Intermittent Fasting...

You would eat 8 hours and fast 16 hours everyday no 24 hours fast. 24 hour IF is another type of intermittent fasting. There are various types of IF's routine that an individual can chose. As for the pregnant thing, you are supporting life in you and in order for that life to grow and be healthy you need to eat frequently or the unborn child will have complications or possibly die from starvation.

These are NOT dumb questions at all. IF is not a perfect science. And for women the results are all over the map. I have had great success with it, so have many of my friends. HOWEVER you go on line and you will find women who have had trouble with it, especially women in childbearing years.

So let's start with your first question: Is it bad to do while pregnant? My answer would be no one probably knows right now but I would not risk it. You have different energy needs when you are with child and so does your baby during this time. With that being said, I went on a low carb South Beach diet when I was pregnant years ago and had two perfectly healthy babies. My doctor said it was a great diet for pregnant women.

Also for many women IF 16/8 is too long of a fasting window and some fall into low blood sugar issues. Leangains recommends no more than a 14/10 for women who are nearly to goal. And as far as 5:2 I would not even consider it. 500 calories on your fast day is gambling with your baby's health. IF is intended to put STRESS on your body to get it to perform, your body will not respond well to stress during pregnancy.

I think most of these hormonal and blood sugar issues that causes problems with women doing IF need more research to get a clear picture of the over all affects to younger women...but for me keeping my carb levels below 100 nearly always prevents me from spiking and dropping blood sugar issue. When I feel low blood sugar I eat a few rice crackers to address the immediate problem but then I lower my over all carb intake the next couple of days and it seems to fix the problem.

Here is the thought why women may not do as well with IF as men. We came from a hunter history, and there were times of fasting due to lack of food supply, especially for men. However since women were often pregnant this was not as much of a factor in their development. In other words women did not fast as often as men did so IF is not as easy for them to adapt to.

I don't what I think about that, other than it is a lot of conjecture. I feel great doing an IF 16/8, however if I was trying to get pregnant or was I would NOT do it. My morning sickness alone lasted nearly 7 months and rice crackers in the mornings were the only thing that allowed me to get up and go. Any type of stress during pregnancy can have really unforeseen consequences. I just would not be willing to experiment that way with my baby.

Sorry one more thing. There are many different kinds of IF 5:2 and 16:8 are just two different types of IF. 5:2 you eat at maintenance TDEE for five days and fast (eat 500 calories) for two days. 16:8 you fast for 16 hrs during the evening to the next morning day, train during that fasted state and have an 8 hr feeding window. During that feeding window you shoot for 20 % over TDEE on lifting days and 20% under on cardio and rest days. You also adjust macro nurtrients for your own needs, but many people start with a 40:40:40 ratio to start and adjust from there. Like less carbs or less fat on certain training days.

Yes some people mix them up. Some are die hard fans of one type. There are a lot of ways to do IF and see results.

I personally IF 7 days a week 16:8 12pm-8pm I LOVE IT!

It is bad while you are pregnant because you should not be trying to lose weight while you are pregnant.

IFing doesn't mean you are in a calorie deficit.

I still wouldn't be trying to lose weight with whatever meal frequency while pregnant though.


Also, fasted training is optional for LG method.

Thanks for the info. I am thinking of starting with the 8 or 10 hour window...and seeing what happens.


Edited to add... How long did it take to start seeing results from IF?

It depends on which one you do-with eating windows it's not necessarily a weight loss plan, since you're still eating your normal, allotted calories-just during a certain period of time everyday.

With the restricted calorie IF plans (alternate day, 5:2 and 4:3), it will just depend on the person. I lost around 40lbs from end of October to the beginning of March, with alternate day IF. That included taking a couple weeks off for the Christmas holidays and eating as I wanted through several Christmas parties Also, with these plans you're only fasting/dieting every other day or 2-3 days a week and then eating normal amounts of calories the other days, so you can't really compare it to other plans where you restrict calories every day. It's an unconventional way to lose weight, but I had great success with it Also, I had blood work done after doing alternate day IF for several months and my numbers all came back really good, including I was no longer pre-diabetic

This is one of the best sites for IF....lots of great info there.......

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

I followed the link and read some of his other stuff. I love this article:

http://www.leangains.com/2010/01/marshmallow-test.html

I need to get to that point. I still see the marshmallow right now.

Your mixing alot of IF diets together, since the information is a bit overwhelming on the internet.

The 16 hr thing is leangains

24 hr fasts once or twice a week is eat stop eat.

Leangains is free, and eat stop eat is a paid program both are great regardless.

Here is the free guide for leangains: http://www.leangains.com/2010/04/leangains-guide.html

I know many of you are doing the 16/8 fasting. What kind of weight loss results are you achieving?