Should women IF? page

[Grumpycakes]

For those of you who don't follow Richard Nikoley, here's a very good blog entry.

No One's Power but Our Own: Paleo Sexist Woes, and an Invitation to Rise Up and Roar | Free The Animal

[bloodorchid]

that was a great post, thanks grumpy

[magicmerl]

It was very good. Although nobody tell Kenn (it uses the 'P' word).

[SoccerGrok]

Gotta love "Free the Animal"

[BestBetter]

Awsome. I've long been noticing that as a woman, my body does NOT respond the same as a man's body, yet it seems every diet related thing is focused on men, with the expectation that women should have the same results, when clearly we don't.

I am a big fan of IFing, but it doesn't do a thing for me in terms of weight loss. Now I know why.

[magnolia1973]

So the science of dieting is based on men, then marketed to women? I think of WW, Jenny Craig etc.

That was a good article and it does seem to me that the women with the best "healthy" appearance are moderate eaters and exercisers. The women who starve diet and exercise often have very unhealthy skin and hair and age quickly.

I think primal is good at correcting the body after years of calorie restriction and chronic cardio, but overall the weightloss for me has been slow. I'd be curious to compare women for whom primal is their first attempt to lose weight/eathealthy vs. women who have done CW for years.

And the whole body thing cracks me up between women. I put effort into looking good for men, period. Men started checking me out around a size 14, and I was non-existent as a 18 or up. And women LOVED me at size 18, even more at size 22. Never a mean comment heard. Many compliments heard- pretty hair, face, clothes Now I get the cut hair comments, comments on my clothes, directed comments about my body and no nice comments (from women). Interesting dynamic.

[Leida]

If you ever dug in the Lean Gains protocol, it has a gender adjustment for women. And you know what it is? Shortening the fasting window to 14 hours from 18 for men, to 'improve adherence' and improve mood, and increase carbohydrates, mainly from adding fruit. In other words, it acknowledges women's natural tendency to have bad feedback to long fasts and low carb. Obviously, all women are different, and some women can live on fat alone, etc, but yes, it is not accidental that a dieting woman will go for fish, yogurt and apples, and will be turned off by heavy, greasy foods.

[BlueToad]

I had been IFing for a few months and really enjoyed it at first. I had been primal for awhile before that. I don't have much weight to lose, if any, but I began gaining weight and my hair started falling out in clumps. Last week, after stumbling upon the Paleo for Women website and understanding there were differences for women in how our bodies respond to different techniques, I started eating 3 meals a day again. After just one week my hair stopped falling out and my belly is noticeably shrinking. Plus, I feel much, much better and have more energy.

I consider IF to be a tool that works for some people, but not all. And it may work at certain periods in any given person's life but not others. The main thing to realize is that we are all at different stages on this journey, and to learn what our own body needs, which is often through trial and error and hopefully finding the information we need. (And, for goodness sake, eat whole, nourishing foods while we figure it out so we have a couple of brain cells to rub together).

[Owly]

If you ever dug in the Lean Gains protocol, it has a gender adjustment for women. And you know what it is? Shortening the fasting window to 14 hours from 18 for men, to 'improve adherence' and improve mood, and increase carbohydrates, mainly from adding fruit. In other words, it acknowledges women's natural tendency to have bad feedback to long fasts and low carb. Obviously, all women are different, and some women can live on fat alone, etc, but yes, it is not accidental that a dieting woman will go for fish, yogurt and apples, and will be turned off by heavy, greasy foods.

Leida, that's interesting--I haven't read that bit of Lean Gains, but that certainly reflects my experience that a 12-16 hour window seems most comfortable and natural for me and that low carb was not helpful in fat loss. Adding more carbs back into my diet actually helped me get leaner, including eating fruit more often.

I also prefer to get my fat from my food rather than adding a lot of extra in the form of butter or coconut oil. I use those fats in moderate amounts for cooking, but I feel better eating fattier meats and things like avocados for my fat intake instead of doing things like making high-fat sauces. I know other women have said similar things--I think sbhikes has also said she prefers her fats to be part of her food rather than adding them in, and even though she eats lower carb, I find it interesting that we have this shared preference.

[Owly]

Also, IF is something I do on an unplanned basis (except for the overnight fast, which I see more as a normal, controlled eating pattern than as IF). If I'm not hungry or there's nothing to eat, then I'll skip a meal, but I don't force a long fast like some people will. I'd rather listen to my body and let my hunger signals tell me when it's time to eat or not.