Normal dieting doesn’t work for everyone. For example, the moment I have any food I can’t stop eating so omad is the perfect option for me.
I can eat what I want until I’m stuffed (i aim for around 1500 calories, I usually go over)
Everyone has their own opinion but the only person who knows what works for your body is you.
Don’t listen to other people who probably read a ridiculous comment on Reddit and did no research on fasting tell you what to do with your health. It’s perfectly ok!
I had several people give me crap when I started. Then I lost a decent amount of weight and those same people started to doubt themselves instead of me.
I just always make sure to explain that I’m NOT starving myself. I’m just eating a normal amount of calories in one meal so that I don’t eat an extra 3,000 worth of cookie dough and Taco Bell as a snack before bed, because then it’s not in my window. Most people understand, or at least leave me alone about it, after that.
It’s the best thing I have ever done , wish I knew about it 20 years ago . I am clearer headed and my gut health is the best it’s ever been; now 47 and always felt bloated and gassy pre IF.
People have fear for things they don’t know about , just do you and what makes you feel right .
I started to avoid that topic completely. Whenever I’ve mentioned about if coworkers said that it’s not healthy without any research beforehand. I don’t see a reason to explain and convince them so i just don’t talk about and just do my own thing. If it works for you just ignore them. For me it’s perfect solution for not snacking at work
Not sustainable, my ass! I’m not an intentional IFer, but I can tell you that since I was around 18…which was 33 years ago…breakfast has been coffee. I’ve just never been a brekkie person. So effectively I’ve intermittently fasting roughly 16-8 since the late 80’s. Without trying. Your coworker is an ignorant tool.
Hahahahaha the same reason that anyone is against anything. This has more to do with the nature of human beings and less to do with IF.
People are bitter and self righteous. That’s why we really enjoy people that are empathetic and genuinely caring.
As I became more financially successful, advanced my education, lost weight, or got promotions at work. I looked around and saw fewer and fewer people were actually genuinely happy for me. Including life long friends and family. Only my wife was really cheering me on.
I’m at the point where I’m the first to graduate college in my family. 2nd in my extended family cousins etc. Just accepted to a graduate degree program and will be the first in my extended family to have a masters.
My wife and I earn a lot of money 3x the median in our state. I would love to shout it from the rooftops tell my friends/family all that I’ve overcame and accomplished more than I dreamed buuut they have proven themselves to be bitter and jealous.
Ran a marathon-“ I wouldn’t run if a bear was chasing me. What a waste of time”
Lost weight- “you’re too skinny you’re missing out on all the good things in life. I eat whatever I want life is too short.”
Went to college- “why would you do that. You don’t need a degree to be successful. Look at bill gates. You’re gonna have so much debt”
Buying a house- “ why do you need 3k sq foot? That’s way too big you don’t know what you’re getting yourself into” or “ why only 1800 sq ft if you have more kids that won’t be enough space trust me.”
Or my personal favorite. My wife and I live a simple life and save a majority of our income. The one person I let slip how much my wife and I actually earn ended up being the only person who asked me to borrow money.
It’s a common social misconception that we need to be eating all of the time. Otherwise we might faint or something. You’re not alone.
My girlfriend also doesn’t agree with one meal a day. She’s now come to terms with it being ok from a health perspective but she has issues with not eating dinner together.
IF changed my life.
In the beginning my parents gave me a hard time too…thinking I was going to die by skipping one meal.
Then my obese, diabetic dad quit alcohol and got on the IF bandwagon….dropped 66 lbs in 6 months and reversed his diabetes.
My mum started in mid Nov and already lost 13 lbs.
I’ve lost 40 lbs so far and have around 18 lbs more to lose.
I haven’t been deprived of any food and I’ve learned how to balance my intake because IF made me aware of the sheer volume of food I used to consume.
IF is perfectly sustainable…we don’t need to constantly eat!
My therapist gave me crap about being OMAD yesterday like I had an eating disorder or something. My actual doctor is on board so I’ll go with her opinion. I had to convince her I was getting enough calories in my eating window and that people generally eat too much. I’ve lost 60lbs and had a LOT to lose. I have 15-20 to go, so I’m getting close to maintenance. But yes, people are generally uninformed about fasting.
People have a common notion that skipping Breakfast is an unforgiving crime and one needs to eat in small portions in a windows spread throughout the day.
Most of people were never introduced to autophagy and are sweet children of consumerism propaganda.
“My medical team supports this diet, come back when you have MD after your name, and maybe I’ll entertain your silly notions. Until then, I think I’ll stick with the advice that my doctors give, which is to continue.”
I get the same crap for being vegetarian, usually “my medical team agrees that eating meat is the least healthy option for me” shuts them up.
Ultimately, it’s their own guilt. They feel bad that they don’t have the control to abstain, so they want you to fail as well. Crabs in a bucket.
People tell me, “You really should at least be eating healthy snacks throughout the day, because otherwise your body goes into starvation mode, and-“
And at that point I stop listening to anything they have to say.
“breakfast is the most important meal of the day.”
That’s simply a marketing slogan. People have heard it enough that they blindly believe it.
When someone hears fasting they probably think you are simply starving yourself. Like a hunger strike.
I think breakfast was touted as the most important meal of the day for so long. And also, a lot of socialization comes around meals and so people feel a certain way about that. The research is still new and hasn’t penetrated the general public consciousness just yet. Oh well, that’s what happens when you’re cutting edge ;) or that’s what I like to tell myself.
People don’t understand anything that isn’t “normal”. People said the same thing to me. It’s crazy and unsustainable. They told me that about keto too. I think part of it is they don’t want me to push it on them or something! 😂. Then there are some people who just hear some nonsense and it’s all, “Oh, my best friend’s brother’s mother’s uncle’s third cousin’s dog’s best friend died… And they did OMAD. So you’re gonna die, probably.”
I got a similar response initially. After about a month, people see the difference in my weight and my ability to do strongman training on OMAD has made it clear to people that it works. Keep going! I am 20 lbs down in a month.
Oh man I feel for you. In high school I fell into IF because I didn’t really have access to food until the evenings (this was late 90’s). For the next ten years I only ate lunch to keep coworkers off my back and always ate at least two full meals at night.
Finally about 15 years ago I just stopped letting people force me to eat. I explained that I was in perfect health according to my doctors and my eating habits were none of their business.
I was SO thankful when IF became a named things (it was just always my eating habit to me). Now I had a name for this legitimate eating pattern,, studies and professionals backing up the way I ate and I had ammo for those who thought I had an eating disorder. My husband joined me doing IF after the studies and has had great success as well.
Almost all of my family friends are against and provide me with ancillary evidence to support their position, of which the most common statement is that it is simply not healthy to only eat once a day. At least one of them is bulimic mind you. But I guess even Catholic priests who are pedophiles have to preach against that.
Both IF and calorie counting, which are probably the two best and least restrictive ways to manage your diet since you don’t technically have to cut out any food groups, make people very upset and it makes no sense. People associate almost any attempt to manage your diet/weight with eating disorders (or even just disordered eating) these days but especially these two for some reason.
They are well meaning, but simply do not know the science. Below is the BBC documentary that got me to try it, which you could share with the skeptics. After watching, I bet some will want to give it a try, too.https://youtu.be/gGHDBIaibok
People HATE questioning an idea they have been fed since birth. 3 meals a day was literally a marketing campaign made up by cereal companies to make money. It also signifies wealth. Before that, humanity has survived and thrived off 1 or 2 meals a day. And by being clear that you are getting the right amount of calories but you just eat them in a specific timeframe should shut them up.
Boss, in my experience no one is supportive of this. Not my parents, not my siblings, not even my wife. People perceive not eating for a long time as “hurting yourself”. It may be misguided, but some of those “unsupportive” people are trying to do what they perceive is help. I can’t even begin to tell you all the shit I have had to ensure. One of my coworkers asked if I was sick, one of my siblings is so overwhelmed by jealousy they practically wish I had diabetes by contributing my weight loss to it, my parents keep trying to get me to eat every time they get the chance, and it goes on. Don’t look for support in others. Support yourself. Often times no one else will. Live as if you are alone, always. Because in the end we all are.
It’s definitely more sustainable then any other diet because it’s literally just making sure you don’t eat super late at night (at least for me). And sure, you might not do it for your entire life lol but I wouldn’t say it’s bad for you.
My parents were absolutely convinced that IF was terrible and going to hurt me. They’re diabetic, although not on insulin. My dad kept harping on breakfast being so important for staying fueled throughout the day. It was SO frustrating in the beginning;every time we visited them, my dad would keep dropping comments about the importance of eating. Like, dude I’m getting fat and verging on prediabetic and you’re worried about me not eating enough??? Stooooooooooooop
I kept at IF, because I was convinced by the science. I found support in other ways: podcasts, YouTube, this subreddit. I tried to look at it from the other side too, to play devil’s advocate and make sure I wasn’t just drinking the koolaid.
Now that it’s been 9 months, my dad has finally shut up and my mom is complimenting my figure.
Results speak for themselves. 😉
I am 17 years old, I have started this recently and joined the community too a few days back, just as your post says, my parents are worried about it but i already lost around 1kg in a week so i find it incredibly helpful. In the past two months i gained over 7kgs and now this is a start. I mostly do 14:10 to 13:11 to satisfy my parents. Also i had a doubt, does IF take away your good fat such as muscles if i miss exercising for a day?
People don’t like what they don’t know. I’ve had my ups and downs with IF, but I’m a lot more educated on health/nutrition now. I’ve hit a plateau with what I’ve been doing and I believe IF can help me get to where I want to be.
I haven’t gotten much negative feedback on it but honestly I don’t speak of my lifestyle changes to anyone really.
Naturally I am not a breakfast person and prefer to have a meal / snack about 11am and don’t like eating at night too. When ppl ask me, I usually reply I am not hungry just yet or I will grab a bite a bit later. When we do discuss eating habits, I mention I eat intuitively and try to eat less processed meals which is true. Lol
I just tell them that the several small meals thing didn’t work for me.
I do a 20ish hour fast most of the time. Dinner, then fruit then wait an hourish and get a small, second workout in. After that, I cool down and have a small snack that usually has peanut butter.
I think it’s because people have been fed so much wrong information for so long, and were convinced by the medical establishment that obesity is a failure of the patient in following a diet. They see you doing something like intermittent fasting, which is perceived as a fad and extreme diet, and they see it as you doing something risky to avoid doing the “hard work”.
There’s nothing novel about intermittent fasting. It’s not a fad, it’s simply how people used to eat before the obesity epidemic.
Because of anti-diet diet culture.
So many doctors have recommended it. I trust someone with a PhD over a random Instagram dietician who has no resources or experiences to back up their claims that it’s soooo bad for you.
They also assume it’s a slippery slope toward anorexia and other eating disorder. That doesn’t mean IF is the problem if an individual already had an underlying disease.
The only person who told me to stop was a trainer who then refused to train me because I was intermittent fasting. He said it was stupid and I was just killing myself. I’m trying to start again but I feel like I don’t have enough energy to train so I’m hesitant. Oh, i did end up getting sick very easily after months of fasting. My immune system was so weak that I got scarlet fever. Do it at your own risk. Just know that there are risks.
I guess that because having frequent meals is considered an orthodox opinion, and it is drilled into us from an early age that eating three daily meals, and even having snacks, is the way to go, it is understandable that people would feel compelled to push back on IF, have reservations, or feel concern for you because you are doing something that would be considered counterintuitive to everything that they have been told. If this describes your experience with people in your circle, I personally would stop telling anyone I do IF because it sounds exhausting. I am not an advocate for IF or ready to justify my choices, I am just a regular guy convinced of its usefulness in my own life.
My experience though has been that I have found out over the years that some acquaintance or colleague or someone I know practices time restricted eating. I have always been encouraging of them if they divulged this with me and thought “good on you, mate”. I have otherwise never really given it much thought or provided my uninformed opinion. Now that I am on it, I have noticed that noone similarly gives a toss.
The whole “it’s not sustainable” thing is total bullshit. IF is by far the most sustainable “diet” I have ever been on. It was my lifestyle for 2 years before I got pregnant. Now I’m back at it 3 months post partum and I love that I came back to it! 57lbs down 23 to go! You do you!
I’m not telling anyone 🙃 Well, my husband I guess. But I’m framing it about the health issues like blood sugar and inflammation- which is true. Those are issues that I’m trying to work on and a big motivation for getting healthier. But I’m just not telling anyone that I’m trying to lose weight and not talking to anyone except my husband about my eating habits.
I don’t know, but they at least have nothing to say to me at this point. I’ve been doing it since Nov/December of 2019 (started in November, moved to only black coffee & plain water during fasts in December & that made it so much easier) and have no weight to lose at this point but am still fasting because of the other health benefits.
The last time I had to shut someone down was my SIL who just wouldn’t stop going on about how her nutritionist said it was a bad idea, but I did do so with, “If I don’t fast, my back hurts [I’d had almost debilitating lower back pain for years pre-IF which is now practically gone]. It’s what I do, and it’s what I will do.”
My sister n law is a nurse. Now she knows everything about nutrition, even more than the doctors. She keeps telling me eat a few small meals snd lots of salads. Im not crazy about saladsSo i dont eat them at home. I usually eat 2 small meals, protein, complex carb and veggies. Measure out my portions and drink water and unsweetened lemon decaf tea. The weights coming off now.
In the minds of a lot of people, the boundary between IF and an eating disorder is not clear. If you want to try to change their opinion, maybe show them that there’s a clear difference?
Also, it’s not sustainable, inasmuch as losing weight via IF, then quitting IF when you’re done, gets you back where you started. You need to find something healthy and sustainable for you.
I just started and didn’t tell anyone. That was two years ago.
My wife is still upset because “we’re” losing weight and she doesn’t want to. I told her she’s supposed to “enjoy my weight loss, not join my weight loss,” and she mostly is cool with it.
It’s the most sustainable diet, since it’s a habit. I haven’t regularly eaten breakfast in two years, and I don’t think I’ll ever eat breakfast again outside of social gatherings.
Everyone else has noticed the weight loss (45lb is pretty noticeable), but no one has attacked intermittent fasting to my face. Just a lot of questions and comments out of the blue.
I don’t do IF, but I’m of the opinion that whatever diet works for a person is the best diet. Do I subscribe to Keto and Ketosis concept? No, but if you can do that diet lose weight and feel better, more power to you.
Personally I don’t think “being in a fasted state” is necessary per say, like how there’s posts on here like “I chewed sugared gum, did I break my fast?” Personally I think it’s a Calories in < Calories out problem, but I would never look down on someone who does IF and feels better and is more healthy.
I haven’t had any pushback, from doctor or anybody. Wonder if it’s a matter of the body justifying the eating pattern, I’m at a good weight. Sometimes people just say “you aren’t trying to lose weight, right?” And I say no, it just works better for me and that’s it.
Had this conversation with one of my kids. She thought she probably looked like a lunatic doing box jumps onto park bench or picnic table, and pullups on monkey bars, I think no, everyone probably just sees how fit you look and think “it’s working”.
So as you get thinner, hopefully they’ll lay off.
People generally tend to be offended by others’ life choices, no matter how unaffected they are by those.
I had to make up a version of why I am so thin at my age, I always reply that I don’t eat bread (this is the truth, but not the entire truth), and if they ask me to elaborate, I explain that cutting off bread automatically cuts off all unnecessarily, usually very calorie rich food like ham, butter, bacon or whatever people put in sandwiches. When you don’t eat bread, you automatically don’t eat anything you would eat with bread. (That’s all true.) That explanation is usually enough; and even then some people would question my way simply because they can’t imagine their life without sandwiches; I usually just shrug it off and do not engage; I end the discussion with “Oh everyone is different, that’s fine”.
I just started it (15:9) and so far have been feeling good except for the first couple of days. While reading and learning about IF, I was very surprised to find out that there is very limited research that has been carried out on how IF works and the claims around body going into ketosis and autophagy. Definitely no direct studies on the claims of putting your body into autophagy on a daily basis and what it does. But the examples of people reaping the benefits of IF are long and very positive. I’m going to stick to it for 6 months to see what it does for me
Like all diets there is a lot of misinformation out there.
Also, remember that in the past a lot of folks “skipped”breakfast. And the cereal company’s all ran huge advertising campaigns pushing the idea we need 3 meals a day. Millions spent on brainwashing can be effective.
Diabetics that take insulin were always told to eat smaller more frequent meals. Mainly to help smooth out the blood sugar and insulin spikes. But that was also repeated a lot in the media as a good idea for many people. Your friend with the smaller, more often feedings is following that paradigm so he’s convinced that he is correct and you are not.
Just do what works for you and try to avoid explaining it to others it just irritates them.
That is so true.
If you look at my posts, I avoid the word “fasting” because it it triggers people into thinking the method starves people, and this is especially true in females who have body image problems and are prone to real eating disorders like anorexia nervousa.
I do not think IE is associated with any commercial program so it is public domain.
So I use IE in all my posts, which stands for “Interval Eating” and whoever runs this site might look into changing the name. Same difference, no hot button response.
And there is the “nudge nudge wink wink” aspects to the powers that be who want people to consume as much as possible- they will scoff and demean any approach to weight loss that does not involve consumption.
The real problem is the medical establishment. Doctors should be recommending IE programs STRONGLY to all their patients.
Bottom line is a lot of people making money off of getting you fat, keeping you fat, and selling you worthless weight loss approaches that in the end will keep you fat.
IE is the ONLY approach that realizes the real problem is psychological, and addresses that in a way that results in LONG-TERM weight loss.
Yes, this includes Keto and Paleo.
The beauty of dieting is you can choose what works for you and your routine. Small frequent meals work for some people which is totally fine. Intermittent fasting works great for others especially if their daily routine aligns perfectly with the eating window.
Interesting. I’m sorry you’ve had that experience. I can’t imaging why someone would be offended by your choices that don’t affect them in the least. Just wanted to share that not everyone is against intermittent fasting. I personally haven’t had anyone question my choices on when or what I eat. At worst, I’ve had coworkers tell me they wouldn’t be able to do it because they love food too much lol. But I also work under a bunch of doctors so maybe that changes things. My family has been supportive, probably because they know I do a lot of research before diving into something and I wouldn’t purposefully put my health at risk just to follow a “new fad”.
I think a lot of people don’t understand the various options of IF. Before IF, the only fasting that people heard of was religiously going without food for days on end or hunger strikes. I get the confusion.
And all diets are fads. IF is a lifestyle shift.
I told my therapist about my IF and she worded it as me starving myself. That has been the only criticism Ive gotten but I did complain about being irritable which I later found out can happen. Still going strong and I already feel a million times better now that Im not stuffing myself with garbage. This whole thing has made me more critical of what Im breaking my fast for which is the best thing of this whole adventure.
My husband was very weird about it when I started. He said that he believes you should be able to eat whenever you want and it’s problematic if you moderate that in any way. I think that it’s good for people (in the U.S. specifically) to introduce some discipline in their life, especially since we are constantly inundated with instant gratification. I’ve tried relaying some of the research about the benefits of IF, but he doesn’t listen. Oh well
Personally, i love the backlash. Yeah, Susan, u think I’m “starving” - but who is overweight and who is at a healthy weight?
I finally have a healthy relationship with food. If people want to hate on it, i say, let them. It’s their own ignorance holding them back…
I’ve been doing OMAD for 3 years now. My wife was worried at first but supported me. My family were not fans until they saw how much I was losing. I have lost 125 total pounds and have 20 more to go.
The only people that get angry with me are acquaintances or new people who at first are excited to hear about my weight lost but then get very angry when I tell them how. I had one interaction where this guy was basically holding me hostage until I ate. It wasn’t during my window and he was offended I would eat. Got real nasty and said I had an eating disorder, that I was losing muscle not fat, and that I was killing myself. Really weird experience.
Where I come from/cultural background, one meal a day is the ideal for healthy fit adults. Kids, pregnant ladies, and the elderly and infirm eat 3 meals a day, but once you are an adult, one or two pretty big, leisurely meals is normal.
Furthermore, there is a view that it’s only weird cringe Americans/ that eat 3 large meals a day, and it is something looked down on as kind of…lower class? Trashy? Lack of self-control?
Even in countries that do have a normative 3 meal a day, the first meal is usually either a beverage or a roll and that is it. The term “continental breakfast?” means coffee tea or cocoa and roll.
I would suggest two things: 1) its none of their business. Just say you aren’t hungry. 2) If you want to get into it with them, gently and compassionately explaining that most countries do not eat three huge meals a day. Big Breakfast is literally a marketing scam of the 20th century. If you want to be really chic about it, say you picked it up in abroad. Just know that most of the world does not eat like Americans. The countries that are starting to (India, I’m looking at you) are having skyrocketing obesity and diabetes.
I actually had a doctor tell me that it is the best way for me to loose weight. For my health he recommended that I go on this diet. My husband joined me on it as well. I haven’t lost much weight yet because I am stuck at home a lot but my husband has already lost twenty pounds on the diet. It’s definatly worth it. I don’t think it matters if it is a “fad” or not as long as it works for you. I think the keto diet is a fad but a friend of mine is doing well on that diet.
Mostly marketing. We are told from a young age 3 meals a day, but modern people are eating 5+ times a day with snacks and drinks. We are taught about calories but not about insulin and people are totally detached from the reality of how humans existed for most of time. So there is just an lack of knowledge about it I would say. Also, no one makes money off of fasting. So anyone with a vested interest in selling you something food or weight loss related will always hate fasting because it is a free competitor.
Me, my fiance and my brother all fast. My parents and my in-laws now seem to have got the memo, finally after 2 years or saying “no thank you” to breakfast. They still offer food during our fasting window but they quickly correct themselves. It can be done
what you are doing is extremely great for insulin levels which helps fat loss. it’s great for other hormonal balance as well as mood. keep it it, it’s so good for you! don’t tell anyone. “i just ate” works well.
I’ve been doing 16:8 for three weeks now since Christmas and haven’t told anyone about it for this reason. I miss breakfast which we always eat separately anyway and eat dinner with the family with an eating window of 12 to 8pm. It’s so much easier not to try to convince everyone. If it works then the results will speak for themselves.
The way I look at it is that everyone skipping breakfast is doing IF. Yes some put cream or sugar in the coffee but the general comparison to something basic like that opens people’s minds more. It’s also easier to educate people with sort of analogy instead of diving them into something like OMAD. They will just shut off at the thought of one meal instead of fully understanding that one meal is really high calorie.
Old school breakfast propaganda suggesting that it’s necessary to stuff your face as soon as you’re done brushing your teeth, if not, you have an eating disorder.
Not saying a 16:8 or more intense daily fast is for everyone, but just remembering in high school eating a full breakfast at 5:45 am even though I wasn’t really hungry is just insane now. Even before I started IF, my hunger never really kicked in until 11am or so even if I wake up at 6am. Nowadays Iight not eat my first meal until 2 or 3 pm and usually don’t eat after unless I’m going out for dinner or drinking.
A culture of overconsumption has deluded us into thinking that we need things all the time and intermittent fasting bucks the notion with food at the very least. Don’t you find it odd that consuming a normal amount of calories when you’re actually hungry is called an ED by lots of laypeople, but eating from sun up past sundown even when you’re not actually hungry isn’t?
The average person is not very intelligent. It’s a total lack of education for data backed science.
I spoke to someone today and they scoffed at the meet concept of IF without even knowing anything about it. They think 16 hours is madness.
Hilarious because some of those same people probably follow a religion and live their life accordingly with little to no evidence of why they follow it, besides being raised with it.
People live by what they are comfortable with and fail to seek out knowledge, they are the downfall of our society.
In my experience, people express fear when it’s an unknown to them. They might have some trauma or stigma associated with FASTING. I’ve read some comments here and I agree that it’s best not to talk about your lifestyle change unless asked. Even then, if they reply with interest, then proceed, otherwise, stop. I’m pretty sure when they need help with their health, your name will pop out and they will go to you again. Until then, proceed!!
I sing its praises in the most dippy way possible. Pick a combination of the below sentences with the main one being the emphasis on the times (9:00AM to 5:00PM, 11:00AM to 7:00PM, etc.) People get super hung up on times.
Basically I frame it as an 8 hour window to eat 3x a day if I want (even if I don’t) and people seem to be far less judgey about that than saying that I intermittently fast. They get hung up on the word “fast” like I’m starving myself for weeks at a time when in reality, the majority of my fasting occurs when I’m asleep.