My progress on Intermittent Fasting

Ryandecheney314

I am over three months in on my transformation. I have had great success so far in plans I have been sticking with. As far as fat loss I am averaging 1 pound a week while maintaining the majority of my lean muscle mass ( I get check ups once a month to make sure) The past three months I have been experimenting with carb cycling (eating moderate carbs on lifting days and eating less then 10% carbs on non lifting days, while increasing fat and protein intake). 4-5 days a week I make sure I lift weights and 6 days a week I do some type of cardio exercise, once in the morning (after lifting weights if I am lifting that day) and a few times a week I do cardio at night, usually on lifting days.

During this time period people have brought to my attention this thing called Intermittent Fasting (IF). I thought they were crazy! Who wants to go 16 hours or more without eating, just seemed like to much. So I listened and still kept to my 4-6 small meals a day, well until exactly 7 days ago.

Last week Wednesday I came across a youtube channel called TheHodgeTwins. The experimented with IF and had nothing but great things to say about it. Being the nerd I am I began to do hours of research. There is not much science behind IF to back it up but the amount of Bro Science is pretty plentiful. The thing is during my research I have not found one single video or article about a bad experience or dangers of IF. So I decided I would give it a shot. I told myself I will give it one week and then evaluate from there. And here is my results so far!

Going into this, I kept the foods and calories I eat the same, I drank the same amount of water, My workouts I kept the same and the amount of cardio was THE SAME! The only thing I changed was just my eating schedule. I worked out in the morning (6-730am) and broke my fast at 12pm sometimes stretching it to 1pm depending how I felt. I stopped eating between 7-8pm. Rinse and repeat. The first day or two I felt pretty hungry but I never felt like I was starving. After the second day my energy levels increased tremendously especially during my workouts. I increased my strength and the fat loss is AMAZING!

Keep in mind I have been losing about a pound a week for the last 3 months and I have kept my diet and exercise the same. During my experiment with IF I have weighed myself every morning. Every single morning i had to do a double take on what the scale said. I seriously couldn't believe the numbers I was seeing. Since last week alone I have lost nearly 4 pounds! I wanted to make sure this was in fact fat loss, So I met up with my coach and he took measurements. My Lean Muscle Mass actually increased about .5 pounds and the weight loss was all fat!

So why does this work so good especially when I am eating the same amount of foods and calories? This is nothing but my personal opinion on why I think it works. Think about this for a second. I stop eating a 8pm. I go to bed around 10pm. wake up at 5am and start training at 6am. I am training fasted so my body is going to use the little energy left from last nights meal and then turn to body fat for energy. After I finish training, roughly around 730am, my body is nothing but a fat burning machine. As soon as I would eat a post workout meal my body would then turn to that for energy but instead I am going to ride the storm and for the next 4-5 hours let my body keep using fat for energy. During this time I drink tons of water and of course still take my BCAA's and fat burners. Once I break my fast I flood my body with tons of nutrients! I eat healthy carbs, fats, and proteins along with taking my vitamins. Now my body is getting everything it needs to build / repair muscle and recover from the workout.

I am for sure going to keep going with IF. I almost wish I would of started with it months ago. IF definitely works for me. Will it work for you? I dont know, everyone is different. Do I think you should try it? Sure, if you can be disciplined enough I strongly believe you should give it a shot. Experiment with it for a week, if it works great! If not dump it and move on. Just like anything else in the fitness world. Do your research on it and see if it would be a good fit for you.

I hope this article will help someone out there. Maybe it will help someone who is in a slump and get kick start to some more fat loss. if you have tried IF before and had results I would love to hear your story on it.

Graelwyn75

You are not meant to post the same thread in multiple forums. You already posted this in the motivation section.

kgeyser

Glad you found something that works for you. Although your broscience idea about fat burning and fasting is broscience. Food does not digest so quickly that you're completely empty for your morning workouts and working off fat alone. It takes about 40 hours for food to pass completely through the human digestive system, which means your body is still working off the calories from your last few meals during your workouts.

WalkingAlong

IF has scientific support. These are just a few abstracts of articles from one researcher (Dr. Krista Varady), who mostly studies alternate day fasting.

Nutrition Journal. 2012, Vol. 11 Issue 1
Background: Intermittent fasting (IF; severe restriction 1 d/week) facilitates weight loss and improves coronary heart disease (CHD) risk indicators. The degree to which weight loss can be enhanced if IF is combined with calorie restriction (CR) and liquid meals, remains unknown. Objective: This study examined the effects of IF plus CR (with or without a liquid diet) on body weight, body composition, and CHD risk. Methods: Obese women (n = 54) were randomized to either the IFCR-liquid (IFCR-L) or IFCR-food based (IFCR-F) diet. The trial had two phases: 1) 2-week weight maintenance period, and 2) 8-week weight loss period. Results: Body weight decreased more (P = 0.04) in the IFCR-L group (3.9 ± 1.4 kg) versus the IFCR-F group (2.5 ± 0.6 kg). Fat mass decreased similarly (P < 0.0001) in the IFCR-L and IFCR-F groups (2.8 ± 1.2 kg and 1.9 ± 0.7 kg, respectively). Visceral fat was reduced (P < 0.001) by IFCR-L (0.7 ± 0.5 kg) and IFCR-F (0.3 ± 0.5 kg) diets. Reductions in total and LDL cholesterol levels were greater (P = 0.04) in the IFCR-L (19 ± 10%; 20 ± 9%, respectively) versus the IFCR-F group (8 ± 3%; 7 ± 4%, respectively). LDL peak particle size increased (P < 0.01), while heart rate, glucose, insulin, and homocysteine decreased (P < 0.05), in the IFCR-L group only. Conclusion: These findings suggest that IF combined with CR and liquid meals is an effective strategy to help obese women lose weight and lower CHD risk.

Nutrition Reviews. May2014, Vol. 72 Issue 5
Time-restricted feeding ( TRF), a key component of intermittent fasting regimens, has gained considerable attention in recent years. TRF allows ad libitum energy intake within controlled time frames, generally a 3-12 hour range each day. The impact of various TRF regimens on indicators of metabolic disease risk has yet to be investigated. Accordingly, the objective of this review was to summarize the current literature on the effects of TRF on body weight and markers of metabolic disease risk (i.e., lipid, glucoregulatory, and inflammatory factors) in animals and humans. Results from animal studies show TRF to be associated with reductions in body weight, total cholesterol, and concentrations of triglycerides, glucose, insulin, interleukin 6, and tumor necrosis factor-α as well as with improvements in insulin sensitivity. Human data support the findings of animal studies and demonstrate decreased body weight (though not consistently), lower concentrations of triglycerides, glucose, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and increased concentrations of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. These preliminary findings show promise for the use of TRF in modulating a variety of metabolic disease risk factors.

Nutrition Journal. 2013, Vol. 12 Issue 1
Background: Alternate day fasting (ADF; ad libitum "feed day", alternated with 25% energy intake "fast day"), is effective for weight loss and cardio-protection in obese individuals. Whether these effects occur in normal weight and overweight individuals remains unknown. This study examined the effect of ADF on body weight and coronary heart disease risk in non-obese subjects Methods: Thirty-two subjects (BMI 20-29.9 kg/m²) were randomized to either an ADF group or a control group for 12 weeks. Results: Body weight decreased (P < 0.001) by 5.2 ± 0.9 kg (6.5 ± 1.0%) in the ADF group, relative to the control group, by week 12. Fat mass was reduced (P < 0.001) by 3.6 ± 0.7 kg, and fat free mass did not change, versus controls. Triacylglycerol concentrations decreased (20 ± 8%, P < 0.05) and LDL particle size increased (4 ± 1 Å, P < 0.01) in the ADF group relative to controls. CRP decreased (13 ± 17%, P < 0.05) in the ADF group relative to controls at week 12. Plasma adiponectin increased (6 ± 10%, P < 0.01) while leptin decreased (40 ± 7%, P < 0.05) in the ADF group versus controls by the end of the study. LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, homocysteine and resistin concentrations remained unchanged after 12 weeks of treatment. Conclusion: These findings suggest that ADF is effective for weight loss and cardio-protection in normal weight and overweight adults, though further research implementing larger sample sizes is required before solid conclusion can be reached.

Nutrition Journal. 2010, Vol. 9
Background: Alternate day modified fasting (ADMF) is an effective strategy for weight loss in obese adults. Objective: The objective of this study was to examine the dietary and physical activity adaptations that occur during short-term ADMF, and to determine how these modulations affect rate of weight loss. Methods: Sixteen obese subjects (12 women/4 men) completed a 10-week trial consisting of 3 phases: 1) 2-week control phase, 2) 4-week ADMF controlled feeding phase, and 3) 4-week ADMF self-selected feeding phase. Results: Body weight decreased (P < 0.001) by 5.6 ± 1.0 kg post-treatment. Energy intake on the fast day was 26 ± 3% of baseline needs (501 ± 28 kcal/d). No hyperphagic response occurred on the feed day (95 ± 6% of baseline needs consumed, 1801 ± 226 kcal/d). Daily energy restriction (37 ± 7%) was correlated to rate of weight loss (r = 0.42, P = 0.01). Dietary fat intake decreased (36% to 33% of kcal, P < 0.05) with dietary counseling, and was related to rate of weight loss (r = 0.38, P = 0.03). Hunger on the fast day decreased (P < 0.05) by week 2, and remained low. Habitual physical activity was maintained throughout the study (fast day: 6416 ± 851 steps/d; feed day: 6569 ± 910 steps/d). Conclusion: These findings indicate that obese subjects quickly adapt to ADMF, and that changes in energy/ macronutrient intake, hunger, and maintenance of physical activity play a role in influencing rate of weight loss by ADMF.