Intermittent Fasting Support Group?

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Replies

  • MsMonny
    MsMonny Posts: 183
    *bump*

    I am interested in IF. Bumping the thread so I can find it again and to keep reading all the posts. Then I have a few questions!!
  • chrisdavey
    chrisdavey Posts: 9,834 Member
    MsMousemouse:

    Weight loss is easy. Create a calorie deficit through diet (and preferably exercise)

    Fat loss requires:
    calorie deficit through diet and exercise
    adequate protein (I aim for 1g/lb of BW minimum)
    resistance training (progressively increasing weights to challenge yourself)

    These are to promote the preservation of lean body mass.

    The above is the case for "normal" eating pattern or Intermittent Fasting.

    soulatomic: breaking your fast half an hour early is no biggie. It's about being flexible. Can't say I've noticed much difference in energy post "lunch" & no stomach gurgling for me.

    akonobi: you didn't eat for 18 days???!!! Why?
  • Alloranx
    Alloranx Posts: 51 Member
    @MsMousemouse
    My question is, am I going to lose my muscles doing IF and not exercising or doing weights?
    I do not want to be doing something that in the end will do me more harm than good.
    I am just doing the 18/6 and have not done a 24. Thank you for any help you can give me.

    Well, it's not as easy as saying you will or you won't lose your muscles. It's a matter of percentage: how much muscle mass vs how much fat mass was lost as a percentage of the weight you lost? Research has shown that if you do resistance exercise, then you will tip that balance so you will lose less muscle and more fat. Some people even claim to be able to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time, with very precise control of nutrients, exercise, and fasting schedules. I think that's extremely tough to do, but possible.

    This doesn't just apply to IF, though. Any calorie restriction you do below your maintenance threatens muscle (though, eating adequate protein helps prevent this too, like chrisdavey said). Still, if you went on a very calorie restricted diet without fasting, this would still hold true: resistance exercise will reduce or possibly even eliminate muscle loss as a percent of your weight loss.

    The bottom line is: I would strongly recommend doing resistance exercises if you are dieting in any way, shape, or form. If you're intimidated by the weight room, there are other options. Check out a book like "You Are Your Own Gym" by Mark Lauren:

    http://www.amazon.com/You-Are-Your-Own-Gym/dp/0345528581/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1319499071&sr=1-1

    He has over 100 exercises in his book that you can do with nothing but your own body and the floor or a wall, and in some cases other common household items. They range from the very easy to the incredibly difficult. He also has premade exercise programs with four levels of difficulty that each last 10 weeks. Worth checking out, I'm enjoying the program so far.

    @chrisdavey - not sure if you saw my edit or not, but I did find that paper in full text. Check that post on the last page for a link.

    @ Akonobi - Religious fasts, I take it? I've done 7 day prayer fasts before, but not for weight loss purposes. Nothing *technically* wrong with it I don't think, as long as you don't do it so long that you get a vitamin deficiency or something. Much easier to avoid that eventuality with intermittent fasting. Amazingly, this dude fasted for 382 days eating nothing but a multivitamin and some yeast (and drinking lots of water, of course):

    http://pdfcast.org/pdf/382-day-fast

    I have no clue what the rationale behind the yeast was, lmao. Please no one try this at home, I don't want to feel bad for posting this and you getting hurt trying it! This was done with extensive medical supervision, frequent blood tests, that sort of thing. Again, do not try at home.
  • chrisdavey
    chrisdavey Posts: 9,834 Member
    thanks for the link. Interesting stuff.
  • KettyLan
    KettyLan Posts: 440 Member
    Bump
  • catwrangler
    catwrangler Posts: 918 Member
    I burp all morning long! It's awful, I have uncontrollable belching, probably because there's nothing in my belleh but AIR. Any remedy for this?
  • Bluestar083
    Bluestar083 Posts: 146
    @catwrangler-You may be swallowing air-are you chewing lots of gum? Cos that will do it. Or soda/soft drink?
  • MsMonny
    MsMonny Posts: 183
    Ok, thanks to Alloranx for giving me the link to this thread!!

    I have been using Xtend during my weight workouts for a while BUT still doing the 6 meals a day, non fasting diet. Well, I was told I am wasting my money if I am using it this way.....so, I am really considering doing the Leangains way of eating (not a diet!!). I have read most of these posts, looked at his website and convinced that this may be the way to go.

    Firstly, here is my exercise regime.....

    I exercise at 9.30 in the morning with weights for 1/2 hour and then I do pilates after that twice a week. I do weights only twice a week, but in a few weeks time it will be bumped up to Mon, Wed and Fri (Pilates Mon and Fri).

    On other days I do interval jogging/walking on the treadmill for 1/2 hour or more. I am really only new to the cardio thing (not my cup of tea) but have been doing weights for a while now. Even though I don't like cardio, it is beginning to get easier and I am even wanting to do a marathon in the future!!

    Now, my food regime....

    I am a breakfast eater! I think I could miss it, but it would be hard. I fear feeling ill, actually. I also like my snacks.

    My questions...

    * my lunches usually consist of a couple of crackers with tomato and cheese. This would have to change BIG TIME as it would be my first meal that breaks the fast. How do I know how much to eat? Do I just eat big, and then see how much I have left over or do I split my calories into thirds and eat 3 equally caloried meals?

    * I have a family and this means we eat dinner at about 6.30pm/7pm. If I eat the three meals, that means I would eat at 1pm, 4pm and 8pm. Not family friendly! How do I overcome this?

    * how do you work out the macros? How do you know how much you are eating in that meal? Obvioulsy I would need to work it out beforehand. If I eat out, how can I work it out before hand?

    I am thinking that eating the three meals would be fantastic but, even though I am sooo wanting to do this, and it makes sense, it is doing my head in. I, and we all, have been sooo conditioned to believe the 'eat every 3 hr' rule and the 'slowing of the metabolism if you don't eat' statement, having a new, left of field rule really is hard to get my head around.

    I am now laughing at how many times I told my mum she should be eating breakfast, that it was unhealthy!! Ha ha ha - geez, how brainwashed we were. Mum, even in her younger years, always did a monthly fast. She said she felt 'cleaned out' from it.

    I have done colon cleansing fasts before, so even the ESE would be okay, but I am sure I couldn't handle the headaches, that come with that regime, at the moment (I have a feeling I would get them.

    So, hope this wasn't too long. :o)

    Will probably have more questions, but these are the most concerning! Thanks in advance! :smile:
  • FaithHopeBELIEVE
    FaithHopeBELIEVE Posts: 626
    MsMonny~~I have a family of 5. I work out in a fasted state at 5:45 am and LOVE the energy it gives me. I do the 16/8 fast. I'm straving right now but because I decided to have a snack at 9 pm I won't eat til 1 pm. If I cave in 2 hours that's ok. It an individual thing not as strict as you think or noted above. At least everything I have read. Maybe leangains says this, this and this but I eat when my family eats. I don't do the strict every 3-4 hours. I eat when i am hungry within my 8 hour window.
  • FaithHopeBELIEVE
    FaithHopeBELIEVE Posts: 626
    I am REALLY mad at myself right now. i accidentally broke my 16/8 fast. I worked out and since I don't have BCAA tabs I thought I will take a half scoop of my whey protein powder (I was starting to shake w/ hunger) THINKING the whole scoop was 70 cals so naturally 1/2 would be 35 but my brain apparently wasn't working straight because a whole scoop is 140 cals NOT 70!!! :sad:
  • soulatomic
    soulatomic Posts: 20
    Hi, everyone! I'm giving IF a try for two weeks and am doing 16/8s. (However, today I broke about a half hour early for lunch with my manager.)

    While I'm hungry during the fast, I'm not feeling weak or shaky or anything. I'm unable to do exercises during the fast because I have kids and a job and need to be out the door pretty early in the morning. I suppose I could get up earlier, but I view sleep as part of successful weight loss.

    An interesting thing I've noticed is the elimination of the post-lunch spike. Although I've only been doing this two days, I noticed that I don't feel sluggish after eating lunch, the way I did when I wasn't fasting. Is this normal? (I'm not complaining!)

    I'm also not reaching "I'm gonna cut someone if I don't eat"levels of hunger. Woot.

    Finally, after I break the fast, I notice my stomach gurgles A LOT. I imagine it's because it's gone from no food to full rather quickly. Does anyone else experience this? Is it just digestion?

    Thanks for all the valuable feedback in this thread. You all have helped me a lot!

    I can't answer everything but yes I feel the same after lunch and love it! I do work out at 5:45 am (I have 3 kids I have to get up at 7 and ready for school by 8) but go to bed before 9pm. Love the energy I have during my workout in the fasted state. My stomach did feel a bit wierd after eating but that was just the first few days, today I feel normal. I think it just takes the full 3 weeks for your body to really get used to this IF process. Hope I helped a bit?

    Yes, thanks!
  • skinnyfat14
    skinnyfat14 Posts: 107 Member
    I am REALLY mad at myself right now. i accidentally broke my 16/8 fast. I worked out and since I don't have BCAA tabs I thought I will take a half scoop of my whey protein powder (I was starting to shake w/ hunger) THINKING the whole scoop was 70 cals so naturally 1/2 would be 35 but my brain apparently wasn't working straight because a whole scoop is 140 cals NOT 70!!! :sad:

    Awww don't worry about it!!! could have been way worse!!
  • chrisdavey
    chrisdavey Posts: 9,834 Member
    JeanineSchumm: it's not worth worrying about. Stressing over little things like that will do more harm than actually doing them :tongue:

    Also re bcaa's, I forgot to mention that they prevent catabolism in the event of insufficient dietary protein. So if you are around the 1g/lb of LBM daily then IMO it's probably fine without. I still have bcaa's and will use them on my morning workouts though (they're tasty as hehe)

    MsMonny: Firstly, your exercise setup looks good.
    1. No need to major in the minors IMO. I like my first meal of the day to be high volume and a good mix of protein/fat & carbs. It then keeps me full for quite a while. (oats/whey/pb for me)

    2. Eat whenever your family eats. You don't have to split it up exactly into 3hrs apart or anything. Break fast at 1ish, have a snack around 5ish, dinner at 7ish. all good.

    3. macros: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=121703981.

    Also, there is no doubt, you will be hungry in the mornings for a little while as that is what you are used to. A few weeks seems to be about average to get used to it.

    Hope that helps

    Chris
  • FaithHopeBELIEVE
    FaithHopeBELIEVE Posts: 626
    Thought maybe you all would find this topic interesting. We are pretty much getting bashed as this support group has been mentioned. I replied of course.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/377281-what-do-you-think-about-water-fasts?page=2#posts-5146496
  • RasheedaR
    RasheedaR Posts: 38 Member
    What is ESE & Lean Gains??!??
  • MsMonny
    MsMonny Posts: 183
    Thanks Chris and Jeanine for your answers.

    I went to bed last night after posting and was thinking about the hours and how to make it work. Yes, you are right Chris, 1, 5 and 7 would be good, even 1, 4 and 7, or better still 12, 4 and 6!

    This morning I was eating breakfast and thinking, I am not even hungry but I am still eating breakfast because it is a habit! After 3 hours I was starving and I wonder if this is because I ate breakfast?? I know that if it has sugar in it (dried fruit) then I tend to be more hungry sooner.

    Well, I will start this AFTER my thur night gym sessions finish (next week). This was a 7 week transformation thingy my gym was doing and not a normal time that I usually work out. Actually I hate working out at night!!

    I am quite excited about this...maybe my constant eating (6 meals) is the underlying problem with my lack of losing weight. With only 3 biggish meals and no snacks, I can see how I will be fuelling my body, not oversaturating it with food!

    I will still be here reading all the posts until that time next week.
  • chrisdavey
    chrisdavey Posts: 9,834 Member
    What is ESE & Lean Gains??!??

    read the thread!

    MsMonny: It still comes down to cals in vs out basically. If you can create your deficit with 6 meals then you will lose weight, if you can do it with 3 then you will also lose weight. There may be other benefits to the fast like the ones that alloranx posted but in the grand scheme of things you can still put on weight doing LG 16/8. (In fact I am right now :smile:)
  • MsMonny
    MsMonny Posts: 183
    Yep, thats true. Can only give this a go and see if it works for my body or not! :happy:
  • chrisdavey
    chrisdavey Posts: 9,834 Member
    For sure :)
    Thought maybe you all would find this topic interesting. We are pretty much getting bashed as this support group has been mentioned. I replied of course.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/377281-what-do-you-think-about-water-fasts?page=2#posts-5146496

    And although she was trying to help out.

    Short 24 hour fasts with only water are very good for you. Longer term fasting can cause your metabolism to slow and your body to cannibalise itself.

    So close, yet so far.
  • catwrangler
    catwrangler Posts: 918 Member
    @catwrangler-You may be swallowing air-are you chewing lots of gum? Cos that will do it. Or soda/soft drink?
    I do both but burp even before I start chewing gum or drinking soda :ohwell:

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