* * * IF (intermittent fasting) Diets - post your opinions and experience here * * *

[baseline_9]

Awesomeness Base, thanks!!!

Your welcome.... I am giving IF a bash myself so have been reading into it a bit, thought I may as well post some info in here to keep it in a central location

[gbrice75]

Your welcome.... I am giving IF a bash myself so have been reading into it a bit, thought I may as well post some info in here to keep it in a central location

I still plan to go back to IF... very likely after the summer. In another month i'll be starting the same routine I did with Nark last summer, simply because I know how successful I was on it and don't want to experiment with IF and possibly wind up being a fat fvck for the summer! However I will definitely run the diet again - and I am much more knowledgeable now and will not make the same mistakes twice.

[baseline_9]

I still plan to go back to IF... very likely after the summer. In another month i'll be starting the same routine I did with Nark last summer, simply because I know how successful I was on it and don't want to experiment with IF and possibly wind up being a fat fvck for the summer! However I will definitely run the diet again - and I am much more knowledgeable now and will not make the same mistakes twice.

What mistakes did you make?

[gbrice75]

Bump!! Enough people still interested in/running IF to warrant it.

Also, once I finish my current cut, I will almost definitely be running IF again.

[t-gunz]

thinking of trying this myself

[RaginCajun]

try it t-gunz, its great. the first few weeks are rough but it gets easier. plus, its very satisfying knowing i can engulf 1200 cals in one meal PWO!

[gbrice75]

I'll be running IF again no later than September. Very much looking forward to it!

[t-gunz]

try it t-gunz, its great. the first few weeks are rough but it gets easier. plus, its very satisfying knowing i can engulf 1200 cals in one meal PWO!

yeah im trying it right now. meals between 12 mid day to 8pm at night

woke up this morning and had 10g BCAA. its 940am and im feeling good atm. i need to learn more about it though

I'll be running IF again no later than September. Very much looking forward to it!

u gonna log it g?

[RaginCajun]

hey yall! just wanted some advice/input on this. i have been pretty much at a stale mate with this IF diet, been doing it since Jan and love it, but it seems that i cannot get past this 175-176lb mark. do you think reverting back to a more meals approach will throw my body out of whack, potentially sparking something? or would it make my body want to store more since i have been fasting for 14-16hours everyday?

stats

5'10"
176lbs
20% BF (plus/minus 2)

[Dukkit]

hey yall! just wanted some advice/input on this. i have been pretty much at a stale mate with this IF diet, been doing it since Jan and love it, but it seems that i cannot get past this 175-176lb mark. do you think reverting back to a more meals approach will throw my body out of whack, potentially sparking something? or would it make my body want to store more since i have been fasting for 14-16hours everyday?

stats

5'10"
176lbs
20% BF (plus/minus 2)

You double check your macros lately?

Or adjust them as needed?

If possible... throw in a fat burner too.

Or even green tea extract. I take it often when fasting.

But check or lower your cals a slight bit.

And double check your cals on your off days as well.

[gbrice75]

More whiskey,

less beer.

Thats my advice.

If people took your advice, they'd be eating donuts. And tuna with BBQ sauce. And still looking sexy!!!

well, I tried it and was unsuccessful, however it's working great for my wife...

I am doing all protein/fat breakfast, and not consuming anything after 6pm.. and i'm eating the paleo diet with much greater success..

I've seen at least one other person that IF absolutely didn't work out for. It's not for everybody.

You're doing a protein/fat breakfast... how about the other meals before 6pm?

hey yall! just wanted some advice/input on this. i have been pretty much at a stale mate with this IF diet, been doing it since Jan and love it, but it seems that i cannot get past this 175-176lb mark. do you think reverting back to a more meals approach will throw my body out of whack, potentially sparking something? or would it make my body want to store more since i have been fasting for 14-16hours everyday?

stats

5'10"
176lbs
20% BF (plus/minus 2)

RC - I responded to this in my 'ask GB anything' thread as I saw it before this, but basically echo what T Gunz said. I don't think changing your meal frequency is the answer, and definitely not the first adjustment to make. Overall calories, macro split, carb timing, workout in relation to diet schedule, etc. I think these factors will have a greater impact.

[RaginCajun]

thanks dukkit, yeah i need to reassess. its the damn weekends that kill me, beer and whiskey!

[Back In Black]

thanks dukkit, yeah i need to reassess. its the damn weekends that kill me, beer and whiskey!

Nail on the head, kidda!

[RaginCajun]

More whiskey,

less beer.

Thats my advice.

My favorite meal!

Nail on the head, kidda!

scotch it is!

[Dukkit]

More whiskey,

less beer.

Thats my advice.

[canadian-bacon]

[Dukkit]

My favorite meal!

[spywizard]

well, I tried it and was unsuccessful, however it's working great for my wife...

I am doing all protein/fat breakfast, and not consuming anything after 6pm.. and i'm eating the paleo diet with much greater success..

[RaginCajun]

well, I tried it and was unsuccessful, however it's working great for my wife...

I am doing all protein/fat breakfast, and not consuming anything after 6pm.. and i'm eating the paleo diet with much greater success..

i love the paleo way. i did it a while back when i was training for a triathlon and had success with it.

[RaginCajun]

weighted in this morning 4 lbs lower than yesterday morning. 176.5 to 172.5. has to be water or the scotch!

[spywizard]

Primary source of carbs is beans and sweet potato only..

[gbrice75]

So this isn't 100% paleo then, right?

Also, are you incorporating fruits, berries, and/or veggies at all?

[spywizard]

root veggies mostly, fruit 1x day max..

dark green leaf only.. spinach mostly.

[gbrice75]

sounds like a party!

I'll probably try the paleo diet at some point, it's one I haven't had the opportunity to get into yet.

[spywizard]

My wife is down 8 lbs in 2 weeks and seems like her set point has changed doing just the IF diet (cause i know she's cheating on the paleo) but she does get 1 paleo meal a day..

[gbrice75]

Nice results for 2 weeks. Of course, we'll need to wait to see what the longer term outcome is. Man, changing my set point is major for me right now... I have been struggling with that for a while now!

[spywizard]

here's one for ya...

Target Super Stores (at least here in minnesota) are carrying grass fed steaks and Hamberger...

Now that's something i can support

[gbrice75]

Damn, really? I'd love to eat some real meat... I'll have to check out the Target near me. I imagine the price is pretty steep though, right?

[spywizard]

Damn, really? I'd love to eat some real meat... I'll have to check out the Target near me. I imagine the price is pretty steep though, right?

3.98 lb for the ground beef

9.99 lb for the ribeye.. and they package it 1 lb packs..

not bad at all really..

[gbrice75]

Nice, thanks for the info!

[odessy]

Saw this a week ago and started to sift through the bulk of information on it. Going to give it a go next week as my fat loss has started to slow down notably. Still need to do a bit more reading but this was what I was thinking so far:

89kg.
22 years old.
BF guess around 20%. See here for pics if you want a better idea http://forums.steroid.com/showthread...5#.T6Cy5sWw7Kc

9am Wake up: 20-30min run, possibly get some bcaa for this but not sure if I really need it?

12-1ish: 20% meal

4pm: Weights

5pm-8pm: Consume the further 80% of my calories in pwo shake and pwo meal.

Macros will be staying the same as I have previously 260p: 150c: 50f, see the link above will be the same just condensed into bigger meals. On non-training days I will probably run/abs around the same time, maybe cut down on the amount of carbs intake slightly?

Will also probably consume caffeine during the morning to help me focus while studying.

Trying to keep macros/food and just change up the frequency to create the fasting period as it will give a better indication on whether this method has succeeded.

[gbrice75]

Saw this a week ago and started to sift through the bulk of information on it. Going to give it a go next week as my fat loss has started to slow down notably. Still need to do a bit more reading but this was what I was thinking so far:

89kg.
22 years old.
BF guess around 20%. See here for pics if you want a better idea http://forums.steroid.com/showthread...5#.T6Cy5sWw7Kc

9am Wake up: 20-30min run, possibly get some bcaa for this but not sure if I really need it?

IMO, yes to BCAA's before a fasted cardio session.

12-1ish: 20% meal

4pm: Weights

5pm-8pm: Consume the further 80% of my calories in pwo shake and pwo meal.

There's no right or wrong way here, but when I ran IF I trained fasted and broke the fast with my PWO meal (and that meal came several hours PWO, not immediately after). You'll be training at an ideal time in terms of a fast. Don't worry about lack of energy; I expected to feel like crap (much like the beginnings of ketosis) but it was quite the contrary - I had some of the most intense training sessions of my life fasted. I actually had MORE energy than when I trained in a fed state! Hormones at work! PS - if you decide to train fasted, do take BCAA's pre workout.

Macros will be staying the same as I have previously 260p: 150c: 50f, see the link above will be the same just condensed into bigger meals. On non-training days I will probably run/abs around the same time, maybe cut down on the amount of carbs intake slightly?

I'd probably do no starchy carbs on non-training days. Do you have any consecutive non-training days?

[Tx89]

I would definitely train fasted and break the fast with a big pwo meal! At your bf level this should be no prob and accelerate fat loss.
Also you could increase the fasting window up to 20hours to get to a 20/4 fasting/feeding scheme warrior diet style.
And maybe one Day a week of complete fasting(maybe the Day After a refeed) to get things going.

Reactions to fasting are highly Individual, but These things worked great for me! :-)

[Tx89]

Hey GB, as I see you have researched a ton on IF and know your stuff. And I always thought my obession for researching new things was Big

I will give IF another shot in the following weeks to get te final % of bf away. Two questions for you man:
1) how Important do you think are the bcaas before weights? I've read a study somewhere that they actually kick you Out of a truly fasted state and in terms d bodyfat reduction One should Not take them.
I personally never noticed any difference with or without and think that at 13-14%bf now my body probably will not likely "eat up" muscle if i dont do it. Whats your opinion?

2)i will perform high frequency training while doing IF and Hit the Gym 6x/week for whole body workouts with compound movements. I wont make it all of These 6 days directly before my feeding time begins at ~8pm. If i train maybe at noon and then feed my pwo meal a couple hours later, do you See that as a Problem?
Alternative would be a dynamic feeding window that always follows my workout no matter what time i eat. This would mean i dont have 20 hours of fasting everyday, but a dynamic schedule.
Again i prefer the first option, but am interested in your opinion!

Thanks :-)

[gbrice75]

Hey GB, as I see you have researched a ton on IF and know your stuff. And I always thought my obession for researching new things was Big

lol, thanks brother!

I will give IF another shot in the following weeks to get te final % of bf away. Two questions for you man:
1) how Important do you think are the bcaas before weights? I've read a study somewhere that they actually kick you Out of a truly fasted state and in terms d bodyfat reduction One should Not take them.
I personally never noticed any difference with or without and think that at 13-14%bf now my body probably will not likely "eat up" muscle if i dont do it. Whats your opinion?

It's true that taking BCAA's will technically break a fast. However, it's a lesser of 2 evils IMO. Even Martin @ Leangains concedes this. While it's technically breaking the fast, it's HARDLY doing enough to hinder, let alone halt fat burning. It's the better option than training fasted and potentially wasting LBM when things get too intense (and if you're training right, they should!).

2)i will perform high frequency training while doing IF and Hit the Gym 6x/week for whole body workouts with compound movements. I wont make it all of These 6 days directly before my feeding time begins at ~8pm. If i train maybe at noon and then feed my pwo meal a couple hours later, do you See that as a Problem?

How will you do total body workouts 6x a week???

In any event, I have no problem with delaying your PWO meal several hours after your workout. In fact, that's exactly what I did - trained from 6am - 7:30am, did cardio, and broke my fast around 12pm. I would recommend BCAA's again PWO however. What are your plans for cardio?

Alternative would be a dynamic feeding window that always follows my workout no matter what time i eat. This would mean i dont have 20 hours of fasting everyday, but a dynamic schedule.
Again i prefer the first option, but am interested in your opinion!

Thanks :-)

1st option isn't a problem, aside from needing clarification on your training plans.

[Tx89]

Thanks for taking the time to reply :-)
Okay, delaying the fastbreaking PWO meal is what I planned, good to hear you are with me here.
With the BCAAs I think i'm gonna experiment a bit, but they wont make or break it i guess.

Concerning my training:
I recently read some books about
Higher frequency Training and the benefits it has over the Standard split volume Training. I know this goes against most BB "rules" and i know you can be succesful with a Split too. Its highly individual in general anyway. But I now believe that training every muscle only 1x per week and then destroying it 100% is Not the Most clever way to Approach things as it doesnt give as many stimuli as could be given and puts enormous stress on the cns. Thats what causes the feeling of overtraining and not muscles. Muscles are masters if adaption and they WILL adapt to the frequency you work them.
So i will lift 6x a week and no Session will last more than an hour. I will do 3 basic movements per Session, always one whole body or powerlifting movement, One push movement and one pull movement. I will train smartly by using cluster Training for fatigue management and set a total number if clean reps anywhere between 20 and 50 depending on the exercise and whether i want to stress the mechanical or the metabolic stimulus of it. I will Never Train to failure , because in this System that would put too much stress on the cns and generally i believe is far overrated. If i Finish a session before the 60min mark i will use the remainder for accessory work like calves, side delts and abs. Cardio will be Performed at least 4 times a week with 2 slow and steady 60min Sessions and 2 interval Sessions. Sometimes i Hit 6 cardio Sessions and do it "405 style", like some Intervals In the beginning and then finish off steady pace.

I hope it is halfway clear what i mean. Damn brother, its hard to say all that stuff in english and i dont wanna sound nooby because of language barriers ;-)
I know the HFT System is against some old rules, but if you read into it it does make a Lot of sense and i just went ahead and tried it and i promise it is the best Way i ever trained and i smashed all Plateaus within 3 months that the last 2 years if volume split train couldnt get me over! I just love it! Cant wait to Start IF along with it and become one shredded German tank :-)

[fatman225]

Since I've been doing the IF for a couple months now, and NOT used BCAA's, at all, I've not noticed any muscle loss.

Here is an interesting article on BCAA's from Scott Able: scottabel. blogspot. com/2010/12/branch-chain-amino-acids-bcaas-save.html (sorry the link is busted up, have to for spam filter)

So far, as an experiment, I am going to continue to save my money.

The whole point of IF way of eating, for me is all about saving money, saving time, etc... if the BCAA's are not really as effective as we thought, then perhaps they too are a myth just like many supps and the whole eating every 3 hours thing was.

The more I experience IF and learn about it the more "normal" and "natural" form of eating it seems to sound for the human body.

[gbrice75]

Since I've been doing the IF for a couple months now, and NOT used BCAA's, at all, I've not noticed any muscle loss.

But you mentioned in my IF log that you have been training in the fed state, therefore you would have no use for BCAA's preworkout.

Here is an interesting article on BCAA's from Scott Able: scottabel. blogspot. com/2010/12/branch-chain-amino-acids-bcaas-save.html (sorry the link is busted up, have to for spam filter)

So far, as an experiment, I am going to continue to save my money.

I'd have to check it out, haven't read this.

The whole point of IF way of eating, for me is all about saving money, saving time, etc... if the BCAA's are not really as effective as we thought, then perhaps they too are a myth just like many supps and the whole eating every 3 hours thing was.

Possibly - and I will have to reserve judgement until I read the post/article, however while there are many myths in the bodybuilding world, I don't think BCAA's are one of them. I mean, we know for fact that protein is made up of amino acids, and we know what we know about BCAA's and protein synthesis, with specific emphasis on Leucine.

Thanks for posting though - always good to see another perspective.

[fatman225]

But you mentioned in my IF log that you have been training in the fed state, therefore you would have no use for BCAA's preworkout.

Hmmm... That is a good point.

Thank you for the replies too.

Today I did reverse order as I ussually have done, with my "breakfast" being my PWO. Today was arms day. Workout honestly felt fine, only 30 minutes in the gym for arms. The workout was at 4:00pm as I got out of work early.

The only complaint (and its not a big issue) I have for training fasted is that I notice being hungry more. I'm wondering even if it does make a big difference, how much of a difference it makes. If we are talking 1/2 pound muscle difference after like a year that is not really enough of a difference.

Knowing that either way seems to work for me is even more liberating, as my workout and breakfast can easily be flexible in schedule now.

Other than feeling the hunger the workout went rather well I seemed to be a bit more aggressive in the gym, and did not have to wait as long between sets.

By about 4:40 I was already home (house is only 5 blocks from gym), and onto my treadmil (where I can play playstation during cardio, no boredom factor). 30 minutes cardio, no ill effects. No hypoglycemia or any such issues I would have worried about in the past.

Showered off, and ate around 5:30.

I'm not super clean about what I eat when I do eat, I like to enjoy something each day. 1 cup potato salad, about 480 cals, 1 cup ground beef, about 350 calories, and 8 eggs with cut up tomato roughly 600 cals. SO total is still well within my 1800 daily limit. (about 3200 maintenence).

I feel full as all heck, and do not even want to look at food at the moment. Strong dopamine fix from the food, or whatever the "good feeling" from feeling full is.

Even got the food sweats, where you start sweating a lot right after eating. Crazy feeling, as if I had just ruined a traditional diet. All while being WAY under my maitenence cal intake for the day. That mental thing is what makes this diet work so well. I can go all day without eating, so long as I know I will get my "fix" at some point.

It also is liberating to know that food choices do not have to be as overly clean as I once thought. I still try to keep it reasonably clean, by trying to avoid highly processed crap, but I actually will eat some starchy carbs when I do have my meal, fats, and even eat the egg yolk. So far my fat loss has not stopped, so no metabolism plateau that I have felt yet.

Before bed I may even have some popcorn (the kind with just putting seeds in popper, I never mess with the pre-packed hydrogenated bombs) with a movie. That would count as meal 2 for me, which is much smaller than meal 1. Meal 2 is just something in my stomach so I can sleep without waking up with the jitters. I'm not even worried about the low protein content as I now know that some protein sources continue to release protein for many hours after being eaten.

These experiments are fun. Its like re-learning everything I used to "know" in a positive way. For my evening life with my family, after work, I can actually enjoy my time, relax, and even forget that I am on a diet until the next morning.

Everyone here has likely been around Bodybuilder on a tradition Bro-science diet. Tiny meals, rarely satisfied, and crabby all the time. Not good for family life at all. IF is great in that family friendly way. If I ever do get crabby while fasting I'm at work anyway. When I get to eat, I'm with my pregnant wife and my kid, and so they notice no behavioral changes either.

[gbrice75]

Hmmm... That is a good point.

Thank you for the replies too.

You're welcome!

Today I did reverse order as I ussually have done, with my "breakfast" being my PWO. Today was arms day. Workout honestly felt fine, only 30 minutes in the gym for arms. The workout was at 4:00pm as I got out of work early.

The only complaint (and its not a big issue) I have for training fasted is that I notice being hungry more. I'm wondering even if it does make a big difference, how much of a difference it makes. If we are talking 1/2 pound muscle difference after like a year that is not really enough of a difference.

How many hours into your fast did this workout take place?

Other than feeling the hunger the workout went rather well I seemed to be a bit more aggressive in the gym, and did not have to wait as long between sets.

Very likely due to epinephrine/norepinephrine (adrenline) ... I find my fasted workouts to be more intense than in the fed state as well.

By about 4:40 I was already home (house is only 5 blocks from gym), and onto my treadmil (where I can play playstation during cardio, no boredom factor). 30 minutes cardio, no ill effects. No hypoglycemia or any such issues I would have worried about in the past.

Fvcking awesome!! How do you deal with the 'bounce' of the treadmill? I don't imagine you're playing any FPS like CoD or anything like that, eh!?!

Showered off, and ate around 5:30.

I'm not super clean about what I eat when I do eat, I like to enjoy something each day. 1 cup potato salad, about 480 cals, 1 cup ground beef, about 350 calories, and 8 eggs with cut up tomato roughly 600 cals. SO total is still well within my 1800 daily limit. (about 3200 maintenence).

Yum. Sounds way high in fat, way too high for me, but yum. With a 3200 calorie maintenance (how did you determine that? That's sounds damned high bro), this isn't your only meal, is it?

I feel full as all heck, and do not even want to look at food at the moment. Strong dopamine fix from the food, or whatever the "good feeling" from feeling full is.

Ahhh, the endorphine rush!!

Even got the food sweats, where you start sweating a lot right after eating. Crazy feeling, as if I had just ruined a traditional diet. All while being WAY under my maitenence cal intake for the day. That mental thing is what makes this diet work so well. I can go all day without eating, so long as I know I will get my "fix" at some point.

I get this all the time, because I eat so fvcking fast lol! Make it a spicy dish, and i'm like a fountain!

It also is liberating to know that food choices do not have to be as overly clean as I once thought. I still try to keep it reasonably clean, by trying to avoid highly processed crap, but I actually will eat some starchy carbs when I do have my meal, fats, and even eat the egg yolk. So far my fat loss has not stopped, so no metabolism plateau that I have felt yet.

Agreed - I stick with natural foods as much as possible, and don't pay much attention to white vs. brown anymore. As long as you continue to progress, stick with what your doing.

Before bed I may even have some popcorn (the kind with just putting seeds in popper, I never mess with the pre-packed hydrogenated bombs) with a movie. That would count as meal 2 for me, which is much smaller than meal 1.

Meh. What kind of meal is this though? Zero nutritional value.

Meal 2 is just something in my stomach so I can sleep without waking up with the jitters. I'm not even worried about the low protein content as I now know that some protein sources continue to release protein for many hours after being eaten.

Understood. Still wouldn't be my choice personally, but to each his own.

These experiments are fun. Its like re-learning everything I used to "know" in a positive way. For my evening life with my family, after work, I can actually enjoy my time, relax, and even forget that I am on a diet until the next morning.

Yep, this is one of the most appealing things about IF, imo. You basically get to live a 'regular' life. Of course, it sucks when there's food in front of you during your fast period, especially when you're out and about, and you can't even have a morsel where normally you might make that allowance. Give and take I suppose.

Everyone here has likely been around Bodybuilder on a tradition Bro-science diet. Tiny meals, rarely satisfied, and crabby all the time. Not good for family life at all. IF is great in that family friendly way. If I ever do get crabby while fasting I'm at work anyway. When I get to eat, I'm with my pregnant wife and my kid, and so they notice no behavioral changes either.

Amen!!! I will have to stick with it a while longer to know whether or not it's really for me, from a body composition standpoint, but I sure hope it is, because I enjoy it MUCH more so than traditional dieting.