Daily IF vs. Alternate Day IF

Hello all,
I've been doing 16:8 Daily IF for a long time now, but I was thinking about starting Alternate Day IF (Eat stop eat).

Has anyone done both, and preferred one more than the other?

For those that do Alternate Day IF, how many calories do you consume, and when do you choose to train?

I know that I could just try alternate day and see if I like it/see if it works for me, but I am just feeling it out right now to see how I feel about starting it.

TIA for the input.

Replies

  • monty619
    monty619 Posts: 1,308 Member
    that's an eating disorder waiting to happen..
  • CassiHutchings
    CassiHutchings Posts: 98 Member
    No, it's not.
  • monty619
    monty619 Posts: 1,308 Member
    No, it's not.

    why not eat every day? is there a supposed benefit to not eating a whole day?
  • MadCat
    MadCat Posts: 16
    I really like the idea of the 16:8 myself. Watched the Hodge twins take on it and really started to consider it. I just don't think I could do the eat stop eat method.
  • MadCat
    MadCat Posts: 16
    No, it's not.

    why not eat every day? is there a supposed benefit to not eating a whole day?

    It's not about "not eating" for a day. It's about eating lower calories 2 out of the 7 days if I understand it correctly.
  • CassiHutchings
    CassiHutchings Posts: 98 Member
    My husband loves the Hodge twins! Lol. Yeah, I mean some people really love doing the alternate day. I was hoping to find someone that has done both! I like daily honestly, just wanting to change things up.
  • monty619
    monty619 Posts: 1,308 Member
    No, it's not.

    why not eat every day? is there a supposed benefit to not eating a whole day?

    It's not about "not eating" for a day. It's about eating lower calories 2 out of the 7 days if I understand it correctly.
    I understand if you eat less on days you don't train, but to over eat on one day then not eat or eat minimal on another day sets you up for an eating disorder does it not? especially messing up social life
  • MadCat
    MadCat Posts: 16
    My husband loves the Hodge twins! Lol. Yeah, I mean some people really love doing the alternate day. I was hoping to find someone that has done both! I like daily honestly, just wanting to change things up.

    I was just about to ask why you were going to mix things up but yeah I get it. There was a show from the BBC talking about 5:2 fasting. If I can find it...
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    No, it's not.

    why not eat every day? is there a supposed benefit to not eating a whole day?
    It's not skipping an entire day. Eat, stop, eat calls for 2 24 hour fasts on non consecutive days. Eat at regular maintenance 5 days per week. If Tuesday is a fasting day, you stop eating Monday after dinner. Then you don't eat until dinnertime on Tuesday. Then proceed with your schedule as normal.
  • MadCat
    MadCat Posts: 16
    No, it's not.

    why not eat every day? is there a supposed benefit to not eating a whole day?

    It's not about "not eating" for a day. It's about eating lower calories 2 out of the 7 days if I understand it correctly.
    I understand if you eat less on days you don't train, but to over eat on one day then not eat or eat minimal on another day sets you up for an eating disorder does it not? especially messing up social life

    No one said anything about over eating on those 5 days.
  • MadCat
    MadCat Posts: 16
    No, it's not.

    why not eat every day? is there a supposed benefit to not eating a whole day?
    It's not skipping an entire day. Eat, stop, eat calls for 2 24 hour fasts on non consecutive days. Eat at regular maintenance 5 days per week. If Tuesday is a fasting day, you stop eating Monday after dinner. Then you don't eat until dinnertime on Tuesday. Then proceed with your schedule as normal.

    Thanks for clearing it up. :smile:
  • mustgetmuscles1
    mustgetmuscles1 Posts: 3,346 Member
    No, it's not.

    why not eat every day? is there a supposed benefit to not eating a whole day?
    It's not skipping an entire day. Eat, stop, eat calls for 2 24 hour fasts on non consecutive days. Eat at regular maintenance 5 days per week. If Tuesday is a fasting day, you stop eating Monday after dinner. Then you don't eat until dinnertime on Tuesday. Then proceed with your schedule as normal.

    Sounds miserable. What is the benefit to doing this?
  • CassiHutchings
    CassiHutchings Posts: 98 Member
    No, it's not.

    why not eat every day? is there a supposed benefit to not eating a whole day?

    It's not about "not eating" for a day. It's about eating lower calories 2 out of the 7 days if I understand it correctly.
    I understand if you eat less on days you don't train, but to over eat on one day then not eat or eat minimal on another day sets you up for an eating disorder does it not? especially messing up social life

    The thing about Intermittent fasting, no matter which type you choose, is that its flexible, and you can fit it to your life-style. None of them set it you up for an eating disorder. If you don't know a lot about IF, you should definitely look it up.
  • monty619
    monty619 Posts: 1,308 Member
    No, it's not.

    why not eat every day? is there a supposed benefit to not eating a whole day?
    It's not skipping an entire day. Eat, stop, eat calls for 2 24 hour fasts on non consecutive days. Eat at regular maintenance 5 days per week. If Tuesday is a fasting day, you stop eating Monday after dinner. Then you don't eat until dinnertime on Tuesday. Then proceed with your schedule as normal.

    yea but.. why?
  • CassiHutchings
    CassiHutchings Posts: 98 Member
    No, it's not.

    why not eat every day? is there a supposed benefit to not eating a whole day?
    It's not skipping an entire day. Eat, stop, eat calls for 2 24 hour fasts on non consecutive days. Eat at regular maintenance 5 days per week. If Tuesday is a fasting day, you stop eating Monday after dinner. Then you don't eat until dinnertime on Tuesday. Then proceed with your schedule as normal.

    Sounds miserable. What is the benefit to doing this?

    It's not miserable for me at all. James Clear is pretty good at explaining it in simple terms. There are of course a lot of resources for information about IF.

    http://jamesclear.com/the-beginners-guide-to-intermittent-fasting
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    No, it's not.

    why not eat every day? is there a supposed benefit to not eating a whole day?
    It's not skipping an entire day. Eat, stop, eat calls for 2 24 hour fasts on non consecutive days. Eat at regular maintenance 5 days per week. If Tuesday is a fasting day, you stop eating Monday after dinner. Then you don't eat until dinnertime on Tuesday. Then proceed with your schedule as normal.

    Sounds miserable. What is the benefit to doing this?
    Some people find it easier to create a calorie deficit by oonly having to restrict food for 2 days. When I was doing IF to lose, I was eating 3000 calories per day 5 days per week, then 2 days I'd eat 1000 calories for dinner. It gave me a 4000 calorie weekly deficit, for a bit over a pound a week fat loss.
  • CassiHutchings
    CassiHutchings Posts: 98 Member
    No, it's not.

    why not eat every day? is there a supposed benefit to not eating a whole day?
    It's not skipping an entire day. Eat, stop, eat calls for 2 24 hour fasts on non consecutive days. Eat at regular maintenance 5 days per week. If Tuesday is a fasting day, you stop eating Monday after dinner. Then you don't eat until dinnertime on Tuesday. Then proceed with your schedule as normal.

    yea but.. why?

    IF is a good way to increase your strength in your training, and at the same time cut down on your body fat. I posted a link to a site by James Clear. He's really good at explaining it, at least for people like me who have trouble deciphering the lean gains explanation.
  • mustgetmuscles1
    mustgetmuscles1 Posts: 3,346 Member
    No, it's not.

    why not eat every day? is there a supposed benefit to not eating a whole day?
    It's not skipping an entire day. Eat, stop, eat calls for 2 24 hour fasts on non consecutive days. Eat at regular maintenance 5 days per week. If Tuesday is a fasting day, you stop eating Monday after dinner. Then you don't eat until dinnertime on Tuesday. Then proceed with your schedule as normal.

    Sounds miserable. What is the benefit to doing this?
    Some people find it easier to create a calorie deficit by oonly having to restrict food for 2 days. When I was doing IF to lose, I was eating 3000 calories per day 5 days per week, then 2 days I'd eat 1000 calories for dinner. It gave me a 4000 calorie weekly deficit, for a bit over a pound a week fat loss.

    Ah thats fine then. I thought people thought there was some additional benefit besides personal preference.

    FYI I technically follow IF but have never noticed a difference between IF and when I mistakenly thought I had to eat 6 small meals.
  • monty619
    monty619 Posts: 1,308 Member
    No, it's not.

    why not eat every day? is there a supposed benefit to not eating a whole day?
    It's not skipping an entire day. Eat, stop, eat calls for 2 24 hour fasts on non consecutive days. Eat at regular maintenance 5 days per week. If Tuesday is a fasting day, you stop eating Monday after dinner. Then you don't eat until dinnertime on Tuesday. Then proceed with your schedule as normal.

    yea but.. why?

    IF is a good way to increase your strength in your training, and at the same time cut down on your body fat. I posted a link to a site by James Clear. He's really good at explaining it, at least for people like me who have trouble deciphering the lean gains explanation.

    sounds like you bought into the marketing ploy... im pretty sure its going to do the same as eating 6 meals a day. understood if it helps you eat in a deficit with greater ease but to have benefits like more strength?? I call BS
  • CassiHutchings
    CassiHutchings Posts: 98 Member
    No, it's not.

    why not eat every day? is there a supposed benefit to not eating a whole day?
    It's not skipping an entire day. Eat, stop, eat calls for 2 24 hour fasts on non consecutive days. Eat at regular maintenance 5 days per week. If Tuesday is a fasting day, you stop eating Monday after dinner. Then you don't eat until dinnertime on Tuesday. Then proceed with your schedule as normal.

    yea but.. why?

    IF is a good way to increase your strength in your training, and at the same time cut down on your body fat. I posted a link to a site by James Clear. He's really good at explaining it, at least for people like me who have trouble deciphering the lean gains explanation.

    sounds like you bought into the marketing ploy... im pretty sure its going to do the same as eating 6 meals a day. understood if it helps you eat in a deficit with greater ease but to have benefits like more strength?? I call BS

    Ok :) I'm not doing the best job at explaining it. Please look it up :) I'm just referencing other peoples success with it.
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    No, it's not.

    why not eat every day? is there a supposed benefit to not eating a whole day?
    It's not skipping an entire day. Eat, stop, eat calls for 2 24 hour fasts on non consecutive days. Eat at regular maintenance 5 days per week. If Tuesday is a fasting day, you stop eating Monday after dinner. Then you don't eat until dinnertime on Tuesday. Then proceed with your schedule as normal.

    yea but.. why?

    IF is a good way to increase your strength in your training, and at the same time cut down on your body fat. I posted a link to a site by James Clear. He's really good at explaining it, at least for people like me who have trouble deciphering the lean gains explanation.
    To be fair, 16:8 is NOT intermittent fasting. The leangains approach uses intermittent fasting as a marketing hook, but you really aren't "fasting," as it takes 18 to 20 hours for the body to actually enter a fasting state, plus you're still eating the same amount of caloies per day. Leangains is essentially just a amerketing approach to "trick" people into restricting their calories, by assigning an arbitrary eating window. I actually like Brad Pilon's term for it, where he calls leangains "intermittent feeding."

    There's no magic to intermittent fasting. Just another way of creating a calorie deficit.