Intermittent fasting

[MJ DeMarco]

And how the hell do you beat the hunger?

Your hunger is due to being addicted to carbs, mainly sugar.

I've moved my normal diet to be low sugar (which usually transcends to low carb because FN sugar is in everything, even the bread!) and my appetite disappeared -- I probably have to force myself to eat 2,000 cal a day. I can immediately feel a difference and as the other posters have alluded, it has much to do with how your body reacts to carbs via the insulin reaction.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

they're blown away at the places they're getting sugar.

Bread.
Pretzels.
Salad Dressing.
Spaghetti Sauce.
Wheat Thins Chips.
Cereal.
Almond Milk.

I used to eat organic cereal with Almond milk as a late night snack ... sounds healthy eh?

Well that little snack had more sugar than a can of Coke.

I invite folks to take a look at how much sugar is everything and then once you find yourself disgusted, reframe the word "sugar" to something more virulent.

The thing that really helped me cut down was to look at the nutrition label and reframe "Sugar: 10g" to "Lard: 10g"

Seriously, if you looked a nutrition label and saw "Belly Fat: 10g" or "Heavy Metals: 10g" instead of sugar:10g, it's so much easier to not buy the junk.

 

[DavidofMN]

And when you do eat make sure you eat a lot of FAT! Bacon, avocado, butter, macadamia nuts, etc. The fats make you feels satiated and therefore less hungry. It's counter intuitive but fat doesn't make you fat. It's the carbs (sugar, grains, etc.)!

 

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[Guest14692]

I was a huge leangains advocate in college and had great results that seemed to permanently change my body composition.

I feel bad for Martin Berkhan. Essentially the IF pioneer, who never ended up writing his book or continuing his blog because he was fed up of the naysayers who constantly insulted his work, often with no scientific support.

I don't believe I'm breaking any rules here. I have attached two hyperlinks. Link 1 is a PDF that his followers created. It has fantastic leangains meals and recipes. Link 2 is an AMA with a guy who paid for a full-on consultation with Martin, or "liquid gold" for short.


http://www.leangains.com/search/label/Leangains Meals

The first hyperlink on the page takes you to google docs and you can download the pdf.

http://www.reddit.com/r/leangains/comments/1jjrci/former_berkhan_client_ama

Someone also created a consolidated downloadable version of the AMA. You will find it if you read through.

-joe

 

[PatrickP]

I think you saw my post in the other thread.

I am loving it and am sporting a true full six pack.

My avi but less body fat and more muscle thanks to IM

 

[Milkanic]

Edit: Has anyone does this with a 9-5 job? This is getting more and more interesting, but everything I find on leangains.com isn't really set up for people who work. Any insight here?

There is a plan for 9-5 on there.

I'm 5'7" 155 and work a sedentary office job so I'm shooting for 2445 calories on workout days (based on the awesome calc here)

My routine:
5:59 AM: Wake up
6:10 AM: Make a 30g BCAA drink - Drink 10g
6:15 AM: Workout (home gym)
7:00 AM: Get ready for work - Drink 10g BCAA
8:00 AM: Get to work - Drink 10g BCAA
12:00 AM: Eat first Meal (shoot for 1000 calories).
6:00 PM: Get home, drink super shake (800 calories - adjust if lunch was larger/smaller)
7:00 PM: Eat dinner (600 calories).

No shakes on non-workout days unless lunch was small.
I pretty much eat what I want and adjust the shake recipe to fill in the macros (peanut butter, oats, olive oil, etc).

 

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[Vic]

What would you have as your meals?

Here are my meals 90% of the time.

Breakfast-American Coffee
Mid morning-Espresso
Lunch-Half chicken, one cup black beans and a tomato or small salad (exchange the half chicken for pork chops, flank steak, fish, or some other protein)
Mid-afternoon-espresso
Dinner-see lunch
Before bed-if I'm hungry, I'll have a greek yogurt.

Weekends- friday night-midday sunday I fall off the bandwagon...beer, pizza, burgers, etc.. but still get in a workout and a long run.

 

[JAWS]

He calls himself a "bio-hacker" so I was suspicious at first, but apparently he does this site as a side project. I've been following him for 3 months and I can genuinely say I feel healthier (And I was healthy to start). Almost all of his posts are based off scientific research so I can't really argue with that.

But honestly, you have to check it our for yourself because only you will know if his info is BS or really works for your body.

Is this guy legit? Just checked out the site and it looks very interesting.

I had great results so far with IF. I'm fasting for 22 hours and eat for 2, lift heavy 3 times a week and add about 20-30mins of low intensity cardio after my lifting. Lost approx. 20lbs in 5 weeks and feel great, no cravings, no hunger during fasting. Just great.

 

[Rafal]

I am on IF for 20 months.

Minus 17 kg (37,5 lb) and what's really interesting - plus 4 kg (9 lb) of pure muscle mass.

No gym. Only home training.

And they say you cannot be both in catabolic (loosing weight) and anabolic mode. BS.

Well, this post is not for the faint of heart.

So... This is not "dufus version" of IF as Dan Pena would say it.

If you wanna check it, read on.

What I had found out is that:

1) I'm very insulin/carbs sensitive. That means I quickly, easily and efficielntly
gain weigh. And carbs are the only reason for that.

Phinney and Volek called that "carbs intolerance"

If you are overweight you are carbs intolerant. Period. That's it.

2) After breakfast - even low-carb breakfast like eggs, butter and bacon
I was hungry pretty quick, and eating breakfst made me eat even more
during the day.

So - f**k that.

What I do now (for last 20 months)

I eat only 2 times a day.

Around 4 pm and 9 pm. I gave myself only 1h window for eating.

Let's say I eat at 4 pm, and at 4:55 I feel I would like to have
some nuts. That's good. I can have them, 5 minutes to the dead
line.

If I feel it at 5:05 - gotta wait till 9 pm.

Simple.

What I eat.

This is where it gets interesting. I'm on very low carb ketogenic diet.

Which means 20-30 grams of carbs daily max. And I'm watching my
protein intake. Too much protein works like carbs (a little) - makes
your insulin level up.

To me, doing IF on high or medium carb diet is and up-hill battle.
Carbs will take your insulin levels up, which means your appetite
up.

Why would you want to complicate your life?

Ketosis means you're burning fat. You stop being glucose
dependant. And you're body has fat reserves. Which means
you thrive on crisis so to speak.

You have constant access to good calories.

I eat about 75-80% kcal from fat; 15-20% from proteins and
around 3-5% from carbs.

Last thing - about 2 days ago I was recommeded to read newest
book by Nassim Taleb - Antifragile. If there's someone
who's close to genius this days, it's Nassim.

In this book he talks about stresors that make you stronger.
Controlled hunger is one of them.

IF can make you stronger. It made me.

 

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[Rafal]

carbs are carbs.

sugar, grains and starches = glucose = insulin.

cut out ALL sugar. cut out ALL grains. cut out ALL fructose.
see what happens.

you gotta understand. dieting and nutrition is not rocket science.
this is not magic.

it's pure biochemistry and physiology.

 

[Mexidan]

Been doing this for years.

 

[PopEmersen]

check leangains.com

I did IF and lost 40lbs. I love it and highly recommend it.

 

[Rain]

Rain - Did You get the six pack when you tried it? That's what I'm going for. I'm always close but never quite get there. I usually have a 4 pack and can't get rid of that last layer.

Hedgehog - Does he recommend to try it?

I have a six pack, and got it through a mix of resistance training and intermittent fasting.

Intermittent fasting cuts your calories, which results in fat loss and ab visibility, and resistance training builds the abdominal muscles, causing them to stick out and giving you a "real" six pack (not just a "skinny pack" lol).

This is the ebook that initially introduced me to the concept: www.eatstopeat.com

 

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[hedgehog757]

Rain - Did You get the six pack when you tried it? That's what I'm going for. I'm always close but never quite get there. I usually have a 4 pack and can't get rid of that last layer.

Hedgehog - Does he recommend to try it?

He said he saw no adverse affects from it at all and he felt great. Just to make sure you eat the right amount of calories when not fasting. He thought he would feel weak and lethargic when fasting. Instead he said he felt energized and better than eating 5 small meals a day. He would probably say it is more of a personal choice but he would say go ahead and try it if you feel it would benefit you.

 

[Likwid24]

I have tried this technique off and on. Honestly it makes me feel jittery.

Why does it make you feel jittery? Are you taking supplements or too much caffeine on an empty stomach?

It took me about 2-3 weeks to get used to not eating breakfast. To keep myself from starving, this is what I did:

-Wake up in the morning and down a glass of water.

-Drink a cup of coffee right after, with a little bit of cream in it.

-This will suppress my appetite for a little bit. I wait a bit, then I drink a green veggie drink. I got this powdered drink from GNC. It has less than 5 grams of carbs in it. I believe it has 2, which won't affect the fast. This allows me to get an early dose of vitamins and minerals.

-During the fasted time, I'll drink another glass or two of water.

-I'll try to get my first work out in before I eat. To power me through it, I put powdered BCAA's in a water bottle and drink it 15 minutes before my workout. This usually powers me right through my workout. I have been getting some really good workouts on an empty stomach, when this was the thing that I feared most.

-If I got really hungry at any point during my fast, I would drink a little more coffee. This usually holds me over.


You don't get used to it over night and you don't see results over night. It's a process, just like the Fastlane is a process. I have seen great results and I love it now. Not sure if I'll ever go back to eating 6 meals a day.

 

[CPisHere]

How is this working for you? What results have you seen?

Edit: Has anyone does this with a 9-5 job? This is getting more and more interesting, but everything I find on leangains.com isn't really set up for people who work. Any insight here?

I typically work 8:30 - 5:00 currently. And when I start working full time on my business, I'll be working a lot more (already working on that after work).

Personally, I believe fasting in general is best for people who are already lean (or "fat adapted" as Mark's Daily Apple would put it). I've found that IF requires too much willpower if you have 20+lbs to lose, and at some point you will lose your willpower and pig out. Again, this is just my experience, but I think fixing the food you eat should be the foundation, and once you have lost weight with that over a few months, you can start to incorporate IF.

When I bring IF back into my diet, it will be this (which works perfectly for 9 to 5 job): » Introducing Bulletproof Intermittent Fasting: How to Lose Fat, Build Muscle, Stay Focused & Feel Great The Bulletproof Executive

 

[Vic]

I will vouch for IF as well, not only did I lose about 25 lbs over three months, but more importantly it disciplines you in eating/controlling your hunger. Before I used to be a big breakfast person...because that is what broscience teaches us, however I always found myself hungry throughout the day. Now, I have my first meal around 1-2pm and could probably go longer without eating if I had to.

I won't lie, the first couple of weeks were tough. However I worked through it by having a cup of coffee and going for a walk.

 

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[PopEmersen]

No, not way less. My lunch and dinner are pretty sizeable. I have a huge appetite.

 

[Likwid24]

I’m not sure though exactly what I should be eating and at what frequency/ratio in order to facilitate this timetable.

Can anyone help me fill in the blanks?

\

You should consider adjusting the schedule so that you get your powerlifting workouts in earlier. You should really get your most protein stacked meal after your workout. I think it also might be tough to do cardio then wait another 3+ hours before your first meal. Consider taking BCAA's before your cardio and before your workout.

I usually wake up around 630 am. Drink coffee. At 1030 am I drink BCAA's and go the the gym. When I come back from the gym, I have my largest meal.I break the fast with Almonds and Walnuts because it reduces the insulin spike then I get between 60-80 grams of protein along with about 50-100 grams of carbs.

I am going to try to give you a call later. I will explain it in full detail when I speak to you.

 

[Milkanic]

Get up at 6.00am
Do cardio workout at 6.30 – 7.00
Eat between the hours of 10.30am and 6.30pm and then fast the rest of the day.
Meal at 10.30am (not sure what % of overall daily calories to consume?)
Meal at 1.30pm (not sure what % of overall daily calories to consume?)
Meal at 6.30pm (not sure what % of overall daily calories to consume?)
45-60 mins of powerlifting (squats, deadlifts, bench press) at 7.30pm

I'd do something like this:
Get up at 6:00am
Meal at 1:00 PM (25% calories)
Meal at 6.30pm (25% calories - could do a shake here instead of a full meal)
45-60 mins of powerlifting (squats, deadlifts, bench press) at 7.30pm
Meal at 9:00pm (50% calories)

I would try to move your workout earlier though so you aren't eating that late at night. Your meal after the workout should be the largest. Alternate cardio and workout days - I would not do both in the same day.

 

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[GThreepwood]

I apologize for not understanding "Stress hormone cascade". First time I'm hearing that. Next time I'll look up something I don't know before asking you. I wouldn't want you to repeat yourself again.

I was honestly apologizing, I didn't want to sound like I was repeating myself, and thought maybe you didn't that part of my post.

No rudeness intended.

Stress hormones are usually Adrenaline and Cortisol. They're usually not very good when chronically elevated over long periods of time.

Here's a quick Wiki on them if anyone is interested, it's pretty short: Stress hormone - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

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[klh6686]

[video=vimeo;50912488]https://vimeo.com/50912488[/video]

This is the only copy I could find being hosted still, it was on youtube w/o the subs but it was removed due to copyright.



Anyways, I've always been naturally scrawny as I started lifting around 140lbs and bulked to about 170 a couples years ago. I did this with the typical 6-8 small meals a day method as it's all i knew at the time.

My personal experiences w/ IF consists of about 2 months where i wanted to cut some weight this past summer. I went pretty extreme as I typically do in most things I do and only allowed myself a 4 hour window. I believe I was consuming on average around 1500 cal a day of very clean foods so the deficit was very drastic.

I lost weight extremely fast but my lifts in the gym were still improving(deadlifting 2 times bodyweight at 160lbs) working out in the morning after a full night fast, I felt great and felt like my body was really working the way that it should.

 

[CommonCents]

protein and some fruit/veggies (prob from fiber content) are very filling for me and take away hunger. Add in a few vitamin supplements and it takes work to eat!

Also, if you find yourself hungry, often times it is lack of water. Your body not being hydrated can seem like hunger. Try filling a 64 oz jug of water in the morning(you can add lemons/cucumber for flavor) and sip on it throughout the day. It's easy way to get your 8 glasses in at a minimum. I add wheatgrass/greens powder sometimes w/ a little stevia and squeezed lemons and you get a nutritious alkaline drink that tastes like lemonade and not grass clippings! Try working up to 128oz, its not that hard when you have a jug around you sipping on it every few min. The alternative of remembering to go fill up an 8oz glass at least 8x a day, let alone 16 is pretty much impossible for me.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

But i got a question you reccomend any other books for me?

Hello son! The books I recommend as well as other Fastlaners are all listed here:

Book Recommendations for Entrepreneurship Marketing and Success

i got plenty of free time so basicly what would you reccomend me to do?

Continue to educate yourself and then take action on that education.

Please do not comment further in this thread as it is not appropriate to the topic being discussed here. Thanks and welcome to the forum.

 

[klh6686]

Your hunger is due to being addicted to carbs, mainly sugar.

I've moved my normal diet to be low sugar (which usually transcends to low carb because FN sugar is in everything, even the bread!) and my appetite disappeared -- I probably have to force myself to eat 2,000 cal a day. I can immediately feel a difference and as the other posters have alluded, it has much to do with how your body reacts to carbs via the insulin reaction.

This part is crucial, I've helped a lot of friends with their diet and I always ask them right away: "how much sugar do you consume daily" and they always tell me not much, then we add up what they actually eat and they're blown away at the places they're getting sugar.

 

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[Issac]

Intermittent fasting diet for fat loss, muscle gain and health
Not sure if anyone has posted this yet. Tons of great info here. Brad Pilon has another approach called Eat Stop Eat and I think the Warrior Diet is a more drastic approach to the IF lifestyle. Insulin is the strongest hormone in the human body and controls everything else. At the end of the day it comes down to consistency and patience. The mindset you have towards entrepreneurship, and the principles you apply on a daily basis, should carry over to health and fitness. Good Luck Fellas.

 

[Kingmaker]

Started IF 14 days ago, with the goal of seeing if I will be more focused during the fasting time (no energy wasted for digestion). Doing the 16/8 version.

Verdict: indeed, it works. Lost 6 pounds as a bonus.

 

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[Guest14692]

I eat chicken rolls all day from the pizza store plus beef patty with cheese and pizza slices with various topics.
I do my best to avoid high sugar foods cause im pretty convinced high sugar consumption increases my chances of getting acne. I avoid all juice and just drink sweet sweet life giving water, lots of fiji water lol, even though i heard fiji water might affect the thyroid or something...
If i eat a lot of fiber with the sugar though i think im safe though.

fiber is god actually, you eat a ton of it, then take a nice big dump clearing all the garbage out of your system... or so i hear...

but yea... PIZZA ALL DAY!!! and chicken rolls!!!

Hah- Well if it aint broke don't fix it! It's funny how that works isn't it? I'm waiting for the $49 ebook to come out and the super easy magic secret is only to try and eat meals with a higher % of protein than you normally do. Wala- People start eating burgers with 100 calorie buns vs a big fat plate of whole grain pasta and act like god has showed himself in clickbank form.

 

[Likwid24]

A few people have been talking about this on the forum lately, so I looked into it. Actually spent a couple hours last night reading a book I downloaded from a website.

Has anyone on the forum tried it out? If so, how was you experience?

 

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[Rain]

I have never been overweight, but I did try it a couple years ago to get six-pack abs.

It's basically just a lifestyle change. Eat enough nutrition when you do eat, and don't worry about skipping other meals (because it doesn't matter).