Intermittent Fasting

[The Hulk]

Anybody tried this?

I started this today after researching it the whole weekend.
Found it by chance and it really seems to be the right diet for me at this current time.

There are many variations of intermittent fasting, Warior diet, alternate day fasting, fast 5, etc.
The one I am following is a fast of 16 hours then feast for 8 hours.
Basically, meals are consumed in a 8 hour window just before workout and just after workout (most calories post workout).
Then fast again for 16 hours.

Alot of information can be found at : www.leangains.com
And there is a massive thread at: Intermittent Fasting for Strength Training and Fat Loss - Bodybuilding.com Forums

Today I had nothing to eat until 3pm (last meal was 11pm last night).
Wasn't too diffucult, only had slight hunger a couple of times but got over it easy.
Was a very physical day too, lifting heavy boxes all day.

The decision to try and hopefully use this diet long term is a lifestyle choice.
I am just sick of thinking about eating all the time and preparing meals. Have been brainwashed into thinking that muscle loss will occur if you don't eat every few hours or so.
I got so much more done at work today, not having to stop and prepare meals at mid morning, lunch and then afternoon, just worked right through.
Had my first meal at 3pm and will eat until 11pm tonight, then do it all again tomorrow, and the next day, etc.
Will still get all my calories in for the day, and results show it is an effective method to diet for mass gain, fat loss, or both at the same time.

My goal with this diet is to alter my body composition by slowly gaining mass while shedding bodyfat, rather than the typical bulk then cut routine.

Anybody else dare to challenge the traditional bodybuilding diet of 6 meals/day, eat every 3 hours or you will become catabolic and waste away?

I would not go to the extremes of eating just one massive meal/day.
However, with the 16/8 method, 8 hours is plenty of time to get the required calories into the system.

 

[kindred]

i dunno sounds a bit extreme.

 

[The Hulk]

Extreme is those who force themselves to eat every 2-3 hours, without fail.
Unless you at at an absolute elite level, it is not necessary.

 

[kindred]

I feel more energised when i eat more thoughout the day compared to one or 2 meals. Im lazy so i often skip between 1 or 2 meals and eating lots of smaller meals. If i had to pick one based 100% on how it made me feel rather than the science behind it id choose lots of smaller meals. That doesnt mean the fasting thing is bad it just doesnt make me feel good.

i dont really think about losing muscle i think more about the amount of energy i have. Usually the only exception to eating smaller meals is with breakfast. I dont normally have breakfast but when i do i have so much more energy during the day and i think much clearer for sure.

 

[snookmz]

Three or four years ago I began fasting as part of a yoga routine. I would go bit longer than 24 hours without food, just a couple of glasses of fruit juice. I think in terms of losing weight it is better to eat small regular meals and exercise.

I agree that we eat a lot more than we need to, but I enjoy eating and thinking about eating and preparing meals. We also have sex a lot more than we need to, but I wouldn't recommend cutting that out either.

 

[katie]

bumping this up...

Hulk, how'd you go with IF?

been reading up about IF and Brad Pilon's Eat Stop Eat - but yet to take the plunge. Mainly because I haven't read anything about fasting being applicable for people who are hardgainers.

Currently I enjoy having my 6-7 small meals a day, fits in perfectly with my work schedule. Have been doing this for about 2 months now, and my stomach begins growling after 3 hrs without a meal..

I'm v. hesitant about fasting (really don't want to lose muscle!) am happy to have my predetermined opinions contradicted!

 

[The Hulk]

This was over 8 weeks:

According to a DEXA scan, I lost about 5kg of muscle here !!!!
I lost fat too, but was not expecting such a large muscle loss.
Ended up at 15% body fat, which was alot higher than I wanted to get to in that time.

Don't think I'll do intermittent fasting again, although it was a very simple and convenient way to eat.
I loved having my first meal at 3pm, but hated having to get my last meal and daily calories in by 11pm.

 

[katie]

Thanks hulk for the reply - can't really argue with a DEXA scan!

Nice definition in the "after" pics - I can't really tell you lost 5kg of muscle! But yeah, I'm most concerned about the losing muscle factor. I probably only have 45kg of LBM so of course I don't want to lose any more.

Hmmm - I'm sure it works for other people but I'm not going to give it a try - it's hard enough getting my calories in if I have 6-7 meals spread out over the day - just imagine squeezing all those calories into a non-fasting window!

 

[modo]

bro ur pics didt work. i would kil to be 15% body fat.

 

[Alek]

My mate usually eats like this but its not part of a plan.
He works all day from 7am without eating and then has lunch at 1pm then dinner, sometimes he will only have one massive meal (dinner). He doesn't eat more then twice a day.

He still has a great body and hasn't walked into the gym for at least 4 months, damm I hate people like that.

 

[shammo]

this diet seems to contradict alot of the main points of other diets, i can imagine this wouldnt be good long term, but would prolly be good to do for a few days here and there to shake things up a bit, i cant understand how you would cope with insulin and blood sugar levels dropping, and peaking like that all in one day, maybe the sleep at the sart of the fasting is a good way to combat this problem. sounds interest though.