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So I'm reading more about trying intermittent fasting - I don't think I could do it at the moment because I'm still in that mental phase where even if I"m not hungry my brain starts whispering "eat.....eeeeeatt" at random times. Working on that.

Anyway, it seems as if most people do 16 or 24 hour fasts. I know on weekends, I eat dinner on Friday at the usual time (around 8 or 8:30) and then we usually don't wake up until 2 or 3pm. That right there is about 16 hours.

Does that count? Or does it only count if you're up and about and doing stuff?

I'll update this to say simply no, this is not an every day thing. As stated above, this is on weekends exclusively, and even then not every weekend either. I have a job that requires me to be awake at 6am every day - that in and of itself contributes to most of my sleep issues. I don't get tired until after midnight and thus don't get enough sleep. I take the time I have to sleep as much as possible, so I sleep in on the weekends.

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 As long as you don't eat in your sleep. – mari Mar 26 2011 at 11:19

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I'll add the caveat, yes,but, it's far more effective to move around, and to do it more than once a week.

The idea is twofold. Get your body used to pulling fat from fat stores, and producing ketones. Once your body is good at this, you'll never feel real hunger easily.

The more important in my opinion is Autophagy. It's the process where your body scavenges junk proteins and waste to be used as fuels. The most exciting junk getting scavenged is of course Cancer, but also inflammation, Oxidative stress etc.

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I seriously dislike working out with food in my stomach, so I usually try to wait as long as possible after lunch or a meal before I work out. I'm planning on hitting the gym on a regular basis for some basic strength training starting next week. Will most likely average out to be about 6 hours after meals, give or take an hour. Is that a sufficient fast or should I look at fasting from breakfast? – Oranges13 Mar 27 2011 at 4:24
Depending on how heavy your meal and what you ate, it's good. As long as you feel good and feel good exercising. If either are a no, pass on the workout. – Stephen-Aegis Mar 27 2011 at 12:28
Another anonymous downvote – Stephen-Aegis Mar 27 2011 at 16:56
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Yes, it counts.

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 Yay! Well then I know I can do this every weekend :) With a more healthy diet I have high hopes! I can't imagine doing a 30 day fast though. I would, quite literally, die. I would crash my car on the way to work, my work would fire me, and I'd just die. O_o – Oranges13 Mar 26 2011 at 3:27
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Of course when u r sleeping it counts.;-)

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Sleeping until 2 or 3 p.m.! Holy cow. Ah life before kids. ;-)

I should add that that kind of sleep schedule may really affect some of the hormones that are important to overall health, such as cortisol, adrenals, etc.

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You mean life before having a job... – Flavio M. Mar 26 2011 at 13:34
Hey, Flavio - I have a regular 9-5 job which doesn't require me to work on weekends. Half the reason I sleep so late on the weekends is because of my job - waking up at 6am for my hour long commute is not fun. I'd appreciate if you left your harsh judgement at the door. – Oranges13 Mar 27 2011 at 4:22
Sean - among other reasons, one of the many that I don't want to have kids. I ADORE sleep. I don't get enough of it. I probably average about 6 hours a night during the week. I'd say that would cause more issues (lack of sleep) then attempting to make up for it on the weekends (actually getting 8-10 hours at that point.) – Oranges13 Mar 27 2011 at 4:47

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