Intermittent Fasting

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  • Tblackdogs
    Tblackdogs Posts: 324 Member
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    alexandravictoria88 wrote: »
    What a great thread with lots of info. I may have missed this, but ive read quite a few concerning issues whilst doing IF. Mainly missed periods and fertility issues. That scares me. I basically said ill be starting IF today and eating 1450 calories, 1st week 14 hour fast, 2nd week 16 hour fast, 3rd week 18 hour fast and ill stop. Will this greatly affect my hormones? All the articles ive read though with women losing their periods they seem to be on very low calories i.e 500 calories..please guide me in the right direction as i love to learn but dont want to fudge up my body as id like to start trying for a baby in the very near future. Thank you

    If you are planning to try for a baby and you've heard that this method of eating (not a guarantee that you'll lose weight) could derail that, I would firmly advise against it. Especially the most extreme part of your plan. Talk to your OB and do more homework.
  • anubis609
    anubis609 Posts: 3,966 Member
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    h1udd wrote: »
    I just drink ... anything without calories, so black Coffee, diet drinks, water, herbal, black and green teas ... dont bother with bcaa's .. thats for 20/4 and 18/6

    You actually don't need to bother with bcaa's at all if you're getting enough protein for the day. But, if someone feels that they help and can afford supplementing it constantly, then go ahead and use them.
  • Tblackdogs
    Tblackdogs Posts: 324 Member
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    what are bcaa's?
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,344 Member
    edited February 2018
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    Tblackdogs wrote: »
    what are bcaa's?

    A highly hyped rip-off that don't do anything beneficial for you as long as you're getting adequate protein intake (which you should be):

    https://jissn.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12970-017-0184-9
  • Tblackdogs
    Tblackdogs Posts: 324 Member
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    AnvilHead wrote: »
    Tblackdogs wrote: »
    what are bcaa's?

    A highly hyped rip-off that don't do anything beneficial for you:

    https://jissn.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12970-017-0184-9

    Yikes! Thanks. Not my cup of tea!
  • blambo61
    blambo61 Posts: 4,372 Member
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    alexandravictoria88 wrote: »
    What a great thread with lots of info. I may have missed this, but ive read quite a few concerning issues whilst doing IF. Mainly missed periods and fertility issues. That scares me. I basically said ill be starting IF today and eating 1450 calories, 1st week 14 hour fast, 2nd week 16 hour fast, 3rd week 18 hour fast and ill stop. Will this greatly affect my hormones? All the articles ive read though with women losing their periods they seem to be on very low calories i.e 500 calories..please guide me in the right direction as i love to learn but dont want to fudge up my body as id like to start trying for a baby in the very near future. Thank you

    I'm not a gal, but I have read about several women reporting that IF helped straighten out their hormones and that they started having a period after not having one for a long time. It might help.
  • MaryBethHempel
    MaryBethHempel Posts: 513 Member
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    blambo61 wrote: »
    alexandravictoria88 wrote: »
    What a great thread with lots of info. I may have missed this, but ive read quite a few concerning issues whilst doing IF. Mainly missed periods and fertility issues. That scares me. I basically said ill be starting IF today and eating 1450 calories, 1st week 14 hour fast, 2nd week 16 hour fast, 3rd week 18 hour fast and ill stop. Will this greatly affect my hormones? All the articles ive read though with women losing their periods they seem to be on very low calories i.e 500 calories..please guide me in the right direction as i love to learn but dont want to fudge up my body as id like to start trying for a baby in the very near future. Thank you

    I'm not a gal, but I have read about several women reporting that IF helped straighten out their hormones and that they started having a period after not having one for a long time. It might help.

    I would think you should be fine as long as you are at 1450 calories. 500 calories is what caused the women losing their periods most likely.
  • MaryBethHempel
    MaryBethHempel Posts: 513 Member
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    I supplemented with the BCAA's today and it helped me...I increased my workout intensity, so I need them.
  • genchiyu
    genchiyu Posts: 244 Member
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    Thank you for this informational thread. I'm looking more into IF and which IF schedule best fits my own.
  • MaryBethHempel
    MaryBethHempel Posts: 513 Member
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    genaquino wrote: »
    Thank you for this informational thread. I'm looking more into IF and which IF schedule best fits my own.

    Welcome! :)
  • alexandravictoria88
    alexandravictoria88 Posts: 138 Member
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    Well im on my 3rd week of IF and excercising at home with full body hardcore workouts. Im on the 18 hour fast and im finding it very difficult..the hunger pangs are so strong. Unfortunately haven't lost any weight apart from a couple of inches off legs and arms:/
  • blambo61
    blambo61 Posts: 4,372 Member
    edited March 2018
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    anubis609 wrote: »
    alexandravictoria88 wrote: »
    Well im on my 3rd week of IF and excercising at home with full body hardcore workouts. Im on the 18 hour fast and im finding it very difficult..the hunger pangs are so strong. Unfortunately haven't lost any weight apart from a couple of inches off legs and arms:/

    Then don't IF.

    If you are engaging in "hardcore workouts" I don't see the benefit of doing them in a fasted state. Especially if they're making you hungry enough to overeat your calories during your feeding window, or if you're eating to the point of uncomfortability.

    Exercise is basically fasting in fast forward, so any fasting you've done prior to working out is going to compound onto itself. This is probably not psychologically healthy either considering that it becomes dangerously close to a binge/purge cycle.

    Be reasonable and if it's not working, simply stop doing it and go back to something you can manage. If you're trying to rush fat loss, starving yourself and overtraining aren't great long-term strategies.

    I run 3xweek up to 6-miles after fasting for 20-hrs. I will bonk if I don't eat something before. I usually eat about 1/2 tsp of coconut oil (100kcal) and I can put in a 1000kcal run and not bonk. The oil feeds the brain (the liver is out of glycogen and not feeding the brain enough and the muscles can't share glycogen with the brain-the brain runs well of the butyrates the oil provides) and then allows the body to use the stored glycogen in the muscles to fuel the workout. The oil does not give me an upset stomach even if eaten just a few minutes before running and it doesn't not cause me to be hungry either. I also use that if I'm having a rough day and can't fully fast the 20-hrs. 1/2 tsp of coconut oil will kill the hunger for a couple of hours for me. Works every time for me! I was worried eating the oil but my triglicerides are at very good levels (71). A little bit of cornstarch 30-min before a run will accomplish the same things and only 100kcal of that will allow me to go from a 400kcal run to a 1000kcal run without bonking. Cornstarch is a slow release carb used in the treatment of people with some forms of glycogen storage disorder. It allows them to sleep at night without having to eat and prevents them from going hypoglycemic (see UCAN superstarch or glycosade which is even a slower release form of cornstarch but more expensive).

    You can workout fasted and I've gotten in hundreds of workouts fasted without having a problem doing what I described. You can take some coconut oil (supplies butyrates) and/or corn starch (provides glucose) and be well fueled after a long fast and not have any stomach problems or hunger problems from doing so.
  • CaliVeggieGal
    CaliVeggieGal Posts: 10 Member
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    I've done IF 16-8 pretty regularly since Sept without any supplements, just black coffee in the a.m. Slowly getting leaner, faster, stronger, and it doesn't affect my workouts to be fasted. I eat pretty clean and am a vegan. I feel great! Just for general fitness, I'm not training for anything specific or competing.
  • blambo61
    blambo61 Posts: 4,372 Member
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    CaliVeggieGal wrote: »
    I've done IF 16-8 pretty regularly since Sept without any supplements, just black coffee in the a.m. Slowly getting leaner, faster, stronger, and it doesn't affect my workouts to be fasted. I eat pretty clean and am a vegan. I feel great! Just for general fitness, I'm not training for anything specific or competing.

    I can workout doing 16:8 without problems but for a 20:4 or later, I start having problems if I don't take something.
  • anubis609
    anubis609 Posts: 3,966 Member
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    blambo61 wrote: »
    anubis609 wrote: »
    alexandravictoria88 wrote: »
    Well im on my 3rd week of IF and excercising at home with full body hardcore workouts. Im on the 18 hour fast and im finding it very difficult..the hunger pangs are so strong. Unfortunately haven't lost any weight apart from a couple of inches off legs and arms:/

    Then don't IF.

    If you are engaging in "hardcore workouts" I don't see the benefit of doing them in a fasted state. Especially if they're making you hungry enough to overeat your calories during your feeding window, or if you're eating to the point of uncomfortability.

    Exercise is basically fasting in fast forward, so any fasting you've done prior to working out is going to compound onto itself. This is probably not psychologically healthy either considering that it becomes dangerously close to a binge/purge cycle.

    Be reasonable and if it's not working, simply stop doing it and go back to something you can manage. If you're trying to rush fat loss, starving yourself and overtraining aren't great long-term strategies.

    I run 3xweek up to 6-miles after fasting for 20-hrs. I will bonk if I don't eat something before. I usually eat about 1/2 tsp of coconut oil (100kcal) and I can put in a 1000kcal run and not bonk. The oil feeds the brain (the liver is out of glycogen and not feeding the brain enough and the muscles can't share glycogen with the brain-the brain runs well of the butyrates the oil provides) and then allows the body to use the stored glycogen in the muscles to fuel the workout. The oil does not give me an upset stomach even if eaten just a few minutes before running and it doesn't not cause me to be hungry either. I also use that if I'm having a rough day and can't fully fast the 20-hrs. 1/2 tsp of coconut oil will kill the hunger for a couple of hours for me. Works every time for me! I was worried eating the oil but my triglicerides are at very good levels (71). A little bit of cornstarch 30-min before a run will accomplish the same things and only 100kcal of that will allow me to go from a 400kcal run to a 1000kcal run without bonking. Cornstarch is a slow release carb used in the treatment of people with some forms of glycogen storage disorder. It allows them to sleep at night without having to eat and prevents them from going hypoglycemic (see UCAN superstarch or glycosade which is even a slower release form of cornstarch but more expensive).

    You can workout fasted and I've gotten in hundreds of workouts fasted without having a problem doing what I described. You can take some coconut oil (supplies butyrates) and/or corn starch (provides glucose) and be well fueled after a long fast and not have any stomach problems or hunger problems from doing so.

    Fatty acids are perfectly adept for fueling aerobic and endurance training such as the subjects in the FASTER study by Jeff Volek (http://www.vespapower.com/the-emerging-science-on-fat-adaptation/), so coconut oil containing medium chain triglycerides work well for acting like carbs in the sense that by go directly to the portal vein during digestion (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4878196/).

    Just to clarify, my statement was meant to dissuade people from forcing themselves to train fasted if they're not acclimated to it. I have no problems training fasted or fed, it just depends on the activity. General strength training focusing on compound and isolation movements can be done in a fasted state. Glycolytic demanding activity, like Olympic weightlifting, I do require being in a fed state to perform, otherwise I risk dropping hundreds of pounds on me. It's subjective, but that is my personal experience.
  • genchiyu
    genchiyu Posts: 244 Member
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    Question: If I ate during my fasting window and it was my last meal, do I fast 16 hours after that last meal? Should I have drank coffee instead?

    Eating window is from 10am-6pm. I was so hungry at 9pm and decided to eat to get some protein in. I started working out close to 12midnight.
  • anubis609
    anubis609 Posts: 3,966 Member
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    genaquino wrote: »
    Question: If I ate during my fasting window and it was my last meal, do I fast 16 hours after that last meal? Should I have drank coffee instead?

    Eating window is from 10am-6pm. I was so hungry at 9pm and decided to eat to get some protein in. I started working out close to 12midnight.

    You can either adjust your feeding/fasting window from your last meal or just continue as normal the next day. It's not a hard rule. Or you can readjust your entire feeding window to something like 12pm - 8pm, but generally sleep is included with the fasting window, so if you're working out close to midnight, make time for adjusting your schedule based on your sleep patterns.

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