I’m missing the “let’s try a trendy diet” gene. I’ve never tried a trendy diet in my life. Atkins missed me. I don’t understand the Paleo diet. The elimination diet seemed like bad science (to me). But “intermittent fasting” is one of the latest “trends,” I guess, and that diet at least makes a little bit of sense. At least it has some legit ties to ancient Hindu, Buddhist, Christian and Muslim belief systems. But of course, for intermittent fasting to go mainstream, I guess they need to divorce it from religion and get a celebrity involved. All of which to say, Chris Pratt is now doing intermittent fasting.
The latest celebrity to jump on the intermittent fasting bandwagon? Chris Pratt, and it’s already working! The Guardians of the Galaxy star, 39, is famously fit after years of training for his various superhero roles, and this time around he’s trying out the popular diet plan, which involves fasting for most of the day and eating only during a shortened time period.
“So I’m doing this intermittent fasting thing; don’t eat till noon, try to get my cardio in in the morning. It’s super exciting actor stuff,” Pratt joked on his Instagram story on Monday. “But I finally get my coffee and look: I’m drinking out of Minnie Mouse’s head!” he said, while lifting up his mug. Pratt encouraged his followers to read up on intermittent fasting after his quick success.
“Look it up! Check it out! It’s actually kinda cool,” he said. “Works pretty good and I’ve lost a little weight so far.”
The dad to son Jack, 6, also announced he’s bringing back “What’s My Snack,” the Instagram game he made up last year while filming Jurassic World 2. Pratt was also trying to stay slim for that role, and spent each day looking forward to the snack he would get on his restrictive diet.
“What’s my snack is back!” he said, explaining that he had black coffee during the fasting period. “To be clear, this is coffee with oat milk — I can have black coffee on the intermittent fasting.”
As I said, this is one of the few diets out there that at least makes a little bit of sense to me. But since I’m missing the “trendy diet” gene, I’m also missing the “willpower to fast” gene. I can easily skip eating breakfast, because I’ve never been a breakfast person. But my problem is that I can’t “fast” later in the day. Sure, I love an early bird special for dinner, but that means I like to snack a bit in the evenings. Which every diet says is bad. Anyway, Chris Pratt has the willpower that I lack. Good for him.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
I tried this about a year ago. At first, it worked. By at first I mean the first week or so. But by the second week, I was so hungry from fast days that I was overdoing the calories on eating days, actually gaining a bit. So I stopped. Maybe it’ll work for him, who knows?
I do the 16:8 version and eat 12:30-8:30 and find it works really well for me. I do cheat a bit and have a coffee mid-morning. I think it encourages me to drink lots of water in the morning and keeps me hydrated.
I’ve lost 60lbs and kept it off for two years, but I think it only works because you’re reducing your calorie intake but still able to eat two decent sized meals. I find it sustainable because let’s be honest the only diet that works is the one you stick to for life.
I started in Oct, also have a mid morning coffee so far lost 7kgs and keeping it off going into the silly season. Really simple to follow, helps with my blood sugar and hunger.
Black coffee or with cream? I do bullet proof coffee. It seems to not spike my glucose or fasting levels too much but know it is breaking the fast.
I do the 16:8 sometimes 14:10 and it is really much more bearable than a whole day of fasting. It helps to regulate sugar levels, helps with hiperinsulinemia … And eliminating processed snacks and refines carbs helps with these lugar spikes and crashes…. Eating high fiber, moderate protein and whole grains helps feeling satiated for a long time.
Do you do 16:8 every day, or just a few days per week? I’ve seen both recommendations. Not sure I could do it 7 days per…
It takes about a good month for your habit of eating in the morning to change. I’ve been doing intermittent fasting for about 2 years now and don’t get hungry until about 4pm in the after if I fast for most of the day.
I agree with Isabelle, it takes a little while to get ‘adapted’…. but once you do you will be hungry at your window times… i do most days 20:4 or 18:6. Once or twice a month I do 24 hours fasting or 36 … that I do for health reasons as I want to get the autophagy results.
Just the thought sounds so hard. I get a headache when I don’t eat early followed by nausea.
me too! I get nauseated if I wait too long to eat after i wake up, so shockingly, intermittent fasting was not a win for me 😉
Same. I have to eat regularly or I get crabby and starving.
Yeah….this would be hard for me because I do a running commute to work that lasts anywhere from 3 to 7 miles (typically just 5 miles) and while I don’t eat before my run, by the time I get to my office I’m starving.
My brother has been doing his own version of this diet where he fasts for 12 hours a day. So basically, if he’s eating later in the evening than usual, he skips breakfast. That’s much more doable for most people. Many of us don’t eat between 8:30PM and 8;30 AM. *shrugs*
Holy shit you run to work?! Kudos to you.
I just joined a 6 week weight loss challenge and its SO COLD in the morning I am finding it so hard to get up and work out. These new england winters suckkkk
Me too. I went too long between dinner and breakfast not too long ago, and thought I was going to pass out (for real). If you have any kind of blood sugar issues, I would say DO NOT do this until you’ve talked to a good doctor.
Chris can do whatever he wants, but I don’t love any celebrity encouraging their followers to try a diet. Everyone has different needs, and that could mess someone up.
I think he’s just doing the 16:8 one. You eat all of your food from noon to 8 pm. It’s not that intense or difficult.
i did 10-6pm with working out in the fasting period, ie before 10am and it totally worked for me and like you say – was not really that hard to accomplish or deal with.
Nope and you get hungry less the longer you do it, which makes it easier to eat less and in smaller portions.
I have friend who swears by this…but she is also a bandwagoner who has lost and gained a lot of weight over the years. I thought it was healthier to eat at regular intervals to keep your metabolism going smoothly. I need to eat at regular intervals or I won’t have the energy or stamina or patience to make it through the day.
Same here. I tried intermittent fasting and my conclusion was that I’m really just kind of a sh*tty parent when I’m hungry.
Lol, you did it totally wrong.
This is another nonsense-diet. I respect the religious practices but if you do this to lose weight I roll my eyes at you. You lose weight if you eat less calories than you need a day, you gain weight if you eat more. No, eating less calories isn’t automatically healthy, no, the time of day you eat those calories doesn’t matter (it might matter to your stomach though). That’s literally it, everything else is misinformed at best and snake oil at worst.
Actually this has huge bases in science followed by ton of the medical community.
Fasting low calorie rats live longer than regular eating, small meals throughout calorie rats. And further research since then. Evidence based!
Yeah, but the studies with primates, which we are a bit closer to, failed. I get how this seems to make sense and how it seems closer to how people naturally ate, but like paleo this forgets we have proven to be a highly adaptable species, especially when it comes to food sources.
The Medicine Nobel price winner of 2016 did a study on Autophagy and the benefits of it. Intermittent fasting gets you to that state. it is actually pretty good and ground breaking. Do A little research… you’ll be maybe surprised!
IF is the easiest thing in the world if you already don’t like eating breakfast in the morning… I started fasting in August of this year, on an 18/6 schedule (18 hours fasting, 6 hour eating window), and for me it was as easy as skipping breakfast and having a big snack in mid afternoon and a big-ass dinner — my eating window was 2pm to 8 pm. Sleeping time counts as fasting time, which I think a lot of people forget when they look at this way of eating and preemptively convince themselves it’s too hard and they could never. And yeah, I lost a very noticeable amount of weight. I’m off the fasting schedule now because of the holidays, but I’m definitely going back to it very shortly — aside from the physical benefits, I like that it keeps my grocery costs waaaaaay down, and that it helps me not obsess about planning my next meal or snack.
exactly! I’ve been an intermittent faster most all of my life not by design but simply by how I like to eat and it works really well for me. Middle age and still nice and trim. It is only now as science is catching up that I realize fasting has a huge roll to play.
Same! I have NEVER been a breakfast person so I often don’t eat my first meal until anywhere between 12:00 and 2:00. I do find it hard not to snack late at night sometimes, but since I’ve cut way back on my alcohol intake, I have way better impulse control.
There’s scientific evidence for the benefits of fasting, in addition to the historical use. Although there is some conflicting evidence on the impact of intermittent fasting and female hormone cycles, and it didn’t work for me.
It helped me lose weight after I had gained some, but I got too focused on food and it didn’t make me feel mentally healthy. I think it can definitely work for others though.
This intermittent fasting trend reeks of disordered eating.
Yeah I think it’s definitely attractive to folks who have eating issues. A lot of the motivational rhetoric I’ve seen around IF communities is eerily similar to pro-ana rhetoric.
Not saying that’s true of everyone who is doing IF, or even the majority, but as a former ED sufferer, it’s a bit too similar to old bad habits that I’ve purposely stayed away.
Pretty widespread judgment there when a lot of people follow it. It was suggested by my Doctor after my Asthma was out of control. Dairy and basically overeating are big triggers for my Asthma. At the time I was about 30lbs+ overweight on top of it. So she suggested the diet so I could take control of my eating habits. I haven’t looked back and it 100% has helped my Asthma control (I’ve less prone to eat foods triggering my Asthma).
Darn right it’s a widespread judgement.
This is encouraging people to waver between starving and binging. This is an extremely dangerous diet for people already prone to eating disorders. Although people upthread are claiming there is scientific basis for this diet, there is no evidence that primates or humans benefit long term from this latest fad. And fad it is. Intermittant starvation is not sustainable in the long term. I would bet that long term studies of people who practise this will find detrimental effects such as lower metabolism, hyper and hypo thyroid issues, vitamin deficiencies, and yes eating disorders. Many people have jumped on yet another diet trend bandwagon in the hope that it’ll be a magic bullet for weight loss.
Here’s a tip. You can stop eating dairy without fasting. You can learn to stop overeating without fasting.
@ reader you really didn’t really my comment fully did you? Especially the part where it was first suggested by my Doctor who is a SPECIALIST in Asthma. Dairy was only ONE of the issues. Not going into the details of why it was triggered (my lung tissue is scarred/effected from childhood lung tumors) but it took almost a year of steady treatment. My treatment included tons of medical visits, medication, treatments, specific exercise, diet and changing my home environment. IF was part of a larger plan. Dairy was oddly the hardest thing for me to break because I freaking love cheese so that is why I mentioned it.
Also, a lower metabolism? 3 years now and I’m still a size 4 down from a size 12. Honestly I have to eat a lot of calories when I’m not fasting to keep the weight on. Not Vitamin deficient at all (btw you can eats tons of food, every single meal, and still be vitamin deficient). No thyroid issues, if anything my numbers have improved.
No one with an eating disorder should be following any diet. If they choose to disguise their eating disorder with a diet it doesn’t mean it won’t work for some of us.
By your standard there should never be any diet on the market, none, because a person with am ED could latch onto any diet and use it as an excuse.
Since starting the more moderate 12-hr version (8pm-8am) four months ago, I’ve gradually, almost effortlessly, lost weight. Sleep better, feel better, too. Basically, I just eliminated my evening snack. I still eat breakfast. Maybe I’m not doing it correctly, but you can’t argue with success!
I did the 5:2 diet (fasting 2 days a week, eat regularly 5 days a week) and I lost all of my baby weight after my second pregnancy (in 2014). It wasn’t hard at all either. It’s the one diet that has ever really worked for me. Then I moved to the US and gained it all back lol. And now I’ve lost those pounds and a couple more, not by fasting but by running and watching what I eat.
I’ve been doing 5:2 (two fasting days per week) for several years now and I love it — but I love it because it pretty much follows my preferred eating habits/rhythm anyway: I’ve never been a breakfast person, for example and I love to cook a variety of cuisines so something ingredient restrictive is kind of a no-go. Sticking with 5:2 just keeps me mindful of my eating. Everyone’s body needs are different, though, so mileage may vary!
The only way to lose weight is to eat less calories than you use a day- it really doesn’t matter how you achieve the calorie deficit but atkins, paleo, intermittent fasting, weight watchers are all just ways of reducing your calorie intake- for a lot of people these diets are easier than counting the calories directly.
The thing with intermittent fasting is because you skip breakfast and evening snacks it knocks hundreds of calories off your daily intake without much effort. Like any diet, it works if you stick to it. But once you go back to the eat you were eating before you go back to the weight you were before.
Truth. The key to the fasting, you are less hungry once your body adapts, hence you eat less overall.
I don’t think it is really a trend given it’s been around for a very long time. There are numerous benefits to fasting that aren’t weight loss related. We live in a culture where food is constantly available. Many non western cultures fast. It can be very good for lots of reasons.
I’ve been intermittent fasting for about 3 years now (suggested by my DR for my Asthma) and easily lost 35 pounds without changing my diet (haven’t gained one pound back). Sleep better, have more energy and less lethargic in the afternoon. Swear it has helped me to control my Asthma much better with less visits to the DR. It is the biggest game changer health wise in my life in the last 20 plus years. btw…intermittent fasting isn’t a new fad. The theory has been around for sometime, just basically renamed. My co-worker did it over 10 years ago and just called it fasting, lost over 100lbs when combined with Atkins. The older rule was stop eating at 8pm and then eat after lunch.
This really isn’t a trend. I learned IF was the most effective weight loss method back in 2001, back when everyone was stuck in the ridiculous idea of “starvation mode” and eating six times a day. Clearly, the contestants on Survivor never experienced “starvation mode” and lost a ton of weight when food was reduced dramatically. Next thing I knew, 40lb was gone in three months without counting a single calories or modifying or limiting my diet whatsoever. Who came up with that idea?? If you are constantly feeding your body fuel, when does it have a chance to burn fat?
@Honey bear–“If you are constantly feeding your body fuel, when does it have a chance to burn fat?” That is absolutely on-point!
I have been doing the 16:8 for the last week and have been particularly lazy about exercise at the moment and I have lost one or two pounds. My weight fluctuates regularly but I noticed my average range as a whole is dropping. Sweet!
I did 5:2 for a solid 6 months, no cheating but in the end it didn’t work. I think my body adjusted to it and i didn’t really see any good weight loss. It seems to work better for men. I know a few men who had great success with it.
I think there are studies that support that it is more effective for men than women. Can’t recall the reasons but it put me off trying the 5:2 approach. 16:8 sounds more like a regular day so perhaps easier?
Fad diets. Ugh. It’s all about calories consumed v calories burnt.
If it works for Chris great. Good for him. But, I do wish celebrities before going on about how much weight they lost or how good they feel would also mention to see your doctor before starting any weight loss or exercise program. There are many people who will just accept any testimonial from a celeb and think they will get the same results.
Do your research