FASTING............ HELP OR ADVICE PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i was just looking into this earlier. i read you eat from 6am to 6pm and then fast until the next day at 6pm.

i was just looking into this earlier. i read you eat from 6am to 6pm and then fast until the next day at 6pm.

There's a couple different methods- what you're describing sounds like the Eat-Stop-Eat method, which uses 1 or 2 24-hour fasts a week to cut your calories, you eat at maintenence the rest of the week.

The OP is describing another method, which there's several versions of but the one I"m familiar with is Leangains. You have an eating window of generally 8 to 10 hours and fast for 16 to 14 hours, everyday. You eat the calories that your deficit would allow- a.k.a. the number MFP gives you, everyday. You fast overnight and generally in the morning. I generally do 2pm to 10pm. There's tons of information available on either method and MFP groups that have info and support for IF.

Yes...lots of it. Also can have tea/coffee with a splash of milk.

It works well for me. I fast from 8 pm until 12:30 pm the next day. It works best if you exercise before your first meal. Drink plenty of water while fasting. Look up leangains for more info.

I been trying to do this fasting thing and I think its going to take sometime getting used to. I am afraid that I wont' keep up with it.

It can take a week or so to get used to- but here's the thing- the greatest benefit for me, and others I know doing IF, is that it feels sort of natural, and its very satisfying to get to eat bigger meals during your feeding hours than you would if you were eating 6 small meals a day or whatever. Its also great for evening grazers, and people who just don't like breakfast, and people who for whatever reason (business, pleasure, aversion to cooking) go out to restaurants for dinner often. It's not a magic bullet for fat loss, and probably won't make any difference unless you're already in a low BF% and looking to cut even leaner. Knowing that it's not going to dramatically change your weight loss, you should decide for yourself if the lifestyle is one that works for you- it's not for everyone. But, I like it a lot.

Edit: spelling

I've been curious about this for a while and this was very helpful. Thank you.

I was thinking about doing this myself. The thing I'm confused about is calories. If you skip a meal, do you end up eating those calories at your next meal, or are the calories just not there?

You eat all of your allotted calories, just within a specific window. 2pm to 10pm for me. Today, with exercise, I had my full 2000 ish calories between those hours.

If you do the 24-hour fast option, you eat all of your weekly calories, just in 6 days instead of 7, so you're eating more calories the whole rest of the week.

To be clear, it's not starving by any means.

Yes, I think it works for a lot of people. I've looked around extensively on the net and there are different types of IF: 24 hour, 18 hour, 16 hour, etc.

But the guide I find most comprehensive, in terms of what you need to do, eat, and why, is Leangains by Swedist fitness expert Martin Berkhan. His blog takes some getting used to - I think he should make a proper website with a clear menu - but start here:

http://www.leangains.com/2010/04/leangains-guide.html

and read his "key points" section at the bottom. You can also browse through his sections "categories" and "most popular" for more specific info. I like Berkhan because:

1. he's not an idiot
2. he's not into broscience
3. he reads lots of scientific articles on the subject *critically*, ie he just doesn't read some ****ty study and claim it's a fact
4. he discusses the articles on his website
5. he's a success story himself (he was overweight and now he maintains something like 7% body fat)
6. he has many clients who have used his diet and workout routine and are success stories themselves (see his "results" section)
7. he believes women can get the same lean muscle (not bulk!) as men, e.g., through lifting heavy
8. he doesn't make you pay for his information - all the stuff is free for you to look through without paying some stupid extra fee for "OMG register here and look at these awesome fat loss sectrets!!!" bull****
9. he's not an idiot.

I do 16-18 hour fasts and it really works for controlling my portions. Basically I stop eating around 6-7 pm and start eating shortly after lunchtime. If you think about it, that's not really hard, you're basically skipping breakfast. I've always skipped breakfast so all I've changed is *what* I'm eating - more protein than before, and working out in the mornings instead of the evenings. I only have about another 6 lbs to lose, but Leangains really set my portions back into control as I was eating like a damn pig at mealtimes.. lol.