Intermittent fasting

[chrisjs]

I don't know how you do it. I tried it for about two weeks and while I got my hunger under control, lifting in the afternoon was a disaster whether I fasted through or ate a meal an hour or so before.

[cubby2112]

I don't know how you do it. I tried it for about two weeks and while I got my hunger under control, lifting in the afternoon was a disaster whether I fasted through or ate a meal an hour or so before.

 

Did you experience low energy levels?

[xjohanx]

I don't know how you do it. I tried it for about two weeks and while I got my hunger under control, lifting in the afternoon was a disaster whether I fasted through or ate a meal an hour or so before.

 

Training fasted before lunch works really well for me except if I'm gonna squat and do deadlifts (too much ups and downs I guess) but when I fasted through the whole afternoon and worked out fasted late at day it was basically just motivation that kept me going. The 12 pm - 8 pm feeding window is def the best way for me to go. And I never liked eating a meal close to working out. Now it's always at least 2 hours inbetween and then I take some EAA.

[chrisjs]

I don't feel tired going into it, but I just don't have the endurance once I start lifting. Basically I feel like I run out of gas much faster. I was/am taking EAA before and BCAA during.

[xjohanx]

Yeah that's the same as my experience basically. Fasting untill afternoon doesn't work in the long run for me and that's why I shifted to the "normal" 16/8 12-8 scheduele. I do 90% of my workouts after lunch which is perfect for me because I can eat a decent amount of energy for lunch to fuel my workouts. If I do fasted workouts I need coffee right before =)

[Northstar]

Thursday I fasted all day except for a vega bar and apple and my stomach felt GREAT. I am probably going to do that every few weeks but dont think I could any more frequently.

[Richard]

Yo, just read through this thread, cool. I just wondered, do sleeping hours count as a fast? So if I eat my last meal at 6pm, and then don't eat until 9am the next day, that is a fast of 15 hours? Is that true, or are we talking about being awake / active during the fast?

[xjohanx]

Sleeping counts =)

[cubby2112]

There is a good intermittent fasting primer over at leangains.com right now. I would post a direct link, but Martin's blog has a static URL for all pages, or whatever the hell you call that. The primer is called "The Leangains Guide."

[chrisjs]

It's a good post, direct link: http://leangains.blogspot.com/2010/04/leangains-guide.html

[chrisjs]

Wanted to follow up and say I'm have much better luck with the IF lately. I don't eat until I get home around 5:30pm and usually stop eating before 9:30pm. Weight workouts are three days a week at 1pm, I take ~7g of EAA before my workout and sip ~25-30g of 4:1:1 BCAA during. I'm also currently taking EC which, in my experience so far, doesn't affect my workouts but is still helping control hunger during the day. It's the addition of the high amounts of BCAA which are helping me not crash during the workout.

 

I really like not having to worry about food during the day.

[xjohanx]

That's really cool to hear dude!

I actually stopped doing IF because of work but I really appreciate what the experience taught me about hunger, meal frequency etc. Sometimes I skip breakfast when I'm not working and I'm basically only eating 3 times per day and sometimes a bedtime snack. Not worrying about food is the greatest thing after doing so for several years.

[Northstar]

Wanted to follow up and say I'm have much better luck with the IF lately. I don't eat until I get home around 5:30pm and usually stop eating before 9:30pm. Weight workouts are three days a week at 1pm, I take ~7g of EAA before my workout and sip ~25-30g of 4:1:1 BCAA during. I'm also currently taking EC which, in my experience so far, doesn't affect my workouts but is still helping control hunger during the day. It's the addition of the high amounts of BCAA which are helping me not crash during the workout.

 

I really like not having to worry about food during the day.

 

How many calories daily?

[chrisjs]

How many calories daily?

A little under 2000, not counting the EAA/BCAA. Currently focused on losing fat which is working pretty well.

[cubby2112]

I've been away from the forum for a bit. I am still going on IF. Right now, I get 3-3.2k calories per day on non-workout days. Workout days are around 4k, all but 750-1k taken in after the workout. Even with these far higher calories, my weight hasn't budged up. I am trying to recomp and hold my weight where it is. It is working well so far. Getting much more muscular and stronger while leaning out. I think I've actually accidentally lost 1-2 pounds. Doing a lot of fasted AM walking using yohimbine with a friend and her babies. They aren't taking the yohimbine. Or fasting, haha. I am basically trying to go catabolic in the AM (mostly lipolysis) and anabolic in the evening, especially after workouts. Seems to be working like a charm. I am approaching 300/400/500 on my main lifts very quickly.

[chrisjs]

That's great to hear, cubby. I'm definitely focusing on fat loss at the moment along with maintaining or slowly gaining strength. Having visible abs has been a failed threat of mine the past few summers, so this time it's priority #1. This has proven to been a good time to work on things I haven't normally done like power cleans and push presses.

 

In the past I've stalled about somewhere 12-13% bodyfat (estimations vary wildly!) but I'm sub-10% now. Abs are mostly there, though there's still a bit of insulation at the bottom of the pack Regardless of the true number caliper measurements, pants size, and bodyweight are dropping.

 

Going to try the morning yohimbine+caffeine with fast walking cardio starting tomorrow morning. I'm going to have to drag myself out of bed, maybe I'll drag my daughter out with me.

 

When are you doing your lifting, around 5pm?

[Cellar Yeti]

Along the same lines as intermittent fasting is the eat stop eat diet, and the warrior diet. I prefer the warrior diet because it seems to work most naturally with most people's biology. I find myself in an entirely more anabolic state. You can lose/maintain body fat on more calories and the way it works to synchronize both the sympathetic and para-sympathetic nervous system functions are well documented. My bench I've added about 50-75 lbs on all my main lifts combined since I have been following it for a month, and my body fat is down 1 or 2%. I am doing this on 1,800-2,000 kcal.

[coroho]

I've been away from the forum for a bit. I am still going on IF. Right now, I get 3-3.2k calories per day on non-workout days. Workout days are around 4k, all but 750-1k taken in after the workout. Even with these far higher calories, my weight hasn't budged up. I am trying to recomp and hold my weight where it is. It is working well so far. Getting much more muscular and stronger while leaning out. I think I've actually accidentally lost 1-2 pounds. Doing a lot of fasted AM walking using yohimbine with a friend and her babies. They aren't taking the yohimbine. Or fasting, haha. I am basically trying to go catabolic in the AM (mostly lipolysis) and anabolic in the evening, especially after workouts. Seems to be working like a charm. I am approaching 300/400/500 on my main lifts very quickly.

Would you mind posting a sample 4k day with a timeframe? I can barely pack in that much over the course of a day, I'm curious how you do it in (less than?) half that.

edit: that is, if it's that much different from your post on page 6

[cubby2112]

First, you have to have an inhuman appetite. I do a lunch smoothie the same as that old one, but with a little more flax and some chia, no orange, and a cup of mixed berries instead of the other berries. Only 1/4-1/3 of a blender of kale now, and with four scoops of protein powder added. For after my workout, I will make a soup/stir-fry/curry (depending) with:

2 cups dried beans

20oz of tofu

1/2 cup nutritional yeast

1 6oz can tomato paste (not every time, I nix it for a stir-fry and some other things)

1/2lb leafy greens

1/2lb solid veggies

 

I eat half of it right after my workout, and then half later. Also for after the workout, I have either some bananas with nut butter, a shitload of rice, a shitload of potatoes, or a shitload of quinoa. Then for my last meal, after I am done with the other half of the soup thingy, I have some fruit or some oatmeal, or maybe some potatoes or rice, but not nearly as much as at the first post-workout feeding.

 

Yeah, I am having difficulty with all the food, even though I reduced the veggies so much, so I need to do some more tweaking. Some nights, I end up feeling incredibly bloated. I probably need to up the fats, or get a bit "dirtier." It is actually a relief to eat on non-workout days, which still really involve lots of food.

[Cellar Yeti]

So I've been reading up on fasting and I wanted to incorporate it into my regime. I am currently on the warrior diet which I love the gains on but it does differ from IF in that you are under eating for 20hrs and over eating for 4. Also the WD puts most all of your calories consumed at night which works great for me. Seeing as how I lift in the AM, a full IF diet wouldn't work. However, I'd like to add fasting 1 or 2 times a week so I was thinking of doing something like this.

 

Sun Lift-WD

Mon Cardio-Fast from 8PM Sun to 4 PM Mon [20hr]

Tue LIft WD

Wed Off-Fast from 8PM Tue to 8PM Wed

Thur Lift-WD

Fri Lift-WD

Sat Cardio-Fast from 8PM Fri to 4PM Sat [20hr]

 

Just a side question. Does fasting count while you're sleeping? I was gong to do two 16hr fasts but I have so much food in me from the night before.

[chrisjs]

Does fasting count while you're sleeping? I was gong to do two 16hr fasts but I have so much food in me from the night before.

Yes it does.

[Cellar Yeti]

Does fasting count while you're sleeping? I was gong to do two 16hr fasts but I have so much food in me from the night before.

Yes it does.

 

So I normally eat my big meal at around 8 Pm and have a snack around 11 or 12 before bed. That means that by the time I wake up at 9ish I've been fasting for 9 hrs. Since I am not lifting on fasting days and only doing light cardio I wonder how long I should wait before I start eating again with my typical under 200 kcal warrior diet meals. If I went 7hrs after waking that would give me a 16hr fast, if I went 11hrs after waking that would be a 20 hr fast. Of course, I'd be drinking tea and including BCAA's so it's not a super duper true fast, but it serves it's purpose. What do you guys recommend?

[chrisjs]

Martin Berkhan thinks that 12-18 hours into a fast is optimal for fat burning http://leangains.blogspot.com/2010/06/intermittent-fasting-and-stubborn-body.html

 

But with all this stuff, "optimal" doesn't consider that people have schedules. Better to do it outside that window than not at all.

[Cellar Yeti]

Thanks dude. I'm going to try minimum of 12 hr fasts then.

[Cellar Yeti]

Last meal was at 12 AM last night. I slept 9 hrs and fasted until 5pm earlier today. It felt really good. I felt very calm and energetic all day albeit a little hungry with a slight headache. I might add some agave or something in small amounts to my tea.