Fasting and Exercise

Viva81Diva
Viva81Diva Posts: 148
in Food and Nutrition
Hi there. I was considering doing something similar to Intermittent Fasting, where I would exercise before I eat in the morning, and then eat about 30 minutes afterward until my normal dinner time. I eat around 4 meals a day with a base target of 1400 each day (sometimes I am slightly under / over by a few hundred), and already consume high protein and high fiber, hydrate well, and near my carbohydrate mark. I also focus on organic foods and whole foods.

I still plan to eat like I have been, just not eat before morning exercise and save my consumption until after I complete and through dinner.

For exercise, I do moderate high to high intensity training for just under an hour 5 to 6 days per week. Aerobic mainly, with some resistance throughout each workout.

My question is: Has anyone else done this and seen a significant (positive) change in body fat? Also, what pros and cons have you had fasting before exercise?? Thanks! :)

Replies

  • melindasuefritz
    melindasuefritz Posts: 3,509 Member
    fasting is dangerous
  • Viva81Diva
    Viva81Diva Posts: 148
    So what you are saying is that choosing not to eat breakfast before exercising is harmful to the body? In what ways? I am looking for input so I can weigh my pros and cons.
  • beyondjupiter
    beyondjupiter Posts: 247 Member
    fasting is dangerous

    I'd like to see some research behind this?

    I don't fast so I can't offer a lot of advice but plenty of people fast (Ever watched "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead"? They all go on a juice fast for months). However, there are quite a few people here that swear by intermittent fasting. Which I believe is fast for certain times of the day or 1-2 days of the week. It can be very cleansing for your body to do a fast, detoxing.

    Hopefully, someone can offer you some decent advice on this and not some scare tactic with no information behind it.

    Jen
  • Cp731
    Cp731 Posts: 3,195 Member
    scoobysworkshop.com/leangains-intermittent-fasting/‎

    fitness.mercola.com/sites/fitness/.../intermittent-fasting-approach.aspx

    www.huffingtonpost.com/.../intermittent-fasting-does-it-work_n_303986...

    I hope these links work for you.
  • whierd
    whierd Posts: 14,025 Member
    How about you just...oh I don't know....eat normally?
  • AbsoluteNG
    AbsoluteNG Posts: 1,079 Member
    Sounds like you want to eat after you exercise in the morning and then another meal at dinner time? That's not really how IF works if you're going to eat breakfast and dinner. I'm not sure how analytical you want to get with this but it is actually better to wait at least an hour after you train to eat something in order to let your HGH proteins to do their thing. The Hodgetwins wait at least 2 hours after they eat. They also train fasted in addition to waiting 2 hours before eating something after a workout. Also, it is recommended that you eat 10grams of BCAAs to prevent muscle loss during a training session.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PH7CPh8u2RA
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
    i'll often train fasted in the morning, and then not eat until noon. then i have my eight hours where i'll eat all my calories, saving most of them for dinner. i like a big meal at night. and wine. then i'll fast for 16 hours. i couldn't imagine being awake through the majority of my fast.
  • iwantniceabs
    iwantniceabs Posts: 357 Member
    fasting is dangerous

    fasting CAN be dangerous....so can riding a bike, cutting up fruit, or giving birth.

    anything becomes dangerous when uninformed people get a hold of it

    just continue to research it and decide what's best for you

    IF has worked well for me, but I also eat healthy, workout, and net less calories than I consume.
  • grantdumas7
    grantdumas7 Posts: 802 Member
    Try it and see if you like it. I tried it for a while and it wasn't for me. I was weaker and didn't have enough energy.
  • carolemorden9
    carolemorden9 Posts: 284 Member
    For awhile, I would exercise before I ate breakfast in the morning. It worked for me. Then I decided I wanted to sleep more because getting enough sleep is also good for losing weight. Sometimes I'll do a little something before breakfast. Usually no more than 30 - 45 minutes though.
  • pinkraynedropjacki
    pinkraynedropjacki Posts: 3,027 Member
    I never eat before I workout. Never. If I do my stomach starts cramping up & hinders me. So even if I don't workout till 3pm or something I wont eat till after it.

    Nothing dangerous about it, just don't want to have the pain that comes along with it.




    But you are not really fasting at all, just delaying eating a little longer. You are still eating, but just not 1st thing in the morning. I can't understand how you would think it's fasting. Many people don't eat before a workout for the same reason I do.... if you are a runner like me then some of us have a hard time with food in the stomach & running...it does cause you to be near a toilet.
  • Graelwyn75
    Graelwyn75 Posts: 4,404 Member
    fasting is dangerous

    This is not the first uneducated post I have seen from you.
    Do your research before posting for the sake of posting.
    There are plenty of intermittent fasters on here, in perfect health.
  • Heather_Rider
    Heather_Rider Posts: 1,159 Member
    I workout in the morning before i eat. If you would like to discuss it, ill be happy to. Please send me a message. I also do half day fasting. I refuse to discuss it here, because people like to call you down on something they are uneducated on.

    Im Heather, and we all fast every night when we sleep. Its just about what time we decide to fast. Kind of like day shift and night shift at work.. Is it wrong to eat after 7pm, when you wake up at 5pm because you work the night shift??

    Good luck to you & im here to talk if you are interested.. Ill be back online tomorrow. :flowerforyou:
  • Aleysia87
    Aleysia87 Posts: 14 Member
    Don't listen to the people telling you that fasting is bad or "why would you do that?".

    There's actually an Intermittent Fasting group on MFP (http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/49-intermittent-fasting) where I've seen a few of these threads floating around, and more generally, I would suggest doing more research, e.g. http://www.marksdailyapple.com/monday-musings-thoughts-on-fasted-training/
  • BarackMeLikeAHurricane
    BarackMeLikeAHurricane Posts: 3,400 Member
    I do 20/4 IF and train ~19 hours fasted every day. I've lost fat and gained muscle. Anyone that says IF is dangerous has no idea what they're talking about.
  • Viva81Diva
    Viva81Diva Posts: 148
    I will read through all of the replies in just a minute, but first I want to apologize for not being as clear.



    This is how my schedule looks now: Wake up / Breakfast / Lunch / Snack / Dinner / Exercise / Bed


    This is what I was considering doing: Wake up / Exercise / Breakfast / Lunch / Snack / Dinner / Bed


    Not changing my calorie/food intake at all. Just exercising as soon as I wake up before breakfast. Thanks for the links! I will read more into it. I was looking for input so I can see if it would be more productive for safe results. :)
  • Viva81Diva
    Viva81Diva Posts: 148
    Thank you so much for the replies! I will check out all links and also the group here. I'm the type of person that researches before I attempt to change my dietary habits and activities. I think I may be okay with not eating first thing in the morning because the past few weeks it's taken me a little while to eat anyway, probably from all of the protein I have been consuming. I appreciate your input and help. :)
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
    fasting is dangerous

    Do you always post the most random and incorrect thing that comes to mind in every thread? That's the way it seems. Please stop spreading misinformation, it does not help anyone.
  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
    If it works for you, do it. Lots of people do well training on a fast. I just know that if I, personally, try to exercise fasted I'm sluggish and beat down and I feel absolutely terrible - sick even. I can't work out on a full stomach either. A light meal 30-60 minutes in advance is best for me. I try not to complicate my life with too many fads and trends. I just do what feels best for my body. Good luck!
  • WhaddoWino
    WhaddoWino Posts: 146 Member
    Read this... the entire manuscript of "Eat, Stop, Eat" that walks you through the physiology of intermittent fasting and exercise. It is a VERY informative read and I think it will answer your questions.

    http://aventadores.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/brad-pilon-eat-stop-eat.pdf
  • Viva81Diva
    Viva81Diva Posts: 148
    Thank you very much! :)
  • Carnivor0us
    Carnivor0us Posts: 1,752 Member
    fasting is dangerous

    If that was true, there'd be a lot of hospitalizations and/or deaths around Ramadan. :huh:
  • isazzzz
    isazzzz Posts: 95
    I'm currently on IF from www.leangains.com

    I do a 14 hour fast and a 10 hour feeding window.

    My ideal plan (if i'm not too lazy for fasted cardio..)

    1) Wake up, down an espresso shot
    2) Fasted Cardio (about 30-45 mins on the cross trainer, intervals)
    3) Small breakfast about 240-280 cals
    4) Lifting at the gym. (i'm currently doing 5x5)
    5) FEAST, within your macros of course!

    I find that this totally works for me. I used to be one of those 'carbs in the day and NEVER at night' but after some reading I realised that the best plan, is the plan that works for you.

    Tried the '5-6' small meals a day thing and felt RAVENOUS during the whole entire day. I was eating so often but had no energy to complete my workouts.

    Tried having most of my carbs in the day and less in the night. Didn't work out for me. Felt super hungry at night I'd just start eating all the bread in the house...screwed up my macros as well.

    IF is so far a great way of eating for me and it fits in my daily exercise schedule. It may not be for everyone but you can definitely give it a try!

    props to HelloitsDan for helping me out in the beginning when I decided to start IF!

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