Newb

mjboswell

So I'm new here and plan to start stronglifts 5X5 today. I'm also interested in intermitent fasting but need to read the book to know how to do it correctly. I'm a 36 y/o mom to 5 wonderful kids. I had a killer body before having kids and was close to getting it back until number 3. I guess I got lazy/busy/crazy, whatever but I'm ready to get back at it now. I'm 5'2", weigh 136, and have roughly 27% body fat. I don't really care what the scale says but I don't want to be soft and I want my body fat about 19%. I usually eat around 1450 calories and do my best to make good choices most of the time. I feel like I am on the right track even though there are many conflicting ideas on how to loose body fat while maintaining muscle mass, not to mention the varying ways to calculate TDEE. Any advice/support is welcomed. Thanks. I look forward to this journey with a great group of women.

tameko2

Welcome!

You don't need to read a book to do IF - actually I'm not sure how I feel about Eat Stop Eat - I think a 24 hour fast is a long time for MOST people. Leangains is 16/8 or 14/10 (14/10 is mostly because many women find they can't do the 16/8) which means 16 or 14 hours of fasting and then eating for 8 or 10.

There are some other recommendations around when to eat protein/carbs (kind of carb cycling) and timing your meals around your workouts but that depends on what time you plan to workout and what schedule restrictions you have. (carb cycling = basically just low carb high fat on rest days, higher carb lower fat on workout days, I don't personally do it because I hate fussing with that stuff and also eating low fat makes me unhappy).

Short story -start skipping breakfast, see how you feel. If you eat from 10am to 8pm that's a 10 hour window - try it and see how you do/feel. Some people do poorly, some people really do feel better eating more often. other people love it.

mjboswell

Thanks tameko. I think the 14/10 would work great for me, I don't like to eat breakfast anyway. I have a question though. Can I have coffee in the morning or do I need to wait until I would start eating to have it? I normally have a couple of cups of coffee, with cream, and then eat a couple of hours later. I don't think the carb cycling etc would work for me. I have 4 kids at home, I'm a full time student, and honestly I don't have the time/interest to be that precise. Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge with me.

tameko2

Coffee is fine, cut the cream if you can down to nothing or a splash of nonfat milk (but if you don't,just have it and don't worry about it - I cut my milk down to the minimum I am comfortable with which is a less white than I used to make it, and I don't fuss with it otherwise.)