Horizon: Eat Fast and Live Longer

davestar_delux

davestar_delux

davestar_delux

Soldato
Joined
5 Dec 2003
Posts
2,716
Location
Glasgow
This was on TV but I think better suited to here than the TV forum.

Did anyone see it? I found it really fascinating.

Going to try and give the fasting a go and see if there are any improvements. I have a friend who has been doing it for a while (he read Eat Stop Eat) and says he is dropping weight and has improved energy.

What are peoples opinions on this? Looking for the gym rats and fitness gurus perspective.
 
I was also captivated by this documentary. I'm a fairly sporty person, I gym 2-3 times a week, football 1-2 times a week, cycle to work 4 times a week weather permitting and will try to push out a 5km run once a week too....

My concern would be would my body be fuelled enough for the amount of cardio I do? I tend to feel tired after workouts and gorging on food I have to say sometimes makes me even more tired whereas a small shake and a bagel is normally enough to tick me over.... My goal if I were to fast wouldn't be for weight loss... More so the healthy benefits as I do feel tired often so the brain stimulation is something that attracts me, but would I have to consider cutting some cardio to avoid weight loss? Some interesting dynamics to consider....

My dad is now trying the 5:2 diet, we are going to keep a journal so I'll post some updates on here.
 
As someone who has read up on it before the documentary, it was a pretty poor showing. They skipped 80% of the benefits real people would observe and seemed hell bent on stopping cancer supposedly caused by IGF-1.

By all means give it a go, but I'd really recommend reading up first as the BBC documentary was chuffing useless as far as I'm concerned. Eat Stop Eat, Leangains.com all sorts on pubmed and http://www.precisionnutrition.com/intermittent-fasting is a good start.
 
I watched this. I've seen information on the internet before about this. But this program compiled the most compelling evidence so far.

I'm trying it. Its going to be hard because I like food though.

I dont think it should effect you energy levels as there was a recent study that came out where they looked at hunter gatherers and they use roughly the same amount of energy as us(even thought they do more work). The energy amount we use appears to be evolutionary fixed. Which makes sense as mitochondria can only get through a certain amount in fixed amount of time.
 
Chris1712 said:
As someone who has read up on it before the documentary, it was a pretty poor showing. They skipped 80% of the benefits real people would observe and seemed hell bent on stopping cancer supposedly caused by IGF-1.

By all means give it a go, but I'd really recommend reading up first as the BBC documentary was chuffing useless as far as I'm concerned. Eat Stop Eat, Leangains.com all sorts on pubmed and http://www.precisionnutrition.com/intermittent-fasting is a good start.
Click to expand...

Good read
 
Just watched it now. Will also give that article a read.

Pretty damn interesting though, particularly seeing the results after his 6 weeks on IF.

I think I'm going to give this a shot myself and see how I fare but instead with a 4:3 ratio for 6 weeks, and make the 4 feed days really count.
 
Not watched this. But is it really that surprising that intermittent fasting is better than constantly eating.

What did they do 10000 years ago? No farming, no fridges. And really its only in the last 40 years that food has been available 24/7. So couple fasting with better health care how is it surprising that you'll probably live longer.

Humans never evolved to eat all the time. Binges coupled with periods of fast is probably what the body likes best.
 
Last edited:
I've been doing the 8/16 daily fast for the last week and finding it quite good so far, the first couple of days it felt a bit odd but I think it's easier to have a simple on/off approach to food rather than trying to eat light outside of regular mealtimes. With IF, it's a simple rule, no food whatsoever, which to a person like me is quite appealing. I've noticed a slight drop in my overall appetite but no loss of energy or any negative effects so far other than our spending on teabags has gone up as I drink 3-4 cups each evening.

In terms of my particular schedule - I am eating between 10am-6pm, main meal at about 5pm just after hour of cardio from 3:30-4:30pm (running, rowing & cycling).

I've lost about 1kg so far (74-73 kg, 1.82m) and noticed some improvement in definition (I have some way to go still!).
 
I also do 8/16 Leangains style. The thing I like most is that planning/preparing food takes a very small amount of time and I get to eat big meals whilst my body fat drops down. Don't get hungry, don't feel tired, it's just... easy. Seems to be working too - it feels right and I'll probably be an IF'er fo' lyfe.
 
Somnambulist said:
I also do 8/16 Leangains style. The thing I like most is that planning/preparing food takes a very small amount of time and I get to eat big meals whilst my body fat drops down. Don't get hungry, don't feel tired, it's just... easy. Seems to be working too - it feels right and I'll probably be an IF'er fo' lyfe.
Click to expand...

+1

I've been doing LeanGains for over two years. I could never go back to "normal" eating again.

I fast from about 10pm to 5pm, so I guess that's about 19/5. (Edited the typo - previously said 17/7).

Recently had a full blood screen and my glucose, cholesterol and lipid profiles are awesome. :D
 
Last edited:
I was interested in IF when it popped onto the scene a few years ago, but the initial data available was that it wasn't any better than an isocaloric normal diet. So if you found it to fit conveniently into your lifestyle, than by all means go for it. But that it wasn't any better than just reducing your calories and weight by any other method.

The only other positive results were in animal studies, not human. Not much worth getting too excited for when you know just how many animal studies have shown not to have any effect whatsoever in humans.

I'd be interested to see what the latest human research has shown with regards to IF.
 
Jimbo Mahoney said:
+1

I've been doing LeanGains for over two years. I could never go back to "normal" eating again.

I fast from about 10pm to 5pm, so I guess that's about 17/7.

Recently had a full blood screen and my glucose, cholesterol and lipid profiles are awesome. :D
Click to expand...

Is that a typo? You only eat from 5pm-10pm?
 
ricky1981 said:
Is that a typo? You only eat from 5pm-10pm?
Click to expand...

Do you need to ask? Change the 10pm that preceded the 5pm to am. Does that equal 17/7? :rolleyes:

After watching the episode it seems I have been an"IF'er" without realising it for the last couple of years eating on a 15/9 schedule.
 
uniQ said:
Do you need to ask? Change the 10pm that preceded the 5pm to am. Does that equal 17/7? :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

My question was genuine since even if you swap his 10pm to 10am then it still doesn't make sense since he said he fasted from 10pm-5pm so using your logic he meant he was fasting 10am-5pm which isn't fasting at all.

I asked as I wasn't sure if either he'd got both the times and order wrong and meant he fasts from 5pm to 10am (which would indeed be 17/7) or he put 17/7 incorrectly. Some people do 19/5 and eating 5pm-10pm would be feasible for some people especially those who work out in the evening so I wondered if he had gone that far.

Thanks for being patronising though, hope you enjoyed yourself.
 
ricky1981 said:
Is that a typo? You only eat from 5pm-10pm?
Click to expand...

Yes, I only eat between 5pm to 10pm (roughly), so that's 19/5. (Sorry, typo in the 17/7!)

The main reason I changed to IF is because it enabled me to live a normal life (i.e. working, socialising, travelling) and still have a lot of control over what I eat and how much I eat.

I learned that the most important factor in achieving the body shape you want is the diet and simply the amount of calories consumed. The easiest way to reduce calorie intake is to eat nutrient-rich foods like vegetables and fish, but I found this difficult / annoying to do with breakfast, lunch, dinner or snacking routines.

I travel a lot for my job too, so I find myself in airports and locations where I cannot get decent food. Only eating in the evening after the day's work means I can get a decent meal in the hotel or restaurant. It also makes me more flexible / productive and I can work through lunch if needed (I would usually take a lunch break, but just have coffee).

It really has been a godsend because I can go away for a week and still lose fat even though I'm not eating my usual foods and not going hungry.

It also makes eating at all-you-eat restaurants extremely worthwhile! e.g. I must have eaten 80 Euros worth of Sushi at a place that charged 24 Euros for all-you-can-eat! :D

Check out www.LeanGains.com
 
Last edited:
Thanks Jimbo, agree with you totally on the importance of eating good food not just the right number of calories. I've found we are eating less on IF so we've been discussing (about an hour ago!) the need to increase the amount of veg in our meals. We've always eaten meals with a lot of veg but now we're eating fewer meals we think we need to dial it up more and cut back some pasta/rice/carbs so we have room for more greens.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom