I’ve been reading some posts and comments and some people were talking about doing 20 hour fasts and I thought that was a little extremist, maybe even eating disorderish. But everyone else acted like it was totally normal. Idk, I feel like I’d get an Ed if I did that fast. But now I’m wondering, why do people go on such extended fasts? Is it really necessary, or is it just to speed up the process? Is the normal 17:7 I’m doing not good enough?
The “normal” or atleast the most common one people are usually starting at is 18:6. Not 17:7.
You really think if you aren’t eating 17 or 18 hours that’s fine but an extra 2 hours is in extreme category? Like your body would roll over and die of starvation in 20 hours?
People have already shared research links with you but you’ll notice there that a lot of the research is on 5:2. Which means … gasp… fasting for 2 whole days a week.
I do 20/4 and it’s super easy, it actually turns into OMAD quite naturally. Your body adapts so quickly and very soon you realize how much we eat just because of habit or because we’re snacky, not because our body needs it.
Depends on your goals. I did a 20 hour fast just for fun the other day. It didn’t shock my body that bad because I’m making sure to eat healthy (and enough) in my window. Some people do even longer fasts but decrease their frequency.
I usually fast for 20-22 hours each day. I find it surprisingly easy. I will note that I am on metformin. It’s a diabetes drug, but I don’t have diabetes. I’m on it for the appetite suppression side effect and it definitely helps. Having known a few people with ED’s, I don’t think my mindset is anything like theirs and I’m not worried about developing an ED.
Having done an religious 25 hour dry fast every year for several decades, except when I was pregnant or breastfeeding, I can absolutely tell you that a 20-22 hour fast with lots of water is SO MUCH easier.
I started with 16:8 and it’s just slid fairly easily into the 20-22 hour fasts. But because it works for me doesn’t mean it’s the right thing for you. One of the really nice things about IF is how flexible it is and how you can make it work for you.
I’m closer to 22/2 OMAD most days but I also throw in an extended fast here and there. I did a 7 day fast a couple weeks ago and felt amazing. So much more energy and the mental clarity is ridiculous.
Are they necessary? Probably not, but it’s a great way to reset the metabolism and get into ketosis. Humans have been fasting longer than we’ve had food readily available. It’s in our dna.
That’s right. It’s totally unnatural. The cavemen kept a strict regime of eating every 6 hours (before the invention of time mine you) to stay in top physical condition.
But seriously, eating hefty amounts of food all day is a modern invention created to dispose of extra food grown during the green revolution post ww2. It took me a long time to unlearn all this. Refrigeration and on demand food is a very recent invention, and if anything is the unnatural thing.
My dude, it’s called intermittent fasting for a reason, i.e. it’s literally only a daily micro-fast. You think 20 hours without food is an eating disorder? Maybe if we’re talking about a grazing herbivore.
The essential idea of IF is to just barely go long enough without calories to put yourself in a fasted state at the end of your ‘no eating’ window. 16 hours may not even reach it for some metabolisms and sedentary lifestyles. Relatively speaking, 16-20 hours is hardly a fast at all. Lions in the wild go three or four days between kills and meals.
IF is specifically conceived to be a sustainable long term eating discipline by the very fact that it’s micro-fasting.