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Is Anyone Else Intermittent Fasting?

Benacles

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For those of you who, just like me, are following the Leangains protocol (also known as the 16:8 diet) you might be interested in knowing that Martin Berkham, its creator, has just released his long-awaited book.

I can't tell yet if the book deserves to be called "the definitive guide on that matter" since I am waiting for the hard copy version, but it definitely seems interesting.
 
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The Abundant Man

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I fast while sleeping and eat when I'm awake. So 20 hour feeding window and 4 hour fasting window.
 

ideasunlimited1

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I do 16:8 Intermittent Fasting, and it changed my life. I have way more energy, and I'm staying healthier. It's weird how the effort to break down food I was constantly eating affected my productivity and overall feeling of wellness. It also made it easier to cut my portion sizes down.
 

Lambo-Hunter

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Never was a fan of eating breakfast growing up, still not.

Been doing IF for about 5 years knowingly. havent experienced any extra energy, I'm just not a fan of eating before 2-3pm

I do a 3-7 day water fast once a quarter to let my body chillout and not process any food.
 
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rjrobbins2

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I cannot say I do it everyday. Some days I dont eat enough during my consumption period and get too hungry but I try to stick to a noon to 8 period for eating on most days. I dont know what kind of effect it has had. I have been thinking about doing a few days fast to clean out my system.
 

tuko

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Water Fasting, on and off for about a year. I go 48 hours at a time. Sometimes 68-72 hours. I am in complete control and I love it. Oh, and it cleared my skin up too.
 

MJ DeMarco

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million$$$smile

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We have become consumed with food.

We are addicted not for nourishment, but for taste...

and usually the sweeter the better.

Some of us really do think we are 'starving' if we go without food for 8 hours.

We feed on bio-engineered products rather than the fruit of the earth.

We would rather wait in line at the Golden Arches than to arch our back to pick home grown vegetables.

We would rather spend $100 a month on snacks and sodas than a gym membership.

And then we would rather take a pill between gulps of soda prescribed to us for weight loss than feel the pain (and joy) of stretching and breathing and lifting.

We would rather take an antidote than stop the obsession and craving.

We have all been fed by branding rather than whats on the back of the label.

I think what I just ate turned me unusually negative...
 
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rogue synthetic

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Complicating matters when it comes to fad diets like intermittent fasting is the fact that some research — and news articles based on those studies — have suggested they could be useful tools in achieving healthy weight loss.

But as experts note, the studies providing leverage for fad diets is far from conclusive. Many of these studies have been performed with mice or rats, not with humans. And even the studies done with people are limited: Many have small sample sizes that are not representative of the broader public and take place for too short of a period of time to prove whether these diets work in the long-term.

There are also some who have argued that weight loss may be a fool’s errand — not only not achievable for most people, but also a dangerous pursuit.

It's interesting that this article and its sources think that the healthy norm is having high-density calorie sources available 24/7, and the deviant fad is not gorging yourself with food throughout the day.

Up until, say, World War 2, that wasn't the case for most people. It still isn't, once you remember that most people on Earth don't live in the US, Europe, or Australia.

"Experts note" that their absence of evidence is actually evidence of the absence of what your lying eyes, or a halfway competent grasp of human history, could tell you.

(I'm sure we could find some starving Africans or Asians who would have a good laugh at "weight loss isn't achievable for most people". If they weren't starving, of course.)
 

ideasunlimited1

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Don't ya just love it when the mainstream needs to tell you it isn't in the mainstream?

Lord help us if anyone of us questions conventional wisdom.

Twitter’s Jack Dorsey says he skips meals on Saturdays — dietitians call it billionaire baloney
I have deep personal disagreements with Jack Dorsey, but it would be hard to argue that he doesn't look good or that he doesn't have enough energy.
 
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Tomas J

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Hi there,

I've been fasting for a while and I must say that the results are amazing. I am not talking about losing weight here (IF can definitely help you do that) but about a huge increase in focus and productivity.

I was a professional athlete for about 10 years, then, after I exit my career I started to do bodybuilding - just for fun, no competitions. That meant eating at least 5, more likely 6 really big meals per day. At the same time, I was starting my first business. I've come across this video made by Alex Becker and I've quickly realized that it's my bodybuilding passion what is holding me back - eating that much almost every 2 hours... generally, there are two basic problems:

1) you are constantly thinking about meals (what to eat next, how to prepare it etc.)
2) your body is f*cking overloaded with so much food to digest

I've made the decision to focus more on the business, to exercise just enough to feel good (doing calisthenics right now) and to test how IF would affect my mental performance.

I was shocked, I felt like in the attached meme. :) My productivity and focus skyrocketed and I even feel better overall (more energy etc.).

Basically, I fast for 16 hours and eat for 8 every day. This month I am about to try something more aggressive like 18/6 or 20/4. The problem with longer fasts is that it's really hard to get enough quality food (you need something to get the energy from) within such a short period of time so in my opinion, it's not optimal to do 20/4 IF every day.. maybe every other day, maybe on weekends... Will definitely let you know after testing it on myself.

My tips if you are new to IF:
1. Don't eat anything in the fasting window
2. Drink a lot in the fasting window
- pure water, black coffee and tea (preferably green)
3. Break the fast (the first meal that you eat after a fast period) with bone broth - it protects your gut and prepares it for the feeding time
4. Eat something like wild caught salmon with a ton of organic vegetable as the last meal the day before - that should give you enough lasting energy into the fasting period

Cheers!
 

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NVious

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Have been for a while, like nearly a decade.

I even have a cheat day strat around IF.

If you guys need any help with it shoot me a message with your specific goal, questions or problem and I'll help you out or post ITT so people can see too.

LOVE LOVE LOVE IF!!!!

Kinobody has tons of tips too so check him out.
 

StrikingViper69

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I've been doing 16-8 for a few months and noticed a pretty fast increase in body tone. Mental focus in the mornings is pretty good. I've broken it once in several months - I had a tiny bit of dark chocolate in the morning a few days ago.

It's pretty easy and I like the productivity from not thinking about food in the morning.
 
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ryanbleau

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Lately I've combined IF with KETO. 2 weeks into the combination I've gone from 276 to 264. Had a nice Keto flu Friday and Saturday. Hopefully in a couple months I'll get down to my fighting weight or lower. Target is 250.
 

TheProcess

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I have been fasting intermittently for awhile now with great results.

I basically fast 5:2 and really feel great right for the new couple of days.

Also have lost about 20lbs in the last couple of months since I've started it though that isn't really the main goal I had in mind. I just wanted to be more healthy and have changed my diet along with fasting.

Just curious if anyone else has been IF for any period of time.

If so, what days and how do you fast, ie water only, juice, coffee etc?
Yes. I do an 8 hour window to eat. 1-9 pm.
During my non-eating window, I'm only allowed to have water, coffee (with maximum 1 shot of cream), and tea.
A little bit of cream has been shown to not break the fast. However, zero sugar is allowed.
 

DC Welds

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Yes! I've been doing 16-8 IF for about 5 months 5-6 days a week. Im down from 322 to 285. I started after reading a lot about it in the Sub Reddit r/intermittentfasting. Theres a great group there with a ton of information. I still enjoy my BBQ too. Now if I could just put down the beer I'd probably double my results but one thing at a time I suppose.
 
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Siddhartha

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I started 16-8 for weight loss as I begin to get into keto, helping me drop 25 pounds in about 2 months.
Once I read up on autophagy and how IF and fasting regulate hormone building and metabolic function I rapidly began the Ascension to Warrior(20:4), OMAD(23:1), and then OMEOD(47:1) for training purposes (HGH levels spike at 30ish hours, more muscle gains during fasted workouts).
Since graduating college though I've fallen back more into OMAD/warrior with an intermittent 24 hour sprinkled in somewhere.

It is my hope to build a lifestyle that gives me space to do more IF and extended 5 day fasts in the near future.
 

MJ DeMarco

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Been doing it for 2 months, 20 OFF / 4 ON . Blood test results coming in a few days. Numerically, I dropped 13 lbs (188 to 175) and dropped my bodyfat percentage by 15%. It also helped wean me off vegan junk food.
 

Matt Sun

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Are you vegan now MJ ? In unscripted you mentioned Alzheimer runs in your family, also there is a couple of mentions of eating steaks, totally thought on mentioning to you going vegan as a solution. So I'm doing just that.
 
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MJ DeMarco

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Ejaylc

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I have been fasting intermittently for awhile now with great results.

I basically fast 5:2 and really feel great right for the new couple of days.

Also have lost about 20lbs in the last couple of months since I've started it though that isn't really the main goal I had in mind. I just wanted to be more healthy and have changed my diet along with fasting.

Just curious if anyone else has been IF for any period of time.

If so, what days and how do you fast, ie water only, juice, coffee etc?

I first started fasting about a year ago but i had to start off fairly simple.

For example, at first i started eating around 12pm but then stopped eating around 10 Pm the night before.

It took a while to adjust from hunger but i drank coffee to soothe the cravings.

I initially started because i wanted to cut body fat and read a lot about the health benefits.

Fast forward about a year later I fast every day now and can go about 16 to 18 hours without eating and im very active. I workout 6 days a week play golf and my energy levels seem to be higher and i have more clarity now.

I average about 8-10% body fat and I'm at my optimal BMI.

I dont think its for everyone but its worked for me.
 

Tomas J

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Have been for a while, like nearly a decade.

I even have a cheat day strat around IF.

If you guys need any help with it shoot me a message with your specific goal, questions or problem and I'll help you out or post ITT so people can see too.

LOVE LOVE LOVE IF!!!!

Kinobody has tons of tips too so check him out.

Do you have any experience with IF regarding muscle growth? Naturally, it's perfect for fat loss because you are incidentally lowering the calorie intake. Not that I would like to be a bodybuilder as I once wanted... just curious if it works for muscle growth reasons too.
 
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Siddhartha

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Do you have any experience with IF regarding muscle growth? Naturally, it's perfect for fat loss because you are incidentally lowering the calorie intake. Not that I would like to be a bodybuilder as I once wanted... just curious if it works for muscle growth reasons too.

Check out leangains OR dare to search the 4chan archives for the /fit/ness board fasting threads and their link lists.
IF can be really good for both muscle growth, maintenance, and recovery; everybody should give it a go.
 

NVious

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Do you have any experience with IF regarding muscle growth? Naturally, it's perfect for fat loss because you are incidentally lowering the calorie intake. Not that I would like to be a bodybuilder as I once wanted... just curious if it works for muscle growth reasons too.

At the end of the day muscle growth is about caloric surplus along with progressive overload (getting stronger), so if you do that I can't imagine it's too much different.

Actually I used to follow a lot of the top fitness science journals on instagram, but I had to stop, why?

The results were too common sense, basically their findings for EVERYTHING can be summed up as

There are no magic pills, some things might work better for individuals though, so do what works best for you, but long term studies don't show any difference....for EVERYTHING
 

Tomas J

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I started 16-8 for weight loss as I begin to get into keto, helping me drop 25 pounds in about 2 months.
Once I read up on autophagy and how IF and fasting regulate hormone building and metabolic function I rapidly began the Ascension to Warrior(20:4), OMAD(23:1), and then OMEOD(47:1) for training purposes (HGH levels spike at 30ish hours, more muscle gains during fasted workouts).
Since graduating college though I've fallen back more into OMAD/warrior with an intermittent 24 hour sprinkled in somewhere.

It is my hope to build a lifestyle that gives me space to do more IF and extended 5 day fasts in the near future.
When it comes to Warrior and so on, do you fast like that every day? I can't imagine how to eat enough food in such a little feeding window to actually even maintain the muscle mass (consider eating healthy)... is the increase in HGH secretion so big that it actually allows you to grow the mass even when you are eating much less?
 
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Siddhartha

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Yes; every. blessed. day.

Neither I or the performance types I surround myself with find any issue with energy or getting nutrition in during our windows doing both IF and keto/carnivore.
Sean Baker (3y carnivore) does warrior, eats 4lbs of ribeye in his windows, and is a world record holder rower and does
plyometrics/HIIT/lifts that would break me.
 

MJ DeMarco

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Been doing it for 2 months, 20 OFF / 4 ON . Blood test results coming in a few days.

Just got back my blood test results!

Best blood panel I've seen in a decade; no deficiencies, no outliers and my cholesterol was the lowest I've seen in 20 years.
 

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Been doing it for 2 months, 20 OFF / 4 ON . Blood test results coming in a few days. Numerically, I dropped 13 lbs (188 to 175) and dropped my bodyfat percentage by 15%. It also helped wean me off vegan junk food.

Wow.
@MJ DeMarco . Your inspiration is ceaseless.

20 OFF / 4 ON
That possibility never even occurred to me until I just read this.
I was 16/8 until just now.
Gone are the days.
I lost 27 lbs in 3 months on 16/8, then backed off to 12 / 12 for actually no reason.
I can't wait to see what happens on 20/4.

At some point I'm going to solve the problem of back tension preventing someone from playing piano. I don't want anyone to miss the pleasure of playing music for hours.
 
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StrikingViper69

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At some point I'm going to solve the problem of back tension preventing someone from playing piano. I don't want anyone to miss the pleasure of playing music for hours.

Slightly off topic, but you can look into:
  • Weight lifting to strengthen your back
  • Seeing a physio
  • Seeing a piano teacher on correct posture
  • Finding a tension specialist for pianists
For the guitar playing world, there is teacher called Jamie Andreas who has done some amazing work in creating exercises that help guitar players solve tension problems. Given the piano is much older than guitar, I would expect there to be many techniques for solving tension problems.
 

Robert25

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I have been fasting intermittently for awhile now with great results.

I basically fast 5:2 and really feel great right for the new couple of days.

Also have lost about 20lbs in the last couple of months since I've started it though that isn't really the main goal I had in mind. I just wanted to be more healthy and have changed my diet along with fasting.

Just curious if anyone else has been IF for any period of time.

If so, what days and how do you fast, ie water only, juice, coffee etc?

I intermittent fast regularly and mix in an extended fast here and there.

For IF. Black coffee only and water. Extended fasts, I do just water and electrolytes
 

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