intermittent fasting, or any weight loss advice really

[Hellhound1988]

any thoughts about IF? thinking about trying it to cut some fat, seems like it makes sense

im 5'11" 260 right now at 20% bf, want to get down to about half that %

my TDEE is 3700cal/day

i workout 3 to 5 times a week and im adding cardio as well


thanks!

[AXx]

Check out GB's IF log and thread. Fatman has one, I have one and I think there is one more. It just makes sense to me. There are different approaches to leangains guide, there is 24hr fast then eat clean and regular the rest of week, all diff routes to take, some fit some don't. I had to work with mine to finally get it going. Good luck

[Hellhound1988]

Check out GB's IF log and thread. Fatman has one, I have one and I think there is one more. It just makes sense to me. There are different approaches to leangains guide, there is 24hr fast then eat clean and regular the rest of week, all diff routes to take, some fit some don't. I had to work with mine to finally get it going. Good luck

thanks for the info, so you've had some sucess with it?

[AXx]

Yes I have, in one month I have lost right at 5% BF, with little cardio. I mix it up a little, but for the most part IF. Others have had success also.

[Persistence2012]

I second that. For alot of us IF is the most convenient type of diet just because who can honestly be home to consume 6-7 meals seriously lol.

[fatman225]

thanks for the info, so you've had some sucess with it?

I've had great success. It sounds like you and I had similar starting points, my BF% may have been much higher than 20 starting out. Now it is down to 18%, and dropping fast still.

I suggest doing this:

Fast for 19 hours of the day, that means you do not start eating until within 5 hours of when you go to sleep. Nobody likes sleeping on an empty stomach.

Once you are sleeping you at some point cross back over to the fasted state, and so it starts counting as soon as your 5 hour feeding window ends, until you eat again, your sleeping counts too. However you want to break it up in your window, 3 meals, one huge one, 2 big ones, so long as the total is where it needs to be.

When you eat, take in only half of your TDEE, make at least a 1000 calorie drop. If your TDEE is really 3700, you could cut in theory at 3200. At this point however you may as well drop it down to 1800-2000. That would put you in a deficit of 1700 a day, and you would lose 1 pound of fat Every Other Day (EOD). That would be about 2-3 pounds a week, which is perfectly safe if you are 20% bodyfat.

Since you have a lot of fat stored right now, your body can afford a drastic drop in calories. IF is designed for a reverse taper, where you slowly increase your calories towards maintenence as you get really lean, in order to help you maintain it and stay healthy as you will no longer have the excess fat stored. Maintenence might also be a bit lower when you are 40 pounds lighter, so you will have to re-calculate several times as you cut down.

So, as guy who is 6% bodfat using IF will be taking in 90% of his maintenence each day, but it still fits in the 5 hour window.

19/5 is my favorite split, as doing it each day gets you more used to it. The 2 or 3 day a week fasts are effective, BUT you take much longer to get used to them. 19/5 every day and you get used to it within a week. Also, even though you are not fed durring the day, when you do eat, you DO get to feel full, which is the major mental benefit of IF over classic dieting. That and FAR less to plan and worry about. No need to take little plastic boxes of dry chicken breast with you everywhere. No need to worry about your meals at all until you get to eat, and for most people that is after work is all done for the day and you want to relax anyway.

[Hellhound1988]

I've had great success. It sounds like you and I had similar starting points, my BF% may have been much higher than 20 starting out. Now it is down to 18%, and dropping fast still.

I suggest doing this:

Fast for 19 hours of the day, that means you do not start eating until within 5 hours of when you go to sleep. Nobody likes sleeping on an empty stomach.

Once you are sleeping you at some point cross back over to the fasted state, and so it starts counting as soon as your 5 hour feeding window ends, until you eat again, your sleeping counts too. However you want to break it up in your window, 3 meals, one huge one, 2 big ones, so long as the total is where it needs to be.

When you eat, take in only half of your TDEE, make at least a 1000 calorie drop. If your TDEE is really 3700, you could cut in theory at 3200. At this point however you may as well drop it down to 1800-2000. That would put you in a deficit of 1700 a day, and you would lose 1 pound of fat Every Other Day (EOD). That would be about 2-3 pounds a week, which is perfectly safe if you are 20% bodyfat.

Since you have a lot of fat stored right now, your body can afford a drastic drop in calories. IF is designed for a reverse taper, where you slowly increase your calories towards maintenence as you get really lean, in order to help you maintain it and stay healthy as you will no longer have the excess fat stored. Maintenence might also be a bit lower when you are 40 pounds lighter, so you will have to re-calculate several times as you cut down.

So, as guy who is 6% bodfat using IF will be taking in 90% of his maintenence each day, but it still fits in the 5 hour window.

19/5 is my favorite split, as doing it each day gets you more used to it. The 2 or 3 day a week fasts are effective, BUT you take much longer to get used to them. 19/5 every day and you get used to it within a week. Also, even though you are not fed durring the day, when you do eat, you DO get to feel full, which is the major mental benefit of IF over classic dieting. That and FAR less to plan and worry about. No need to take little plastic boxes of dry chicken breast with you everywhere. No need to worry about your meals at all until you get to eat, and for most people that is after work is all done for the day and you want to relax anyway.

BRAVO! fatman, this is exactly what i was looking for thank you for all the info, this is day 2 for me and i jumped on the scale and weighed in at 257, yesterday was 262, i think because of the cardio and making better food choices my BF will shoot down quickly, i am doing a 18/6 split right now but i will try the 19/5 tomorrow

[Hellhound1988]

i second that. For alot of us if is the most convenient type of diet just because who can honestly be home to consume 6-7 meals seriously lol.

right!