Intermittent Fasting discussion thread!!

[RickRock13]

Martin posted an interesting article on breakfast recently...
what intrigued me is I'm never hungry in the morning anyway and if I ever forced myself to eat in the morning I would be ravenous for several hours and way over eat.
I got sick of being told you HAD to eat breakfast and you HAD to space out 6 eats a day when this just made me overeat and feel like crap whenever I did it...
I stopped telling people when I actually ate because I was tired of broscience when I knew something just wasn't right for me with it.

The flaw I have with his latest write up however is he contends people that have great insulin response are affected by this breakfast phenomenon... I was and am inclined to be insulin resistant

Yes, just like everything...people will respond to things differently based on different factors. Obviously this diet wouldn't be ideal for anyone diabetic or with insulin issues. The whole premise of the program is to utilize insulin sensitivity at the time of breaking fast and basically make your body a damn effective nutrient partitioner and obviously capitalizing on the fat loss benefits during the fasting phase

 

[RickRock13]

Yeah, I am gearing up to start IF again to try and drop some more bodyfat...just have to write up my plan and goals (calories, weight I want to be at, etc) and give it a go again. I did it while on a SARMs cycle a month or so ago, and I truly did feel much better during it.

Planning is key with IF, prepare your meals ahead of time, make sure you have plenty of BCAAs (I like a few products for this...Powerchews BCAA for on the go immediate BCAA with no need for water, Gear (when it is back in stock) for pre & post workout, and Modern BCAAs to sip in my water during the fasting portion of my IF. I also utilize need2slin for my carbohydrate meals as well...and prior to my fasted cardio.

It is somewhat challenging to get all of your calories in an 8 hour period because it seems that is all you do for 8 hours, but having meals prepared, knowing your schedule for the day makes it easy to figure out what food will be the most convenient to pack...for instance my first meal after my fast I am usually in the office, which is around noon, so I have a microwave accessible. But when I am out in the field in the afternoon, or in a meeting, I will need to pack something that doesn't require reheating such as tuna or a mixed green salad with chicken on top...baslamic & olive oil dressing of course, or even a protein shake with a handful of almonds (or one of my homemade organic protein bars ). IF (no pun intended) you prepare in advance and put thought into how you can achieve getting in all the required calories and macros in your 8 hour period, then you will have great success.

Water...water...water! Make sure you drink your water! Very important to stay hydrated and during the fasting time due to it helps you feel full, so the hunger feeling is tolerable. Also required for burning fat, metabolism, and shuttling the nutrients from your food into the muscles for growth...I think everybody knows this.

Man I am getting excited again! Thanks Rick for starting this thread, I will check back in here after I start back up to get ideas and or just see how others are doing and offer some insight as well.

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You bring up a lot of good points here man, that I'd like to touch on. First thing is BCAAs. BCAAs are essential for fasted training around workouts and before breaking fast on workout days. Martin recommends 8-10g BCAAs preworkout, post workout, and every 2 hours before breaking fast on WORKOUT DAYS. Nowhere does he recommend taking in BCAAs on cardio only days or rest days. BCAAs will cause an insulin release (even though small), and they do have a caloric value with them so it's best to not use them on the days that your goal is to burn fat (cardio/rest days) as they can slow your fat loss. BCAAs during the fast on days other than workout days go against the whole premise of the program and you could be cutting your fat loss short. On the other hand, if fat loss or minimizing fat loss is no concern at all, you could take in BCAAs anytime for the added protein synthesis, but those people probably wouldn't be doing IF anyways.

Another thing I hear all the time is people saying they are having trouble getting all the cals in during the 8 hour feeding window. After doing it for a while you will be surprised at much food you can eat in a sitting. my only problem I have now is keeping myself from overeating. I NEVER have to force food anymore and rarely get stuffed. Even sitting down and eating 2k cals at once I could still eat more. Bigger meals and less meals is the way to do it in my opinion. That 6 meal a day crap is old school and for people that don't do IF


Water....definitely drink lots of it whether on IF or any diet. Water intake is crucial for a number of reasons that I won't go into, becaus ewe all know that we need to hydrate!

 

[Mh48500]

There is no need to put that many meals in on IF. Your fast breaker meal is recommended to be your biggest meal. I usually go with around 60% of my total cals for the day in that meal and will have as much as 2k in that sitting with 120-150g protein and 150g carbs (on workout days). I actually prefer 2-3 meals a day. Usually it's 3 meals on workout days and 2 on non-workout days

Thanks Rick, I wll give that a try.

 

[muscleaddiction]

You bring up a lot of good points here man, that I'd like to touch on. First thing is BCAAs. BCAAs are essential for fasted training around workouts and before breaking fast on workout days. Martin recommends 8-10g BCAAs preworkout, post workout, and every 2 hours before breaking fast on WORKOUT DAYS. Nowhere does he recommend taking in BCAAs on cardio only days or rest days. BCAAs will cause an insulin release (even though small), and they do have a caloric value with them so it's best to not use them on the days that your goal is to burn fat (cardio/rest days) as they can slow your fat loss. BCAAs during the fast on days other than workout days go against the whole premise of the program and you could be cutting your fat loss short. On the other hand, if fat loss or minimizing fat loss is no concern at all, you could take in BCAAs anytime for the added protein synthesis, but those people probably wouldn't be doing IF anyways.

Another thing I hear all the time is people saying they are having trouble getting all the cals in during the 8 hour feeding window. After doing it for a while you will be surprised at much food you can eat in a sitting. my only problem I have now is keeping myself from overeating. I NEVER have to force food anymore and rarely get stuffed. Even sitting down and eating 2k cals at once I could still eat more. Bigger meals and less meals is the way to do it in my opinion. That 6 meal a day crap is old school and for people that don't do IF


Water....definitely drink lots of it whether on IF or any diet. Water intake is crucial for a number of reasons that I won't go into, becaus ewe all know that we need to hydrate!

Thanks Rick!!! Great info for sure...and will take note!

Any chance we can get you to post up your typical meal to break your fast that is in the 1200 cal range? It would be beneficial to see what and how much it is...I know I can eat a mound of food in a sitting, just curious to see yours .

 

[tha_Waco_kid]

Nowhere does he recommend taking in BCAAs on cardio only days or rest days. BCAAs will cause an insulin release (even though small), and they do have a caloric value with them so it's best to not use them on the days that your goal is to burn fat (cardio/rest days) as they can slow your fat loss. BCAAs during the fast on days other than workout days go against the whole premise of the program and you could be cutting your fat loss short.

Oh man - this could be what was halting my fat loss on IF - I took BCAAS every day during the fast...I misunderstood 'training' to mean any kind of training, ie, cardio or Lift....didn't make the connection he just meant lifting when referring to training.

I do cardio every day in the AM during the fast, so I always took BCAA's around the cardio...I lift in the afternoon, during feed. I will try only doing the BCAA's on the days I lift and do cardio, and do a straight fast on the cardio only days.

Thanks for the info Rick!!!

 

[RickRock13]

Oh man - this could be what was halting my fat loss on IF - I took BCAAS every day during the fast. I do cardio every day during the fast, so I always took BCAA's around the cardio...I lift in the afternoon, during feed. I will try only doing the BCAA's on the days I lift and do cardio, and do a straight fast on the cardio only days.

Thanks for the info!!!

Don't get me wrong, it can slow your fat loss but it won't stop it by any means. The difference probably is not "huge" but over the coarse of many weeks it could be the difference in a couple lbs of fat....who knows.

The main thing to remember is to eat and train for whatever your goal is that day. On cardio and rest days eat and train for fat loss, on workout days I eat and train for muscle gain.

Another thing I incorporate often are extended fasts (doing one today actually). The longer you go fasting on cardio/rest days the more fat loss you can have. I often fast 20 hours on these days and every once in a while I will do a 24 hour fast with just one meal around 1500 cals. This is extremely effective for fat loss, and the great thing is that contrary to what you might think there is zero catabolism during this. Studies have proven that the body can go upwards of 30 hours (closer to 40 hours) before muscle wastage even starts. Take advantage on these days and fast as long as you can!

 

[tha_Waco_kid]

Don't get me wrong, it can slow your fat loss but it won't stop it by any means. The difference probably is not "huge" but over the coarse of many weeks it could be the difference in a couple lbs of fat....who knows.

The main thing to remember is to eat and train for whatever your goal is that day. On cardio and rest days eat and train for fat loss, on workout days I eat and train for muscle gain.

Another thing I incorporate often are extended fasts (doing one today actually). The longer you go fasting on cardio/rest days the more fat loss you can have. I often fast 20 hours on these days and every once in a while I will do a 24 hour fast with just one meal around 1500 cals. This is extremely effective for fat loss, and the great thing is that contrary to what you might think there is zero catabolism during this. Studies have proven that the body can go upwards of 30 hours (closer to 40 hours) before muscle wastage even starts. Take advantage on these days and fast as long as you can!

A couple lbs is pretty huge for me right now, as I don't have too far to go to get to my goal.

Also, I"m going to try some longer fasting also. With the stims I'm taking I hardly have any appetite all day so a 24 hour fast here and there doesn't sound that bad actually.

Thanks for all the great info on this topic.

 

[RickRock13]

Thanks Rick!!! Great info for sure...and will take note!

Any chance we can get you to post up your typical meal to break your fast that is in the 1200 cal range? It would be beneficial to see what and how much it is...I know I can eat a mound of food in a sitting, just curious to see yours .

Well, I can give you a couple examples of meals that I've had this week for fast breakers, though I will tell you that I don't count calories. I haven't in a long time. I add things up in my head and I know a range that I will meet and stay in. I may be under 100 cals one day, and over 100 the next but it's all relative and works out the same in the end. Counting cals sucks, and I like to make my diet and lifestyle as comfortable as possible. I used to be OCD and weigh/count everything, but I found out that it really doesn't matter and it's unnecessary if you have an idea of what you are doing.

 

[shirlene29]

its funny...I do fine for fat loss on this ..slow and steady but fine....but after an initial drop that was primarily glycogen depletion I lost hardly anything on the RFL diet ..and I eat pretty moderate carbs!

Martin has some write ups that are incredibly interesting on diabetics using IF
thankfully Im not diabetic...just genetically predisposed to it and had a life style of binge eating for a long time which killed my A1C numbers and scared me into paying better attn to diet

 

[NTL]

I started IF about 6 weeks ago and have dropped about 12lbs .I work rotating shifts so my fasting times will change weekly . It is so nice to not have to worry about fixing 6-8 meals a day.I get about 2800 Cal's in 2-3 meals.

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