BennyC's Intermittent Fasting & HST Journal

I've been considering I.F for a little while now and am in the position where I have a very routined day and feel like giving it a shot.

I'd appreciate if anyone with any knowledge or experience of I.F could correct or confirm my thoughts and plans.

As I currently work 07:15 to 16:15 from what I understand the most suitable method for me will be to eat 25% of my daily calories followed by a further 25% about 4 hours later, to then train and eat the remaining 50% of my calories after and to then not eat until the following day when I break the fast.

Luckily I can eat at my desk and take my lunch whenever I wish so a 12:30/1 o'clock feeding to break my fast is not a problem. I can eat again at 3:45/4 as I usually train at around 5PM so am leaving come the busy rush hour period in the gym starts. I can pop my PWO in when I finish at 6PM and then eat dinner asap after this with any other food required to make up my 50%. To clarify:

12:30/1PM - 2 x Pitta with either tuna, chicken mayo, turkey & 1 scoop whey, 1 scoop oats 700/800 calories

3:45/4 PM - Salad, Apple, Mixed nuts (cashews, walnuts, brazils, almonds & raisins) 1 scoop whey, 1 scoop oats. 700/800 calories

5PM - Train

6PM - 1 scoop oats, 1 scoop whey.
(Followed by 4 scrambled eggs, my evening meal which is usually 300 grams mixed veg with either chicken, beef, pork, mackerel, occasionally a pasta based dish and then finally my pre bed shake (Mp bedtime extreme 2 scoops) - total approx 1500 calories

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(what I've done is take my small regular meals and divide them up into a 25/25/50 split) Fats look a little low there though don't forget there are 4 eggs and nuts in there towards the end. I can't cook eggs at work unfortunatley as I'd like to have these as my second meal as it's a little light imo.

I know that there is an 8 hour window in which to eat and I'm thinking shovelling 1500 calories, the best part of 3 small meals, in one go will be quite challenging and probaly uncomfortable. So is spreading this food out okay providing it's all been eaten within the 8 hour window? Betwen 6 and 8PM in this case.

I'm also aware of the calorie cycling so would drop my carbs slightly on my off days and up my fats.

Is there anything else I've missed or any other advice? (other than/as well as dietry )

Hopefully this will serve as a simple explanation for anybody thinking about trying it who currently works normal hours, providing my interpretation is accurate!

Thanks,

BennyC

Edit: Meal one on rest days will be around 40% of calorie intake followed by 30/30, when possible.

this is madness

robotCocks said:

this is madness

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This is Sparta.

Care to elaborate for me.

What are the supposed benefits of doing this out of interest? Wouldn't your body just be overloaded and not be able to cope with the amount of food in one go?

Or is it a cutting type of diet where your body should lose a lot during the "fasting" period?

What are your goals here?

Not done this but would be interested in seeing your results Benny!

kinobestew123 said:

What are the supposed benefits of doing this out of interest? Wouldn't your body just be overloaded and not be able to cope with the amount of food in one go?

Or is it a cutting type of diet where your body should lose a lot during the "fasting" period?

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IF is geared toward reducing cardiovascular and cerebrovascular risk and increase the resistance toward Coronary heart disease/stroke.

http://www.leangains.com/

Read up on here if you want to know what it's all about.

The 10 myths debunked article was what got me to decide to give it a shot.

My goals? As always to increase lean mass & strength with minimal fat gain/decrease in bodyfat. I'm sure there are some health benefits but these aren't my reason for choosing IF. Mentioned numerous times on the site is the obsessiveness of regular small meals and the anxiety of missing one and the 'stress' related to this mindset. I can relate and just really wanted to see if this approach is more suited to me.

This will be combined with my first cycle of HST so am hoping for some interesting results.

I'm interested to see what this will do to body compositioning and also my well being/general feelings.

I guess this will be sort of my journal which I will update with some exact details at the end of this weekend and also my thoughts & feelings on the initial phase as I will be 2/3 days in come then and in a better position to pass judgement on the initial effects.

For those that don't regulary read here I've been training for about 3 years now and would class myself as an 'intermediate lifter'. If you want to track my progress so far skim through the bodybuilders picture thread. I also had a thread following my keto cut back in Feb-March which saw me drop from 16% to 12% bodyfat. This hasn't been maintained though and am sitting back at around 15/16%. ('The Final Push' is the thread title for those interested).

I just broke my first 15 hour fast from 8PM last night to 11AM this morning. This will move 1/2 hours either way as I finish work and train early on Fridays.

Overall I didn't have any problems not eating till 11 despite a very slow day at work this far a few hunger pains but nothing mega. Though this is to be expected as my body is still expecting meals from my little and often diet.

Jay.D said:

IF is geared toward reducing cardiovascular and cerebrovascular risk and increase the resistance toward Coronary heart disease/stroke.

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Not exclusively...

http://www.leangains.com/

edit: lol beaten

That looks pretty good to me, Benny!

It makes no difference how many meals you have in the 8 hour window, just make sure you don't overshoot it! If you do, then just extend your fast to make 16 hours. As your trying it due to current meal frequency, I would try and do it in as little meals as possible to get the full experience.

Usually eating larger portions will get easier as your stomach expands and the leptin signal adapts.

Im sure you know, but make sure you eat higher fat, less carbs on rest days and the reverse on training days.

Good luck and I hope all goes well! Any other questions and I will try and help if I can.

Edit- Martin also reccomends the majority of carbs come in pre and mainly PWO, with little to no carbs in your last meal. If you can adapt to that then I would, but if not then I don't think it will effect the total outcome too badly.

Interested in seeing how you get on with his Benny. It's something I have considered doing a while myself, and may well do next year. Keep us updated!!

Update 3 days in

I'm not sure if I'm suprised or not but I've found this incredibly easy to adapt to. As in it's been no bother at all. Alright I slept right through till 10am both mornings this weekend due to 6" of snow and 2 rest days. ( before I workout my weights for my first HST cycle) I've not really done a great deal this weekend! Combined with a slow Friday at work it's probably one of the hardest times to adjust diet with nothing to do (other than play Black Ops and browse the web).

I break the fast just after noon, eat again at 3PM and then again at around 6:30/7PM starting the fast again at 7:30/8PM.

Eating large meals is getting easier and my appetite between feedings suprisingly is supressed. Interestingly, I think this will help to hinder any 'over feeding' as I try not to snack in between my feedings, so where as with the standard 5/6 small regular meals fufilment isn't always felt so the odd extra snack would often follow but being full at each feeding stops this.

I didn't have any problems training on Friday which was the first day of fasting and was a back & shoulders session including: deadlifts, OHP, Pull ups, Rows, Pulldown, Rear raises, lateral raises & curls.

I think it's a bit too early to make any judgements about composition but I do think I've dropped a little water probaly due to drinking lots during the fast. I'm hoping that HST being a full body workout will be a bit more aerobic/calorific in itself so should have an effect on composition too.

One thing worth mentioning is that getting out of bed has been suprisingly easy, not that I ever really struggle but similar to when I used Keto back in March I'd wake up and be wide awake. Thinking this will have something to do with the lack of blood sugar spikes as a result of the fast, I'm not complaining though! I still feel rested and strangely not as tired when going to bed though this might be due to not doing a lot.

It's also much nicer not having to constantly think about food all the time too. The extra 10 minutes in bed in the mornings is appreciated too

Id be interested in doing this while cutting, dunno if I could fit the strict meal times around uni though (bringing x much food in etc).

There must be easier ways of doing this? I am lean and fit and I don't have to starve myself for periods

The Craig said:

Id be interested in doing this while cutting, dunno if I could fit the strict meal times around uni though (bringing x much food in etc).

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There's 4 different protocols depending on when you're available to train, it's quite flexable and I can confirm that the alertness & lack of fatigue, for me, is one of the positives. The only negative being having to eat large portions which is a little tough but will become easier.

FASTED:

11.30-12 AM or 5-15 minutes pre-workout: 10 g BCAA
12-1 PM: Training
1 PM: Post-workout meal (largest meal of the day).
4 PM: Second meal.
9 PM: Last meal before the fast.

EARLY MORNING FASTED:
6 AM: 5-15 minutes pre-workout: 10 g BCAA.
6-7 AM: Training.
8 AM: 10 g BCAA.
10 AM: 10 g BCAA
12-1 PM: The "real" post-workout meal (largest meal of the day). Start of the 8 hour feeding-window.
8-9 PM: Last meal before the fast.

ONE PRE W/O

12-1 PM or around lunch/noon: Pre-workout meal. Approximately 20-25% of daily total calorie intake.
3-4 PM: Training should happen a few hours after the pre-workout meal.
4-5 PM: Post-workout meal (largest meal).
8-9 PM: Last meal before the fast.

TWO PRE W/O

12-1 PM or around lunch/noon: Meal one. Approximately 20-25% of daily total calorie intake.
4-5 PM: Pre-workout meal. Roughly equal to the first meal.
8-9 PM: Post-workout meal (largest meal).

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Jonny69 said:

There must be easier ways of doing this? I am lean and fit and I don't have to starve myself for periods

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Do you focus on resistance training? eat over the RDA guidelines for a man? Doing this and trying to build mass whilst minising fat gain isn't easy otherwise we'd all be sat at 6% bodyfat and a solid 220lbs.

It's no different really to people that will lay in bed until 11/12 noon and then get up and have breakfast.

Suprisingly I think a lot of people do this without realising this. Skipping breakfast is a prime example.

I also wouldn't call it 'starving' I still get 3000 calories per day it's just an 'irregular' eating habit to most. If you're interested then deffinatley check out www.leangains.com and read up on the science behind it more than happy to discuss this providing you've read up on it properly

In theory it sounds fine to be honest and there is enough examples on leangains.com to suggest it's not completely nonsense. Would be worth seeing your results come the end.

Always thought about giving it a try as to be honest, my eating habits are quite similar to the plan itself already.

BennyC said:

There's 4 different protocols depending on when you're available to train, it's quite flexable and I can confirm that the alertness & lack of fatigue, for me, is one of the positives. The only negative being having to eat large portions which is a little tough but will become easier.

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Large portions wouldnt be a massive problem for me , I think a diet like this would help cut all snacking which for me would be a help, I think I'll have a read up.

One q, what if you train at different times different days? eg. I could train at 9.30 on a tuesday and 3 on a friday etc.

Keep us updated Benny as i'm fairly interested in this too. Yes it's madness, but there is method in it! leangains is probably the best example.

I have a friend who is tempted to start training again and attempt IF or the warrior diet (fairly similar) but is afraid of the starvation and lack of energy etc. It's difficult to comprehend it before you actually just dive in and do it.. and it's even harder to even think about it when you don't have a set routine to your week that's tailored for this kind of thing!

Let us know how your lifts suffer too, as well as keeping a picture log!

The Craig said:

One q, what if you train at different times different days? eg. I could train at 9.30 on a tuesday and 3 on a friday etc.

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I *think* in this case you just have to adjust/blend the protocols to suit. SO you might not get a 16 hour fast in, or if it's possible to move your training.

ergonomics said:

It's difficult to comprehend it before you actually just dive in and do it.. and it's even harder to even think about it when you don't have a set routine to your week that's tailored for this kind of thing!

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Deffinatley agree. There really is nothing to worry about though, I'd say I'm fully adjusted to my new meal times now and much happier in regards to my nutirion than I was before.

Let us know how your lifts suffer too, as well as keeping a picture log!

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I worked out the weights for my 15's yesterday for my HST cycle. I think the two rest days really helped as I felt much more powerful, especially on squats & bench. I didn't notice any decrease in my endurance or strength. I don't think there's any logical reason why there should be either.

My 10 & 15 RM have been calculated and look like this:

15's
Squat: 100KG
Press: 40KG
Seated Row: 80KG
SLDL: 85KG
Bench: 80KG
Pull up: BW - 25%
Lateral Raise : 9KG
Dips: BW + 10KG
BB Curl: 30KG
Standing Calf Raise: 60KG
DB Shrug: 35KG's
Lying EZ Skullcrusher: 27.5KG

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10's
Squat: 120KG
Press: 50KG
Seated Row: 100KG
SLDL: 100KG
Bench: 95KG (PB for reps )
Pull up: BW + 5KG
Lateral Raise : 12.5KG
Dips: BW + 20KG
BB Curl: 35KG
Standing Calf Raise: 100KG
DB Shrug: 42.5KG's
Lying EZ Skullcrusher: 32.5KG

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Some weights are a little more conservative than others. I only did the one working set to establish my RM but beared in mind that I will have 2 sets of each to perform, and also 2 sets of which ever exercises preceed that particular one too, so took into account fatigue.

I squat at home out in the passage way in the cold and then walk 2 minutes round to courner to finish up the rest at the gym. I usually warm up again briefly and do my usual RC exercises & mobilisation.

5's up next, most likely drop the isolations, or switch to something like a hammer curl and go heavier on dips. Might trade SLDL for regular deadlifts for 1 x 5 once one week and twice the next.

IF is going well, I'd say I've completely adapted to my new meal times and am glad I made the switch. All the initial benefits I experienced are still present. Due to the fast I tend to have that 'just got out of bed' leaness we all experience but still looking full at the same time. Water is deffinatley down as is fat a little too as light striations in my chest are now visible, vasularity is up a little bit too. I'll most likely throw in some light cardio over x-mas to keep me sane and shift any 'holiday weight'.

I'll post up my entire 6-8 week HST plan including the progressive load increases for C&C and to clarify for anybody unsure of how theirs should look.