I think Intermittent Fasting ruined me

[PhiSig2298]

First off, I'm not bashing IF, so hold your negs..

Lately I've been noticing that if I don't have a meal over 1,000 calories, I feel so hungry. I've had a few occasions where it was physically impossible to eat a large meal.

Example: every Sunday night, my wife & I have a parenting class with our Sunday school group & there's snacks. I've tried eating a big meal before & after but nothing seems to help. I literally can't pay attention because of hunger pangs.

Now, I can go nearly all day without getting hungry but it's like my mouth is a food slut. The second it gets food, it's expecting a lot of food.

Last Sunday, I had My big meal right before & didn't eat the Snacks, but really wanted some.. It was like I was depriving myself only because I'd rather go without than a 300 tease...



This is basically just a rant & I'm sure you guys want to say "if isn't for everyone" or "OP is a phaggot". Like I said, not bashing IF, just frustrated on what my diet has become.

I've gone back to 3 meals & a snack but its only been a few days so I can't tell if it's going to work.

Thought about having a"grazing period" where I can get my calories in without "meals"

- Anyone else feel like this?
- If so, how did you change?

[MITCHAPAL00ZA]

im honestly the same way. i usually eat around 400 cals in the AM, then go until about 6-7 pm until i eat my post workout meal(s)...no hunger at all during the day, but the minute i start eating i never seem to get full. almost like food is sparking the hunger.

[Siafu4Life]

Ugh...hopefully things get better for you, PhiSig. Sounds terrible.

For the record...I don't think "OP is a phaggot". :)

[sawoobley]

Intradasting, I really don't understand why people are having such a tough time with IF. I'll be doing IF for a couple of weeks and then I'll eat several smaller meals instead because it will be more convenient for a couple of days and then back to IF. Doesn't matter to me one bit. All I think about is spreading my calories out throughout the day so I don't consume too many calories. It doesn't matter how I do it just that I do.

To each their own I guess.

So many people have said this recently and you guys sound like IF crippled you or something. lol. No necessarily the OP...but I've heard several people having a rough time with IF.

Good luck OP.

[staunchkg]

Meal frequency has no metabolic or body composition benefits :D

srs, just do what suits you bro. I follow the a typical IF protocol (feed between 1pm and 8pm) during the working week and then on the weekends I just eat when ever and how much I feel like . I've found by doing that my appetite is much more controlled regardless of the situation.

Good luck with the bub and I don't think you are a phaggot either! :D

[juliacheh]

IF almost destroyed me. In combination with low bodyfat (think around 7% for men), poor sleep and sort of overtraining I developed unhealthy obsession with food and was on the verge of an eating disorder.
I am back to 3-4 meals for 2.5 months and it is still very difficult for me to stop eating since I got used to eating large meals, whereas before I could easily stop at 400 calorie meal.
Fasting was never an issue for me, stopping always was. So IF is truly not for everyone.

[BunkMoreland]

I tried it as well, and didn't care for it. but im still going to neg you

[PhiSig2298]

Thanks for the feedback so far.. I'm usually an advocator of "eat when you're hungry" but I seriously think my body has changed when it comes to food.


I see a lot of threads saying "I feel too full on IF" and guys are telling them that it takes time to your body to adjust & I guess it's the same in this situation..

Also, since my wife is pregnant, our eating patterns have changed & so that's another reason why I've switched. Just aggravating to eat a large meal to some (600-700) and just crave more.

[PhiSig2298]

IF almost destroyed me. In combination with low bodyfat (think around 7% for men), poor sleep and sort of overtraining I developed unhealthy obsession with food and was on the verge of an eating disorder.
I am back to 3-4 meals for 2.5 months and it is still very difficult for me to stop eating since I got used to eating large meals, whereas before I could easily stop at 400 calorie meal.
Fasting was never an issue for me, stopping always was. So IF is truly not for everyone.

Me either and if I wasn't married and a stay-at-home dad, I would seriously look into eat.stop.eat but my family life just won't allow that right now.



I tried it as well, and didn't care for it. but im still going to neg you


Neg me softly, please

[sawoobley]

Also, since my wife is pregnant, our eating patterns have changed & so that's another reason why I've switched. Just aggravating to eat a large meal to some (600-700) and just crave more.

Maybe you have Couvade syndrome?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Couvade_syndrome

Wut?

[Ashlei]

Could be your body telling you it needs something it's not getting - some micro nutrient or something.

Are you sure it's not thirst? Also do you eat high volume foods? I find I don't get ravenous when I fill up with fiber/fruits/veggies.

[hockeytownfan]

It doesn't matter how I arrange my meals, once I start eating, I never get "full". I rarely get "not hungry". Luckily, I manage to stay pretty busy, so I eat when I can, and just have to cut myself off at my calorie limit. Though, snacks just usually piss me off, so I skip snacking. Usually 2-4 squares a day for me.

[PhiSig2298]

Could be your body telling you it needs something it's not getting - some micro nutrient or something.

Are you sure it's not thirst? Also do you eat high volume foods? I find I don't get ravenous when I fill up with fiber/fruits/veggies.


I'm getting plenty of fruits & veggies. One of the perks of a garden :). I drink around a gallon of water.

I've been able to fast & not get hungry, but once I end my fast, I could eat & eat & eat.. I'm going to stick with the 3 squares & a snack to see if I can get the hunger under control

[staunchkg]

I'm getting plenty of fruits & veggies. One of the perks of a garden :). I drink around a gallon of water.

I've been able to fast & not get hungry, but once I end my fast, I could eat & eat & eat.. I'm going to stick with the 3 squares & a snack to see if I can get the hunger under controlMaybe you need to shave? Too much food getting caught up in that epic beard :D

[PhiSig2298]

Maybe you need to shave? Too much food getting caught up in that epic beard :D


Maybe just get rid of the stache and keep rockin' the Amish look?

[staunchkg]

Maybe just get rid of the stache and keep rockin' the Amish look?Yeah man it is like you got a food filter on your face :D

feelsbadmanistillcantgrowonemaybewhenim40

[PR1MO]

Maybe you need to shave? Too much food getting caught up in that epic beard :D

yeah, perhaps this is happening?

http://warmingglow.uproxx.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/petergriffinbeard.jpg

[Ryan314]

Definitely feel the same way man. When that first meal comes around, I can pound down some serious food. I can eat 1600+ calories in one sitting and I'm still craving other food, and usually just satisfied and not full. You totally nailed it saying that once you get that first bite, your body is expecting LARGE amounts of food (which is basically what happens on IF). I can relate to what julia is saying... I can't even imagine going back to eating 400-600 calorie meals.... it would be so hard.

Today my first meal was 1700 calories... could still eat more after.

Forever hungry :(

[waatsgood]

OP is a rather nice guy.

[PerpetualMotion]

I've been able to fast & not get hungry, but once I end my fast, I could eat & eat & eat..

How fast do you eat?

I personally love IF. It makes life simple, especially cutting.

[Lvisaa2]

I'll kill a days worth of calories in a sitting if I let myself. I agree with lacking an 'off' switch.

I simply have my meals set to general calorie ranges. Generally once I step away from the food for a little then the hunger subsides.

[PhiSig2298]

Definitely feel the same way man. When that first meal comes around, I can pound down some serious food. I can eat 1600+ calories in one sitting and I'm still craving other food, and usually just satisfied and not full. You totally nailed it saying that once you get that first bite, your body is expecting LARGE amounts of food (which is basically what happens on IF). I can relate to what julia is saying... I can't even imagine going back to eating 400-600 calorie meals.... it would be so hard.

Today my first meal was 1700 calories... could still eat more after.

Forever hungry :(


same here.. I started out about 1,100 calories & now I'm not even satisfied unless my first meal is 1,400. Even then, I don't feel "full"


OP is a rather nice guy.


Thanks brother


How fast do you eat?

I personally love IF. It makes life simple, especially cutting.


Considerig I have a 2 year old with me, It takes a while to eat. I haven't timed it out but I will tomorrow

[Ryan314]

What definitely helps is getting my mind off food as much as I can. When I have classes from 8 to 1pm in the fasting period, I am never hungry. But if I'm at work in the morning and it's a slow day, and I'm thinking about my first meal, it can be harder.

[waatsgood]

In all srsness, though, I've experienced the same problems op and many others itt have. My advice would be to go back to a more typical eating pattern, maybe 3-4 meals. It was really hard at first, but just like IF, you get used to it. I'm also a member of team never full, but I've managed to deal with it a little bit by eating foods with more volume/less calorie such as popcorn,veggies,diet soda and by staying busy between work/school,etc.

[PerpetualMotion]

Considerig I have a 2 year old with me, It takes a while to eat. I haven't timed it out but I will tomorrow

Oh, then my question becomes irrelevant. Usually people who eat fast never feel full. I guess some people just have to deal with it. I personally like the feeling of being a little hungry. Makes my stomach feel smaller, less bloat, and just overall better.

To a larger extent, it's purely psychological. I'm surprised that your kid doesn't take your mind off of food. :p

[foodpr0n]

It should be used carefully.
It can seriously mess with hunger signals.

Essentially it can entrain you to lose your sense of being full. It happened to me.

I've moved away from it slightly (First meal about 11am, last about 10pm) purely because I could never really be satisfied. Now, if I'm strapped for time, and it ends up being a 'truer' IF schedule, I'll eat fairly calorically dense so that volume isn't huge.

I get feel satisifed/full now :D

Also just not thinking about what meal you can create with your macros and all that crap helps.
Routine, can be good.

Same thing happened with diet soda, I could drink it to what seemed limitless amounts, before, during and after eating. Fullness would never be achieved. You just get accustomed to the trying to obtain bloat/fulness with epic amounts that your body just expects it everytime.

[Cumulonimbus]

I work full time at a physical job and I IF. Being busy helps, but for the last few nights I had trouble eating 3,500 calories in 1 hour lol

[Andrew_S]

Are you saying you are still hungry, or just that you don't feel topped off and ready to stop?

[l3al3yJane]

Now I know what I'm about to say is probably, most definitely neg worthy to some, but bear with me because it is a possible solution....



I was having the same problem with NEVER being full ever. I was using IF to diet this summer and my appetite kept getting bigger and bigger. My carbs were relatively low so I was eating huge volumes of lean meats and veggies. We are talking an IF "meal" that required 3 plates and totaled 1100-1200 cals, several literal pounds, a gross distended stomach when finished and....still hungry :(

So then I tried to go to bulking because my bodyfat was getting low-ish plus lifts were suffering and I allowed any and all carbs back in...holy god, can you say uncontrollable appetite? I was constantly hungry, constantly thinking about food. I literally could not get full. I was quickly on my way to looking like a disgusting blob. Scale weight went up 21 lbs in 2 WEEKS. Yeah. Strong fulking right here. Lots of water and glycogen, but definitely not all, I got some of teh fatz.


However, I recently ended up entering this multi-event competition that requires me to do max reps for leg press at 150% of my weight, and I decided that it would benefit me to drop all my retained water from the carbs and compete at the lowest possible weight I could.

So I did what I thought I never would...I tried keto. I dropped 10lbs water in just the first 2 days, but I was so scared that eating the high fat food would suck because a lot of it has no volume. However, it has actually worked to satisfy me!! I don't constantly think about food and go around trying to calculate the lowest calorie thing that I can eat the most of to fill my bottomless gut. It is really nice to be free from that right now.


It is not something I am doing for long term, not going full ketard, but instead of feeling like I wanted to just nibble throughout the day so that I could save them up and have a bajillion calories at night. I have had about 500-600 calories at both breakfast & lunch with a slightly bigger dinner 600-700 calories plus incidentals throughout the day (cream for coffee) and I have no problem stopping at night. I'm just doing this for about 10 days total (6 left) because that is when those groceries will run out and the contest will have passed. But I am hoping that my body will be readjusted to spreading cals out so I can transition to better future habits and a less fulky bulk.

Maybe this is an idea that could help someone else??

[HunterCML]

Happened to me too Phil.

Before IF 1,200 calorie meals seemed epic, 3,000 calories in a day seemed like a mountain of food and 4 extra handfuls of Cheerios felt like a binge.

After IF I'm not even vaguely "full" unless I eat 1,500+ calories. My hunger has no off switch and I feel like I'm cutting hunger wise despite eating 3,800+ calories and bulking. The few binges I have had since IF (really just a few "i don't give a fuk I'm hungry" days) I've taken down 6-7k calories within an hour and a half to two hours, and I'm dead srs.

Since I've noticed all that, I no longer IF. Im trying to get back to small meals and using self control. It's been going well actually. Ocassionaly (about one a week) I get that never ceasing hunger feeling and slip up and eat all my calories for the day in one sitting. That has become less frequent though thankfully.

Self control is a bitch when you feel starving 24/7. **** ain't right.

[sunchienlee]

I cannot agree with you more OP, I thought I was going crazy but I guess it's happened to the best of us.

I now fast for about 18 hours and eat until I have to go to bed, that seems to be the only way to stop eating, sleep...

[jak3e1992]

I know you probably won't take my advice to heart, but I had the same deal. So the past week I've been pounding a descent breakfast (7-8ish when I eat it) but don't start eating until 5ish. It works for me..it holds me over and keep me kind of full until after workout then I devour 2 big meals some proats and I'm done.

[Hormel]

I break my fast at 12:30 pm with 1k calorie salad with meats , go to the gym from 5:30pm-7pmish get back shower/vidya games till about 830pm eat like 1.5k in sandwiches then have a snack , putting me at around 3.5k on most days, the time I feel the hungriest is right after my 1.5k sandwiches and before my snack, which is normally spaced out about 45 mins, it's like I go the whole day without thinking about eating, but after I eat 5 or so sandwiches for dinner my body is like MOAR NOW! Even after my snack im still hungry, but by that time its time to go to sleep. I still prefer it though because it allows for me to eat socially , and I'm almost never hungry except when I eat

[kkaustin812]

Phi, Im completely with you. I have really kind of developed an ED. feelsbadman. I've decided to take 3 days off from counting to try and "reset" myself and just eat more normally.

[PhiSig2298]

Are you saying you are still hungry, or just that you don't feel topped off and ready to stop?


I'm saying that unless I eat a 1,200-1,400 calorie meal, I'm hungry.. I stopped at 700 calories yesterday on one meal and literally felt like my body hated me. When I first started, 1,100 calorie meal felt huge. I had to incorporate a snack in there just to make sure I could hit cals/macros..

Recently, dropped the snack & my first meal has gotten as high as 1,800 calories (cutting at 2,800 currently) so that left me with 1,000.. I would feel full but then dinner rolled around & I would have my 1,000 with foods that I could get more bang for my buck. Lots & lots of veggies & fruits but it's like my body was expecting nearly double what I was giving it. I tried switching & making my last meal the big one but then all day I would just want food. I would sit & think about food. I'd stay busy & think about food.

I started IF for the hunger control & social life aspect. The hunger control is fading or my body is used to the big meal & wants more and the social aspect is getting in the way because I'm turning down snacks at parties or refraining from eating out because once I start eating, I feel like I need more.


I'm glad I'm not the only person this is happening to. Sorry for anyone else going through this

[psychodiver9]

What definitely helps is getting my mind off food as much as I can. When I have classes from 8 to 1pm in the fasting period, I am never hungry. But if I'm at work in the morning and it's a slow day, and I'm thinking about my first meal, it can be harder.

Strongly agree. Days I'm busy I'm mug less "hungry" than I am when it's a slow day. Also just being around food makes me hungry. 4 hour car ride and a bag of cookies in front of me I couldn't resist. Didn't really want one but t was there a I was bored.

[Phrak]

For me IF ****ed up my everything, Hunger was ravenous from 2pm on. Bloodsugar levels were all messed up. Some say they get energy from the fast, i felt like death until i got some food in me. Ive dropped my carbs to a minimum, so about 100g daily with most of them hitting on preworkout. I found that increasing my fats drastically helped get that heavier full feeling in my stomach.

[ErickStevens]

lol, buncha phaggots up in here. Team Never Full came to the realization long ago that as long as we're monitoring our intake and staying within our daily caloric guidelines, we're going to be hungry. You just have to deal with it and stop being a little bitch about it.

[shinyweight]

I have a feeling this is more due to trying to maintain any type of fat loss.
I personally have lost about 100lbs and maintained for over 4 years now.
I have been hungry every single day, all day. I have tried IF for 6 months and Keto for 6 months, without calorie counting I gained weight 150+g of fat at a meal did not make me feel full. This made keto fairly useless for me as the food volume just did not work out.
My current strategy is just a ridiculous amount of veggies. 2.5lbs of lettuce salad or 4lbs of broccoli as a side. That kind of stuff.
Even during the "screw it I'm hungry" days it was easily 8k+ calorie days before feeling some type of satisfaction from food and around 3k in a single meal depending on composition. These numbers are relatively accurate coming from someone who has counted successfully for ~4years.

What what I have Googled/PubMeded endlessly, this is a fairly common experience in any type of fat loss maintenance. While IF may allow you to push the bountries of what a painfully large meal is; I don't think it is fully responsible.

Welcome to Team Never-full

[adean1989]

My current strategy is just a ridiculous amount of veggies. 2.5lbs of lettuce salad or 4lbs of broccoli as a side.

Wut?

[PhiSig2298]

lol, buncha phaggots up in here. Team Never Full came to the realization long ago that as long as we're monitoring our intake and staying within our daily caloric guidelines, we're going to be hungry. You just have to deal with it and stop being a little bitch about it.


This is what I need to do

[PBateman2]

You just have to deal with it and stop being a little bitch about it.

^This.

Time to harden the fuk up. No crutches.

[TheRagingboxer]

lol, buncha phaggots up in here. Team Never Full came to the realization long ago that as long as we're monitoring our intake and staying within our daily caloric guidelines, we're going to be hungry. You just have to deal with it and stop being a little bitch about it.

Yea this about sums it up. I used to IF, kinda got away from it more because like you Phi, I have a child at home and I cannot spend the night cooking and eating, cooking and eating. Now I eat a meal in the morning, lunch, dinner, and usually some ice cream before bed. Like Erick said and it sucks, but stay within your daily caloric intake, once you hit it get up and walk away. Yes forever hungry!

[PhiSig2298]

Yea this about sums it up. I used to IF, kinda got away from it more because like you Phi, I have a child at home and I cannot spend the night cooking and eating, cooking and eating. Now I eat a meal in the morning, lunch, dinner, and usually some ice cream before bed. Like Erick said and it sucks, but stay within your daily caloric intake, once you hit it get up and walk away. Yes forever hungry!


I'm doing this. Just seems like my meals aren't as satisfying.. Guess I need to "harden the fukk up" like Manu said & "stop being a bitch" like Erick said

[shinyweight]

Wut?

4lbs broccoli + 1lb steak + pint of Ben and Jerry's was a pretty typical IF dinner for me. Could have ALWAYS ate more after that if I was not careful.

[TheRagingboxer]

I'm doing this. Just seems like my meals aren't as satisfying.. Guess I need to "harden the fukk up" like Manu said & "stop being a bitch" like Erick said

I know, I saw your intake is set at 2800(cutting), not a bad intake for cutting I must say. U r prob feeling hungry because you are cutting, towards then middle to the end of my cut, I was hungry as fuk, nothing hit the spot, nothing, it was ****ty for a while, but you will get used to it. A means to an end, you'll be able to eat more once you hit your target weight, look at it like that!

I see your cut is going well so going back to maintenance for a week is prob out of the question. When I found myself wanting to just straight up binge, I took one week went back to maintenance, replenished, and then went back into the cut. I do feel that this helped me out mentally/physically, tremendously!

[ko300zx]

WTF is with everyone cutting and complaining about being hungry and trying to blame it on IF all of a sudden? Sounds like a bunch of bandwagoning to me.

You engage in physical exercise all week long and are consuming less calories than your body is asking for, and you think you shouldn't be hungry? I would hope you are, regardless of when you eat, or how big your meals are. (Directed at everyone making this claim lately) Claims are made for both IF and higher frequency helping to control hunger, but to think you are going to completely eliminate it while in a deficit regardless of how you divide your intake sounds a little foolish to me.

Is this real life?

[Phrak]

I think the problem stems from people eating 1-2 large meals with large volume. Essentially training the body that when food enters the system expect a lot of it. So it becomes a big issue when you are saving your calories for a night out and eat a 300 cal meal to break the fast. Mine was more blood sugar/energy levels/overtraining.

[ko300zx]

So it becomes a big issue when you are saving your calories for a night out and eat a 300 cal meal to break the fast. Mine was more blood sugar/energy levels/overtraining.

???

So what do you do on higher frequency diet if you are saving those same cals for a night out. Have 3, 100 calorie meals until you go out? Sounds worse to me.

[Phrak]

???

So what do you do on higher frequency diet if you are saving those same cals for a night out. Have 3, 100 calorie meals until you go out? Sounds worse to me.

Id just over eat that day is all. Have my regular meals and make my "going out meal" larger. But if i were fasting id have a preworkout of 300 calories trying to save up calories for a night out, but id just get to ravenous and binge. I am much more stable on a 5-6 meal a day plan then IF. Plus i just love breakfast to much. Im up a 4:30am and my first meal wasnt till 2:30pm. I crashed way before my eating window.

[ko300zx]

Id just over eat that day is all.

Amen :D

[PhiSig2298]

WTF is with everyone cutting and complaining about being hungry and trying to blame it on IF all of a sudden? Sounds like a bunch of bandwagoning to me.

You engage in physical exercise all week long and are consuming less calories than your body is asking for, and you think you shouldn't be hungry? I would hope you are, regardless of when you eat, or how big your meals are. (Directed at everyone making this claim lately) Claims are made for both IF and higher frequency helping to control hunger, but to think you are going to completely eliminate it while in a deficit regardless of how you divide your intake sounds a little foolish to me.

Is this real life?

I'm not saying that I shouldn't be hungry, I'm saying that starting out, a 1,000 could keep me satisfied for a while until I ate again.. Now it seems like I can eat a 1,400-1,500 meal keep going. Like I said, I'm not bashing IF & I know it's been a lifesaver for many (including me in the beginning) but now it seems that I've adapted to larger meals & the pangs are becoming more intense. Maybe it's just because I'm lifting more, moving around more but I just didn't know if I was the only one.

I guess the thread title shouldn't have been what it is..

[ko300zx]

I'm not saying that I shouldn't be hungry, I'm saying that starting out, a 1,000 could keep me satisfied for a while until I ate again.. Now it seems like I can eat a 1,400-1,500 meal keep going. Like I said, I'm not bashing IF & I know it's been a lifesaver for many (including me in the beginning) but now it seems that I've adapted to larger meals & the pangs are becoming more intense. Maybe it's just because I'm lifting more, moving around more but I just didn't know if I was the only one.

I guess the thread title shouldn't have been what it is..

How many cals are you dieting on and how do you distribute them throughout the day?

[PhiSig2298]

How many cals are you dieting on and how do you distribute them throughout the day?

2,800 right now.. I've tried large 1st meal & smaller meal at night & the other way around. Tried 2 smaller meals & a snack


Normal day is

Noon: 1,200-1,400
7:00 pm: 1,400-1,600

Most days by 5:30 I'm ready to eat but hold out

If I have a snack, it's usually 300 cals and take that away from dinner & then dinner seems too small.

Not to mention 2,800 may be too many cals.. I was eating 3,000-3,100 calories for a while & maintaining for the most part & then signed up for the competition & decided to start cutting again.

[ko300zx]

2,800 right now.. I've tried large 1st meal & smaller meal at night & the other way around. Tried 2 smaller meals & a snack


Normal day is

Noon: 1,200-1,400
7:00 pm: 1,400-1,600

Most days by 5:30 I'm ready to eat but hold out

If I have a snack, it's usually 300 cals and take that away from dinner & then dinner seems too small.

Not to mention 2,800 may be too many cals.. I was eating 3,000-3,100 calories for a while & maintaining for the most part & then signed up for the competition & decided to start cutting again.

If it were me on those cals, I'd be doing around 2000 post workout assuming you are training fasted which I think you are. The few times I trained fasted I could pig out afterwards. I wouldn't try to get it down in a half hour or anything either. I would have it over like a 2 hour period. Then I would just have the last 800 or so around 6:30-7 and be done with it.

Also, there is no requirement to eat 2 large meals. If you want to have a decent sized post workout meal and then just graze the rest of the day, go for it. There are "recommendations" but do what makes you feel comfortable if you want to continue training fasted.

Or, just go back to 3+ a day and see if the problem corrects itself. Different strokes for different folks. I think there's a lot of over-complication when it comes to IF and also a lot of expectations that there shouldn't be.

[slimwealthy1]

Glad i'm not crazy. I'm the same way. I hate how food has become such an event with IF. If I'm not eating one of my planned meals and it's a special occasion (going home, going out to eat, going away for the weekend) I feel like I have an uncontrollable feeling to binge pretty hard. Verge of ED I'd say, but aren't a lot of us? I love eat everything at night after work/gym so I will employ this method forever probably. Just gotta deal with it.

[kwebbers]

Well, maybe i'll get flamed for bringing this up... but according to one of my nutriton classes (weight management/eating disorders, specifically) we have been learning about the effect of dopamine levels in the brain seen in individuals who have a binge eating disorder. And I guess for those who are unaware, dopamine is a neurotransmitter in the brain the controls the reward/pleasure centers yadda yadda... Not saying that those who choose to do IF have an eating disorder, but, you are essentially participating in a "binging" episode which is defined as eating large amounts of calories in a short 2-3 hour period - or less for some people. Basically, because dopamine levels in the brain of these individuals have lowered, it causes their inabilty to stop eating or experience the level of "fullness" and "satiety" that you should noramlly have. That being said, maybe it messes with the biochemistry of the brain? I guess its just something to think about, but honestly I don't know - just wanted to put my .02 because I'm pretty bored at work.

[sawoobley]

I am currently doing 800 cals at noon, 750 cals at 4 pm and 950 cals at 7 or 8 pm.

Now that I see that you guys were eating 1500 calorie meals all the time I can see how that would be tough. My largest meals use to be 1100 cals of solid food and 1200 cals of protein shake when I was eating at maintenance.

[dukend]

I am currently doing 800 cals at noon, 750 cals at 4 pm and 950 cals at 7 or 8 pm.

Now that I see that you guys were eating 1500 calorie meals all the time I can see how that would be tough. My largest meals use to be 1100 cals of solid food and 1200 cals of protein shake when I was eating at maintenance.

Is 60 grams of protein in one standing too much?

[juliacheh]

Who says we did not harden up about that?
I am tracking my intake. However IF is not for me, that's all I am saying.
Strong post, Eric.

Also, I wish men had sometime to deal with female hormonal issues just to get the feel of it. For instance, raging hunger that is absolutely out of control.

I was able to stop at 560 calories for breakfast today and felt like semi full. I think I am getting better, just will take some time.

[R3T3K]

IF makes me lethargic.

Although it is an awesome protocol whilst cutting, apparently I bulk on A LOT more than I originally thought and I cannot eat that much food in one to three sittings because of the inherent digestive issues due to this hernia. I actually prefer to 6-7 smaller meals method, unless I run out of time.

My body basically almost shuts everything else off to digest these massive meals. Feelsbadman.

[kkaustin812]

lol, buncha phaggots up in here. Team Never Full came to the realization long ago that as long as we're monitoring our intake and staying within our daily caloric guidelines, we're going to be hungry. You just have to deal with it and stop being a little bitch about it.

Lol idk if you were refering to me or not but I completely understand that. Im gonna be hungry regardless; right now my problems are more psycological I think and not just because Im bitching about being hungry.

[PerpetualMotion]

For me, it's convenience and the ability to cook more calorically dense and diverse meals.

When I wake up, I only think about cooking one meal (post-workout) and that meal can be anything I've been craving. I just can't imagine going back to 3+ meals a day.

[illiniStrive]

Also, I wish men had sometime to deal with female hormonal issues just to get the feel of it. For instance, raging hunger that is absolutely out of control.

This. Not even lean and I know exactly what she's talking about. I can only imagine this is exacerbated the leaner you get as a female.

[Andrew_S]

Bottom line, does any of it mean a single thing? Meal timing being irrelevant is preached here, so each person can do what they need to do, or is best for them to get their calories and macros in line for the day. The thoughts on the science behind it that was posted above is interesting, but pointless if the goal is just to gain/lose weight and putting enough food in the old mouth to do so. I've been fat and weak and if I could eat every second of the day I would, but you gotta ask yourself how bad do you want it, and if you want it, get some.

*Julia brings up a good point IMO, it just doesn't sound like what most people are talking about with IF is the same as what she went and is going through*

[juliacheh]

This. Not even lean and I know exactly what she's talking about. I can only imagine this is exacerbated the leaner you get as a female.

Sometimes it's getting ridiculous. This section is called Misc. for a reason.
I am not blaming anybody, was my decision to cut that low, next time when I am cutting I will actually hire someone to supervise me because I tend to get too excited and am afraid of overcutting again. Also, I am not dishing IF, it actually was helpful for me in terms of hunger control. However, all I tried to say is that IF is not suitable for ME PERSONALLY as a dieting technique and I understand OP because I developed the same thing.

And no, I am not hardcore and serious about bodybuilding. I am not a pro competitor/fitness model and had a major slip up recently, however almost back to normal.

Also, it's a known fact that dieting to low levels of bodyfat is much more detrimental for females than for males.

[Skimartist35]

Try mixing some xanthum or guar gum into fluff or proats etc., half a tsp and I don't even want to think about food...

[nlite2000]

Interesting discussion--it's become sort of a magic bullet for some people, as if it will fix any problem.

For me, it has been kind of magic bullet. I don't really worry about getting fat again anymore eating like this. Mostly because it eliminates the need to snack.