I. F. Question

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Replies

  • Xellercin
    Xellercin Posts: 924 Member
    Avoiding all the technical stuff, I will give my opinion to your IF question. You stated you play hockey a lot, do you think Brad Marchand or David Pastmak uses IF to increase performance and maintain weight? I would guess no. Why not do what the best do in your chosen activities? Eat a nutritious diet, burn more than you eat, and use playing better hockey as your motivation, JMHO.

    I have a number of friends in MMA and some of them do IF. Although the research shows that IF isn't great for endurance athletes, most average people aren't doing professional-level endurance exercise. For some people it's highly energizing, and may help them be more active in general.

    Different bodies react differently to IF, and there are tons of different ways to IF, and even more types of diets to eat while on IF. So it's really tricky to generalize.
  • coryhart4389
    coryhart4389 Posts: 73 Member
    Xellercin wrote: »
    Avoiding all the technical stuff, I will give my opinion to your IF question. You stated you play hockey a lot, do you think Brad Marchand or David Pastmak uses IF to increase performance and maintain weight? I would guess no. Why not do what the best do in your chosen activities? Eat a nutritious diet, burn more than you eat, and use playing better hockey as your motivation, JMHO.

    I have a number of friends in MMA and some of them do IF. Although the research shows that IF isn't great for endurance athletes, most average people aren't doing professional-level endurance exercise. For some people it's highly energizing, and may help them be more active in general.

    Different bodies react differently to IF, and there are tons of different ways to IF, and even more types of diets to eat while on IF. So it's really tricky to generalize.

    Sure, might work for some. However, not something I'm going to do and that's my 2 cents, which it's worth about 2 cents...LOL. I could believe a MMA person cutting weight might be very inclined to use IF.
  • stv1520
    stv1520 Posts: 199 Member
    Avoiding all the technical stuff, I will give my opinion to your IF question. You stated you play hockey a lot, do you think Brad Marchand or David Pastmak uses IF to increase performance and maintain weight? I would guess no. Why not do what the best do in your chosen activities? Eat a nutritious diet, burn more than you eat, and use playing better hockey as your motivation, JMHO.
    Definitely not. BUT- they’re already in top physical shape. I’m trying to lose weight, and was a bit miffed when I saw I gained a pound after all that activity. But from all the terrific answers I’ve received, I know now that there’s a lot that affects weight fluctuations. I’ll continue to eat clean, make sure I’m in a daily calorie deficit, and keep up the physical activity.
    Apparently you’re a B’s fan using those guys as examples??? All good- Marchy is one of my favorite players and Pasta is unbelievable skill wise.

  • stv1520
    stv1520 Posts: 199 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    stv1520 wrote: »
    Avoiding all the technical stuff, I will give my opinion to your IF question. You stated you play hockey a lot, do you think Brad Marchand or David Pastmak uses IF to increase performance and maintain weight? I would guess no. Why not do what the best do in your chosen activities? Eat a nutritious diet, burn more than you eat, and use playing better hockey as your motivation, JMHO.
    Definitely not. BUT- they’re already in top physical shape. I’m trying to lose weight, and was a bit miffed when I saw I gained a pound after all that activity. But from all the terrific answers I’ve received, I know now that there’s a lot that affects weight fluctuations. I’ll continue to eat clean, make sure I’m in a daily calorie deficit, and keep up the physical activity.
    Apparently you’re a B’s fan using those guys as examples??? All good- Marchy is one of my favorite players and Pasta is unbelievable skill wise.

    Even the "clean" part is probably optional, honestly. Good, well-rounded nutrition is important, and so is eating in a way that you find satisfying/filling. If that's your definition of clean, that's great. But if your definition is some kind of list of good foods to eat, and bad foods to avoid . . . ?

    There are lots of definitions of "eating clean". A fair number of those definitions involve things that are irrelevant to weight loss or health, or are majoring in the minors - in very extreme cases, pursuing "clean" by very strict definitions can make it *less* likely a person will have good overall nutrition.

    I say that as a long-term vegetarian who thinks it's useful to get plenty of protein/healthy fats, 5-10+ daily servings of varied, colorful veggies/fruits, so I'm not team "eat all the Oreos all day every day" either.

    Appropriate calories for one's goals (in your case, not-too-extreme calorie deficit), well-rounded nutrition routinely, regular physical activity: IMO, that's the goods.

    I guess "clean" for me right now is a lot of fish, vegetables, greek yogurt, berries, whole grain bread, turkey, string cheese, pork, and some steak too. I also enjoy hummus and carrots, as well as chick peas by themselves. Sunflower seeds as a snack (high sodium I know) but also hydrating well throughout the day. As long as I'm at a deficit every day, I feel good. Plus, if I have a few beers with the boys after hockey I don't feel any guilt!
  • frankiesgirlie
    frankiesgirlie Posts: 667 Member
    I love IF and have done it my entire adult life. Just naturally, before it had a name.
    It’s not a magic bullet for fat loss, in my opinion.But then for some, it feels like it is.
    I like that it helps me with compliance.
    It’s easier for me to stay within my allotted calories when I have an on and off switch.
    If you like to eat big meals it helps with that too, because you feel like you’re “living it up” when you eat a big meal.
    It’s also gives me more energy and mental clarity.
    I eat from approx 1-9pm and have a midnight bedtime.
    I’m maintaining my goal weight within a 5 lb range now.
  • Xellercin
    Xellercin Posts: 924 Member
    stv1520 wrote: »
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    stv1520 wrote: »
    Avoiding all the technical stuff, I will give my opinion to your IF question. You stated you play hockey a lot, do you think Brad Marchand or David Pastmak uses IF to increase performance and maintain weight? I would guess no. Why not do what the best do in your chosen activities? Eat a nutritious diet, burn more than you eat, and use playing better hockey as your motivation, JMHO.
    Definitely not. BUT- they’re already in top physical shape. I’m trying to lose weight, and was a bit miffed when I saw I gained a pound after all that activity. But from all the terrific answers I’ve received, I know now that there’s a lot that affects weight fluctuations. I’ll continue to eat clean, make sure I’m in a daily calorie deficit, and keep up the physical activity.
    Apparently you’re a B’s fan using those guys as examples??? All good- Marchy is one of my favorite players and Pasta is unbelievable skill wise.

    Even the "clean" part is probably optional, honestly. Good, well-rounded nutrition is important, and so is eating in a way that you find satisfying/filling. If that's your definition of clean, that's great. But if your definition is some kind of list of good foods to eat, and bad foods to avoid . . . ?

    There are lots of definitions of "eating clean". A fair number of those definitions involve things that are irrelevant to weight loss or health, or are majoring in the minors - in very extreme cases, pursuing "clean" by very strict definitions can make it *less* likely a person will have good overall nutrition.

    I say that as a long-term vegetarian who thinks it's useful to get plenty of protein/healthy fats, 5-10+ daily servings of varied, colorful veggies/fruits, so I'm not team "eat all the Oreos all day every day" either.

    Appropriate calories for one's goals (in your case, not-too-extreme calorie deficit), well-rounded nutrition routinely, regular physical activity: IMO, that's the goods.

    I guess "clean" for me right now is a lot of fish, vegetables, greek yogurt, berries, whole grain bread, turkey, string cheese, pork, and some steak too. I also enjoy hummus and carrots, as well as chick peas by themselves. Sunflower seeds as a snack (high sodium I know) but also hydrating well throughout the day. As long as I'm at a deficit every day, I feel good. Plus, if I have a few beers with the boys after hockey I don't feel any guilt!

    Nor should you feel "guilt". As long as your beers fit within the lifestyle that you want for yourself, then there should be no guilt, just decisions about what you want to consume and how much of it.

    As for what the scale does, try to ignore it except over longer periods of time.

    Here's something I observed in recording my weight loss for 4 years: if I eat more calories for a week, like on vacation, I don't see the gain for 2 weeks.

    Like clockwork this happens. I'll overeat over Christmas, then weigh in on Jan 1st and think "wow, not bad, I'm pretty close to my pre-Christmas weight, that's great!" And then I'll get back onto my normal eating and exercise routine and the scale won't drop at all, it will stay kind of stuck at that same number for the first week, then over the second week, it will steadily climb up.

    So I'll have been under the illusion that the overeating magically didn't cause at gain, and then under the impression that running a consistent deficit for two weeks magically fails to produce a loss.

    Until I saw this pattern happen multiple times, I was so baffled and frustrated by weight loss because it seemed to have no relation to what the scale said. Only it did, there was just a lag.

    I now know to be patient and trust that what works, works. Rushing is what leads to frustration and giving up.

    If you find a sustainable routine that works, then you don't even have to think about it, time will take care of the weight for you.
  • MercuryForce
    MercuryForce Posts: 104 Member
    heybales wrote: »
    To the confusion about burning off muscle-mass.

    Many times it is referenced like that - but it's more a slow matter of you have such a deficit and/or lack of protein, that muscle which is broken down every day anyway (just like other body tissues) and rebuilt - just isn't rebuilt because the body sees the muscle is energy intensive when resources are low, and amino acids are required for more life sustaining systems.

    There are studies that show even without lifting, but a reasonable deficit and enough protein (for not lifting), can retain muscle mass. Not sure how someone would find that fine line without being in a research study though.

    Not Lean Body Mass (LBM) necessarily can be retained - as that is muscle and everything else not Fat Mass, and with smaller body you should have less water needed in many systems - that's less LBM.

    OP - whatever site said when you fast you don't burn fat - ignore that site, bunch of baloney for the fact you burn fat majority of the day already and main energy source - fasting increases that during most the day.
    Of course when you eat equal calories during your window you balance that right out so it doesn't matter in the end when you view the day as a whole.

    Anecdotally that is true. I have lost ~40 lbs over the last year and a half. I do pretty light cardio, mostly a 5 times a week 4-5 mile walk and occasional spin classes. But, according to my body scans every 6 weeks, I have lost hardly any muscle (I know those body scans can have variable accuracy, which is why I mostly look at the trend rather than exact numbers).

    The only time I lost significant muscle was when I was going through a break-up and contending with new medication side effects and was basically eating <1,000 calories a day.

    I'm probably not going to build much muscle this way, and I do want to get into more lifting. But the whole pandemic thing has made it hard. But, it is definitely possible to burn fat and not muscle without IF, just normal tracking and a slow rate of loss.

  • stv1520
    stv1520 Posts: 199 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    stv1520 wrote: »
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    stv1520 wrote: »
    Avoiding all the technical stuff, I will give my opinion to your IF question. You stated you play hockey a lot, do you think Brad Marchand or David Pastmak uses IF to increase performance and maintain weight? I would guess no. Why not do what the best do in your chosen activities? Eat a nutritious diet, burn more than you eat, and use playing better hockey as your motivation, JMHO.
    Definitely not. BUT- they’re already in top physical shape. I’m trying to lose weight, and was a bit miffed when I saw I gained a pound after all that activity. But from all the terrific answers I’ve received, I know now that there’s a lot that affects weight fluctuations. I’ll continue to eat clean, make sure I’m in a daily calorie deficit, and keep up the physical activity.
    Apparently you’re a B’s fan using those guys as examples??? All good- Marchy is one of my favorite players and Pasta is unbelievable skill wise.

    Even the "clean" part is probably optional, honestly. Good, well-rounded nutrition is important, and so is eating in a way that you find satisfying/filling. If that's your definition of clean, that's great. But if your definition is some kind of list of good foods to eat, and bad foods to avoid . . . ?

    There are lots of definitions of "eating clean". A fair number of those definitions involve things that are irrelevant to weight loss or health, or are majoring in the minors - in very extreme cases, pursuing "clean" by very strict definitions can make it *less* likely a person will have good overall nutrition.

    I say that as a long-term vegetarian who thinks it's useful to get plenty of protein/healthy fats, 5-10+ daily servings of varied, colorful veggies/fruits, so I'm not team "eat all the Oreos all day every day" either.

    Appropriate calories for one's goals (in your case, not-too-extreme calorie deficit), well-rounded nutrition routinely, regular physical activity: IMO, that's the goods.

    I guess "clean" for me right now is a lot of fish, vegetables, greek yogurt, berries, whole grain bread, turkey, string cheese, pork, and some steak too. I also enjoy hummus and carrots, as well as chick peas by themselves. Sunflower seeds as a snack (high sodium I know) but also hydrating well throughout the day. As long as I'm at a deficit every day, I feel good. Plus, if I have a few beers with the boys after hockey I don't feel any guilt!

    As long as you're eating a way that makes you happy, gives you overall good nutrition, fits in a few treats, that seems pretty perfect to me. Sodium isn't the devil, if you don't have a health condition that requires you to limit it.

    I'm probably twitchy about the subject of "clean eating" . . . having seen people advocate really odd things in its name, sometimes. 😆

    Surprisingly my sodium level is perfect. For the last 3 years after a full physical and blood work, it has been. It drives my wife crazy because she thinks I'm a salt-aholic (which is true) but so far so good!!
  • Xellercin
    Xellercin Posts: 924 Member
    stv1520 wrote: »
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    stv1520 wrote: »
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    stv1520 wrote: »
    Avoiding all the technical stuff, I will give my opinion to your IF question. You stated you play hockey a lot, do you think Brad Marchand or David Pastmak uses IF to increase performance and maintain weight? I would guess no. Why not do what the best do in your chosen activities? Eat a nutritious diet, burn more than you eat, and use playing better hockey as your motivation, JMHO.
    Definitely not. BUT- they’re already in top physical shape. I’m trying to lose weight, and was a bit miffed when I saw I gained a pound after all that activity. But from all the terrific answers I’ve received, I know now that there’s a lot that affects weight fluctuations. I’ll continue to eat clean, make sure I’m in a daily calorie deficit, and keep up the physical activity.
    Apparently you’re a B’s fan using those guys as examples??? All good- Marchy is one of my favorite players and Pasta is unbelievable skill wise.

    Even the "clean" part is probably optional, honestly. Good, well-rounded nutrition is important, and so is eating in a way that you find satisfying/filling. If that's your definition of clean, that's great. But if your definition is some kind of list of good foods to eat, and bad foods to avoid . . . ?

    There are lots of definitions of "eating clean". A fair number of those definitions involve things that are irrelevant to weight loss or health, or are majoring in the minors - in very extreme cases, pursuing "clean" by very strict definitions can make it *less* likely a person will have good overall nutrition.

    I say that as a long-term vegetarian who thinks it's useful to get plenty of protein/healthy fats, 5-10+ daily servings of varied, colorful veggies/fruits, so I'm not team "eat all the Oreos all day every day" either.

    Appropriate calories for one's goals (in your case, not-too-extreme calorie deficit), well-rounded nutrition routinely, regular physical activity: IMO, that's the goods.

    I guess "clean" for me right now is a lot of fish, vegetables, greek yogurt, berries, whole grain bread, turkey, string cheese, pork, and some steak too. I also enjoy hummus and carrots, as well as chick peas by themselves. Sunflower seeds as a snack (high sodium I know) but also hydrating well throughout the day. As long as I'm at a deficit every day, I feel good. Plus, if I have a few beers with the boys after hockey I don't feel any guilt!

    As long as you're eating a way that makes you happy, gives you overall good nutrition, fits in a few treats, that seems pretty perfect to me. Sodium isn't the devil, if you don't have a health condition that requires you to limit it.

    I'm probably twitchy about the subject of "clean eating" . . . having seen people advocate really odd things in its name, sometimes. 😆

    Surprisingly my sodium level is perfect. For the last 3 years after a full physical and blood work, it has been. It drives my wife crazy because she thinks I'm a salt-aholic (which is true) but so far so good!!

    I'm not sure why this would be surprising.

    I'm prescribed 6-10 grams of salt a day to raise my blood pressure and my blood tests always show normal sodium and potassium levels because my heart and kidneys work well.

    It's not likely your electrolyte blood panel that would show a problem, it would probably be your blood pressure that would be the first warning sign if you needed to cut back on salt.
  • sollyn23l2
    sollyn23l2 Posts: 1,596 Member
    Xellercin wrote: »
    stv1520 wrote: »
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    stv1520 wrote: »
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    stv1520 wrote: »
    Avoiding all the technical stuff, I will give my opinion to your IF question. You stated you play hockey a lot, do you think Brad Marchand or David Pastmak uses IF to increase performance and maintain weight? I would guess no. Why not do what the best do in your chosen activities? Eat a nutritious diet, burn more than you eat, and use playing better hockey as your motivation, JMHO.
    Definitely not. BUT- they’re already in top physical shape. I’m trying to lose weight, and was a bit miffed when I saw I gained a pound after all that activity. But from all the terrific answers I’ve received, I know now that there’s a lot that affects weight fluctuations. I’ll continue to eat clean, make sure I’m in a daily calorie deficit, and keep up the physical activity.
    Apparently you’re a B’s fan using those guys as examples??? All good- Marchy is one of my favorite players and Pasta is unbelievable skill wise.

    Even the "clean" part is probably optional, honestly. Good, well-rounded nutrition is important, and so is eating in a way that you find satisfying/filling. If that's your definition of clean, that's great. But if your definition is some kind of list of good foods to eat, and bad foods to avoid . . . ?

    There are lots of definitions of "eating clean". A fair number of those definitions involve things that are irrelevant to weight loss or health, or are majoring in the minors - in very extreme cases, pursuing "clean" by very strict definitions can make it *less* likely a person will have good overall nutrition.

    I say that as a long-term vegetarian who thinks it's useful to get plenty of protein/healthy fats, 5-10+ daily servings of varied, colorful veggies/fruits, so I'm not team "eat all the Oreos all day every day" either.

    Appropriate calories for one's goals (in your case, not-too-extreme calorie deficit), well-rounded nutrition routinely, regular physical activity: IMO, that's the goods.

    I guess "clean" for me right now is a lot of fish, vegetables, greek yogurt, berries, whole grain bread, turkey, string cheese, pork, and some steak too. I also enjoy hummus and carrots, as well as chick peas by themselves. Sunflower seeds as a snack (high sodium I know) but also hydrating well throughout the day. As long as I'm at a deficit every day, I feel good. Plus, if I have a few beers with the boys after hockey I don't feel any guilt!

    As long as you're eating a way that makes you happy, gives you overall good nutrition, fits in a few treats, that seems pretty perfect to me. Sodium isn't the devil, if you don't have a health condition that requires you to limit it.

    I'm probably twitchy about the subject of "clean eating" . . . having seen people advocate really odd things in its name, sometimes. 😆

    Surprisingly my sodium level is perfect. For the last 3 years after a full physical and blood work, it has been. It drives my wife crazy because she thinks I'm a salt-aholic (which is true) but so far so good!!

    I'm not sure why this would be surprising.

    I'm prescribed 6-10 grams of salt a day to raise my blood pressure and my blood tests always show normal sodium and potassium levels because my heart and kidneys work well.

    It's not likely your electrolyte blood panel that would show a problem, it would probably be your blood pressure that would be the first warning sign if you needed to cut back on salt.

    Yep. Agreed. Your body will pee out the excess, so blood levels will almost always be normal, or you'd most likely be in the hospital. But it can create high blood pressure in some people.
  • lgfrie
    lgfrie Posts: 1,449 Member
    lorib642 wrote: »
    For people confused by terms 16:8 is 16 hr fast with 8 hr eating window, OMAD is one meal a day. 5:2 is eating regular meals 5 days, restricting calories 2 days/week.

    Are you talking to me? Just because I wrote that I sleep eight hours doesn't mean I think I'm supposed to eat the other 16.

    16:8, yes. I know what it means.

    If eat at 9AM, Noon, and 5PM and then don't eat from 5PM to 9AM, that's 16:8.

    For the first time ever, it's dawned on me that just eating the normal schedule that many of us older folk grew up with, is basically 16:8. My mom never let us snack in the evenings; by 6 pm that was it for the night. Old skool IF.
  • Xellercin
    Xellercin Posts: 924 Member
    lgfrie wrote: »
    lorib642 wrote: »
    For people confused by terms 16:8 is 16 hr fast with 8 hr eating window, OMAD is one meal a day. 5:2 is eating regular meals 5 days, restricting calories 2 days/week.

    Are you talking to me? Just because I wrote that I sleep eight hours doesn't mean I think I'm supposed to eat the other 16.

    16:8, yes. I know what it means.

    If eat at 9AM, Noon, and 5PM and then don't eat from 5PM to 9AM, that's 16:8.

    For the first time ever, it's dawned on me that just eating the normal schedule that many of us older folk grew up with, is basically 16:8. My mom never let us snack in the evenings; by 6 pm that was it for the night. Old skool IF.

    This was us too. That's why the switch to IF was so easy for me, I have never not eaten 16:8 my entire life, I've always been an early dinner eater with no snacking afterwards. However, I did often have evening beverages, like milk in herbal tea, pomegranite juice cut with soda water, things like that. So all I had to do was cut the evening beverages and voila, IF.

    I'm now experimenting with more varied IF though, longer fasts, really shaking up the schedule to keep my body, and especially my stomach guessing.
  • natasor1
    natasor1 Posts: 271 Member
    I just copied my own post on "try fast anyone?:

    "We see about IF all the time. It become a very highly regarded topic, b/c recent studies proved that IF much more effective than just restricting calories. People who leave IF from their horizon are just short cut their ability to improve health, genetics, epigenetics, life expectancy.
    Moreover, the combination of IF and CR are making wonders. So why not to use that a part of our life?... So, talking, writing, discussing it is very important, and, I hope, this site will be one of places where we can obtain some knowledge of it."
    And NO. IF does not kill your hard earned muscles. Proteins from muscles might be consumed by the body at very exclusive conditions, only at very prolong fasting. Say more than 5 days. Your body is not stupid that much to start eating itself, when it needs those muscles to perform, to obtain food, to act upon conditions of reality. We would not survive the evolution demands. Remember, that only best adopted and adoptable species get survived. We presently carry their genes. The only reasons not to fast, is if you are really ill, recover from massive injury or olympic athlete training 4 hrs twice a day.
  • jshug00
    jshug00 Posts: 7 Member
    edited November 2021
    [/quote]This is 100% untrue. ANY time you fast and lose weight, a percentage of that will be muscle. No exceptions.[/quote]

    The above statement is absurdly false. This is the old understanding of autophagy. The statement below is slightly closer to the truth.

    [/quote]Wellllll, maybe. A percentage of any meaningful weight loss will be lean tissue. With meaningful weight loss, I'd *want* to lose some lean mass: I've lost almost 60 pounds, just under 1/3 of my body weight. If I still had the blood volume (which is lean tissue) that I had at my high weight, now that I weigh 2/3s as much . . . I don't think that would be a good thing. That's an extreme example, but not the only one.[/quote]

    It is inaccurate to state that lean muscle mass is always lost during fasting. In fact, a significant number of studies and papers have demonstrated that lean muscle mass often INCREASES during extended fasts.

    It makes a difference as to the level of macroautophagy, microautophagy, or carrier-mediated auotphagy (CMA) occurring in the body. In CMA, growth hormones are released, which promote the INCREASE of lean muscle mass. This research has been confirmed on mice, rats, dogs, humans, and possibly other animals. A 72 hour fast will result in drastically elevated growth hormones (like 3000% above baseline), which results in small increases to lean muscle mass in most situations.

    For most people to reach CMA, it will typically take 70 to 100 hours of fasting before. This is where the real "repair" work begins. With intermittent fasting, there will be varying levels of microautophagy and macroautophagy, but no human can reach CMA in 24 hours.

    When the body is in CMA, the hunt for amino acids is in overdrive! However, the body does NOT target healthy muscle tissue, but instead seeks out sources for amino acids that are damaged or not needed. Damaged mitochondria are repaired in CMA. Skin tags and other collagen-based skin conditions are broken down for the the amino acids. Extra skin from weight loss (skin and blood vessels are mostly collagen, which are primarily amino acids) is broken down for amino acids (also occurs in macroautophagy). Even foreign bacteria and viruses will be targeted for their amino acids. Aggregated proteins are also targeted, among other amino acid sources.

    While autophagy research is still in its infancy (and there is a lot of bad research on autophagy), very little peer-reviewed research argues that the autophagy mechanisms will attack healthy cells before TRUE starvation has set in. I have completed multiple 7-day and 10-day fasts, and I was nowhere close to the point of true starvation where autophagy was targeting health muscle tissue. More work needs to be done on extended fasts, but there is research indicating this would be beyond 30 days for most people.