Intermittent Fasting

[pathfighter]

Hi All,

I've been intermittent fasting for about ten days now, and so far it's going pretty well. I looked at the various popular plans out there and decided to run a 16 hour fast / 8 hour feed. During the fast, I allow myself black coffee, water and electrolytes. No food, sugary drinks or even artificially-sweetened drinks. So basically I fast form midnight till 4pm. I break my fast at work with a glass of milk and an apple, then have dinner when I get home, then eat a snack before going to bed. Then I basically skip dinner and lunch.

I've been working out in the mornings. Either bodyweight strength or long runs. I've done a 9 mile mountain run and a 9 mile road run. I ended both runs with lots of energy. I'm trimming down slowly. I feel fucking fantastic.

Granted, I'm somewhat fat adapted from the past couple years of endurance sports, but I thought this would be harder.

Is anyone else running IF? If so, what are your experiences?

[Arkann]

May I ask what is you goal/reason for IF? My understanding that IF is basically simple way of counting calories. Usually it is done by the crowd who cares about certain BF%%... But..

http://easacademy.org/trainer-resources/article/intermittent-fasting

[pathfighter]

May I ask what is you goal/reason for IF? My understanding that IF is basically simple way of counting calories. Usually it is done by the crowd who cares about certain BF%%... But..

http://easacademy.org/trainer-resources/article/intermittent-fasting

Hi Arkann. My goal is to lose weight, primarily fat, but wouldn't mind losing some muscle weight too. I have weighed between 190 and 200lbs for years, making me about 50 lbs heavier than my next mountain running partner. It is just way too much weight to haul uphill for hours on end, no matter how fit I am.

A secondary goal is to become more fat adapted to help with my endurance sports. A couple times a year I like to drop into the mountains and cover 20-30 miles in one push. Usually takes 4-8 hours, depending on terrain and vertical gain. I have pushed as far as 16 hours in one day on a mountain climb. I plan to run my first ultra next year.

So far, this eating pattern seems quite sustainable. The only downside is I'm a bit agitated at night and it's a little harder to fall asleep with a full stomach. Otherwise, my energy levels are way the fuck up.

[pathfighter]

May I ask what is you goal/reason for IF? My understanding that IF is basically simple way of counting calories. Usually it is done by the crowd who cares about certain BF%%... But..

http://easacademy.org/trainer-resources/article/intermittent-fasting

Hi Arkann. My goal is to lose weight, primarily fat, but wouldn't mind losing some muscle weight too. I have weighed between 190 and 200lbs for years, making me about 50 lbs heavier than my next mountain running partner. It is just way too much weight to haul uphill for hours on end, no matter how fit I am.

A secondary goal is to become more fat adapted to help with my endurance sports. A couple times a year I like to drop into the mountains and cover 20-30 miles in one push. Usually takes 4-8 hours, depending on terrain and vertical gain. I have pushed as far as 16 hours in one day on a mountain climb. I plan to run my first ultra next year.

So far, this eating pattern seems quite sustainable. The only downside is I'm a bit agitated at night and it's a little harder to fall asleep with a full stomach. Otherwise, my energy levels are way the fuck up.

And thank you for this link. It's a terrific compilation.

[Arkann]

May I ask what is you goal/reason for IF? My understanding that IF is basically simple way of counting calories. Usually it is done by the crowd who cares about certain BF%%... But..

http://easacademy.org/trainer-resources/article/intermittent-fasting

Hi Arkann. My goal is to lose weight, primarily fat, but wouldn't mind losing some muscle weight too. I have weighed between 190 and 200lbs for years, making me about 50 lbs heavier than my next mountain running partner. It is just way too much weight to haul uphill for hours on end, no matter how fit I am.

A secondary goal is to become more fat adapted to help with my endurance sports. A couple times a year I like to drop into the mountains and cover 20-30 miles in one push. Usually takes 4-8 hours, depending on terrain and vertical gain. I have pushed as far as 16 hours in one day on a mountain climb. I plan to run my first ultra next year.

So far, this eating pattern seems quite sustainable. The only downside is I'm a bit agitated at night and it's a little harder to fall asleep with a full stomach. Otherwise, my energy levels are way the fuck up.

Hi Path!

I have never done IF as written but I did experimented with dieting in the past. From my personal experience.. It all comes down to being on calorie deficit and secondary to macros (fat/carbs ratio). Recovery might suffer and you might loose some meat as well depending on your training regimen. Another trick is not to be too aggressive on the deficit. I was able to shred 35lb for over 9 months period in past but I ended up feeling miserable and irritable. But it is doable.

Good luck and don't forget cheat days. Those are fun!

[pathfighter]

Ya weekends are my cheats. Last weekend I ate a bit earlier than usual on both days.

We'll see if I still feel so positive about this after a month or so. I may be bored with it by then.

[Remission]

I started fasting in February this year and still doing it. I had to break it up maybe 2-3 times this year because of traveling but I am pretty consistent with it.

My experience is: I lost about 12 kg, have visible abs (and I never had before) and I have much better control on hunger. Did just IF done this... I don`t think so. I cleared my diet from all junk food, sugar, soda, bread and so on. This was big point, especially bread. I have tried this in January and I ate 5-6 small meals every few hours, and I can say that I starved to death. Then i found out IF diet, tried it and still enjoy it. I ate mainly between 12-20h, 3 big meals, in morning just drank black coffee, and I mean a lot of coffee and it really helped me to stay away from food. But I think that I lost most of my kilos by trying carb cycling in combination with IF, it really was painful experience and I did it only for 1 month I think somewhere in March. After summer I started eating junk food but I am not getting extra kilos. Few weeks before I read that even black coffee breaks fasting so I ditch it for now on, just water in morning.

My point is: it really comes down to consuming less calories than you spend BUT fasting helps so much with dieting habits that you will probably diet longer with IF than with regular 6 small meals a day diet, and working out in morning in fasted state for me is much better than between meals.

[pathfighter]

I can tell I'm consuming less calories, but what accounts for the increase in energy?

There is decent scientific evidence showing increases in HGH during the fastest period. Could that really be what's doing it?

[Remission]

Yes there is a lot of scientific evidences that I didn´t mind to read, but all I know that I am feeling great in the morning, working out after 15 hours of non eating.

[Snaplight]

I've been doing IF for a while but also occasionally throw in ( a couple times a month ) a high calorie day to help with IGF

I follow a similar protocol but try to eat only between 10;00 am and 16:00 pm , I try to go to bed slightly empty - it helps me.

I'm doing it for the other associated benefits rather than just pure weight control.


I'd also suggest you look into Cold Water Tempering along side this as it initiates the brown fat burning response.