sell an ebook, but Tim had a good guest post on it in 2008 which ends on a skeptical note, and this beginner’s guide to intermittent fasting by James Clear is awesome for its graphics and straightforward way of introducing the concept and ways to approach it. I’m going to aim for a late lunch and a normal-timed dinner, since like James dinner is often my most social meal.

Update: I also forgot that I wrote about this with a few more links and some good comments in January.

17 thoughts on “Intermittent Fasting

  1. There is now a growing body of science supporting behaviour like this. Following the understanding of Antifragility developed by Nassim Taleb, we are now discovering that a lot of our health relies on stressors combined with a healthy period of recovery afterwards.

    I look forward to hearing about your experiences.

  2. That’s cool my brother, those of us who are web developers do spend an awful lot of time creating on our butts. I found the master cleanse (live on home made lemon aid sweetened with Grade B maple syrup from Trader Joes (best price/quality is there) and a bit of Cayenne pepper to taste. If you do it for 2 or 3 days you’ll experience energy and clarity and rapid trimming to boot. Good luck, Matt!

  3. Have quite a bit of experience with this… if done right it can be incredible for simplistic transformations and mental function. Let me know if you want any help getting started with it and possibly some information on scenarios you might run into.

  4. +1 to intermittent fasting. I followed an intermittent fasting plan last summer without even knowing it. Ate breakfast and lunch, but skipped dinner. Combined with constant cycling (recreational + commuting) I shed a lot of weight in a couple of months and felt great.

  5. Anecdotes ahead: I follow the 16/8 feeding cycle as well. It took me about 3 days to get over not eating breakfast, but I was never a big breakfast eater to begin with. I also do 24 hour water fasts once a week, and a 72 hour water fast once a month. I feel great after doing the 72 hours. Food tastes better. Artificial flavors taste artificial (i.e. diet soda). It usually takes me 2 or 3 days to get reaquainted with the artificial flavor (I am a diet soda fiend. I’m trying to break the habit).

    Have fun with it!

  6. I got into intermittent fasting (IF) in mid-2012. My personal journey on it in conjunction with a high fat/low carb diet meant in 8 months I lost 15 kgs in weight. I did mention on my blog post http://chiroclinic.co.za/blog/2012/11/20/high-fat-diet-paleo-experiment/ that I backed off IF cos I lost so much weight. So the key I think is make sure you eat enough during your feeding periods. I think you can even use an imprecise health measure like weight to gauge if you are doing IF in a good way. I believe it is has health benefits if done well. I think I wasn’t eating enough how I was doing it originally.

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