Should I do IF?

mrsmiley32

IF where you do -30% on days you don't work out -10% (or -40% off days/+20% on days) on days you do workout. I don't want to lose a lot of muscle mass. I've been trying to up my protein, lower carbs, and continue to do my resistance work outs (adding in weights next week) to help it target fat on the CR. But I kinda understand the idea behind it, bulk on workout days, cut on off days.

My concern with that is my main focus is just finding a new way to eat forever, this isn't a temporary thing for me this is how I figure I'll eat for the rest of my days, but on the other hand I want to minimize muscle loss. But fluctuating meals like that will leave me feeling really hungry on off days and wayyyy too full on on days and doesn't seem to make for a stable diet.

Any suggestions as far as retaining muscles while cutting fat and creating a healthy/stable diet?

jemhh

I would focus on eating protein. If you want to vary your calories, do it, but you don't have to in order to maintain muscle mass. Protein and resistance training are key for that. I vary my calories (I eat 400 more on training days) but that is because it allows me to average a deeper caloric deficit overall while still having a good amount of energy on those days.

LuckyMe2017

There are other fasting techniques that might better meet your needs. I don't exactly fast, but I cut my calories from 1600 to 1500 twice per week and also eat within a six hour window on these days occasionally. I sometimes do a more liberal cut. I am glad you are thinking about sustainability. Listen to your body. I don't think fasting within means will cause muscle loss.

vismal

Intermittent fasting does not require calorie cycling like you are talking about. IF simply means you pick a period of time to be fasted and a period of time to do all your eating. Some people eat in an 8 hour window, some people 4, some people eat every other day. Calorie cycling really doesn't alter your results. There's vary little data to support it. For the most part, your weekly calories are what matter as far as fat loss is concerned. If you want to do the calorie cycling for personal preference, that's fine. The same is true about IF. Doing IF doesn't make you lose fat faster, but it is a lifestyle change that works very well for some people. I lost the majority of my weight using it. I always tell people it's worth a try. Certain people will love it, others will hate it. For me it helped tremendously with satiation and thinking about food. When I was fasted, food wasn't an option, so I didn't think about it at all. This helped me greatly.

DonnieLew

I agree with vismal. I'm on an IF cycle right now for a weightlifting meet in April. Once you get used to eating only during certain times it gets easier. I usually stop eating around 8 or 9 pm and start up again around 11 the next day. I've tried eating in an 8 or 6 hour window but never seemed to work for me. Just find something you can stick to.

And if you want to keep the muscle mass up just watch your protein intake. Make sure it doesn't dip too low. I would also take some aminos to help keep your body from using muscles as energy while your not in your window. It's worked for me.