Intermittent Fasting

3furballs · June 2015

I have been trying to lose the same 7-10lbs since January. I was aiming for 1400 calories, but I do eat back my exercise calories, so it was around 2000 per day less the exercise calories of around 600 or more a day (I workout 6 times a week and ride or walk to and from work, plus I'm pretty active at home with the 3 kids). I started January at about 149lbs, About the beginning of March, end of February I started using an estimated TDEE and a deficit of 20% of same. Got down to 143 by the end of March, beginning of April. Since then I've gone back up to 148, down to 146, then 147. Small amounts, but I hate the fit of my clothes.

I have young kids at home and I try to eat reasonably during the day and we have whatever we're having for dinner, as long as it's homemade. I'm not very good at super low cal diets and with the amount of working out I do it feels like it would be a downward spiral to cut calories too low.

I have been trying the EM2WL method, which helped me get to the 143 (really ended up being similar to what I was already eating since I was eating back my exercise calories), but then I've bounced all over and after a week of no exercise (just for a break and injured collarbone), then a week of eating at estimated TDEE of 2300 and exercising and then a week of a 20% deficit and my exercising there hasn't been much change.

So I'm thinking of trying intermitment fasting, what I had read was a 10 hour eating window then 14 hours of fasting. A very fit young guy at work says no no, you need to start eating early but taper off by 5/6 pm and make sure you have no carbs in the evening.

Anyway, after all that babbling, I was wondering who has tried it, what methods worked and what your experiences are.

I'm 43, 147lbs, 5'6.5". Work out 6 days a week with cardio kickboxing on the heavy bag, kettlebell training, HIIT plus biking/walking to and from work. Oh and just for kicks I'm also pre-menopausal so I'm pretty sure there are some hormone issues.

TeaBea · June 2015

I use a different method (5:2)....that's 2 days at 500 and 5 days at maintenance. Works for me.

Here are a couple links (Fasting groups)....there is a lot of information there

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/49-intermittent-fasting

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/100058-5-2-fasting

wkwebby · June 2015

Try switching up your kettlebell training or cardiokickboxing with some heavier weights. It sounds like your body is really close to its intended goal weight (and not yours

). I'm 41 (will be 42 this year) and 5'4", stuck at 148 lbs. I wanted to go to 135, but my trainer said that I would lose so much muscle strength and mass that it wouldn't be good. I got down to 143lb, but got hurt so I inched back up to 148. I'm in the gym 5 days, but haven't hit the heavy weights since I got hurt a few months back. See if body recomp is more of an attainable goal.

maxit · June 2015

Since you are within a normal weight range already, I would suggest a smaller deficit (not 20%) if you are dead set on reaching a scale number. Whether you eat in the evening or not is up to you - from a shedding fat standpoint, the only reason to put a "window of opportunity" onto meals is because it's easier to eat at your intended calorie amount that way. My "window" is between10 AM and 8 PM, and it works fine for me. I have MFP set at "sedentary" and log all my walking and intentional exercise through FitBit. Both in weight-loss mode and maintenance mode, I have eaten very close to MFP daily amount (which fluctuated according to my activity). In maintenance I continued to lose about a pound a month so "eating back exercise calories" has not been an issue.

strong_curves · June 2015

3furballs wrote: »

I have been trying to lose the same 7-10lbs since January. I was aiming for 1400 calories, but I do eat back my exercise calories, so it was around 2000 per day less the exercise calories of around 600 or more a day (I workout 6 times a week and ride or walk to and from work, plus I'm pretty active at home with the 3 kids). I started January at about 149lbs, About the beginning of March, end of February I started using an estimated TDEE and a deficit of 20% of same. Got down to 143 by the end of March, beginning of April. Since then I've gone back up to 148, down to 146, then 147. Small amounts, but I hate the fit of my clothes.

I have young kids at home and I try to eat reasonably during the day and we have whatever we're having for dinner, as long as it's homemade. I'm not very good at super low cal diets and with the amount of working out I do it feels like it would be a downward spiral to cut calories too low.

I have been trying the EM2WL method, which helped me get to the 143 (really ended up being similar to what I was already eating since I was eating back my exercise calories), but then I've bounced all over and after a week of no exercise (just for a break and injured collarbone), then a week of eating at estimated TDEE of 2300 and exercising and then a week of a 20% deficit and my exercising there hasn't been much change.

So I'm thinking of trying intermitment fasting, what I had read was a 10 hour eating window then 14 hours of fasting. A very fit young guy at work says no no, you need to start eating early but taper off by 5/6 pm and make sure you have no carbs in the evening.

Anyway, after all that babbling, I was wondering who has tried it, what methods worked and what your experiences are.

I'm 43, 147lbs, 5'6.5". Work out 6 days a week with cardio kickboxing on the heavy bag, kettlebell training, HIIT plus biking/walking to and from work. Oh and just for kicks I'm also pre-menopausal so I'm pretty sure there are some hormone issues.

I would think that you would have to given any of these methods longer than a week to see a difference. Just my opinion but maybe you're doing to much and not giving any of these methods time to actually work.

3furballs · June 2015

I'm not set on the scale weight anymore. I was at 135lbs for a few years, a size 8 and then inched up to 140-141lbs but was a 4/6 in size. It's the size I'd like to get back to and I'm more of a 6/8 now. I also find this weight gain is sitting around my stomach which is new, usually I gain in the booty first. I don't usually have a problem with staying within my calorie goal (maybe not so good on weekends!) and the 2lbs gain after eating at TDEE I figured was just water weight, but after a week of deficit I only lost one of the pounds gained which seemed odd.

Unfortunately there isn't much I can do to change my workouts up. The place I work out only offers classes at set times. It's a karate school, not a gym, so no access to equipment outside the class times.

katnoir1 · June 2015

I've had some success with intermittent fasting. I started out with a 12:12 fasting:eating ratio, and I've worked myself back to 16:8. Basically I have my first meal (brunch) at about 11am, meal 2 at around 1:30pm, and then have a normal dinner with my family, finishing up by 7pm. If I'm hungry or have had a workout, I'll also have a snack in the afternoon. I find this works well with my schedule.

Switching to this eating schedule has helped me move the last few pounds after a 3-month plateau. I've lost around 3-4 pounds in the last month (but bear in mind, I'm currently only 128lbs so my weight loss will always be quite modest). I also try to front-load my carbs a bit, so that I have a fairly large portion at my first meal and then gradually reduce them by the evening, but I still quite often have rice or potatoes with dinner and it works for me.

A couple of points I will make:

1) fasting schedules are not one size fits all. I did quite a bit of experimenting before I settled on a 16:8 schedule. Some people prefer larger/smaller feeding windows, other people might try alternate day fasting or 5:2. My advice would be to start small and keep tweaking until you find something that works for you.

2) I think a big portion of my success is attributed to my lack of eating after dinner. I used to regularly have a snack or a sweet in the evenings (within my daily calorie limit), but that often meant I was going to bed with food in my stomach, which did not work for me at all.

3) Intermittent fasting can sometimes have some downsides for women, which I believe is mostly due to our hormone differences. It would be a good idea to do some research before you get started so you can make an informed choice (I found www.leangains.com quite helpful)

Good luck!

3furballs · June 2015

Thanks everyone. Katnoir I do wonder about the snack at night too. I have a sweet tooth and usually have something, even toasted almonds and chocolate chips. Always within my calorie limit, but I wonder about the timing. I used to have ice cream every evening without issue, but maybe those days are gone, though it was only 2 years ago.

amw212s · June 2015

It's the only thing that helps me lose weight. I'm not strict about 16 hours on 8 off etc. I also let my body dictate when I fast. I mostly skip breakfast. If I'm starving I eat breakfast, but I'm trying to eat a very light high protein breakfast. One or two eggs. I'm also tracking my calories. Sometimes I want to eat before lunch, but I try to hold off with lots of water or sugar free gum. Studies show we don't go into starvation mode for a week or even a month if we are deprived of eating because we have lots of fat. Studies also show that we continue to burn calories when fasting.

Intermittent Fasting

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