Intermittent Fasting

noizeuk

noizeuk

noizeuk

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Forgive me if this subject has been covered before, however I would like to gauge others thoughts on IF as a weight loss/lean growth approach to working out.

Personally, I've picked the idea up from TMW (who by the way are at present the funniest people I've seen on YouTube) and I have been on IF since 12/08/2012. I have a cut of RDA at approx 1500 calories and additional loads for higher impact workouts (not done yet).

This passed week, I've had an eating window of 2PM to 8PM, otherwise I can only drink water/no calorie drinks. I have so far Mon-Fri done cardio workout and from a start weight (wake up, toilet #1, shorts) of 13st 13lbs, I now stand at 13st 3.5lbs. Note, I drink constantly to stave off hunger, it is NOT water weight I have lost.

So, there is my experience. Anyone else tried/on this?
 
I like it. Not because it caused any dramatic weight loss on me but just that it is easy to do and does help to some degree to lose weight.

If anyone is unsure about doing IF or not I would recommend just trying it because it is in no way hard to do :). The first week or so is the hardest but after that I didn't find myself struggling much at all.
 
It is very easy to start. With my eating window, I'm just skipping breakfast and not snacking.

One downside is that I had a horrendous headache on Monday, don't know if it's connected. Nothing ibuprofen couldn't sort out.. and a gym sesh.
 
BennyC (? sorry if it's some one else) I think has a big diary log thread of theirs in here some where. My search skills are failing right now though.
 
Iirc he hasn't updated that in about a year but if it can be found I'm sure it will have some useful info in it.

There are ways to take IF which makes it a little complicated but I prefer the simplicity of don't eat for 15-18 hours. I haven't found any downsides apart from the fact that if you are a person who likes to eat socially it can get quite irritating but it can also be very easily managed by being a little more casual about it.
 
There is lots of different varients and lots of names for the same varient in some cases.

I've been doing the Fast-5 diet also known as the warrior diet.

The important thing to remember is not to eat more than what you would have done if you weren't fasting. The small window of eating time normally means you will actually eat less and further the weight loss even more. A lot of the weight loss comes from the longer fasting period though. People talk about skipping breakfast makes your metabolism slow etc, no this is nonsense. Your metabolism is constantly ON, whether you give it food to work with or not is up to you. The longer fast period however means that to get energy to stop you dying while you sleep your body has to go elsewhere for its energy, it goes to your fat stores :)

Also for any trying the 5:2 diet that was reviewed on the BBC and important thing to note is they say you can have 600 calories (this is mostly just a mental thing as people often think not eating means you won't have any energy) if you think you need to eat this 600 make sure it is either as early as possible, or as late as possible to maximise the fast. As soon as that 600 goes in your system that is fast over, your body will instantly stop looking at your fat and just go to your intestines.

Another thing to watch out for while fasting is what the experts call calorie creeps. These are things such as milk in tea/coffee (20 calories), which id you have 5 cups of tea that's 100 calories which will have affected the effect of the fast.
 
The BBC program opened my eyes to the fasting thing. I am no where near unhealthy and not in any shape to tip over the edge and develop heart diesease. The program did focus on that as a major fear factor behind his reasoning to trying fasting.

The one which worked for him would not work for me really. I can see how it would work better for me, I just can't go the rest of the day with no food. With the 2/8 window I can skip breakfast, be busy at work, drink black coffee (0/1 calorie) and look forward to dinner. Finish work, gym and eat again.

Todays weight is 13st 2.8lbs. That's over 10 lbs in a week! It's getting to Peter Kay levels!

"14 stone in a day!!"
 
Djdom56 said:
Iirc he hasn't updated that in about a year but if it can be found I'm sure it will have some useful info in it.

There are ways to take IF which makes it a little complicated but I prefer the simplicity of don't eat for 15-18 hours. I haven't found any downsides apart from the fact that if you are a person who likes to eat socially it can get quite irritating but it can also be very easily managed by being a little more casual about it.
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Do you train fasted or after the fast is over? I've been training faster for over a year now, but recently haven't had much energy in the morning these days due to diet. So, thinking of trying a week still with IF but training in the evening.
 
JaWalks said:
Why not just eat less?
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Calorie counting is hard work. You have to constantly think about whether you 'can afford' to be eating something, you almost have to keep a log of what you eat (there are plenty of people that actually do this!). Or simply you just don't eat. There are a whole list of health benefits. Have a look at this video


To summarise after ~18 hours of fasting:
  • Lower insulin (the thing that stores sugar in fat cells and stores fat)
  • Higher glucagon (the thing that takes sugar out of fat cells)
  • Higher growth hormone (prevents muscle mass being used in place of fat cells by glucagon)
So as you can see there is a lot of reasons why IF is better (and easier) than trying to reduce your diet (especially if your current diet isn't actually considered unhealthy)

More proof of its worth can be seen in these blogs
http://www.leangains.com/
http://bradpilon.com/
 
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I mean think about it. As a human you have the option of two lifestyles. One of them involves eating all day (much like a grazing cow), the other involves waiting maybe several days before a feast (much like a lion).

What do you want to be, a cow or a lion?
 
desires said:
Calorie counting is hard work. You have to constantly think about whether you 'can afford' to be eating something, you almost have to keep a log of what you eat (there are plenty of people that actually do this!). Or simply you just don't eat. There are a whole list of health benefits. Have a look at this video


To summarise after ~18 hours of fasting:
  • Lower insulin (the thing that stores sugar in fat cells and stores fat)
  • Higher glucagon (the thing that takes sugar out of fat cells)
  • Higher growth hormone (prevents muscle mass being used in place of fat cells by glucagon)
So as you can see there is a lot of reasons why IF is better (and easier) than trying to reduce your diet (especially if your current diet isn't actually considered unhealthy)

More proof of its worth can be seen in these blogs
http://www.leangains.com/
http://bradpilon.com/
Click to expand...

Great post. Not sure about your cow/lion one lol!

I watched this video before I started which convinced me it was the right way forward.

Eating less is not the key to losing weight, because you might be getting the wrong intake in the first place. With this method of eating, your still having your normal intake of food, with your body working with an empty stomach and using its stores.

I'd strongly suggest this over some of the cutting techniques. I've tried ketosis diet before but that made me feel like crap. Lost a load of weight and ate all the meat and fat available but the lack of carbs was horrible.
 
JaWalks said:
Sounds like just another fad diet for someone to make money off.
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Troll not fasting, then? ;)

The diet doesn't involve any exchange of money for information/whatever, as all the information anyone with half a brain needs is on the Internet. If they can't find or get it, then they probably won't manage the programme anyway.

If you want to pay for a book, that's entirely up to you. :)
 
noizeuk said:
Great post.
Click to expand...

Why thank you :p

noizeuk said:
I've tried ketosis diet before but that made me feel like crap. Lost a load of weight and ate all the meat and fat available but the lack of carbs was horrible. Lost a load of weight and ate all the meat and fat available but the lack of carbs was horrible.
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Actually, fasting is ketosis. Your liver has a store of about 8-12 hours of glucagon, which is used before ketones start to break down your fat cells (hence why a fast lenght of 18 hours or more is recommended to get the full effect of fat cell breakup). One of the reasons Atkin's diet (or similar low carb diets) work in a similar fashion is because carbohydrates are just sugar (the process of breaking carbs down into sugar starts as soon as it enters your mouth!). Cutting carbs out obviously means a severe lack of sugar (almost like fasting) and so insulin drops, glucose raises etc etc.

I'm not trying to say IF is the only good answer, if you prefer a different diet then excellent. Sticking to a diet that works for you is the best bet and you'll get the results you want. Saying that, I think IF should at least be tried by everyone, it's a lot easier than you might at first assume to go a whole day (or just until dinner) without eating. I prefer to eat a balanced, man-sized, meal with a bit of every food group (mainly for the taste benefits) and get the ketosis effect from fasting the rest of the day.
 
It's just one of many ways of eating/keeping a decent diet/calorie control, there are many other ways of eating and diets to follow. It personally doesn't suit my lifestyle/training - however a lot of people find it easy to follow and a good way of eating, keeping the calories in control and dropping fat.

If you can follow it, and you find it suits you - then go for it.
 
If it works in terms of lifestyle, it works. I've tried lifting only on a diet which affected my recovery times and only gained weight. What I wouldn't suggest is people rubbish any type of diet/eating regime until they have tried or researched it.
 
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