Intermittent Fasting
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I have been transitioning into a 16:8 style of IF now for the past 4 weeks. I started with 12:12, 14:10, and have been able to practice 16:8 5 out of 7 days over the last two weeks. I've always been a breakfast eater and tend to hangry if I go too long without food. Nevertheless the idea of skipping breakfast in order to have more calories available to me for dinner, and maybe room for dessert was very appealing. Since I went into it slowly, I have found it to be easier then I thought it would be. And, I have found that I can go much longer than I thought I could without eating before I go into that hangry phase. Initially, I was going 16-17 hours without any problems aside from a little manageable hunger. Since I am so new to this, I have a few questions. I have been having hypoglycemic symptoms over the last 4-5 days for some reason before I get to my first meal at 12. Meaning light headed, poor concentration, and hungry feeling. Now for a background, I have experienced this occasionally throughout my whole life if I go too long without food. But it's kind of random. Also, I have had my fasting blood glucose tested, and has come back just fine. Anyways, I've been sucking on a hard candy to get that light headed feeling to go away until I eat lunch. So, before my 1st actual meal, I have my coffee with sugar free creamer (about 45 cals.) and one jolly rancher(25 cals.) if needed to sustain me till lunch. Will this negate any of the supposed benefits of IF? And, will my body get used to this new feeding schedule and quit sending me those "Feed me. NOW" signals? I posed this question in the IF group and was met with some advice that made my Woo-Dar start going off and was honestly a little over my head. So what do ya'll over here think? lol. Also, my calorie goal is 1420. I typically eat net between 1410-1800 cals in a day.1
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MaryBethHempel wrote: »alexandravictoria88 wrote: »Well im on my 3rd week of IF and excercising at home with full body hardcore workouts. Im on the 18 hour fast and im finding it very difficult..the hunger pangs are so strong. Unfortunately haven't lost any weight apart from a couple of inches off legs and arms:/
Then don't IF.
If you are engaging in "hardcore workouts" I don't see the benefit of doing them in a fasted state. Especially if they're making you hungry enough to overeat your calories during your feeding window, or if you're eating to the point of uncomfortability.
Exercise is basically fasting in fast forward, so any fasting you've done prior to working out is going to compound onto itself. This is probably not psychologically healthy either considering that it becomes dangerously close to a binge/purge cycle.
Be reasonable and if it's not working, simply stop doing it and go back to something you can manage. If you're trying to rush fat loss, starving yourself and overtraining aren't great long-term strategies.
Taking Amino Acids helps alot....especially for if you are working out...I get mine from BodyBuilding.com
BCAA Lean EnergyEVLUTION NUTRITION
BCAA Lean Energy
Bcaas + Energy + Weight Management*
5G Bcaas With 1G Cla And 500Mg Carnitine To Support Recovery And Weight Loss*
9.6 out of 10 (177 Reviews)
Any supplement with the word "energy" in it is going to have caffeine or caffeine components to decrease fatigue. If you get enough protein from normal meals then BCAAs become unnecessary. They're pricey for what you can get with a normal diet, but if you can afford it and you feel that they help, then more power to you.
https://examine.com/supplements/branched-chain-amino-acids/
Note the editor footnote from Examine.com stating that the anti-fatiguing effects are probably only noticeable in untrained / newer trained individuals. For people that have more experience, training fasted is completely subjective and it's a thing that must be adapted to. In other words, it's not wise to force fasted training or intermittent fasting in someone that is suffering in performance and it's spilling over into discomfort from hunger pangs.
I agree with you that it's not wise to force fasted training or intermittent fasting in someone that is suffering in performance and it's spilling over into discomfort from hunger pangs. I would say eat some good food!
I take the BCAA's for extra AA's and because I have to stay totally away from carbs and sugars, due to an inherited condition I have with not being able to tolerate carbs/sugars in my system. I suggested this for her as some extra protein for working out....but more needs to be done in the nourishing, timing, and balancing with diet, fasting, and exercise. It is quite a balancing act.4 -
I just lost another 2 lbs. today, for a total of 29 lbs. with 6 more to go....IF has helped me in many ways to control my intake. It is quite a balancing act though, that has me tweaking it as my daily life activities change.0
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Question: If I ate during my fasting window and it was my last meal, do I fast 16 hours after that last meal? Should I have drank coffee instead?
Eating window is from 10am-6pm. I was so hungry at 9pm and decided to eat to get some protein in. I started working out close to 12midnight.
The fast is how long you don't eat between meals. I'm not sure of your schedule but it might be easier to fast from noon tell about 8 and workout after you eat if you have somewhat of a traditional schedule.1 -
alexandravictoria88 wrote: »Well im on my 3rd week of IF and excercising at home with full body hardcore workouts. Im on the 18 hour fast and im finding it very difficult..the hunger pangs are so strong. Unfortunately haven't lost any weight apart from a couple of inches off legs and arms:/
Then don't IF.
If you are engaging in "hardcore workouts" I don't see the benefit of doing them in a fasted state. Especially if they're making you hungry enough to overeat your calories during your feeding window, or if you're eating to the point of uncomfortability.
Exercise is basically fasting in fast forward, so any fasting you've done prior to working out is going to compound onto itself. This is probably not psychologically healthy either considering that it becomes dangerously close to a binge/purge cycle.
Be reasonable and if it's not working, simply stop doing it and go back to something you can manage. If you're trying to rush fat loss, starving yourself and overtraining aren't great long-term strategies.
I run 3xweek up to 6-miles after fasting for 20-hrs. I will bonk if I don't eat something before. I usually eat about 1/2 tsp of coconut oil (100kcal) and I can put in a 1000kcal run and not bonk. The oil feeds the brain (the liver is out of glycogen and not feeding the brain enough and the muscles can't share glycogen with the brain-the brain runs well of the butyrates the oil provides) and then allows the body to use the stored glycogen in the muscles to fuel the workout. The oil does not give me an upset stomach even if eaten just a few minutes before running and it doesn't not cause me to be hungry either. I also use that if I'm having a rough day and can't fully fast the 20-hrs. 1/2 tsp of coconut oil will kill the hunger for a couple of hours for me. Works every time for me! I was worried eating the oil but my triglicerides are at very good levels (71). A little bit of cornstarch 30-min before a run will accomplish the same things and only 100kcal of that will allow me to go from a 400kcal run to a 1000kcal run without bonking. Cornstarch is a slow release carb used in the treatment of people with some forms of glycogen storage disorder. It allows them to sleep at night without having to eat and prevents them from going hypoglycemic (see UCAN superstarch or glycosade which is even a slower release form of cornstarch but more expensive).
You can workout fasted and I've gotten in hundreds of workouts fasted without having a problem doing what I described. You can take some coconut oil (supplies butyrates) and/or corn starch (provides glucose) and be well fueled after a long fast and not have any stomach problems or hunger problems from doing so.
Fatty acids are perfectly adept for fueling aerobic and endurance training such as the subjects in the FASTER study by Jeff Volek (http://www.vespapower.com/the-emerging-science-on-fat-adaptation/), so coconut oil containing medium chain triglycerides work well for acting like carbs in the sense that by go directly to the portal vein during digestion (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4878196/).
Just to clarify, my statement was meant to dissuade people from forcing themselves to train fasted if they're not acclimated to it. I have no problems training fasted or fed, it just depends on the activity. General strength training focusing on compound and isolation movements can be done in a fasted state. Glycolytic demanding activity, like Olympic weightlifting, I do require being in a fed state to perform, otherwise I risk dropping hundreds of pounds on me. It's subjective, but that is my personal experience.
My weight lifting ability goes way down if I don't eat something before it. The brain will just not allow it if fasted too long. I lift after I eat dinner.1 -
Question: If I ate during my fasting window and it was my last meal, do I fast 16 hours after that last meal? Should I have drank coffee instead?
Eating window is from 10am-6pm. I was so hungry at 9pm and decided to eat to get some protein in. I started working out close to 12midnight.
You can either adjust your feeding/fasting window from your last meal or just continue as normal the next day. It's not a hard rule. Or you can readjust your entire feeding window to something like 12pm - 8pm, but generally sleep is included with the fasting window, so if you're working out close to midnight, make time for adjusting your schedule based on your sleep patterns.
Thank you for the input. I chose to adjust my feeding/fasting window from my last meal0 -
Question: If I ate during my fasting window and it was my last meal, do I fast 16 hours after that last meal? Should I have drank coffee instead?
Eating window is from 10am-6pm. I was so hungry at 9pm and decided to eat to get some protein in. I started working out close to 12midnight.
The fast is how long you don't eat between meals. I'm not sure of your schedule but it might be easier to fast from noon tell about 8 and workout after you eat if you have somewhat of a traditional schedule.
Thank you for the insight. My last schedule was hard to maintain so I might go with a eating window that starts later in the day.0 -
Do most of you eat low carb or keto during your eating phase? Or just count calories? I would like to lose 40#, have started to skip breakfast, but not watching much what I eat rest of day. Thanks!0
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Do most of you eat low carb or keto during your eating phase? Or just count calories? I would like to lose 40#, have started to skip breakfast, but not watching much what I eat rest of day. Thanks!
I set a calorie limit for the day and try to get up to that point within my eating phase. I also count my macros and try to get in the most for protein and healthy fats. I don't care much for carbs. I also want to lose 40 lbs and stay within my healthy weight.
I don't say I'm skipping breakfast when my eating window is between 12pm-8pm because you can start breakfast whenever you start your eating phase.
Also be aware of what foods you eating during your eating phase. You'll feel healthier and have more energy when you decide to grab a lettuce-wrap sandwich instead of a low-calorie cheeseburger instead for instance.
Good luck and have a healthy lifestyle!1 -
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Do most of you eat low carb or keto during your eating phase? Or just count calories? I would like to lose 40#, have started to skip breakfast, but not watching much what I eat rest of day. Thanks!
I eat ad libitum but I also do a 20-hr fast. I can lose that way and I don't count and typically don't do LC. If I tried that on a 16:8 type of IF, I would gain weight unless I made my lunch LC like a big salad in which I would just be able to maintain weight. With eating ad libitum, I need a smaller eating window. You can experiment and see where it gets you. Most likely, you will either need to shorten your eating window, eat LC (helps reduce appetite), count cals, or a combination of those things to stay within a calorie level that will result in weight loss.0 -
What I learned about Intermittent Fasting???? Nothing other than the fact that I am able to do it. I only use it as a tool, I never thought of it as magic, I haven't noticed any difference with any other diet for cutting (aka fat loss phase), I just used it as a tool. I am a type of guy who prefers to have 2-3 big meals opposed to 5-6 small meals....but wether I do one or the other, it doesn't change anything, I still get the results. I only chose IF as a personal preference and I don't make it a big deal like people do with their diets (wether it's keto, vegans, paleo or other IF users). Diets are only tools, CICO is the key.6
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alexandravictoria88 wrote: »Well im on my 3rd week of IF and excercising at home with full body hardcore workouts. Im on the 18 hour fast and im finding it very difficult..the hunger pangs are so strong. Unfortunately haven't lost any weight apart from a couple of inches off legs and arms:/
You know “a couple of inches” is huge, right?0 -
alexandravictoria88 wrote: »Well im on my 3rd week of IF and excercising at home with full body hardcore workouts. Im on the 18 hour fast and im finding it very difficult..the hunger pangs are so strong. Unfortunately haven't lost any weight apart from a couple of inches off legs and arms:/
You know “a couple of inches” is huge, right?
a couple of inches is huge!
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120 LBS. YAY! Haven't been this weight in years! 5 more pounds to 115!!! I am getting my self back!!! 2
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What I learned about Intermittent Fasting???? Nothing other than the fact that I am able to do it. I only use it as a tool, I never thought of it as magic, I haven't noticed any difference with any other diet for cutting (aka fat loss phase), I just used it as a tool. I am a type of guy who prefers to have 2-3 big meals opposed to 5-6 small meals....but wether I do one or the other, it doesn't change anything, I still get the results. I only chose IF as a personal preference and I don't make it a big deal like people do with their diets (wether it's keto, vegans, paleo or other IF users). Diets are only tools, CICO is the key.
This!!!! Such an important message and for some reason soooo many people skim right passed it.
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What I learned about Intermittent Fasting???? Nothing other than the fact that I am able to do it. I only use it as a tool, I never thought of it as magic, I haven't noticed any difference with any other diet for cutting (aka fat loss phase), I just used it as a tool. I am a type of guy who prefers to have 2-3 big meals opposed to 5-6 small meals....but wether I do one or the other, it doesn't change anything, I still get the results. I only chose IF as a personal preference and I don't make it a big deal like people do with their diets (wether it's keto, vegans, paleo or other IF users). Diets are only tools, CICO is the key.
This!!!! Such an important message and for some reason soooo many people skim right passed it.
Yes, I am finding that Intermittent Fasting is a tool I use also. It has helped me have control over several aspects of my daily routine. I have changed my timing as of yesterday to decrease my fasting time and allow for 3 meal times to be able to take my supplements and meds with, so I can space them out more.
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Lots of info here!! Tyfs!!!
I’m on week four of 16:8 if myself. Found this cool tracker if anyone is interested. I have found it helpful ...
Now off to read thru all the info above!!
https://lifefastingtracker.app.link/lu9hXjj1hO1 -
I am back on after I lost 45lbs and have been off MFP for summer months and stopped fasting in the early Spring. I need to lose the 4 lbs I gained and I want to do it quickly. So back on fasting....probably the 19:5....I am eager to feel better. I seemed to have much more energy when I did that before. 0
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