Intermittent fasting help!

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h_m_mcdonald
h_m_mcdonald Posts: 2 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hi,
I'm interested (but terrified!) in starting intermittent fasting to help with getting lean. With so much crap out there, I'm looking for recommendations on good info to read or personal experiences (success or not-so-success stories). Thanks guys!

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  • punishere
    punishere Posts: 8 Member
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    Hi
    Saw your post, and thought I'll just give my 5 cent's worth. In point form below, if u don't mind,
    - been on it for 1 month now. Feels great. Energy level good, fat loss progress going as planned.
    - For the past 111 days, been on mid carb, adequate protein, low fat diet with workouts (first 85 days),
    then started to go on IF till now. Been eating at a caloric deficit. Dropped 12 kg so far, some of which I believe to be muscle mass and water weight
    - switched to IF, start placing more emphasis on strength training. Seems to work fine. No loss of energy.
    weight loss is progressing. Seems to maintain strength, hopefully that means keeping my lean mass as much as possible.
    - IF is an eating pattern, not a starvation program (though there will be times when u'll encounter 'hungry pangs'. Neither should it be looked upon as a miracle weight loss diet fad.
    - Below link on YouTube gives a decent explanation to people new to IF
    http://youtu.be/-rzx_LAf6dk
    - Do the research and seek to understand how the body works in terms of how it handles food intake quality, quantity, timing etc
    - do it for the health benefits, weight loss is one of the many after effects
    - see if it fits your lifestyle and goal (build muscle? lose weight? Overall health)
    - If u r simple looking to get lean, there are many methods out there that works. IF is only one of them
    - no need to be terrified. After some understanding, if you find it agreeable, at least in theory, you can try it for a short period, say 10 days. Just stop if you find problems with it.
    - Still, your macronutrient ratios and work out plans need to be in place too.
    - So far, no bad side effects from IF, if that's what you are worried about.
    - However I'm no expert, just a regular guy looking to be fit and building a better body.
    Hope that helps
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
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    >> Here is a group for you:
    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/49-intermittent-fasting

    Some people do the 5:2 -- eat about 500 calories two days a week and eat at maintenance the other five days a week.

    16:8 -- do not eat for 16 hours a day and then eat at their calorie deficit within an 8 hour window of time.

    There are other variations.
  • punishere
    punishere Posts: 8 Member
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    Hi h-m,

    If u could be a bit more specific about what your fears are with IF, and a bit of info on what your current physical state is, this community might be able to help better. Cheers
  • h_m_mcdonald
    h_m_mcdonald Posts: 2 Member
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    Thank you for your replies. I'm quite fit, I play competition level touch football (touch rugby) and train 5 times a week (mostly cardio for touch) with 1 strength session a week. I'm not really looking to lose weight (maybe a couple of kilos but nothing sunstantial), I'm 5'4, 119 pounds (54kgs) but wanting to get a little bit more lean and get rid of the fat. I can't take on more strength training due to my cardio demands.
  • professionalHobbyist
    professionalHobbyist Posts: 1,316 Member
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    I exercise fasted, long duration fairly intense cardio level work.

    It is for a purpose, not a magical diet thing. For burning out all glycogen and increasing mitochondria for burning fat at a higher percentage.

    Workout yesterday was a good one for that. IF without exercise is somewhat less effective for that IMO. But I am a fan of exercise in body transformation

    Your mileage may vary

    Yesterday

    vtaee8c57lc8.jpg
  • Stacey765
    Stacey765 Posts: 86 Member
    edited July 2015
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    professionalHobbyist wrote: »
    I exercise fasted, long duration fairly intense cardio level work.

    It is for a purpose, not a magical diet thing. For burning out all glycogen and increasing mitochondria for burning fat at a higher percentage.

    Workout yesterday was a good one for that. IF without exercise is somewhat less effective for that IMO. But I am a fan of exercise in body transformation

    Your mileage may vary

    Yesterday





    So, you up your exercise instead of fasting to burn the excess calories instead? If not, do you exercise on fasting days?

    (Sorry, stinking phone isn't letting me quote the way I want :/ )



    vtaee8c57lc8.jpg

  • Steff46
    Steff46 Posts: 516 Member
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    I do the 16/8 fasting during the week and follow MFP's calories for my stats. In the summer, I don't fast on Saturday or Sunday if I have a big road bike ride planned such as 50, 65, or 80 miles. But I do stop eating at the same time each evening. In the winter, I fast every day and my workouts are in the fasted state.
  • professionalHobbyist
    professionalHobbyist Posts: 1,316 Member
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    I fast for 8 hours before my long duration cardio. That is long enough since I eat low carb anyway. So I fast for lower glycogen levels and then burn it all out, and some fat on my ride.

    I do it 3x a week

    Kind of tiring and not easy

    But it is leaning me out.

    Stubborn abdominal hip and torso fat is finally going away

  • Stacey765
    Stacey765 Posts: 86 Member
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    Perfect! Thanks - I like the idea of fasting, but I wasn't sure how my cycling would be affected. I really appreciate the replies!

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