Intermittent fasting...lost, need some guidance.

ohheyy125

I'm trying to do research but it's a pretty big topic and my head is starting to spin. I only want to do this about 3 days/week, and I just don't know if I should do 20:4 18:6 16:8??? All's I know is I'm typically not very hungry until the afternoon, usually 3 or 4. So, would 16:8 be good? or is 20:4 more effective? I eat decent sized portions but I don't think I'd be able to fit all my calories into 4 hours..

and for the fasting periods, I just have water right?
And when I'm eating, I HAVE to eat at least 1200 calories?
Do my hours have to be the same all the time? What if one day I fasted in the morning and ate at night, then the next day vise versa?

If it matters, I'm 5'2, 136 lbs, Gym 4x/week (300-350 calories burned each session), and on a 1200-1400 calorie/day budget right now.

ohheyy125

BTW I went on http://www.1percentedge.com/ifcalc/ and it told me to eat 1400-1900 calories depending on the day and week.. whoa...that's a lot.

Rayman79

just remember that meal timing is secondary to overall calorie count... a distant second.

The best thing is to work out what fits best with your lifestyle. If youre not hungry until mid afternoon, don't eat until then... if you dont follow a strict eating window every day that's not a bad thing either.

Just eat when you feel like it and make sure to keep within your daily caloric allowance.

If you'd like some extra reading you can take a look at leangains.com too.

I missed the extra bits in your post. When fasting anything with no (or almost no) calories is ok (eg tea, black coffee, sugar free gum), all in moderation of course.

There is no maximum or minimuc calorie intake in any meal either, just get the required number of calories in, and meet your macro split and you're golden.

cordianet

I recommend reading this:
http://www.precisionnutrition.com/intermittent-fasting

Dr. Berardi knows his stuff. Take his advice and try different things till you find what works for you. There is not one right answer because there is no one-size-fits-all here. What works for you may not work for me.

spangey13

I found it all pretty overwhelming too and I'm not sure if I'm doing it right either but...

My understanding (which may not be 100% accurate) is:

I think that you can also have some tea, not just water.

Not sure about the 1200 calories thing - I guess if you can't fit it in, you can't fit it in. I sure can't fit all my calories in on those days.

I have been doing the 16/8. Today and up into tomorrow I am going to try for 18/6. Basically, the last thing I had was at 3pm today and I'll have something at 9am tomorrow. I wasn't going to nosedive into 20 hours of fasting.

My understanding is that the body burns fat for energy after 14 hours. After 40 hours the body burns muscle for energy.

I don't think it matters if you mix it up - on the same logic that a calorie is a calorie, no matter when in the day you eat it.

I am also interested in comments on this topic!

SergeiKay

I am currently doing 16:8 (been doing this for about 3 months), but every day, and it's working great for me and my schedule.

During fasting periods, anything 0 cal is fine, water is perfect. Also, i see some recommendations for BCAA supplementation during fasting to preserve muscles, but from personal experience doesn't really seem necessary.

When eating, get all of your required calories in during the eating period. The number, of course, depends on your goals. I'm bodybuilding and gaining, so i eat around 3300 cals during the 8 hours on workout days (note: my TDEE around 2750), for example, and around 2500 on rest days.

It is recommended that your hours are the same all the time, but IMHO, that's trial and error kinda deal.

Rayman79

akusto, BCAA supplementation is for those fasting until the afternoon, but are training in the early morning. Otherwise it's not a required supp.

gadenni34

commenting mostly to be able to watch this thread. I have recently started IF and am happy to read all that I can about it...will be curious to hear what others say. I have learned most of what I am doing from leangains.com. going to check out the other link too.

ohheyy125

http://www.jcdfitness.com/2010/08/intermittent-fasting–fat-loss-muscle-gain-and-easy-maintenance/ is really helping.

"For the majority of all informed fitness enthusiasts, it’s common to divide your daily intake into 5-6 small servings throughout the day.

The problem lies in the fact that many can’t stick to such a regimen for 2 reasons.

It sucks to prepare that many meals – time constraints.
Most of these meals are fit for a bird, which creates a compliance/satiety issue, especially for small females."

YES! exactly.

tlnurse

bump to follow:flowerforyou:

SergeiKay

akusto, BCAA supplementation is for those fasting until the afternoon, but are training in the early morning. Otherwise it's not a required supp.

makes sense.

paijing

Leangains recommends 16/8 for men and suggests that 14/10 might be better for women. I did 16/8 for a while, but do whatever works for you. There are not enough scientific studies out there to definitively say what the best program is.

One female blogger does a 19/5 split and writes about her journey here: http://19hours-freedom.blogspot.com/. She finds that she overeats dramatically if she eats outside of her 5-hour window -- and she doesn't count calories.

Karabobarra

BUMP!!

35khris

bump

mindyjo74

Bump...to follow