Intermittent Fasting
Following on from my other post about weightloss, which had some fantastic stuff in there so I really appreciate it. One post caught my eye and that was a link about how intermittent fasting is a good idea. I was just wondering whether anyone here has done it and why it works well. Is it supposed to be a good tool for weight loss as well (aside from the obvious)? Just curious as I've heard it mentioned before but never really sold.
Doing some research and found more stuff about like the Lemonade Cleanse or something. Interested to hear thoughts.
Thanks!
Been doing IF since 1 July 2012. It has been life-changing.
My daily fast was 18 hours fasted / 6 fed when I first began, then quickly amped it up to 20/4. Since I began work though and have gotten more busy, I tuned it back down to 16/8. It is completely manageable and after the first month you don't even realize you're doing it.
The most positive effect of IF that I've experienced has been increased apetite control; if it's not "time to break the fast," or I've had enough food, I no longer feel the urge to eat anything, no matter how bored I may be or how good the food may be. And if I expect to eat a lot, I can literally wait all day or as long as it's going to take for me to eat, then proceed to absolutely pig out, albeit less than I could when I was "fat".
In terms of fat loss and overall lifestyle, I must admit that the most significant effects come right at the beginning (first 2-3 months). Your fat burning will definitely increase, particularly if you're very overweight / high body fat. You'll notice this mostly because if you follow a healthy diet (which you must, IF is pointless otherwise), your "cheat meal" or anything that you eat that you shouldn't will have much less of a fattening effect than it would have otherwise. It almost feels as if the caloric surplus has been mitigated.
The second big effect that you immediately notice is an increased level of overall energy. My first week was miserable, but I still remember sitting in my living room one Sunday afternoon and feeling as if I'd reached a "tipping point." I was completely exhausted the entire week, but as I sat there eating some chicken, I felt my energy return to a normal level. Since that day, I haven't had any headaches from hunger or hunger pangs, and I've had greatly reduced cravings for junk food. I never felt exhausted as a result of not eating, either, and my energy levels have been significantly higher since then.
For some tangible results: I started IF at 23% body fat (18/6 hour split) and got down to 17% in 3 months, combining IF with a calorie-reduced diet and 4 average weekly gym days (about 1 hour sessions). Since then, I took a break from the gym for about a month but kept the IF going on a 16/8 hour split. I resumed going to the gym after the 4-week hiatus and measured down to 16% BF (negligible loss). I got back on a 4-day training routine and kept going with IF; today, I'm at 12-13% body fat, and have even gained some lean muscle (I was at 243 pounds and 23% BF, now at 215 and 13% - about 8 pounds lean muscle overall).
PM if you want any advice on dieting / gym routines / lifestyle techniques.
Nope, I'm really big / really tall. Was pretty fat with less lean mass, but I did train a lot in HS for football so I always had the potential to get huge. Also, I did neglect to mention that I was at a caloric surplus for about 10 weeks from November through January, so that definitely helped.
There are a lot of people saying that you lost too much lean mass on here. There are very simple reasons for this: you weren't eating enough, did too much cardio, or didn't do enough weightlifting. I understand that people aren't the same, but losing lean mass is not supposed to occur at such a high rate and it is actually dangerous to do so.
Also, a VERY important point: you're NOT supposed to do IF while maintaining your "same" or "regular" diet!! You cannot reasonably expect that the "metabolic shift" provided by IF alone is enough for you to somehow "get healthy" or "get shredded." You're supposed to combine IF with a healthy, balanced diet with which you not only keep track of your calories (at a 20-30% deficit if you want to burn fat) but also balance your macros (for me, 30/50/20 carbs/protein/fats has worked best).
Not to mention that the absolute best catalyst for inducing weight loss is TRAINING. Cardio will get you some places, but you absolutely must hit the weights. If you don't, you won't look good. Fact. Your results will be greatly accelerated if you start a training regimen that includes weightlifting. If you haven't done it for a long time, start by going to the gym and doing compound movements with a full-body focus 2-3 days a week, then do moderate-intensity cardio for 20-30 minutes right after your lift (can be brisk walking, slow jog, whatever works for you). Go for just cardio 1 day a week for 40 - 60 minutes, also at a moderate intensity.
OP, achieving an awesome look is a process, not something you do, and it requires maintenance once you've achieved it. I highly recommend that you first research what a proper diet entails before you even venture into doing IF. IF is NOT a hack, it is not some sort of trick, and if you do it in an extreme or inappropriate way, yes you will lose too much lean mass or develop eating disorders (this actually happened to me, admittedly).
Remember this: you can't undo in days what took years to happen. Go slowly with the process of looking good and you will be rewarded.
Seems like a VERY bad idea. Don't do it.
Was your reflex to press the "Add Comment" button that instinctive? You couldn't stop to wonder "do I know what I'm talking about?" or even "is the poster cogent enough to make decisions for himself?" Must be a tough life.
Yes, don't do it. Yes this was a reflexive response.
http://www.leangains.com/
You can try reading up more on the website. I hope it helps.
When I tried IF last summer I got down to single digit bf % but I lost a great deal of lean mass. Not really the best approach unless you're looking to lose a ton of weight.
I use it when I'm cutting along with a keto diet. Cuts down a lot of fat and gets me lookin juicy.
Make sure you don't have Gilbert's Syndrome. It's quite common, and is typically asymptomatic -- but you could really hurt yourself if you take on an intermittent fasting regimen with GS
depending on your lifesyle could do more damage than good
i love IF. i'm so used to it now that i'm able to function optimally with one massive meal a day, even if i work out twice.
i really don't get hungry until the first time i eat for the day, then i start feeling famished.
I've seen it work but I wouldn't recommend it as my #1 option. I've noticed people get off IF and then slowly creep back to where they were due to the loss of overall mass (you need lean mass in order to increase your metabolism and the amount of calories burned while resting.) If you start it I would recommend a cycle of 10-14 weeks to get the initial weight off and then switch to something more sustainable.
Op, just find out what how many calories you need to take in to maintain the same weight, and then just drop that number by two hundred. Count your calories (macros) and have fun with it, most importantly.
IF hasn't done much for me in terms of weight loss- as I'm fairly lean, I would have to be damn-near perfect in my diet. Which I can't due to external factors. Anyway, I just like the lifestyle this 'diet' offers. No more eating every 3 hours, thank goodness.
Warning: when I first started IF, I threw up the first 3 or so mornings. But, it eventually went away.
I do 16/8. There is A LOT of good science behind it. Check out PubMed or NIH.
I first tried IF (Lean Gains variation) during winter 2012 for my 4.5 month slow cut where I went from 15% to 7% BF and even though I was the most shredded I've ever been in my life (relaxed abs, ab veins) I still would not recommend it.
Even though IF helps with curbing appetite especially when you get really lean, it also seems to promote eating disorders in people - namely binge eating disorder (search this up, its pretty well documented). I noticed that when I was transitioning to a bulk and going back to a conventional diet that I was not satisfied eating without completely stuffing myself.
To give a comparison, before IF I could eat a 700 cal meal and be satisfied but after IF that same 700 cal meal would feel like nothing and I would actually feel hungry after finishing it. Note that this could be because I was at the leanest point I've ever been, libido completely shot, hormones out of wack and that my body was demanding food to gain fat back but I still notice that even to this day (at a less extreme bodyfat) that I still get the urge to binge and have to control myself.
Have any of you tried plain vanilla caloric restriction? How does it compare to IF?
Ah, that was something I was worrying about, thanks for sharing!
are you interested in the gains for longevity or not, another IF'er here, 16/8 working fine.. Friends and relatives do a 5/2 day (700 cal on 2 days) and get great results from it. I can't do that.
I am thinking more about the long-term benefits, I'm skinny as is so I don't need the weight loss. I've fooled around with calorie restriction in the past (nothing longer than a week), but that 5/2 regimen sounds too steep for me.
Intermittent fasting is not dangerous and is very basic. Check out bodybuilding.com forums for far better advice and opinions. No offense to anyone, but asking people who have 25% bodyfat is not the way to figure out what the best course of action. Matt Ogus on YouTube is another great resource that you should check out, he solely runs intermittent fasting.
You should also understand that intermittent fasting is a PREFERENCE. It is not any better than caloric deficit or clean diet eating. If it fits your schedule better then great. You can burn just as much fat with a proper caloric intake.
We should end the discussion here before the broscience gets out of hand.
So I'm clueless, how does it actually work? Is it a case of not-eating say 20 hours in the day and then eating the final 4 or can you go like say 3 days without eating and then 2 days normally eating and 2 days not eating again?
Sorry, I've looked around and it seems like there's a divergence of opinions.
Very basic. It depends on your personal schedule. You can go 20 hours of no eating and then 4 hours of eating or 16 hours and 8 etc. The main thing is you still MUST hit your caloric intake so that 4 or 8 hours of eating you will be stuffing your face versus if you ate 3-4 spreadout meals a day. Do not do day to day or anything like that, it is stupid and has no more benefits then a 16 fast/8 eat plan.
The benefits is your body can potentially burn more fat as your metabolism increases due to the fasting periods. However, you can get the same bodily changes with a proper diet eating x number of spreadout meals.
You had it right first; you only eat during certain 'windows'. You can fast for 20 hours, and eat all of your calories during the other 4. For instance, my eating window is from 12:00 PM-6:00 PM. I just picked these times because of my schedule, you can pick any time that you wish. Also, I like to workout fasted- get out of class at 10:30, be in the gym ~10:45, be home by 12 to eat.
But I don't think that not eating for 3 days and then eating normally would be considered IF. I could be wrong though..
I do the typical 5 meals of 400-500 calories per day and it works out pretty well. I hate fasting and feeling hungry and then gorging myself and feeling shitty.
Can we all please quit the broscience? Thank you Mr. Costanza. Yeahright, what you said about taking advice from 25%BF folk in the first place was dead on; people, don't take advice from people who are still fat / getting fat / fatter than you!!
I'm not a fitness god or a PhD in anything, but with some simple research and through a year of experience, these are facts that I can say are 100% true:
You must combine IF with a proper diet. If you eat like shit, you will look and feel like shit.
You must combine IF with a caloric deficit/surplus to lose/gain weight. If you eat too much or too little, expect this to affect your results.
You do not feel hungry once your body has adjusted to the plan.
You do not gorge yourself during your eating window.
You do not feel shitty.
You don't have to wait until 8PM to eat; if your eating windows is 4 hours (which is pretty extreme for you to start out with, FYI), you could, say, eat between 11AM - 3PM, or 5PM - 9PM.
As for the 2 days eating 2 days no eating: I'm sure someone has done it, but I DO NOT recommend it. Remember that your body still needs food to function, and IF is NOT some sort of "get skinny" hack. It is simply a way of reconditioning your metabolic processes to allow your body more time to break down food and expend calories. You CAN, if this suits you better, do interspersed 24-hour fasts within the week; I recommend no more than 2 for someone who is just starting off (so 5 days eating and 2 days, spread out, not eating).
What you must remember to take into account is your DIET; this MUST be on-point for IF to help you. IF will not "do anything" if your diet isn't healthy. Think of IF as a supplement to your diet. As well, if you're looking to stop being a fatass, don't think that diet alone is going to solve all the world's problems for you. You'll lose weight and look better but if you want to look attractive or transform yourself from looking like a fatass to not looking like one, you MUST do some sort of physical exercise. If you don't take the time out to do that, don't bother with IF, and don't expect your diet to work miracles either (it'll help, but that's about it without exercise).
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