Intermittent Fasting

[DCYPL]

Heya!

Has anyone else tried this? I have been doing it since new years.

I have seen a massive change in my composition. Lost a lot of the 'fuzzy' 'soft' look, and my core and overall cut look is getting better as I go. I even put on some weight.

I (with my shoes on) only weight 77kg. I dont eat ALL day, smash the gym then eat like a horse after. I have no idea what my macros are, what I should be aiming for, and really, what I am putting in my mouth regarding P/C/F ratios. I just eat....everything.

I have gotten stronger too! I had hit a plataeu and wasnt really fussed about moving up in the weights. With this, even though I am not eating, I am getting stronger. I have no spotter so with things like Chest I have to watch it, but overall I have seen improvement.

Any veterans of IF have any feedback? Hints and tips?

Good info http://www.leangains.com

[M.T]

Best advices I got is sip on BCAA's all day everyday will save that muscle wasteing away while not eating for 16 odd hours.

[Diab0lic]

Best advices I got is sip on BCAA's all day everyday will save that muscle wasteing away while not eating for 16 odd hours.

As long as you eat enough calories during your feeding window there is no more chance of your muscles "wasting away" as there is if you spread the food out over the whole day

[M.T]

Best advices I got is sip on BCAA's all day everyday will save that muscle wasteing away while not eating for 16 odd hours.

As long as you eat enough calories during your feeding window there is no more chance of your muscles "wasting away" as there is if you spread the food out over the whole day

Very true :doh:

[Phedder]

Welcome DCYPL,

We've had quite a few discussions here on IF, and sometimes they can get a bit heated There's quite a lot of us here who use or have used IF as a dieting approach. Here's two pretty lengthy discussions we've had, could be worth a read if you're interested - Intermittent Fasting for 8.30-5'ers and Meal Timing. There's plenty more out there if you want to play around with our search function, too.

It sounds like IF is really working well for you, even with your fairly loose approach. The next step I'd suggest you make is starting to somewhat control your calorie and macronutrient intake. You don't have to calculate every calorie and gram of P/C/F, I hate doing that myself as well. But if you actively try to consume a greater amount of carbs and less fats, with higher total calories on training days, and less carbs with more fats and less total calories on rest days you might see some even better results.

Although, I also like the 'If it ain't broken, don't fix it.' approach to these things, so maybe just carry on as you are now, and once/if things start to slow down and plateau you could then give more attention to changing around your macro and calorie levels.

What are your immediate goals? Wanting to get bigger, or leaner, or stronger, or the ambitious combination of all 3

[DCYPL]

Welcome DCYPL,

We've had quite a few discussions here on IF, and sometimes they can get a bit heated There's quite a lot of us here who use or have used IF as a dieting approach. Here's two pretty lengthy discussions we've had, could be worth a read if you're interested - Intermittent Fasting for 8.30-5'ers and Meal Timing. There's plenty more out there if you want to play around with our search function, too.

It sounds like IF is really working well for you, even with your fairly loose approach. The next step I'd suggest you make is starting to somewhat control your calorie and macronutrient intake. You don't have to calculate every calorie and gram of P/C/F, I hate doing that myself as well. But if you actively try to consume a greater amount of carbs and less fats, with higher total calories on training days, and less carbs with more fats and less total calories on rest days you might see some even better results.

Although, I also like the 'If it ain't broken, don't fix it.' approach to these things, so maybe just carry on as you are now, and once/if things start to slow down and plateau you could then give more attention to changing around your macro and calorie levels.

What are your immediate goals? Wanting to get bigger, or leaner, or stronger, or the ambitious combination of all 3

Rest days? What are these magical days you speak of?

Kidding.

I am going for a combo of all three. My MAIN goal is to be healthy and strong, stay around as long as I can for my family and still be able to keep up when I am 40+

Looking awesome is a bonus!

I will take your advice man. Thanks. Ill try and stay away from chips/chocolate/ice cream ect

I shall see where this all takes me. IF is the only thing that has really made any difference in my training...what else is there? I have tried eating truckloads, then tried cutting all my carbs ect.

I always go as heavy as I can, Im not really into light weights for heaps of reps maybe I can change something there?

[Andre01]

This is something that I am slowly looking into and trying. Ive always been told that you have to eat 6 times a day every few hours apart. Now as I am doing the Paleo diet, I am finally getting into my head that if I am not hungry then I don't actually have to eat. I have yet to actually fast for any period of time, I'm more likely to pick at my food instead of sitting down and eating a full meal. Oh and I'm not trying this on night shift after being awake all day. Maybe Ill try it tomorrow?

[Ninja]

I only eat after 12 every day and always work out fasted. It's been about 3 months now and for a big eater like me it means I can eat more and increase strength without putting on much fat at all. Don't ask me the science behind it, but it works for me

[Pseudonym]

Yeah, I'm doing it now too. I've been meaning to post my thoughts on it for a while, but other things keep taking priority. I'll try to get something up this weekend.

[holdenman]

I fast for 8-10 hours every night. Is this the same thing? lol

[DCYPL]

I would post a pre and post IF pic, but Im usually only on the internetz at work Too much to do when I get home!

But my strength has increased, my BF has dropped, significantly, and I have put on 2kg! Cant complain cant complain.

I work out fasted and dont eat until an hour after so. Start eating at 6 and stop by 12. 18 hour fast.

Back tonight...cant wait

[Pseudonym]

I would post a pre and post IF pic

Do it. Pics posted in the Post Your Pics forum are contenders for the Photo of the Month prize - and we especially like good Before/After shots. :nod:

[Northland Powah]

On Sunday right now

[Pseudonym]

Thanks for the heads-up, NP - just watched it on TVNZ On Demand. http://tvnz.co.nz/sunday/2013-04-21-video-5413066

Interesting stuff. Although it's a shame there wasn't more experimentation with ways of getting the reporter's cholesterol levels down.

[Cameron_R]

Thanks for the heads-up, NP - just watched it on TVNZ On Demand. http://tvnz.co.nz/sunday/2013-04-21-video-5413066

Interesting stuff. Although it's a shame there wasn't more experimentation with ways of getting the reporter's cholesterol levels down.

Thanks for the link. Disappointed that they did not explain how much exercise he started doing at the same time. Maybe all the benefits were just because he started cycling to and from work every day.

I'm not sure I believe that all the food he laid out on the bench would only be 600 calories!

[Diab0lic]

Thanks for the heads-up, NP - just watched it on TVNZ On Demand. http://tvnz.co.nz/sunday/2013-04-21-video-5413066

Interesting stuff. Although it's a shame there wasn't more experimentation with ways of getting the reporter's cholesterol levels down.

Thanks for the link. Disappointed that they did not explain how much exercise he started doing at the same time. Maybe all the benefits were just because he started cycling to and from work every day.

I'm not sure I believe that all the food he laid out on the bench would only be 600 calories!

It looked about right. 200g of lean meat is about 250 cals. Chuck in a small serving of yoghurt, an egg, some berries, wee bit of kumara and a load of veggies and you'd be at 600

[Clickz]

Just watched the Sunday thing.

Seriously, WTF? Was that even intermittent fasting? Eating normal 5 days a week then severely reducing calories 2 days a week. I don't care how he ate on those 2 days, he was reducing calories (stupidly low).

Everytime they used the word fasting they were really just talking about cutting cals which of course is going to equal weight loss.

My verdict on the whole fasting thing = weight loss is hard enough for most people, why complicate it more by eating in a completely different way to what the body considers "normal"? If you are going to reduce calories while fasting, why even bother fasting? Just my 2c.

[Riccardo]

Well its not even fasting if calories are consumed during the fast. :roll:

[Cameron_R]

My verdict on the whole fasting thing = weight loss is hard enough for most people, why complicate it more ....

I think you're missing the point.

For most people, what he did is actually much more simple than trying to stick to a strict eating program every day.

1. Eat what you normally do most day (EASY)

2. Eat much less on 2 days a week (EASY)

[Diab0lic]

What the reporter did was/is not technically fasting, even intermittent fasting. It's always interesting to see another effective calorie reduction method though.

I think if the reporter does keep up the diet and exercise his cholesterol/lipids would probably eventually improve though. 2 measurements in 2 weeks doesn't prove much. He could probably improve it enough to get off the statins which is always a good thing

[Clickz]

My verdict on the whole fasting thing = weight loss is hard enough for most people, why complicate it more ....

I think you're missing the point.

For most people, what he did is actually much more simple than trying to stick to a strict eating program every day.

1. Eat what you normally do most day (EASY)

2. Eat much less on 2 days a week (EASY)

How is eating 600 calories each day for 2 days out of every 7 easy? ESPECIALLY when he ate "special" food on those days.

Why not just eat slightly less each day? Easier to stick to, and safer (600cals, even if only 2 days a week is just dumb, good luck going to the gym and/or recovering on that)

[Phedder]

My verdict on the whole fasting thing = weight loss is hard enough for most people, why complicate it more ....

I think you're missing the point.

For most people, what he did is actually much more simple than trying to stick to a strict eating program every day.

1. Eat what you normally do most day (EASY)

2. Eat much less on 2 days a week (EASY)

How is eating 600 calories each day for 2 days out of every 7 easy? ESPECIALLY when he ate "special" food on those days.

Why not just eat slightly less each day? Easier to stick to, and safer (600cals, even if only 2 days a week is just dumb, good luck going to the gym and/or recovering on that)

Heard of rest days? 600 cal on a Wednesday and Sunday wouldn't be so hard with those special foods if you weren't training and kept yourself busy with other things.

Neither way is necessarily easier or better, they're just different options. Some people can't stick to a strict plan 7 days per week, so eating normally for 5 days and then being very strict for 2 days they might actually adhere to the diet. Others might have issues with only consuming 600 calories in a day, and do better on the mild restriction every day. Both will get results, and preferences will be to the individual.

[Cam0505]

Could someone explain why intermittent fasting aids body composition?

Wouldn't consuming the same amount of food within the overall period give the same results? What is the adaptive advantage of eating all your calories within a small time frame?

Curious to know the idea behind it.

[Bigger]

Go to http://www.leangains.com

and Read viewtopic.php?p=360643#p360643

[Riccardo]

Could someone explain why intermittent fasting aids body composition?

Wouldn't consuming the same amount of food within the overall period give the same results? What is the adaptive advantage of eating all your calories within a small time frame?

Curious to know the idea behind it.

Essentially, fasting is the greatest stimulator of GH release. GH also preserves muscle tissue and mobilizes free fatty acids from fat stores for energy. By fasting for a period of the 24hr day (which we all do anyway), you are able to lose more fat while preserving muscle mass, in theory.

That's the basic, basic run down but there are a whole host of other hormonal and metabolic changes going on, most of which are outlined on the leangains.com blog.

IMHO, probably one of the best tools for natural Body builders, or anyone for that matter, looking to cut and depending on the individual, can also help enhanced athletes. As for maximizing hypertrophy, maybe not optimal, but there is little evidence with regard to this matter, its equivocal at best.