Intermittent Fasting

[Rerun7]

I'm currently on a cut and trying to get down to 10% bodyfat but have somewhat stalled out the last couple of weeks. I don't want to cut calories further and already work out 5 days a week.

I'm on my first day of trying the 16/8 intermittent fasting program. Anyone else use this? Interested to hear others experiences / results.

 

[tennturk]

I did it for about 6 months. The weight fell off and I felt great. The first couple days were absolutely terrible, but once you're in a rhythm it gets easy. I was ridiculed immensely at work only because I wasn't eating lunch with everyone and never stopped working. They didn't like that very much lol. I've tried several different diets, paleo, and even veganism just to see what they're like and the intermittent fasting was my favorite. And of course it's the weirdest one. My schedule didn't really fit the standard mold for it, but I made it happen. I work from 6am to whenever, put my daughter to bed at 8pm and hit the gym at 9pm, in bed by 10:30pm. That meant my meal time was first thing in the morning and then I had to "suffer" alllllllll day. Ultimately I derailed when my wife got pregnant again and gained some sympathy weight lol.... time to start it back up again.

 

[MarinePMI]

I'm currently on a cut and trying to get down to 10% bodyfat but have somewhat stalled out the last couple of weeks. I don't want to cut calories further and already work out 5 days a week.

I'm on my first day of trying the 16/8 intermittent fasting program. Anyone else use this? Interested to hear others experiences / results.

Are you sure you haven't crashed your metabolism by cutting too many calories? Might try upping your carbs a bit (keep protein intake high) and see what happens. Last cut I had, I hit a plateau as well. When I finally decided to just start bulking (was at 13% BF) and used mostly carbs to meet my numbers, I actually continued to lose BF for a few weeks, hitting about 11-12% before slowly gaining some back over 8 months (16%). Cutting now, and the BF is really starting to fall off again, but I'm keeping a sharp eye on my carb intake.

 

[Darkside-Six]

I'm currently back on it after slacking for a few months over the holidays. I started last May and dropped close to 30lbs rather quickly. You say you're going to go into it eating the same things you normally would just in that 8 hour window but I found I ended up eating less after a while because I just wasn't hungry. I did lose some muscle but my over all goal was to lose weight. My eating window is from noon to 8pm and I work out at 0530 every morning on a fasted stomach. Strength dropped pretty good to but that was to be expected. I basically eat one big lunch and one big dinner. I would say if you're worried about losing the muscle then make sure you're supplementing enough protein in your feeding window and don't work out while in feed.


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[APintOfGuinnessPlease!]

there's an encyclopedia of the website LeanGains which really pushed this fasting approach.

DS6 - dude, what voodoo gives you energy to workout at 5:30am?! I've tried it, I can barely sustain a pulse let alone lift...

 

[Rerun7]

I haven't crashed my metabolism. I'm only about 5 weeks into the cut and I do 1 refeed a week to increase my leptin levels. I'm about 14% BF now and wanting to get to 10% so I don't need to drop much.

I eat 1 gram of protein for each lb of body weight, around .4 grams of fat and the rest is complex carbs. I just haven't been quite as disciplined on my eating this time (sometimes go about 100 cal over budget) so hoping that the IF will help provide some extra edge. Based on what I've read people get great results from it.

Made it through my first day and it wasn't too bad. I think I could get used to it. Interested in just swapping to this whether I'm bulking or cutting to stay leaner all the time. I'm getting old so I need all the edge I can get, haha.

 

[Limit50]

I did 16/8 for the first 2 months. Worked awesome. Kept carbs in check as much as possible without the starving feeling that definitely gets better with time. I did 8pm-noon window. Usually struggled from 9-12 in the morning so I started drinking bcaa, which has no calories, and a greens drink from advocare with only 25 calories. Mixed both with water and helped push me through till lunch. Last 2 months I've been on a 20 hour fast and I've ripped up like never before. Much better results than keto for me. It's hard sometimes but just stay busy and it works awesome. YouTube hodgetwins, good info and funny as hell. Good luck

 

[Darkside-Six]

there's an encyclopedia of the website LeanGains which really pushed this fasting approach.

DS6 - dude, what voodoo gives you energy to workout at 5:30am?! I've tried it, I can barely sustain a pulse let alone lift...

Lol. Hence the reason my strength dropped so much. You actually adapt to it pretty well after about a week. I do take a pre workout pill right after waking up with a cup of coffee that helps.


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[Rerun7]

Lol. Hence the reason my strength dropped so much. You actually adapt to it pretty well after about a week. I do take a pre workout pill right after waking up with a cup of coffee that helps.


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haha, my strength suffers even when bulking if I lift at 5:30am. My body just isn't ready for that in the mornings. Jogging is fine but lifting isn't going to happen.

Good news is that I've still increased most of my lifts on this cut and the fasting isn't too bad. I think I'm going to keep doing the 16/8 even when my cut is finished.

 

[30calDeath]

I'm on my 4th week or so of IF, I think it's what broke me through my body fat % plateau, or its the combination of actually counting my macros. I usually do a 17/7 schedule, work out around 2/3pm then immediately after drink a protein shake and break my fast, I then have 7 hours to eat all my calories. I actually feel better for the most part not eating before the gym and have not lost any strength, and I'm on the ketogenic diet which itself is amazing. I'll be on that for life, fuck the "carbage".

 

[JSTARSZ]

I do bicycling and lifting. My bicycling during the summer is 3-4 hours of constant movement for 40-65 miles. Can I work this diet in and still have the energy I need to do longer duration events? I am coming from the old school way of thinking, got to eat carbs for energy but I am getting older now and the weight is a little harder to get off. Is there a way I can work in a diet like this and still work in longer endurance cycling?

 

[30calDeath]

Try it JSTARZ, don't go balls out in the beginning though, try shorter mileage and work your way up. Ever try a keto diet? Keto is burning fat for energy instead of carbs, might want to check it out.

 

[Rerun7]

I do bicycling and lifting. My bicycling during the summer is 3-4 hours of constant movement for 40-65 miles. Can I work this diet in and still have the energy I need to do longer duration events? I am coming from the old school way of thinking, got to eat carbs for energy but I am getting older now and the weight is a little harder to get off. Is there a way I can work in a diet like this and still work in longer endurance cycling?

IF is just a schedule of eating. You can absolutely do this and just need to be mindful of when you cycle va when you are eating. I personally wouldn't do that much fasted cardio (look up research on muscle breakdown from fasted cardio) but my goal is to keep as much muscle as possible while cutting fat.

I was 14% BF when I started IF about a month ago. At 12% now and continuing to lean up. My lifts are also continuing to improve. Must be all the "carbage" haha.

 

[30calDeath]

IF is just a schedule of eating. You can absolutely do this and just need to be mindful of when you cycle va when you are eating. I personally wouldn't do that much fasted cardio (look up research on muscle breakdown from fasted cardio) but my goal is to keep as much muscle as possible while cutting fat.

I was 14% BF when I started IF about a month ago. At 12% now and continuing to lean up. My lifts are also continuing to improve. Must be all the "carbage" haha.

It's definitely the "carbage" lol, but man good for you. I'm trying to drop the body fat right now to, I just started HIIT training today, just 20 minutes worth for me as I feel that is going to do it. With weight lifting and HIIT today I burned 945 calories, if I do that 3-5 days a week I'm again hoping it will speed up me dropping body fat and getting that summer 6 pack. Never had abs and I'm determined to finally reach that goal

 

[Rerun7]

It's definitely the "carbage" lol, but man good for you. I'm trying to drop the body fat right now to, I just started HIIT training today, just 20 minutes worth for me as I feel that is going to do it. With weight lifting and HIIT today I burned 945 calories, if I do that 3-5 days a week I'm again hoping it will speed up me dropping body fat and getting that summer 6 pack. Never had abs and I'm determined to finally reach that goal

haha. You'll definitely get there if you stick with it. I do 3 days a week of lifting heavy and two days of HIIT about 20-30 min. This is the first time since high school I've had abs, I've just been going at it slow and steady. Best of luck!

 

[JSTARSZ]

There is a guy at work who is 50 and extremely fit that does this intermittent fasting all the time. I told him I would like him to explain it to me. We shall see what happens. I am intrigued by the thought of it, but just want to make sure I can maintain my endurance through cycling events too.

 

[Rerun7]

For me, it's been pretty simple and easy to swap over to. The first few days were tough but after that I haven't thought anything of it. I've definitely seen some results as I was starting to stall before I made the swap.

 

[FuddLord]

Eating less than 1,200 calories is a guaranteed way to crash your thyroid t3/t4 levels....


better plan is carb cycling

3 days no carbs
4th day carbs with every meal

 

[Darkside-Six]

I lost some good weight but I've also lost some muscle as well. Didn't think much of it at first because my over all weight is what I wanted to lose. Need to make sure you're still getting enough protein during your feed window. The biggest thing that I noticed about a week into IF was how much clearer I felt during the day. Started getting some great mental clearaty from it. I just started switching my cardio up last week from the LISS method to HIIT to mix it up a bit.

Another thing to watch out for is eating too little. It's easy to start eating less and less on OF because you're so hungry waiting for your first meal and then you fill up quickly. I found myself eventually eating less as I wasn't as hungry. I had to start forcing myself to eat more so I wouldn't crash my metabolism and would maintain my muscle mass.


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[Rerun7]

So after doing this for about 6 weeks, here is what I learned:

- I don't feel that I got any additional metabolism boost

- It was an easy way to cut out snacking at night and morning so in turn made it easy to stick to my calorie budget.

- I dropped about 3% additional BF after being stalled before I got on the program. I attribute this to potentially just being more disciplined on my calories.

- I started to stall on IF as well after about 5 weeks and cut my fasting time during the day. This has led to additional weight loss again. I think it's just from throwing a curve at my body.

Overall, I would do it again when cutting to help be more disciplined. I am not going to do it as a normal way of life because I LOVE BREAKFAST.

So now, my cut is done. Hit about 11% bf and going to work on gaining some lean mass. Gotta make that rifle feel lighter, haha.

 

[winniedonkey]

Tag , good knowledge

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[30calDeath]

Currently IF anywhere from 19-22hrs a day and am trying to IF for 24 hrs every Saturday. It's working great with my keto diet.

 

[McCoy]

Best way to get in 1g protein per lb body weight eating only two meals?

 

[MarinePMI]

Milk...lots of it (if you're older, 2% or skim)

IIRC, 2% milk has 10-11gr per 8oz serving.

 

[Rerun7]

Best way to get in 1g protein per lb body weight eating only two meals?

Why are you only eating twice a day? IF creates a feeding window. Eat as many times as you want during that window. 2 decent meals, protein shake and a snack should be pretty easy to get you there.

 

[Rerun7]

Milk...lots of it (if you're older, 2% or skim)

IIRC, 2% milk has 10-11gr per 8oz serving.

This might work if you are doing something like Keto? Many try and keep their fat intake to about .5gr per lb of bodyweight. People used to say drink a gallon of milk a day if you are having trouble bulking. The milk had nothing to do with it, it was the added calories. And a lot of people gained a lot of fat with that method.

Why does age dictate % of fat in the milk? Just curious, I've done tons of research on nutrition and never heard anything like this.

 

[MarinePMI]

The % of fat in the milk is for two reasons. As you get older, you just don't process excess calories as well into energy, and it gets stored as fat (actually, IIRC it has more to do with your muscles adaptation not being as responsive). Second, milk does have a lot of calories, but the OP asked based on a caloric goal that would appear (to me at least) that he is intending to bulk and/or not meeting his daily caloric intake goals because he could only get two meals.

As to the milk affecting bulking, it is not just the added calories (with its minimal satiety), its the protein in it as well. Milk has both whey and casein protein, so it works best for a steady processing of protein (whey being fairly fast, and casein requiring a bit more time to break down). Again, if you're older, and can't process all the fat effectively, the 2% or skim becomes an option. Since the fat has been removed, guess what takes the place of it? More protein in the milk solids themselves. That's why skim and 2% milk have more protein per 8oz than whole milk.

I'm bulking now, and at age 46 I don't need the whole GOMAD routine ("Gallon of milk a day" for those not familiar), because I don't need all the fat. But I can tell you anecdotally, the addition of about a quart of 2% milk a day has helped me meet my caloric goals as well as protein intake. And I can definitely tell you my recovery is MUCH better, than without it. I'm doing the Starting Strength novice linear progression right now (five weeks so far), and based on my age, I should really only be doing two workouts a week (the SS NLP is pretty brutal, with squats three times a week, with working sets straight across, in addition to the other exercises). That being said, about week three of the standard program (not adjusted for age) I started including milk due to overtraining symptoms and not meeting my caloric goals, and it has made a world of difference. Am I still sore? Hell yes. But not the broken down, barely lucid by evening, bone tired, but can't sleep, fatigue I had before I started adding it. I've gained 10lbs in these 5 weeks, with only a small gain in BF (maybe 2%), and my squat as increased in load by 50% (but it honestly, was my weakest lift).

I don't know how many older guys are on this thread/board, but I'd highly recommend "The Barbell Prescription - Strength Training After The Age of 40". A very interesting read.

To those younger guys, I'd definitely recommend "Basic Barbell Strength Training" by Mark Rippetoe (a freaking wealth of information for lifting).

At any rate, that's just my take on the milk thing...YMMV...

 

[Rerun7]

At any rate, that's just my take on the milk thing...YMMV...

Interesting, I'm always curious to hear what others do and why. To me it's a constant learning process and tweaking, kind of like shooting.

Im sure it's not a bad way to get some additional calories and protein. I had always heard of the guys doing the GOMAD thing and that's just overkill.

Agree on squatting 3 times a week is brutal. I was doing a version of 5x5 for a while just to get my strength up. Will probably switch back to it at some point. I also found that fish oil helps with the joints. I'm getting close to 40 and funny enough, when I went back to doing squats/deadlifts again my joints actually hurt less than before.

I think a big key is that I do them with better form now and a little lower weight. When I first started back lifting again a little over a year ago my deadlift was around 200lbs. I can pull a little over 400lbs now and weigh about 25lbs less. Squats just about doubled too. Wish my bench would do the same, building muscle is a slow process for me, my body just wants to add fat more than anything so I really have to watch my calories.

 

[MarinePMI]

Ditto on the fish oil; it helps a lot (along with some ibuprofen occasionally). My squat (low bar back) is just at bodyweight right now (175), but continuing to climb each workout or two (with 5lb jumps). I'm just doing the 3x5's now due to recovery and age sensitivity to volume. My deads are at 285, but just did a reset to 265, since form was beginning to suffer, and my legs are (finally) starting to catch up.

Thus far I've found that really pounding calories has helped gain LBM; I just have to live with a higher BF than I normally like. I can always lose the fat later, and TBH, it wasn't that hard when I focused on my diet.

 

[DEWD_STUFF]

I am on the keto diet have been for about 6 month and love it, not that it matters but maybe will give you a boost in losing that body fat. I still lift heavy my gains haven't went down at All. I suppose it doesn't count as fasting but I will drink 10oz or black coffee with 1tbl spoon of butter and MCT oil each at 5am, hit the gym at 6ish until 8, won't eat my first meal until 12 and eat my last morsel of food at 6pm sometimes 7pm depending on the kids night routine.


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[witchazel]

If going keto try the keto supps. Keto OS really helped me.

 

[LunaCustomGuns]

It only worked for me when I was strict on counting calories. I think I could have spent more time evaluating meal timing and sizes coming out of the fast to maximize benefits. Overall it worked for me but I did better with more flexibility.

 

[akg102]

I've tried IF, but it's just one strategy. It works if your net energy expenditure is negative -- there's no trick or magic formula that will help a person escape the laws of thermodynamics. (Keto, IF, etc....)

Getting from 25 to 15% body fat is different than 15% to 10%, which is also different than going from 10% to 5%. In my experience, carb-cycling is what has provided the most consistent, long-term fat loss for me.

The leaner you get, the more frequent your carb refeeds need to be. Also, the leaner you get the higher your protein intake needs to be to reduce muscle catabolism. And if you're not committed to the strictly 'natural' route, fat loss supplementation can help with this tremendously. (Ephedrine, yohimbine, clenbuterol, dnp, nicotine, etc......)

 

[corey4]

i started IF sunday the 19th. i am giving myself from 12pm-8pm to eat, and after a few weeks i'd like to do a 12-6 window.

i started off in march of '17 at about 230 (i'm 5-10). i am down to 200 and want to be at 190. i really don't have a workout routine or schedule. i'm lucky enough to make it to the gym one day a week spring thru fall. i have 2 jobs and usually work 7 days a week so not getting to the gym isn't just because i'm being lazy. plus i have a tendency to over do it and hurt myself. over the last year and a half, i have had to take off 9 months from the gym (2 months, 2 months, 4 months and a week or 2 here and there).

i lost my first 30lbs by cutting calories to 3000 a day and cut WAY back on beer . i didn't start counting calories until thanksgiving of '18 because i was stuck at 215lbs. i was eating better (no fast food, chips, cookies, pizza, beer etc) but i was eating 5000 a day. it was winter time, work is slow and i had time to get a workout schedule, 2-3 days at least, sometimes 4 days a week for at least 2 hours at a time. but i wasn't losing any weight...geee...wonder why lol. so i started counting calories and that's when i found out i was eating 5000 a day. i cut those back to 2000 because that's the "daily recommended" amount. fuck that. i don't know how people live on that. so i upped it to 2500 and that was still too low. i found 3000 a day was about right to loose 1 pound a week and still barely have enough energy to work out and not be miserable.

that worked pretty good for awhile, but i plateaued in march of '18. at 3000 a day i found myself too tired and not wanting to do anything and i wasn't loosing any more weight. i noticed that the days i ate 4000 a day, i had energy all day and wanted to work out, do house chores, etc. so i said fuck it, and kinda let my diet slip for a few months. i am still stuck at 200lbs and upped my calories to 3500 a day starting aug 1st and i feel much better.

so this brings me to IF. yesterday was weird. i only had 2000cal by 5pm and i wan't hungry at all. normally i'm starving and hangry. we had to leave at 6pm for hockey, but by the time we got back at 8:30pm, i was hungry. i wasn't going to eat, but i didn't want to starve myself, so i ate any ways.

this brings up some questions:
should i cram all of my calories in that 8 hour window?
if i miss my window, can i still eat or should i not?
if im not hungry, should i eat anyways?
is part of the theory that it helps keeping from snacking all day?

my eating schedule used to be:
morning, banana and a granola bar
mid moring, another snack of some sort
lunch
trhen another banana and granola bar
then another snack
dinner
then late "snack" of a half box of cereal
all of this would bring to about 3500cal

as a side note, i also quit smoking in june of '17 and was able to keep the weight off.

 

[stello1001]

Have you considered lgd4033? It is a known selective androgen receptor modulator (sarm) for cutting. I have not tried that one specifically but the Sarm I did use was pretty good. Its worth a consideration.

 

[Rerun7]

i started IF sunday the 19th. i am giving myself from 12pm-8pm to eat, and after a few weeks i'd like to do a 12-6 window.

i started off in march of '17 at about 230 (i'm 5-10). i am down to 200 and want to be at 190. i really don't have a workout routine or schedule. i'm lucky enough to make it to the gym one day a week spring thru fall. i have 2 jobs and usually work 7 days a week so not getting to the gym isn't just because i'm being lazy. plus i have a tendency to over do it and hurt myself. over the last year and a half, i have had to take off 9 months from the gym (2 months, 2 months, 4 months and a week or 2 here and there).

i lost my first 30lbs by cutting calories to 3000 a day and cut WAY back on beer . i didn't start counting calories until thanksgiving of '18 because i was stuck at 215lbs. i was eating better (no fast food, chips, cookies, pizza, beer etc) but i was eating 5000 a day. it was winter time, work is slow and i had time to get a workout schedule, 2-3 days at least, sometimes 4 days a week for at least 2 hours at a time. but i wasn't losing any weight...geee...wonder why lol. so i started counting calories and that's when i found out i was eating 5000 a day. i cut those back to 2000 because that's the "daily recommended" amount. fuck that. i don't know how people live on that. so i upped it to 2500 and that was still too low. i found 3000 a day was about right to loose 1 pound a week and still barely have enough energy to work out and not be miserable.

that worked pretty good for awhile, but i plateaued in march of '18. at 3000 a day i found myself too tired and not wanting to do anything and i wasn't loosing any more weight. i noticed that the days i ate 4000 a day, i had energy all day and wanted to work out, do house chores, etc. so i said fuck it, and kinda let my diet slip for a few months. i am still stuck at 200lbs and upped my calories to 3500 a day starting aug 1st and i feel much better.

so this brings me to IF. yesterday was weird. i only had 2000cal by 5pm and i wan't hungry at all. normally i'm starving and hangry. we had to leave at 6pm for hockey, but by the time we got back at 8:30pm, i was hungry. i wasn't going to eat, but i didn't want to starve myself, so i ate any ways.

this brings up some questions:
should i cram all of my calories in that 8 hour window?
if i miss my window, can i still eat or should i not?
if im not hungry, should i eat anyways?
is part of the theory that it helps keeping from snacking all day?

my eating schedule used to be:
morning, banana and a granola bar
mid moring, another snack of some sort
lunch
trhen another banana and granola bar
then another snack
dinner
then late "snack" of a half box of cereal
all of this would bring to about 3500cal

as a side note, i also quit smoking in june of '17 and was able to keep the weight off.

Don’t eat outside your window

Determination of calories to eat during the window will depend on your baseline of calories needed for you to maintain current weight. You would eat the appropriate amount needed to either gain or lose weight according to your goal.

How do you know how many calories you are eating a day? Do you weigh, measure and track your food?

You also need to set and track your macros if you want to be serious about hitting your goal.

 

[corey4]

Don’t eat outside your window

Determination of calories to eat during the window will depend on your baseline of calories needed for you to maintain current weight. You would eat the appropriate amount needed to either gain or lose weight according to your goal.

How do you know how many calories you are eating a day? Do you weigh, measure and track your food?

You also need to set and track your macros if you want to be serious about hitting your goal.

i use nutrition ix app to track the calories. how do i know how many calories i need to eat? just experiment for a few weeks to see what my body needs? are the calorie calculators that give you your bmr and tdee accurate?

 

[Rerun7]

i use nutrition ix app to track the calories. how do i know how many calories i need to eat? just experiment for a few weeks to see what my body needs? are the calorie calculators that give you your bmr and tdee accurate?

I haven’t found them to be accurate at all. The numbers I get back from them are about 30% more than my body actually needs. They say I should eat almost 3,200 calories a day but my actual caloric need is right around 2,100. I’d be as big as a house if I ate 3,200 a day (trust me I’ve tried it). However someone else my same size might be fine to do eat that because it’s based on the individual.

The best way is to track all your food for a few weeks to determine your base calorie needs. From there is really easy to determine calories for bulking/cutting.

Same for macros although I feel like it’s a little more one size fits most.

1 gram of protein per lb of body weight
.5 grams of healthy fat per lb of body weight
Remainder of calories filled with complex carbs

Start there and tweak as needed based on how your body reacts.

 

[MarinePMI]

Macro calculators are a ball park estimate, you'll have to course correct based on results. I use this one, but have had to add calories to it, since it seems to low ball the estimate...
https://www.muscleforlife.com/macronutrient-calculator/

 

[El Xolo Mexicano]

I’ve been about 6-7% body fat for about 17yrs now. So I don’t know what it’s like to struggle to attain it. Although, I do struggle to gain weight lol, but after years of experience. I may be closing on a viable long term solution.

Anyway, carbohydrates come in various forms. Which are monosaccharides, and polysaccharides (fancy way of saying simple and complex sugars). Simple sugars are those like glucose and fructose. Which can be found in vegetables in the former. While the latter is in fruit, berries, and melons. Complex sugars are found in starchy foods like potatoes, or breads for example.

Switching some of your carb intake to include fruit can help. Your body apparently doesn’t even need to produce insulin to absorb it. Which can be a plus if you have a family history, or struggle with diabetes.

On a side note though. You may want to check your thyroid as well. Hypothyroidism can make things difficult to lose weight, and maintain energy levels. It’ll also prevent your body from utilizing calcium effectively. My entire family on my mother’s side struggles with thyroid issues, and apparently I do as well lol.

Basically, not all things are to be focused on the end goal. Nutritionally you need to take preventative measures as well. As an example. I stopped counting calories years ago, because it took my focus away from seeing the whole picture. Which is to be healthy and effective in your goals as an athlete. Hope this helps.

 

[Darkside-Six]

Been doing IF for about 6-7 months now and am looking some of the best I have on 20 years. Finally found something that was easy and I could do that was beneficial. Not to mention I have no inflammation and feel great.