Intermittent Fasting for a newbie

[Gymaholic]

Hey guys. I've decided to try out I.F and I have a few questions I'd like to ask. Im gonna start with a 8 hour eating window and see how I do and as time goes I will gradually decrease that. My main worry is that I wont have energy to workout in the gym. Also I am wondering if it is going to be better for me to eat between 8 am and 4 pm or fast until 3pm? So the question really is should I be eating at night or in the morning? One benefit of fasting until 3 for me is that I hit the gym at around 4 school days so I can fit a nice meal in before I go. Thanks for the advice. 

[Dinahlady]

Just fit it around what is best for you. 

You'll feel a bit odd the first few days and probably suck a bit energy wise but when you adapt it will just feel normal and your energy levels should stabilise (as long as you're still getting decent calories within you IF). Taking breaks in the middle of your meals in the first few days (eg eating untill you are full then having a 10 min break then eating the rest of your meal) is a good way to transition into bigger meals - if you end up having difficulty) 

 

[Pseudonym]

I think the thing with Intermittent Fasting is that it's a continual process of experimenting and refining to find what works best for you. And that's partly why I do IF - it appeals to my nerdy side!

Here's what I'm playing around with now... It's a combination of IF and Carb Backloading. It may not be the "perfect" way of doing things - it's just what I'm testing at the moment.

Feed window is approx 10 hours from 2pm till midnight. Workout is at 7pm.

I have 2 regular-sized meals before the workout - eg 50g protein and maybe fat, but no carbs. Hopefully this means I'm tapping into my fat stores to fuel my workout.

After the workout, I have all my carbs and a double-sized meal - 100g protein. Ideally low fat too, but that doesn't always happen. The sudden intake of carbs after such a long time without causes a big insulin spike (much bigger than if I'd been eating carbs all day) which sucks the protein into the muscle.

Then later I'll have another double-sized meal, 100g protein, fat and maybe more carbs (depending on how I feel I'm making progress)

[bambam]

I am doing a similar thing Psedonym with the IF + carb back loading. I tend to fast from 8pm - 12pm (sometimes longer). Workout 6am on 10g BCAA and Caffine. Then sip on BCAA until the fast is up. Then my break fast meal at 12 is usually 100g protein and all my intential carbs for the day, typically potatos the other meals are just fibre. I Also add in some carb cycling  on top of that depending on workload that day.. 200g on big days (legs, back) 100 on moderate days and 50g on rest days or if i can see myself getting too soft. I adjust fat to meet Cal needs on lower carb days. 

No expert but so far so good

[Pseudonym]

Interesting. So you're actually doing a workout in the middle of your fast? How do you find that?

[Phedder]

 

No expert but so fat so good

Oh, Freud :-D

 

With your schedule, I'd eat in the evening. I was similar throughout uni and found IF suited me perfectly then. I'd typically have a decent meal between 1-3pm (Depending on when I finished classes/labs) trained around 4, had a shake + carbs, then a massive feast at a normal dinner time, and another decent meal around 9-10ish. 

We've had quite a lot of IF discussions here, use the search function and I'm sure you'll find some useful reading!

[bambam]

Interesting. So you're actually doing a workout in the middle of your fast? How do you find that?

I find it fine really, I do sip on Xtend during and after workout all the way until I Eat though which i guess helps. Oh and Black coffee keeps the hunger at bay. In the weekends I am able to workout at 11ish and break the fast straight after but honestly i don't notice that much difference between the two. It will be interesting to see how I go when i start preping with Bobby, hes willing to work with the IF and change it up as we progress.

 

[bambam]

 

 

No expert but so fat so good

Oh, Freud

 

With your schedule, I'd eat in the evening. I was similar throughout uni and found IF suited me perfectly then. I'd typically have a decent meal between 1-3pm (Depending on when I finished classes/labs) trained around 4, had a shake + carbs, then a massive feast at a normal dinner time, and another decent meal around 9-10ish. 

We've had quite a lot of IF discussions here, use the search function and I'm sure you'll find some useful reading!

HAHA Too funny.