Intermittent Fasting

Anyone do IF here? Any tips from your experiences on best ways to stay consistent?

 

Right now I'm doing an eating window of 1 to 9 pm. It's been going well so far but it's only been less than a week.

Anyone do IF here? Any tips from your experiences on best ways to stay consistent?

 

Right now I'm doing an eating window of 1 to 9 pm. It's been going well so far but it's only been less than a week.

 

 

Training for Ramadan?

I've done it.

 

It wasn't really for me, I enjoy eating all 3 traditional meals.

 

As an avid weightlifter I did not see any benefits personally. I eat plenty of carbs on a daily basis in evenly spaced meals with only positive results. I'm not one who suffers after high carb meals.

 

I have heard of people raving about it and for some it may be easier with their lifestyle and or training/ weight goals.

 

I gave it about a month or so roughly before I decided against it.

 

I wouldn't recommend it. It's not healthy.

Just like any other "health trends", it may work on some but not so much on others. We are all built differently and our genes play a vital role. So, as they say, results will vary.

 

If you can "feel the difference" in such a short period, then chances are it won't be good for you in the long run as it's obviously making too abrupt of a change. But is it worth to take it on for months to see an outcome which could be for better or for worse? That's your call. Personally, I wouldn't temper with my biological clock unless I am being forced to (such as flying to a different time zone).

I wouldn't recommend it. It's not healthy.

How so? I've heard of very extreme versions where people don't eat for a day or two at a time, but do you think it's unhealthy to not eat for say 16 or 17 hours?

but do you think it's unhealthy to not eat for say 16 or 17 hours?

 

It probably is for anyone I'm forced to be around by hour 17, because I will be one grumpy bastard.

 

 

My hairdresser does that, he doesn't eat anything for 24 hours once a week or a month I think, weird just weird,

 

Answer: No

 

Reason: Hanger

So- I have a spin on this for you that I feel very strongly about. I tried starting a company/website with this and failed miserably. Although, I might have more success now if I tried a different approach.

 

 

I came up with this after years of YoYo-ing.

 

in Sept 2014 when we returned from our Disney vacation, I was 206+ lbs. I started my regimen and by February or March of 2015, I was about 170lbs! I ate nearly ANYTHING I wanted, I did not lift a finger to exercise. On my eyes= this is the truth.

 

How did I do this? How did I eat anything I wanted, not exercise and lose nearly 40lbs inside of 6 months?

 

well- for one dollar, you could have joined my website. Yep, $1. That is all I wanted for all of the info. I had about 26 members which paid for about 25% of the website hosting and zero of my labor/ambition. :-(

 

 

So what did I do? Well- numbers. I did it with numbers. We eat 21 meals a week, right? Sensibly speaking, on average= sure. So my theory was that we are all fat because we enjoy every stinkin' meal as if it was our last. If I were to eat better.. like REALLY better... for MORE meals a week than I did eating bad, I should be able to lose weight.

 

With this in mind- I declared that Monday-Friday would be fuel days. Not OMG this is so yummy days. Not--ehhh.. one beer won't hurt days.. FUEL.

 

There is a lot of theory behind what fuel is, I wont bore any of you with my idea (based on gut, I am not a nutritionist) about how certain foods metabolize differently than more simplified/natural foods... but= What is fuel? Fuel is basic food that may not be incredibly satisfying, but absolutely sustains you.

 

My Breakfast M-F is still a simple granola bar and black coffee. Not coffee with cream, milk, sugar, sprinkles, Bailey's. BLACK French Roast. I'll have several of these a day as they are guilt free and quite lovely once you're a black coffee person.

 

My Lunch M-F: A small grilled chicken breast with a simple seasoning on it with about 1/2 cup cooked rice, 1 cup frozen veggie of choice in plain chicken broth. (for the chicken seasoning= I prefer Montreal Steak Seasoning, Salsa, Hot Sauce or similar. NO sugary nonsense. If it's more than 15 calories or has more than one thing you cannot pronounce= Nope.)

 

My Dinner is the same as lunch but with slightly more veggies and served on a plate as a meal, rather than a bowl.

 

Want a snack? Sure= raw veggie yourself into a coma. Nothing else.

 

Wait= I said I ate what ever I wanted? I do!

 

My diet/regimen ends at lunch on Friday. After lunch on Friday= go bananas! Eat what ever you desire through Sunday night. So effectively, 66% of my meals are low carb, high protein, low cal fuel.. and the other 33% are Muricuh'. Beer. Pizza. Breakfast sandwiches using hashbrowns as bread.. no bs.

 

 

That was all I did and I dropped 30 of the 40 lbs. Once I got to 179lbs, I started exercising and within a month or so I was approaching abs! You could almost see them!

 

I feel that chicken/rice/veggies is a fairly well balanced meal. Its all simple food, not super processed. I once worked it out to about 4-500 calories per meal plus 120 for the granola bar... and black coffee is negligible. It's not about counting calories because its the same thing every day.

 

 

This has become a lifestyle for us here. The kids eat whatever, but wife and I are semi similar. She does more of a vegetarian thing.. but similar structure. I have fallen off the wagon a bit, been busy with work- so I settled in around 180lbs for the last year or so.. and since January, enjoying the beer way too much so this last Sunday was a reboot. I started at 189lbs monday morning and am already at 186 as of this morning. I will add that I have been throwing 2-milers in every morning before work.

 

 

So= in a sense, it is fasting. Fasting from real eating. If you treat food as fuel first, you should be able to do it. You can suffer through eating boring meals until the weekend ;-)

 

Good luck!

It's not supposed to be an everyday thing. I tried doing just bone broth during the day and it was doable but I wouldn't do it all the time. It depends what your goals are.

How so? I've heard of very extreme versions where people don't eat for a day or two at a time, but do you think it's unhealthy to not eat for say 16 or 17 hours?

 

 

Think about this: I get the sense you're trying to lose weight but after you work out, you have a 30-45 minute window to get healthy food in your system before natural acids and your body starts to break down good parts of your body, I.e.: fat and muscles. If you're working out and you're not going to eat anything after, it's not healthy. You're going to build muscle even slower than normal and you're possibly going to make yourself more tired and fatigued during the day, assuming you're working out in the morning. I'm guessing this is a temporary thing. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It paves the way for the rest of your day. If you're starting to eat only at 1, you're running on empty and over time there can be negative health effects. There's good reason why three meals are recommended a day. If you're wanting to lose weight faster, set a calorie count and don't break it for each day, and DON'T skip out on meals. If and when you decide to stop fasting, you're going to confuse your body and mess with your metabolism. It's guaranteed. Stick to a normal diet and play it safe. Burn more calories than you consume each day but also adjust over time to how you're adapting and how many you're burning.

 

I've learned a lot of this through my job and professional diet/nutrition classes over the years. I've also learned a lot through Navy SEALs including their diets and diet classes given to them. I have patients I have to coach to help with weight loss and lowering blood pressure. It's the only advice I can give you, but with anyone in the medical field, sometimes you'll hear different things from different people.

Think about this: I get the sense you're trying to lose weight but after you work out, you have a 30-45 minute window to get healthy food in your system before natural acids and your body starts to break down good parts of your body, I.e.: fat and muscles. If you're working out and you're not going to eat anything after, it's not healthy. You're going to build muscle even slower than normal and you're possibly going to make yourself more tired and fatigued during the day, assuming you're working out in the morning. I'm guessing this is a temporary thing. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It paves the way for the rest of your day. If you're starting to eat only at 1, you're running on empty and over time there can be negative health effects. There's good reason why three meals are recommended a day. If you're wanting to lose weight faster, set a calorie count and don't break it for each day, and DON'T skip out on meals. If and when you decide to stop fasting, you're going to confuse your body and mess with your metabolism. It's guaranteed. Stick to a normal diet and play it safe. Burn more calories than you consume each day but also adjust over time to how you're adapting and how many you're burning.

 

I've learned a lot of this through my job and professional diet/nutrition classes over the years. I've also learned a lot through Navy SEALs including their diets and diet classes given to them. I have patients I have to coach to help with weight loss and lowering blood pressure. It's the only advice I can give you, but with anyone in the medical field, sometimes you'll hear different things from different people.

Thanks for the insight. I'm doing as much research as I can on this right now. Ineffective is one thing, I just want to make sure it's not outright harmful.

( not being a smart ass). How did humans survive hundreds of years ago when we didnt have breakfast? We hunted, ate like crazy and sometimes didn't eat of several days at a time between hunts.

( not being a smart ass). How did humans survive hundreds of years ago when we didnt have breakfast? We hunted, ate like crazy and sometimes didn't eat of several days at a time between hunts.

 

My perception, we also (largely) didn't consume processed grains/sugar/dairy. Our ridiculous obsession with removing fat from everything, leaving nothing but sugar (read, anything that ends in 'ose), has been our undoing.

 

Buy whole milk, put real cream in your coffee (it tastes 1000x better anyway), and keep a safe distance from all the bread/pasta/grains. The glucose spike and reaction by your liver is far greater than anyone gives it credit for.

 

Oh, and don't drink anything that isn't coffee, water, or tea, booze as you see fit.

 

Where is Alpha on this, I'm curious to hear his meal layout.

 

 

I eat small meals every 2 hours.

 

Think about a large bear and a horse. Both about 1200 lbs. The horse grazes all day. It's body has no reason to store fat because the next meal is literally minutes away. Unlike the bear, the horse has very little body fat covering all of that muscle.

 

Eating small meals helps keep blood sugar stable and on the lower side. Keeping your blood sugar on the low side prevents subcutaneous fat also. High blood sugar is usually met with insulin (the storage hormone). When those 2 are on the high side at the same time the insulin will push most blood sugar into the fat cell. The ONLY time this will not happen is right after a heavy session of physical activity.

 

Long story short....Eat a high simple carb / high protein meal immediately after physical activity (within 10 min). The rest of your day lower complex carbs with protein and non saturated fats every couple of hours.

I used to be heavy into IF in 2011. Leanest and healthiest I've been. Lost tons of weight. Health wise, blood tests showed improvement that cannot be related to losing weight/eating better/exercising more/lifestyle changes.

 

Best advice? Just stick to it. As much as you don't want to at first, soon as it becomes a habit for you, your body gets adjusted to it and it becomes easier.

 

I still occasionally train fasted. If I do, my body isn't used to the lack of food anymore, so I need to eat when I get home or else I won't be mentally focused/feel drained. Just because when I get in intense workouts, I get hungry AF after and my body goes crazy looking for food.

 

Stopped doing IF when I relaized how much it annoyed me. Life is too short, eat when you want and can, eat food "good" for you (natural, unprocessed), exercise everyday, you'll be fine.

 

As others have said, everyone is built different, so try it out and see how it works for you. But, keep track of the data to prove it. Go to the DR. get blood tests before/peridocially after, at home BGL monitor, step on the scale, etc. I heard how good IF is at the cellular level. Oh really, show me so....

 

Glucose tolerance as someone mentioned, I would be more worried about. I am a fats/proteins first guy. I limit my carbs. Insuslin sensitivity, or lack of, is mostly to blame for weight gain. Sugars/grains = big no no.

 

 

I find it easy to do and helpful for hitting the tough to lose spots like love handle area. For some reason it seems to hit these areas well, at least for me. Pretty easy to not eat until lunch. I used to be a headache guy if I went too long without food but IF fixed that for me once I got used to it. I believe discomfort after short periods without food is inefficiencies in your body using body fat for fuel. I like IF and recommend it.

I used to practice IF. My eating window was noon to 7pm. Worked good. Did cure my shaking and headache situation if I was low on blood sugar. Even though I dont IF anymore I still dont get the shakes. While practicing IF I used to do 36 hour fasts. Just drink water or black coffee, no calories. No as hard to do as you may think. I describe it as almost spiritual. You have energy and can focus but you are as calm as ever! I miss those 36 hour fasts. I may start them again once or twice a month.

sorry, double post.

I used to practice IF. My eating window was noon to 7pm. Worked good. Did cure my shaking and headache situation if I was low on blood sugar. Even though I dont IF anymore I still dont get the shakes. While practicing IF I used to do 36 hour fasts. Just drink water or black coffee, no calories. No as hard to do as you may think. I describe it as almost spiritual. You have energy and can focus but you are as calm as ever! I miss those 36 hour fasts. I may start them again once or twice a month.

36 hours is insane! I've heard about better focus too when you don't eat. So far I've found it stop me from nibbling and grazing on snacks.

I wouldn't recommend it. It's not healthy.

That's right. It throws your body into ketosis and kerosis makes you feel good and have reduced appetite with such funky diet manipulations. As far as "health benefit" ketosis is basically an acid condition that isn't good for the body. It's actually kind of comical because people often do such funky diet things in an effort to do good for their health, when in fact its usually the opposite that occurs. I have my Masters in a double major of nutrition and physical conditioning from a reputable university (not some fly by night like so called "nutritionist" schools). Anyway, I only mention that because once you go through such an intense education you read thousands of reputable medical journal studies on many subjects, and eventually realize how ridiculous it is to get sucked into methods or "advise" from non reputable sources shch as movie stars, hair dressers, etc. The US is a great place with freedom of speech, which allows anyone to write a book (regardless if it is factual or not), or give advice or opinion. The problem is that it is difficult for the average joe to sift through what is true or not. The only real way is to research several reputable journal studies on the subject such as at a medical library or even ordinary library. Many are high level reading, but the average joe can still understand it. It's a little sad that people get sucked into the numerous diet manipulations, however many just don't know better. Probably similar to taking stock advise on a company based on the opinion of others, rather digging into the weeds on your own combined with opinion from real medical experts.

 

Forgot to mention that ketosis causes dehydration as well; hense the reason for quick weight loss "of water", which later returns.

But, isn't entering ketosis necessaty for your body to burn fat? Since it starts using fat for energy?

 

Anyone here follow Peter Attia?

That's right. It throws your body into ketosis and kerosis makes you feel good and have reduced appetite with such funky diet manipulations. As far as "health benefit" ketosis is basically an acid condition that isn't good for the body. It's actually kind of comical because people often do such funky diet things in an effort to do good for their health, when in fact its usually the opposite that occurs. I have my Masters in a double major of nutrition and physical conditioning from a reputable university (not some fly by night like so called "nutritionist" schools). Anyway, I only mention that because once you go through such an intense education you read thousands of reputable medical journal studies on many subjects, and eventually realize how ridiculous it is to get sucked into methods or "advise" from non reputable sources shch as movie stars, hair dressers, etc. The US is a great place with freedom of speech, which allows anyone to write a book (regardless if it is factual or not), or give advice or opinion. The problem is that it is difficult for the average joe to sift through what is true or not. The only real way is to research several reputable journal studies on the subject such as at a medical library or even ordinary library. Many are high level reading, but the average joe can still understand it. It's a little sad that people get sucked into the numerous diet manipulations, however many just don't know better. Probably similar to taking stock advise on a company based on the opinion of others, rather digging into the weeds on your own combined with opinion from real medical experts.

 

Forgot to mention that ketosis causes dehydration as well; hense the reason for quick weight loss "of water", which later returns.

I thought for ketosis you needed to avoid carbohydrates for a few weeks? I'm having plenty of carbs though.

36 hour fast isnt as bad as it sounds.

Stop eating at 8pm. once you wake up and do some stuff 12 hours have already passed. By the end of the day you have 24 hours finished. Keep yourself occupied and go to bed early if you have to. once you wake up struggle for a few hours and boom, 36 hours has passed. Eat but dont go crazy, or you will be in the bathroom for a while.