Intermittent Fasting

ShannonKirton

So now that I've decided to try the carb refeed once a week to help lean me out etc, I've now decided to do a bit of research on intermittent fasting. I BELIEVE I read somewhere that it's basically fasting from dinner the night before to dinner the next day. So here are the questions:

a) Is that the correct definition?
b) How does it help your body?
c) Are you still allowed to have water?
d) Can I still workout? (I would assume this is a no but would rather have people who have done this weigh in on the question)
e) Will I starve and have this backfire on me only to eat like a hog when I get home? lol

Thanks peeps!

TriLifter

I have a friend who follows IF. His daily calorie goal is 3000 calories, so he eats an extra 1000 calories for dinner right before the fast and comsumes 2000 calories for dinner to end the fast. This is a subject about which I am also interested, so I can't wait to see the replies you get!

Dragonwolf

So now that I've decided to try the carb refeed once a week to help lean me out etc, I've now decided to do a bit of research on intermittent fasting. I BELIEVE I read somewhere that it's basically fasting from dinner the night before to dinner the next day. So here are the questions:

a) Is that the correct definition?
b) How does it help your body?
c) Are you still allowed to have water?
d) Can I still workout? (I would assume this is a no but would rather have people who have done this weigh in on the question)
e) Will I starve and have this backfire on me only to eat like a hog when I get home? lol

Thanks peeps!

a) Yes and no. It depends on what schedule you're looking at. Another common one is dinner to lunch (16:8) and two days of full fasting or something like sub-500 calories (5:2).

b) It's largely about appetite control and convenience. You don't have to eat all the time like the CW "eat every two hours" thing, which frees up a ton of time and mental energy. You also can eat larger meals, which often help people actually feel full. On a side note, it's also more in line with how our ancestors ate, when 3 squares wasn't guaranteed.

c) Yes. Water is imperative to life in general. Being dehydrated is bad.

d) Sure you can (at least on the 16:8 style routines). In fact, a lot of IFers work out in the morning, while fasted. Some will do it just before a feeding window, others just do it when they get up, then eat at lunchtime.

e) That depends on your own body. It works better if you're a) doing a schedule that works best for you, and b) eating lower carb and higher protein/fat (at least enough to not have to deal with insulin cycle, which should be pretty much a given if you're Primal/Paleo). By eating higher fat, you stay full for longer and your hunger signals aren't "mind foggy, need sugar NOW..." and are just "hey, kinda need food when you get a chance. Fuel is good." For example, I've found that I can't do the "no food til dinner" style very well, though I am able to skip a meal, hunger-wise, but I can't really eat a whole day's worth of food in that short a time span and still eat enough to sustain the stuff I do.

I recommend easing into a routine that works best for you. If you're a snacker, start by removing snacks. Then, start pushing breakfast later until breakfast becomes lunch. If you're still feeling good and want to do a dinner-to-dinner routine, then start eating lunch later until lunch becomes dinner. Your body is used to routine, and you're often "hungry" solely because it's the time that it's used to eating, so it's often easiest to shift that trigger time until you're in a routine you want to be in.

ShannonKirton

Thanks Dragonwolf That was greatly informative.

It seems that there is no massive benefit for me to do it at this point so I think I'll just stick with the card re-feeds. I have trouble these days sitting down to eat a larger meal all the time so I quite like my snacks and am happy to stick with those. On a weekend I tend to do without the snacks and eat slightly bigger or more calorie dense meals as I'm not seated at a desk and bored (as I am during the week). The snacks keep my life lively at my desk!

As for the schedule I keep now, I'm quite happy with it and it works for me. Some days I have two snacks, some days only one, or some days none at all. It all depends on how things look the night before when I'm planning.

It will quite possibly work its way into my life at some point later on down the line. We will see!

AllanMisner

I tried it for a few weeks with fairly good results (although I struggled to get enough protein). My approach to it was to do the 16:8, where I would walk in a fasted state in the morning (5 days a week), have lunch at noon, lift weights at 2pm (4 - 5 days a week), followed by a protein snack, eat again around 5pm and then finally at 7pm.

I thought I could do it permanently, but found I wasn't getting enough protein in and I was a little concerned that eating more than 50 grams in one meal wasn't the best thing to do. That said, I'm considering doing another round of three to four weeks in September (I really want to be below 200 lbs for the tough mudder in November).

Dragonwolf

I tried it for a few weeks with fairly good results (although I struggled to get enough protein). My approach to it was to do the 16:8, where I would walk in a fasted state in the morning (5 days a week), have lunch at noon, lift weights at 2pm (4 - 5 days a week), followed by a protein snack, eat again around 5pm and then finally at 7pm.

I thought I could do it permanently, but found I wasn't getting enough protein in and I was a little concerned that eating more than 50 grams in one meal wasn't the best thing to do. That said, I'm considering doing another round of three to four weeks in September (I really want to be below 200 lbs for the tough mudder in November).

The 50g thing is about like the 8 cups of water thing - the key other half of the information is missing. Mark Sisson goes into some detail about protein digestion - http://www.marksdailyapple.com/dear-mark-how-much-protein-can-you-absorb-and-use-from-one-meal