Intermittent Fasting. Anyone tried it?

ColleenRoss50

I just started fasting one day a week ths week. I'm not doing IF, instead I'm doing a full day. Yesterday was my fast day and I was only briefly hungry once around dinner time. Im close to goal and tired of dieting, so for me fasting once a week gives me my deficit for the week and the other 6 days I can eat at maintenance.

I'm also trying to get over my food obsession and figured that maybe having one day where I don't ave to think about food will help.

There are many variations of IF and people do it for a variety of reasons.

I started doing one day a week fasting at the beginning of May so have been at it for about six weeks. It works out to being about a 36 hour fast once a week (from about 8:30 pm the night before the fasting day till about 8:30 am the morning after. I, too, only experience a few brief moments of feeling like I want to eat in the evening of the fasting day. I might sometimes go to bed an hour or two earlier on that day. By the following morning I no longer feel hungry and am usually up for two or three hours before I even want to have breakfast.

I, too, did it because I was reaching a point where I was finding I sometimes couldn't fit some of the things I would like to eat into my daily calorie goal I had set for myself. By redistributing the calories I save on my fasting day over the other six days, I now have a little more wiggle room on my eating days as to what I can eat while still maintaining my average calorie goal over the week.

aimsteen

I just started IF, and it's working!! I've been at a great weight for my size for a while and I work out a lot, but I wanted to start working on body composition. I asked for good advice and apparently, I received it. I have been lifting heavy for a while, been doing 3-4 days of cardio a week, and I was stalling. It has helped me ten fold. It was diffucult the first week because my brain was so trained with eat every few hours, eat before you work out, drink your protein shake within an hour of your strength training, etc. And while I still do that on the days I don't do IF, I am like the op and enjoy being able to eat more calories every day. I may not do it forever, but for now I'm loving it! To each their own, but it's working for me. I was doing everything right and was stuck, now I've lost 2lbs. in 2 weeks. I still have to measure but from looking at me, in my opinion, it's been fat instead of muscle. Either way, makes me one happy girl.

Edited to add: When I do my IF it's only for 18-24 hrs.

Phrak

not a magic bullet, to much micro managing and restrictions for little to no added reward

I agree its not a magic bullet but I do not see any micro managing at all and no restrtictions other than not having to eat as often and I really like the rewards.

so D- for you but thanks for playing

Maybe not for you, but I for one hate cycling calories and macros, when the net benefit is zero. And are you basing your rewards solely on IF?

TheFitFireman

not a magic bullet, to much micro managing and restrictions for little to no added reward

I agree its not a magic bullet but I do not see any micro managing at all and no restrtictions other than not having to eat as often and I really like the rewards.

so D- for you but thanks for playing

Maybe not for you, but I for one hate cycling calories and macros, when the net benefit it zero.

What on earth are you talking about? There's no calorie or macronutrient cycling involved. Show a source that denies all the benefits to IF please, because I've already posted 4 sites that do nothing but praise IF...

Barbellerella

Yes I am an IFer... I usually do 1:30-10 on Workout days... and like 12-9 on the others.. I like it and feel best this way.

Kalee34

bump

TheFitFireman

Yes I am an IFer... I usually do 1:30-10 on Workout days... and like 12-9 on the others.. I like it and feel best this way.

Glad you like it as well! :happy:

Phrak

Fireman please re read the key points in your original post. Calorie/macro nutrient cycling is listed there.

* Macronutrients and calorie intakes are always cycled through the week. The specifics depends on the client's ultimate goal: fat loss, muscle gain or bodyrecomposition. The details will be revealed in the book. Generally speaking, carbs and total calorie intake is highest on training days. On rest days, carbs are lower and fat is higher. Protein is kept high on all days.

TheFitFireman

Fireman please re read the key points in your original post. Calorie/macro nutrient cycling is listed there.

* Macronutrients and calorie intakes are always cycled through the week. The specifics depends on the client's ultimate goal: fat loss, muscle gain or bodyrecomposition. The details will be revealed in the book. Generally speaking, carbs and total calorie intake is highest on training days. On rest days, carbs are lower and fat is higher. Protein is kept high on all days.

That's not a required part of IF... That's something that's recommended...

Also, if someone were to choose to do those things they are easy, it's just adjusting macros for whether or not it's a day that you're exercising...

Please post a site that denies the benefits of IF since you claim there's no benefit to it yet nearly every single person here would disagree with you.

joejccva71

There's no metabolic advantage at all whatsoever to Intermittent Fasting other than dropping some extra water weight. You can still do all the fasting you want, but eat a surplus and you'll get fat. And yes I've done quite a bit of research on it, and what Berkhan offers with it, and I've actually done it. There isn't a difference in FAT LOSS compared to just a standard calorie deficit eating diet.

Period. End of story.

Barbellerella

Oh I forgot to mention, my kids are in gymnastics and we usually don't eat dinner until 9pm when they get home... this makes it so much easier for me to have calories left to eat that late at night, and without the guilt!

Phrak

so by that logic i could just say look at the diets of the majority of the bodybuilders that compete who eat 6 meals a day. The only benefit of IF is compliance, and being able to consistently hit your calorie goals You can get the same results eating 3-4-5-6 meals a day.

Barbellerella

Whether or not it helps with fat loss is debatable both ways. Here is one of my favorite IF websites. Anyone interested should check this out, along with Leangains site of course.

http://www.thefatlossninja.com/intermittent-fasting-course/

TheFitFireman

so by that logic i could just say look at the diets of the majority of the bodybuilders that compete who eat 6 meals a day. The only benefit of IF is compliance, and being able to consistently hit your calorie goals You can get the same results eating 3-4-5-6 meals a day.

I'm still waiting for you to post a site that denies the benefits that the sites I've posted claim.

Still patiently waiting...

I understand the concept of a caloric deficits and a caloric surplus, those clearly dictate whether someone is gaining or losing weight. I never stated that you couldn't get the same results from eating 6 meals, I also never said anything bad about eating that way. I claimed and supported the benefits to IF, so if you want to talk about 6 meals a day then start your own thread and talk about it there, because now you're just spamming my thread with a different subject.

TheFitFireman

There's no metabolic advantage at all whatsoever to Intermittent Fasting other than dropping some extra water weight. You can still do all the fasting you want, but eat a surplus and you'll get fat. And yes I've done quite a bit of research on it, and what Berkhan offers with it, and I've actually done it. There isn't a difference in FAT LOSS compared to just a standard calorie deficit eating diet.

Period. End of story.

Post a link that supports your claims please regarding "no metabolic advantage" and just "dropping some extra water weight", thank you.

gauchogirl

I also follow the IF method (not the BCAA part, but the timing part.) I wake at 7:30, eat a smallish breakfast between 10-10:30, work out no. 1 at noon, have a big *kitten* salad with meat (I am also paleo/primal) about 1:00-1:30 (which takes me more than an hour to eat, since I'm working at the same time), small snack, if necessary, about 4:00, then workout no. 2 from 5-6, dinner between 6:30-7:00. This is a 9-hour feed window (the 8-hour window that Martin suggests is for males and he says women do better with a 10-hour window.)

It is neither difficult for me to follow, nor restrictive. For me the routine prevents much opportunity to "accidentally" fall off. I was a life-long early breakfast eater, but I had no problem transitioning and am not hungry until after 10 now. I don't have huge cheat days, but when I go on vacation, I don't worry about it as much. It might not be for everyone, but it works well for me. And I would say of myself (my OLD, overweight self), if I can do it, anyone can. It's played a significant role in the weight I've lost so far.

Phrak

There's no metabolic advantage at all whatsoever to Intermittent Fasting other than dropping some extra water weight. You can still do all the fasting you want, but eat a surplus and you'll get fat. And yes I've done quite a bit of research on it, and what Berkhan offers with it, and I've actually done it. There isn't a difference in FAT LOSS compared to just a standard calorie deficit eating diet.

Period. End of story.

Post a link that supports your claims please regarding "no metabolic advantage" and just "dropping some extra water weight", thank you.

so you are saying IF has a metabolic advantage to traditional methods, when the same calories and macro nutrients are used?

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/research-review/meal-frequency-and-energy-balance-research-review.html would say otherwise, meal frequency has no effect on metabolism

Jay_Jay_

I do Keto, aka LCHF. I also do IF 16/8 for the last two weeks. For me it was just a natural transition with keto, My meals leave me feeling satiated for hours, so I am rarely hungry before 12 pm. Then my window is open until 8 pm, I have a late meal and that holds me over until the next day. I could absolutely see why IF would be difficult for most other diets though, where hunger might be an issue. Last month I lost 8 lbs total, two weeks ago I started IF and lost 7 lbs, last week I lost 6 lbs. Not bad.

TheFitFireman

There's no metabolic advantage at all whatsoever to Intermittent Fasting other than dropping some extra water weight. You can still do all the fasting you want, but eat a surplus and you'll get fat. And yes I've done quite a bit of research on it, and what Berkhan offers with it, and I've actually done it. There isn't a difference in FAT LOSS compared to just a standard calorie deficit eating diet.

Period. End of story.

Post a link that supports your claims please regarding "no metabolic advantage" and just "dropping some extra water weight", thank you.

so you are saying IF has a metabolic advantage to traditional methods, when the same calories and macro nutrients are used?

Again, post a site that backs your claims of no benefits. Otherwise get off my thread and stop spamming and trolling.

plank_page

Interesting.