Ok so i like if, this is my third time trying and botjl h previous attempts were solid until i quit, butnim trying to understand one thing:
Does if help burn more calories outside of regular cico? So im 260lb 5’5, goal calorie input is 1500 daily - sedentary student.
If i eat 1500 calories in one meal at a set time (omad) do i burn more calories than doing the exact same meal over the course of the whole day?
If works for me btw because once i eat im hungry, duento insulin production. Like ive never been a breakfast person but if i eat breakfast at 9am im hungry again at 11. But if i dont i can go till much later. Always been the case which is why i like if, but assuming the calorie intake is the exact same with the exact same meal, just a different when, is there more burning of fat? Very curious haha and confused to the why if works so well for me hahaj
Oh there are so many more benefits! Have you read the book Delay, Don’t Deny? It explains how fasting allows your body to heal your cells, your metabolism, and so much more. I don’t count calories, and I’m not worried about them. I let my body do the work and I listen to my body when eating (I do OMAD and have a nice hearty meal).
> If i eat 1500 calories in one meal at a set time (omad) do i burn more calories than doing the exact same meal over the course of the whole day?
Probably not in the short term, although there are some studies that seem to indicate that your metabolic rate falls off at a slower rate than it does when using a standard caloric restriction method when losing weight (I haven’t looked into this extensively so take it with a grain of salt, there may be studies showing no effect or the opposite effect for all I know).
There are some additional benefits, like switching on autophagy, increasing growth hormone to maintain muscle mass etc. but most of them only apply to extended fasts iirc (3 days+).
Personally I have always skipped breakfast naturally and I find it much easier to stick with a fasting plan than caloric restriction (no huge appetite swings etc.)
>If i eat 1500 calories in one meal at a set time (omad) do i burn more calories than doing the exact same meal over the course of the whole day?
No, calories are calories, for the most part.
When it’s all boiled down weight loss is just calories and hormones. The body needs to be in a caloric deficit for it to need to tap into other energy sources, like fat stores, and insulin needs to be low. If insulin level is high, the body is getting the signal that there’s easier food energy available and it won’t break down fat.
But this is one of the aspects IF can help with. More time for digestion to die down and insulin levels to drop, so that the body is getting the right signals to access fat. This can also be achieved with normal CICO, but it becomes a little more important to eat well, ie foods that don’t spike insulin higher. Because if your insulin remains high from eating all day but you’re still in a deficit that’s when the body starts slowing down metabolism.
Besides helping to control hormones, in theory there are some other health benefits not strictly related to weight loss, but other benefits are generally preferred structural. That could be less or no emphasis on counting calories, helping to eliminate snacking, or just it being perceived as more enjoyable to have fewer larger meals than a bunch of smaller ones.
For some folks CICO works for them and their bodies, but personally I do find IF superior for me.
Because of the effects on metabolism. Jason fung has a video breaking down some studies. One with Alternate day fasting eating twice as many calories one day fasting the next, and the other group ate the same total amount of calories but eating every day.
The ADF calorie restriction group had BMR stay the same. The calorie restriction only group had BMR drop by a huge amount leading to much lower weight loss over the long run, and leads to rebound in weight after the diet is done.
If you do IF for weight loss, the same principles apply and IF is just a tool to help reduce calorie in.
For many, it’s easier to eat less doing IF than to force themselves to eat smaller meal or to restrict types of food. They also find it more sustainable, which is good to avoid yoyo-ing.