The IF Diet Paperback – March 13, 2013

This is the best book on Intermittent Fasting. The author gives you everything that you need to know about the eating plan and does simplify the science behind why it works in language that is understandable. I would agree with some reviewers about the physicality of the book...it can be problematic. There are no page numbers, chapter headings, or index. However, I own both the Kindle version and the hard copy of the book (that in itself should tell you what I think of the book), but he does give you reminders at the end of each chapter. It is very easy to riffle through, so I don't think it's a problem. It is, after all, content. I have been on the diet for six months. I have dieted most of my adult life to maintain my weight and have tried everything...Paleo, Atkins, Zone. If you saw me in person, you would say, what the heck is she talking about! I am thin...I am an obese person just waiting to get out, and DNA testing confirmed that I am prone to obesity. I am 5' 5" and currently weigh 130 pounds. I have lost 8 pounds which were absolutely intractable, and the weight was all around my waist and middle. Very dangerous! I am maintaining my weight at 130 pounds; look fabulous; have boundless energy, and I'm regaining my memory and my mental sharpness. I am 68. I just have a couple of things to say: NEVER underestimate the American social pressure to eat, eat, eat! I chose to not eat breakfast mainly because of social pressure. However, get in a crowd of Americans at breakfast time, and you get, "breakfast is the most important meal of the day". Just smile, and say, yes...I eat my breakfast at noon. Don't try to convince them...there's been too much propaganda surrounding breakfast. Stay hydrated during your fasting period. I drink two big glasses of water when I first get up and have two cups of black coffee in the morning. I drink water throughout the morning. Don't be afraid...you won't be hungry! I would also suggest that you eat your sugary items at lunchtime. If you eat too much sugar at your last meal and don't get enough protein at your last meal, you will be hungry during the awake portion of the fasting period. I have not overeaten during my "feeding" time; I eat normally and I am not hungry. Well, maybe not for us Americans; I don't eat the portions that are sized for a family of four. I looked into this diet because my triglycerides were sky high. My doctor was mystified because I am thin, but I carried my weight around my waist. I have since discussed this diet with my primary care physician, and she is on board with the "thirder" plan. Enjoy this eating plan!Update: I have been on this diet for 6 years. I have never wavered. Sometimes, I have to eat a little later because of social stuff, but I jump right back on. I have maintained my weight at 120 pounds. For those of you who are detractors of this book, Mr. Skinner and Intermittent fasting, I have some news for you. All have been vindicated! The research on intermittent fasting has been reviewed by the New England Journal of Medicine. They report favorably, and clinical trials on cancer patients on the effects of fasting have just begun. "Effects of Intermittent Fasting on Health, Aging, and Disease", New England Journal of Medicine, December 26, 2019". I suggest if you can get access to NEJM, please read it! Congratulations, Mr. Skinner! And, thank you!

This is a nice overview of the current intermittent fasting (IF) diets that are out there. Some level of detail on the benefits of the diets, though there is also some detail omitted. This is basically what you need to know to follow the diet that works for you, in terms of time (if you simply have to eat first thing in the morning, with a snack when you go to bed, the Thirder schedule is not going to work for you, but the Weekender (AKA the 5:2 diet) might be perfect). This book holds that during the "fast" periods, one can actually consume 500 to 600 calories. There is no discussion in the book as to why this is so, though it does note that this will make the diets easier to follow. (Some of the prominent researchers investigating fasting support the 500-600 calories argument.) Intermittent fasting basically reflects the "feast or famine" world that our genetic ancestors lived in, and which our bodies still respond to. The most attractive aspect of IF is that there are no special considerations for non-diet days. One pizza coming up. Many IF books are long-winded magazine articles covering one particular IF approach; the good news here is that you get three approaches for the price of one. I still would argue you can boil most of the content down to one good magazine article, but still recommend this book.

I got this book not thinking that it would be good. I have read lots of self help books and sometimes I have to just force myself to plug through them. Not so with this author. He makes it easy and and reading this was so enjoyable. Not that heavy stuff that some put out that make you just wish for it to end. This book was so easy to read and to understand and I felt by the end that I could do this and change my life with the system. Now I have to say here I read this book not to lose weight but because this type of eating can help your brain and at the age of 61 I want to keep my brain moving and my memory as good as I can make it. Losing weight for me is a by product and it does work and is so easy to do once you make up your mind to do it. What I did was to write out the foods to eat on the fasting days and feasting days. This made the process so much easier for me

While I can't compare this book to other IF Diet books, I will say that this book resonated with me. When a book resonates with me, it means I can relate. It means the statements ring true for me; at least they do from my current standpoint. This isn't ONE diet. It's three. There are 3 different ways to do this. Not any one is right for everyone. You need to figure out which one works best for your life. I like that Skinner offers different ways to go about doing this without sacrificing success. This author is realistic about how people stick to (or not) diet plans. He writes about our frustrations with diets that don't work. He explains why this one DOES work and how. It just makes sense.I have already stopped eating grains, sugar, and most legumes along with cruciferous vegetables - those things don't serve me well and I know it. This book is helping me break through the blocks to my weight loss. At this point, I'm down 39 lbs (with about 35 more to go). And the IF diet has been a big help. Read this book. It'll be worth your while.

I have a keen interest in nutrition and over the years have experimented with most diets out there in the quest to maintain healthy relationship with food and keep my weight in check, following an eating disorder in my early 20s. Funnily enough I have always gravitated intuitively towards intermittent fasting, well before I knew there was a term for it, as I have never been a breakfast person.A few years ago I discovered low carb-ing, having read Why We Get Fat by Gary Taubes and later on, Escape The Diet Trap by Dr John Briffa. To start with low carb-ing worked amazingly for me and allowed me to stop being obsessive about portion control as long as I steered clear from carbs. However over time, 2 years later, I started developing serious craving about carbs and will go through continuos periods of trying to be 'good' only to end up stuffing my face with the very foods I knew I should be avoiding. My weight has been in a steady healthy range for 8-9 years now, and for the first time I had difficulty controlling it, going through periods of losing and gaining the same 1 stone. I was putting on weight, the very thing I thought low carb-ing would help me avoid.Apart from switching to low carb-ing, the other main difference to my previous way of eating was that I started forcing myself to have breakfast. I read over and over again that breakfast is necessary, that it would kick start my metabolism and keep me from becoming ravenous by midday. On the contrary, breakfast even low carb one (2x eggs, some veg and bacon or smoked salmon usually) seemed to make me hungrier. I was going through the day thinking about when my next food serving was coming. No matter how strict I was with myself, I regularly sabotaged myself with binges and treats.Something had to change. I decided to re-visit my understanding about nutrition and the more I found out the more I realised skipping breakfast is actually what I should have never given up on. I am a natural 'thirder' as according to The IF Diet. It means I eat between 12pm and 8pm and avoid breakfast. I tend to have couple of black coffees and water during the morning and often find it no problem to delay my first meal until 2-3pm depending on how busy my day is. I am simply not hungry and it doesn't feel like I am making an effort to eat like this. I find I sleep better and am a lot more alert during the day too. Gone are the cravings, overeating and constant obsession with food. Two weeks in and I have lost 3kg, 1,5 inch off my hips and 1 inch off my waist. I do exercise, mainly short sessions of HIIT, weights or walking, but no more than 3-4 times a week- mainly for the health benefits, rather than for the weight loss. We all know by now that exercise alone is not the most efficient way of losing weight.The IF Diet book is great for those who are wondering about the benefits from intermittent fasting. It gives options for implementing the fasts that fit with people's lifestyles and inclinations. I find this key as there is nothing worse that trying to sustain a way of eating that goes against your personality/ family and work set up/ social life. It is vital to point out that this way of eating does not mean one can eat whatever junk they like and hope they will stay healthy or lose weight. Having researched various online resources on the subject (Leangains website and The Diet of All Diets article by Anthony Mychal are both excellent), it is all about eating fresh/ real food, mostly lean protein, lots of vegetables, eggs, cottage cheese, good fats, some nuts and fruit.For those interested in building muscle and losing body fat, carb cycling is a great method to consider and both sources provide plenty of information. I am eating carbs again on workout days and feeling great for it. The other great thing that this way of eating allows for is all of the un/expected of normal life, such as holidays, celebrations and just being a normal human being who is enjoying life. It allows for having an occasional bigger meal, treats and alcohol and not feeling like a total failure for it. It is such a flexible and adaptable way of eating that I can see myself eating like this permanently from now on. I love the fact I can have two decent sized meals instead of 3 small ones with couple of snacks. My days have been liberated from the constant thought about food and when I do have food I enjoy every bit of it.I would say to those who have never tried intermittent fasting to give themselves time to adapt. In my view the 16:8 fast is by far the most practical for most people and you can slowly build up to it by gradually increasing the fasting periods. Your body will adapt within a week or so and you should find it much easier to fast for longer with minimal effort. It is worth mentioning that there is overwhelming scientific research demonstrating that intermittent fasting not only does not slow down metabolism, on the contrary it promotes surge in own body fat burning, and not muscle.Overall I rate this diet book highly. It is written in an easy to understand way and provides key pointers about diet and exercise and how to combine them. Based on my experience with diets, I wouldn't call intermittent fasting a diet. It is a way of living and very flexible at that. Whether you like to restrict you intake on 2 days of the week, or alternative days, or like me- you prefer to use a shorter feeding window on a daily basis, the books provides you will all the info on how to do it and why it works and lets you make the choice.Lastly the added health benefits related to intermittent fasting are truly staggering- even if you are not interested in this way of eating for weight loss purposes, I would still recommend this book as a quality read.

An excellent book. The science is so simplified as to make the text minimally technical and therefore very readable, whilst retaining the degree of factual science required to confirm the principle. I bought the Kindle version at £2, which turned out to be superb value for money. I wish I'd bought the paperback copy now, which I still may. No in-depth detail on what to eat or specifics about particular foods, but that's not what it's about. I'm convinced about IF (intermittent Fasting) and can see it working on my own body already, after 2 weeks. "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, don't skip it" so said Kellogg's, Quaker and other cereal manufacturers - and we all accepted it for several generations, so much so that it became "fact" - We were lied to, but 'they' grew rich at the expense of our health. I no longer eat breakfast and no one was more surprised than I that I don't miss it in the slightest. Read this book in conjunction with Gary Taubes' "The Diet Delusion" (UK title) and "The Case Against Sugar" then get your life/health back on track.

This is a brilliant book, as previous reviewers have said, it is very clear, straightforward and not at all preachy. I read it in a couple of days and even had a go at a basic HIIT 10 min workout this morning!!! (Which was great!) I have been following a LCHF diet for only a brief time (although specific food is not suggested - it is more about how to eat rather than what). After a few days feeling not quite "right", this morning I feel great and the pain in my finger joints is almost non existent! This book is certainly worth a read and at £2.00 on kindle, if you are interested in improving your health, why wouldn't you check it out?

The fasting methods are explained in a brief and simple way, without wasting pages on unnecessary information. If you want to start with intermittent fasting this is the book. I have been using the 8/16 fasting cycle, as explained by the author, and lost 8 kg in 6 months without changing type of food, physical activity or lifestyle. And on top of that I feel much better, more focused, less tired and more healthy.

The writer breezes through the book. What started as an amusing style of writing in the introduction continued and became increasingly patronising and irritating. He assumes we know nothing and then skims through the reasoning, repeating the same information too often. I’ve read much better books by informed writers that give good interesting information, e.g, Dr Michael Mosley.