Intermittent fasting

[hedgehog757]

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.

Working out on am empty stomach is not much of a big deal. I asked a trainer and what he said is that is how you sometimes lose the last of your fat because that is where you burn your body fat instead of the calories from the food you are putting in your body.

What is the big difference between the 16/8 and the 36 hour fasts? I have never had much of a a problem going a full 48 hours without food but I never did it intentionally, I just have the ability to do it. I need water of course but I wasn't doing IF, I just was in a place where I couldn't get food.

Likwid, How are you feeling doing IF?

 

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[CPisHere]

Working out on am empty stomach is not much of a big deal. I asked a trainer and what he said is that is how you sometimes lose the last of your fat because that is where you burn your body fat instead of the calories from the food you are putting in your body.

What is the big difference between the 16/8 and the 36 hour fasts? I have never had much of a a problem going a full 48 hours without food but I never did it intentionally, I just have the ability to do it. I need water of course but I wasn't doing IF, I just was in a place where I couldn't get food.

I have no problem working out in a fasted state, and I do believe it burns additional calories. However, be careful if you take any pre-workout supplement as taking it on an empty stomach will often increase the effects.

I found 16/8 fasting to be 'easy' but had issues with how/what I ate after it ended vs a 36 hour fasts which is more difficult (at first) but didn't make me want to overcompensate. Different strokes for different folks - try them both out and see what works for you.

Here's a GREAT summary of the different IF protocols, and where I got the idea for 24 hour fasts after cheat days:
Intermittent Fasting 201 | Roman Fitness Systems

 

[PatrickP]

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



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

No not dried out at all.


I have been eating raw eggs for almost 40 years no problem with salmonella. It is on the outside of the shell not inside.

I eat fertilized eggs raw as I am trying to maximize the amount of follistatin I eat. Sometimes I will lightly cook the whites and do the yolks raw.

 

[NewsletterScott]

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?

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

I didn't really notice a difference, but I realize I may have been doing it wrong.

What have you found implementing the technique?

 

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[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.

 

[NewsletterScott]

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.

In the end...I just didn't like how it made me feel. Nope, not taking any supplements except the occasional whey protein shake after workouts. May try it again in the future, but as of right now going to keep going with my current routine.

 

[Rawr]

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)
.

Wow, 16 hours. I do it differently - I skip a meal a week. So if I am hungry and want dinner on say a Tuesday, I just don't eat and go to bed hungry. Or I just eat in the morning and then at night.

Funny and true comment about abs - I have a friend who's obsessed with 'hitting em hard' for years. Last time I saw him I asked him why he got a gut.. his answer was 'dude everyone is saying it, but it's my abs!' - but with a shirt on, you can't tell. Without it, looks bad too

 

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[JasonR]

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.

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).

 

[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

 

[PatrickP]

I am not understanding the logic of if you have more or less than 20lbs to lose.

So you did IF when you had more than 20lbs to lose and then also did it when you were already lean?

I did it when I had 20+lbs to lose and it worked fantastic.

 

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[CPisHere]

I am not understanding the logic of if you have more or less than 20lbs to lose.

So you did IF when you had more than 20lbs to lose and then also did it when you were already lean?

I did it when I had 20+lbs to lose and it worked fantastic.

IF works better for some people than others - women do not typically do well on it, while men typically do. Plenty of fat guys do IF & have success. However, IF can require a lot of willpower, and since willpower is limited, it can lead to binges when it is depleted. The more weight you have to lose, the more willpower that IF requires.

I encourage guys to try IF & see if it works for them, but it's not the simple one size fits all solution that it is presented to be. I've personally had mediocre results with it & I've tried doing it a lot of different ways. But it worked best when I was already lean & eating healthy (still not as great as some claims). With 20+lbs to lose, using IF had the unintended consequence of eating less healthy food & thus didn't help me lose weight.

 

[PopEmersen]

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).

I did it where I worked full time. What I did was not eat until noon. All I had in the morning was black coffee with extra/splenda and water.
At noon, I had lunch and at around 3:30 I would have my greek yogurt snack. I would then go to the gym, workout. After workout I would have my protein shake and dinner.

 

[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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[Eskil]

Interesting topic but I'm worried I couldn't pull this off.

I get headaches and nausea super easy if I skip a meal for more than 6 hours, and I'm really big on breakfasts. If I don't eat something hearty within an hour after I wake up, I get shaky and "low". Maybe I have some blood sugar issues. Never been diagnosed with diabetes, but my mom is the same way. Skip a meal to for too long - and my nose starts running, head feels heavy, I feel weak, and can't even eat or take a headache pill at that point since I will just throw up. The only cure is to sleep it off, then eat, and I feel so good it's almost like a high.. Lol..

Anyway - I really want to try this though but I'd have to build up the tolerance super-slow. I have a 2-pack now (lol) and I know the remaning 4 are hiding under a little bit of "fluff", lol...
6' 5" and 210 lbs.

 

[andviv]

At noon, I had lunch and at around 3:30 I would have my greek yogurt snack. I would then go to the gym, workout. After workout I would have my protein shake and dinner.

This sounds like you simply had way less cals than usual... no?

Now, I have my first meal around 1-2pm and could probably go longer without eating if I had to.

What would you have as your meals?

 

[PatrickP]

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.

A cup of coffee and a walk helps me as well.

Thanks for the reminder. I am going to go for a walk right now. It is crazy how easily you can fall off the exercise wagon and how tough it can be to get back on.

 

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[PopEmersen]

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

 

[JasonR]

Yeah I have 7-12 lbs MAX I need to lose - depending on how I look at those weights. Thanks.

 

[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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[theag]

I'm starting IF today with the 16/8 early morning training protocol from leangains (similar to Milkanic). Tomorrow is workout day. I'm 6'1" 229lbs, FAT. 2,5 years ago, before I went to university, I was 176-187 lean muscular. My workout is starting strength. Buying some BCAA tomorrow afternoon for the workout days, tomorrow morning I'll be using my old whey. I'm not a big breakfast person so I hope I can make the transition pretty good. Oh, and I also stopped smoking today cold turkey (started smoking again 2,5 months ago after a few weeks pause). Big changes to my lifestyle and I'm looking forward to it!

 

[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.

 

[Deleted11391]

Want to get started in intermittent fasting...

Hi Guys,

I’m very interested in getting started in intermittent fasting, as so far I have heard very good things about it.

I want to adhere to the following schedule, whilst using an 8 hour eating window with 16 hours fasting

• 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’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?

Thanks
Brian

 

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[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.

 

[Deleted11391]

Hi Likwid24

Unfortunately the powerlifting has to be done at this time due to work and family commitments which are “cast in stone”.

I could move my first meal from 10.30am to the earlier time of either 7.30am or indeed 9.00am??

I’m also happy to work my meal schedule around the cardio and weightlifting sessions, but cant reschedule the exercise time.

Hope this makes sense!

Brian

 

[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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[theag]

I switched to 20/4 (2 days now). I'm eating from 1pm to 5pm. Workout usually between 7am and 10am. Also on a significant calorie deficit. So far I lost 4.6lbs since Monday, almost 1lb a day. And I feel great. Last night was the best sleep I ever had. My back pain is almost gone. Feeling focussed during all times, almost no hunger despite the deficit and only 4 hour eating window.

those guys brought me to 20/4. they are hillarious!
http://www.youtube.com/fastingtwins

 

[crlerk]

I am doing IF as well. Although I started at the from the paleo angle when my gallbladder gave up and I had to clean up the food. Then I found the leangains-site and shifted from paleo to whatever I want that my lack of gallbladder can handle.

For those of you that are trying it out and have a hard time; have a look at cavemanpower.com. There are some really good advice on how to get started fasting, follow and you will prevail.

Myself; I keep it simple. I try to eat two big meals of meat and veggies a day. At night I sometimes have a bowl of cottage cheese with frozen berries or cinnamon. I do not drink any supplements on a daily basis and I feel great. To be honest I do some of my best work and feel strong as ever when I am 10-12 hours into a fast.

The only downside with this way of eating is the amount of $$$ I spend on food.

- Carl-Erik

 

[JAWS]

Intermittent fasting is great for losing weight, but is very hard if you are not eating the right foods and do not know what you are doing.

With this, I learned to Intermittent fast from a guy named Dave Asprey. He has a site called Bulletproofexec.com, and it is full of articles on Intermittent fasting and performance enhancing diet practices.

I feel that I am more focused and can go for longer days when I follow some of his recommendations

 

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[theag]

Intermittent fasting is great for losing weight, but is very hard if you are not eating the right foods and do not know what you are doing.

With this, I learned to Intermittent fast from a guy named Dave Asprey. He has a site called Bulletproofexec.com, and it is full of articles on Intermittent fasting and performance enhancing diet practices.

I feel that I am more focused and can go for longer days when I follow some of his recommendations

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.

 

[GThreepwood]

Dirty little diet "secret": You feel great after a workout because of the stress/adrenaline. You feel great on a rollercoaster because of the stress/adrenaline. You probably feel "great" fasting, not because it's "healthy", but because it's stressful on your system. It's strange to me that stress is not-so-good-for-you, but it can "feel so good."