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Intermittent fasting

Likwid24

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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

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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).
 

hedgehog757

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I know a Personal Trainer who didn't believe in it. So he did it to see how it would work out. He reviews this kind of stuff on his website. He said it worked great.
 

Likwid24

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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?
 
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PatrickP

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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
 

Rain

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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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Lights

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I did it last month, and I lost 10 lbs. But I also did an Atkins lifestyle too. I feel a lot better in my body these days, those 10 lbs were the 10 lbs to make it or break your attractiveness.

I recommend it.
 

hedgehog757

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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

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@Patrick - I was actually going to pm you to see what you thought about it and what IF program you were on or to see if you tried out a few before you found the right one. I figured to start this post to get an open discussion about IF and see everyone's opinions. I'm thinking of doing the 16/8 diet. I'm actually starting it today. I went 12 hours last night (from 10pm - 10am), skipping my usual breakfast the minute I get up. It wasn't that bad. Tomorrow I'm going to try the full 16. My biggest problem is missing breakfast, since it is my favorite meal of the day. I guess I can still eat it, just after my workout.

@Wado1 - I read an ebook last night on it and the author tried 6 different types of IF over 6 months. He loved the 16/8, which I believe he got from leangains. That's where he lost his most body fat and gained lean muscle. I'll check out the website.

@Rain - I got the hard six pack. It's just hibernating. Lol. I'll check out that book too!

@Hedgehog - I heard that you feel very energized and your focus during the fasting phase is unbelievable. Just getting through the first week is going to be tough, but I'm going to give it a shot.
 
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PatrickP

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I would HIGHLY recommend going into it slowly. If I were a big breakfast person I think it would have been very difficult.

I believe it best if you look at it as a long term lifestyle change.

I took many many months to get into it gradually. I use liberal amounts of coffee to cut the hunger. Now it is easy to go 16 - 24 hours without eating. And can still go running, working out etc. Walked two hours today on the beach. (I had to get that one in there lol)

Please feel free to PM me if you like. I opened my first gym almost 30 years ago and have owned a number of them since, personal trainer, health club owner so I have seen fat loss programs come and go. This is the first one I tried because I see the logic of it.

Keep your blood sugar levels low so your body does not release insulin and store the calories as fat.

As for lots of ab exercises I never work my abs. I figure 99% of the time I have my shirt on why would I want to enlarge them so look fat. No need to if you workout as they will get worked as well as your core.
 

CPisHere

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There are LOTS of different forms of fasting with varying lengths/timing, etc.

Personally, I follow a healthy slow carb diet with a cheat day each week (from the 4 Hour Body), and follow my cheat day with a full 36 hour fast. So if I cheat on Saturday, I fast from Saturday night till breakfast Monday. The first time I did this it was really tough, but by the 3rd it was easy and now it feels natural.

I've gotten the best results with this single day/week fast vs 20 hour fasts daily or alternating eating days. I also find it to be the most convenient and easiest to stick to. Supposedly women will struggle with fasts this long though and do better with shorter fasts.

I believe there are several benefits to a full day fast after a cheat day. 1. it reduces my weekly calorie intake; 2. it gives my body time to repair all the damage I've done, and 3. The hormonal boost and life longevity.
 

hedgehog757

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@Patrick - I was actually going to pm you to see what you thought about it and what IF program you were on or to see if you tried out a few before you found the right one. I figured to start this post to get an open discussion about IF and see everyone's opinions. I'm thinking of doing the 16/8 diet. I'm actually starting it today. I went 12 hours last night (from 10pm - 10am), skipping my usual breakfast the minute I get up. It wasn't that bad. Tomorrow I'm going to try the full 16. My biggest problem is missing breakfast, since it is my favorite meal of the day. I guess I can still eat it, just after my workout.

@Wado1 - I read an ebook last night on it and the author tried 6 different types of IF over 6 months. He loved the 16/8, which I believe he got from leangains. That's where he lost his most body fat and gained lean muscle. I'll check out the website.

@Rain - I got the hard six pack. It's just hibernating. Lol. I'll check out that book too!

@Hedgehog - I heard that you feel very energized and your focus during the fasting phase is unbelievable. Just getting through the first week is going to be tough, but I'm going to give it a shot.

I am pretty sure my friend did the 16/8 IF. As for Abdominal Exercises...Great Abs are made in the kitchen!
 
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The-J

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There are LOTS of different forms of fasting with varying lengths/timing, etc.

Personally, I follow a healthy slow carb diet with a cheat day each week (from the 4 Hour Body), and follow my cheat day with a full 36 hour fast. So if I cheat on Saturday, I fast from Saturday night till breakfast Monday. The first time I did this it was really tough, but by the 3rd it was easy and now it feels natural.

I've gotten the best results with this single day/week fast vs 20 hour fasts daily or alternating eating days. I also find it to be the most convenient and easiest to stick to. Supposedly women will struggle with fasts this long though and do better with shorter fasts.

I believe there are several benefits to a full day fast after a cheat day. 1. it reduces my weekly calorie intake; 2. it gives my body time to repair all the damage I've done, and 3. The hormonal boost and life longevity.

What have your results been? Were you focused on muscle gains, fat/weight loss or both?
 

PopEmersen

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The basic premise is if you do IF + Squats, Pull Ups, Deadlift, and Bench Press, you will DEFINITELY LOSE FAT AND GAIN MUSCLE

I did 16/8 too. I only have calories from noon to 8pm. It works great if you also lift heavy. My basic schedule was only water before noon, then from 12-8 mostly protein based big meals, usually only 2 big meals.

This was my gym routine

Heavy lifting 3 days a week using Reverse Pyramid scheme
Legs: Squats, Hack Squat, Leg Press, Lying leg curls
Chest: Bench, incline bench, incline dumbbell fly, dumbell bench
Back: Pull ups, Deadlift, Lat Pulldown, Seated Row

Sometimes I would throw in Shoulders.
 

Mike39

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What have your results been? Were you focused on muscle gains, fat/weight loss or both?

I don't have a lot of experience with fasting but I would say you shouldn't need to fast if your looking to build muscle, I follow the 4 hour body's method for bulking, eat a whole ton of protein and maximize your testosterone levels during your cycle, I gained 8.5 pounds in 4 weeks doing 30 minute work outs and made massive gains. Basically eat (the right foods) like its your job (you will get sick of eating so much), less reps more weight and let your muscles recover! Planning on doing a cycle again, it just costs some $$$ for food/supplements, still working out, just not eating the same amount of food or taking all my supplements
 
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Likwid24

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Day 2: 14 hours without food. So far I feel pretty good. I'm thinking of hitting the gym now then having my first big meal. My only worry is working out on an empty stomach. I never do that. I'm going to drink a cup of coffee before and take some BCAA's. Hopefully that can push me through the workout until I get used to IF.
 

VexX

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I'm pretty into the paleo style diet and often only have my first meal of the day after 12. At first it was hard to break the pattern, but now things go pretty chilled.

My personal trainer always told me not to eat 1 hour before or after a workout since digesting the food takes up a lot of energy and blood that your muscles will need during or after a workout.

He used to do 12 hour fasts before some workouts and never complained. I don't like gyming if I haven't had any food on that day, makes me feel really nauseated afterwards if I dont eat anything.
 

CPisHere

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I personally found negative effects to the 16-8 fasting schedule. I actually put on weight because I would over-eat in my feeding period and by trying to cram eating into too small a time table I was overly spiking my glucose levels. Obviously some people have success with it, but my guess is it works better if you are already lean since you will have better glucose regulation.

Plus I don't believe daily fasts are necessary or provide the same health benefits as a 36 hour fast.

I do workout when I fasts and only supplement with BCAA's and Omega 3's.

I fasts primarily for the health benefits, but would skip it if I was trying to bulk.
 
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PatrickP

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I don't understand why you think a 36 hour fast would work better seeing as how a 16 hour fasts did work for you.

Also it is physically impossible to over spike your blood glucose level. They spike( I don't like that term) but eating more than say 2000 calories wont make it spike more. In fact you probably ate extra fast and protein which would blunt a spike.

So you need to eat properly when you end the fast.

For example my fasted BG level is 70 - 75. If I eat pineapple it will spike to 125. BUT if I first eat some fats first it will only go to 105.

You simple ate too many calories when your ended your fasts. That is why you got fat doing IF.
 

PatrickP

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It it pretty much the same as I like it.

My wife is so AMAZING she cooks it up for me in the AM so it is all ready when I eat at 8 PM.

I start off with veggies for health of it also it helps blunt the blood glucose spike.
Then I have some steak and eggs and chicken.

After that I will have some cereal as I love it.

Then I just keep repeating the above over the next 2 - 3 hours until I have eaten:

1lb of steak
1 Dozen fertilized eggs(this I eat raw for various reasons)
1lb of chicken
veggies such as peppers, onions etc
Fruit almost always strawberries, pineapple, melon and bananas.

Sometimes I will have a box of cherios with splenda which is probably too much but I am still losing fat so it can't be too bad right lol
 
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Milkanic

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I did Starting Strength for 6 months and recently switched to Greyskull LP and a lean gains diet. I was never much a breakfast person and work out at night, but so far I am loving both programs and think they go really well together.
 

Mexidan

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I´ve been doing IF for years and was probably one of the first 10 clients of Martin Berkhan from leangains.

It really helped me break free from the obsessive behavior I had previous to my switch and I wish I had started doing this years earlier rather than carrying around a bunch of food containers everywhere for years.

I´m not as serious as I was before since I have a little baby girl now but this really helps me to stay in shape and to look good.
I have to stress that it is good but not great though.
I do not have great genetics, was overweight as a kid and while I am lean now, I´ll probably never be as ripped as some of the clients on his page.
IF really helps with diet adherence, lifestyle and fixed some issues I was having but it is not magic.
 

Mexidan

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My wife is so AMAZING she cooks it up for me in the AM so it is all ready when I eat at 8 PM.

Isn´t the steak all like.. dried out rubber by then?

1 Dozen fertilized eggs(this I eat raw for various reasons)

Which reasons?
I believe a boiled egg´s protein value is higher than that of a raw egg.
Also salmonella not an issue?
 
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joona

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I started IF just recently as well as lifting heavy. Really curious to see what kind of effect it has to my body. I took some measurements (chest, biceps, waist etc) when starting. Took some pics too and stepped on a scale. Will be interesting to see the changes in data and looks :)
 

MartinV

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I just finished a month trial of IF/low carb. I ate one meal per day, so about 23 fasted hours between meals. I had about 1 cheat day per week, which wasn't really planned but just came up because of social gatherings or whatever.

I was pretty strict on the calorie count and ate at a very significant defecit (at least according to online calculators). I lost quite a lot of weight the first week (which is usually attributed to water) and then pretty much nothing thereafter, though I've been back on carbs for a couple of weeks now and haven't gained any back, so maybe the weight loss caught up to the water loss.

I actually felt pretty great while doing the above, and I was never really bothered by cravings. I was quite full and sluggish after dinner, but it wasn't a problem since I ate late in the day. I think my days were more focused, and I felt like I gained quite a bit of productive time due to being able to skip lunch and then not wishing I could take a nap afterwards.

I'm trying to keep the same eating schedule (and calorie count) this month but with fruits/vegetables/nuts instead of meat/dairy. The weight loss seems better, but it's been harder to fight off the cravings thusfar.
 

LightHouse

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Whoa, did I post on this forum that i have been doing IF? I sort of follow leangains and a 16hour fast... but i do not train fasted. because of the workouts i do if i worked out in the middle of the day I would not be able to work or think the rest of the day, LOL.

I have cut some BF so far i stated at about 15% I think I am at 14% right now... i forgot to check this morning. SO far it seems like an easy to follow lifestyle change. I dont know how well it'll workout later in the year when i get back to gaining.
 
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CPisHere

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I don't understand why you think a 36 hour fast would work better seeing as how a 16 hour fasts did work for you.

Also it is physically impossible to over spike your blood glucose level. They spike( I don't like that term) but eating more than say 2000 calories wont make it spike more. In fact you probably ate extra fast and protein which would blunt a spike.

So you need to eat properly when you end the fast.

For example my fasted BG level is 70 - 75. If I eat pineapple it will spike to 125. BUT if I first eat some fats first it will only go to 105.

You simple ate too many calories when your ended your fasts. That is why you got fat doing IF.
I don't believe frequent 16 hour fasts provide as good of health benefits as a less frequent 36 hour fast, and health (not purely weight loss) is my primary goal.

Yes, I did over-eat with 16 hour fasts which spiked my glucose/insulin levels putting my body into fat storage mode. Are there things I could do to manage this? Yes.

But personally - As I said it obviously works for some but I prefer a single fast each week to daily fasting because it doesn't result in the same issue for me.
 

Mexidan

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@MartinV: There was a guy on a couple of forums called Wavelength who did something similar.
He would make a protein shake w/ 100 grams of whey and would sip on that during the day.
Then he would have 1 medium sized meal with pretty much whatever he wanted to eat (burgers, pizza, ice cream, etc).
He was very lean and his log was pure foodporn.

Wouldn´t be my preferred way of doing it, but if it works for you than great.
 

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