A couple of years ago I dropped 15 lbs by fasting 24 hours once a week. I didn't exercise on the days that I did it.

Is there any reason I shouldn't work out during a fasting period? I like to work out first thing in the morning.

Now that I'm in the 2nd half of my 30s I'm finding it harder to lose weight. I want to do a 5:2 until I hit my goal.

I started a little over 2 weeks ago. Only eat between 11 and 7. Also started jogging/walking 2 miles 3-5 days a week, and doing some body weight exercises throughout the day. I work cybersecurity, so I try to get up and do something every hour of the day to get the blood flowing.

Diet wise, I have tried to eat a little healthier, but no big wholesale changes. Never was much into sweets, and I stopped eating anything fried. Other than that, I've just tried some portion control.

I haven't lost any weight, but definitely feel better. I plan to start making some big diet changes and increase my water intake significantly.

Noble07 said:

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A couple of years ago I dropped 15 lbs by fasting 24 hours once a week. I didn't exercise on the days that I did it.

Is there any reason I shouldn't work out during a fasting period? I like to work out first thing in the morning.

Now that I'm in the 2nd half of my 30s I'm finding it harder to lose weight. I want to do a 5:2 until I hit my goal.

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I worked out during IMF. Just don't expect the same performace.

I workout fasted and don't notice any performance decreases going heavy during weight training. Cardio wise I feel like I lose peak performance quicker but that's not based on anything solid.

My wife and I shipped both kids off to college last week so we are officially empty nesters. I told her a couple weeks ago, THIS WEEK I was going back on Weight-Loss mode (5/2 on Mon/Thu, 8/16 other days).
I had gotten up to 222 during peak Rona and want to get back down to 195.

Yesterday morning: Weight 216.

Two cups black coffee, 64 oz water before lunch.
Veggie only salad (romaine, cherry tomatoes, celery) with mustard/soy vinaigrette for late lunch.
64oz water in the afternoon.
Dinner: Six oz baked chicken breast, Cup of steamed mix veggies, glass of Cabernet.

This morning: 213.

To be clear, 3 lbs is one of the biggest single day losses I've had in several years of doing this, but Mondays (especially after an indulgent weekend) are typically successful weight loss days. It feels really good to have a clean eating day after a relaxed weekend!

I understand 16/8. What is 5/2 on Monday and Thursday?

Marauder Blue 6 said:

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I understand 16/8. What is 5/2 on Monday and Thursday?

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I think he basically means 2 days per week he's eating 1 meal (~600cal/day) and then 16/8 the other 5 days of the week. Might be a bit off though.

Vernada said:

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Marauder Blue 6 said:

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I understand 16/8. What is 5/2 on Monday and Thursday?

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I think he basically means 2 days per week he's eating 1 meal (~600cal/day) and then 16/8 the other 5 days of the week. Might be a bit off though.

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Correct! Mon/Thu reduce total calories to 600 for men or 500 for women.

TTT

Tailgate - I hope you're still around.

I have gotten interested in fasting again with spring race season upon us. I ran the Texas Independence Relay a few weeks ago carrying about 15-20 lb more than normal and didn't like it one bit.

So right afterwards I started just two things:

1. An 18:6 fast - I eat from noon (well, sometimes 11 AM) to 6 PM and that's it. I don't calorie or macro count - I just eat during that time.

2. Trying to limit carbs a reasonable amount. Not keto strict - just trying to avoid big carbs, but TOTALLY avoiding sugar. I will eat fruit - I will have croutons on a salad. Just no full serving of rice, corn - no breads either.

So far, in two weeks - down 6 lb, which is great. My plan - stick with what I'm doing until I plateau.

Do you think the 18:6 is a good long term strategy? Is the 5:2 something I may want to consider working in?

wbt5845 said:

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TTT

Tailgate - I hope you're still around.

I have gotten interested in fasting again with spring race season upon us. I ran the Texas Independence Relay a few weeks ago carrying about 15-20 lb more than normal and didn't like it one bit.

So right afterwards I started just two things:

1. An 18:6 fast - I eat from noon (well, sometimes 11 AM) to 6 PM and that's it. I don't calorie or macro count - I just eat during that time.

2. Trying to limit carbs a reasonable amount. Not keto strict - just trying to avoid big carbs, but TOTALLY avoiding sugar. I will eat fruit - I will have croutons on a salad. Just no full serving of rice, corn - no breads either.

So far, in two weeks - down 6 lb, which is great. My plan - stick with what I'm doing until I plateau.

Do you think the 18:6 is a good long term strategy? Is the 5:2 something I may want to consider working in?

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Hey, yes I'm still around! I'm working on starting a podcast but I keep getting distracted!

Yes, I believe IMF is a lifestyle, and I absolutely think 18:6 is a good long-term strategy, in fact I've been doing it for five-ish years now. My wife comes home for lunch (I work from home) at 1:00 and we eat a pretty light lunch, and then a normal dinner. On Monday morning, if I've gained weight (usually am up a pound or two) then I do 5:2 for Monday and/or Thursday that week to maintain my weight. I eat breakfast when the kids are home from school, but even then it's usually a Sunday and nearly noon before we eat, so ... more like brunch.

Fasting isn't just for weight loss - remember when your body is in a fasted state, the immune system kicks into high gear and does all sorts of great stuff like killing Cancer cells etc. I believe fasting is a huge boost to overall health.

Appreciate the feed back. By all means, I'd love to hear a podcast. I follow the Running Lean Podcast. He's a big proponent of fasting but doesn't go int a lot of details on doing it.

My biggest concern is I'm quite active so I notice an impact to any type of endurance activity, even when I'm fat acclimated. I just fight through it but I find myself wondering if I am eating a diverse enough diet and fueling properly.

I'd recommend not to get too hung up on "I can't eat because I haven't hit 16, 18, whatever hours." If you're training and you need to adjust it then by all means get back on your regimen when you can. I've been doing it for 12 years and if my wife wants to go to brunch on Saturday, and I had a dinner/drinks the night before, then I may only get 12-14 hours that day. Not a big deal. I'll either resume the following day or do a 24 hour fast if It's really bugging me.

I've seen people get so obsessed with hitting their self prescribed windows on the money that they end up falling off the wagon when life gets in the way.

NTXAg10 said:

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I'd recommend not to get too hung up on "I can't eat because I haven't hit 16, 18, whatever hours." If you're training and you need to adjust it then by all means get back on your regimen when you can. I've been doing it for 12 years and if my wife wants to go to brunch on Saturday, and I had a dinner/drinks the night before, then I may only get 12-14 hours that day. Not a big deal. I'll either resume the following day or do a 24 hour fast if It's really bugging me.

I've seen people get so obsessed with hitting their self prescribed windows on the money that they end up falling off the wagon when life gets in the way.

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To me, this is the one of the best parts about adapting an IMF lifestyle. Every day is a new day, and if you decide to skip for a day, you haven't "cheated" or "fallen off the wagon" - it's just a day you choose not to fast. Obviously if you are skipping more than fasting, you're not going to get as good of results, but I am a firm believer that you have to "Live Your Life" - that means not skipping brunch with the wife or dinner and drinks with friends.

I usually do 5/2 on Mondays and Thursdays and lately I've been doing OMAD (One Meal a Day) on those days - I skip lunch too and just eat dinner with my wife. Once you've done it a few times, it's just not a huge deal at all, and if I really start to get hunger pangs in the afternoon (sometimes I do, sometimes I don't) it only takes a couple bites of some raw veggies to quell the hunger pangs until dinner time. (Next time you're hungry, try this - eat a couple bites of raw broccoli or whatever veggie you like, chew it slowly ... then wait five minutes and be amazed that your hunger has disappeared.)

But sometimes if I'm not feeling it or one of us has had a lousy day and we feel like going out to eat, then we'll go and I'll make Tuesday a 5/2 or one-meal day instead. On all the "diets" I tried over the years, that would have been seen as "cheating on the diet" and I'd feel guilty. Now it's just a quick reset and right back on the next day - that's part of the deal.

Often my OMAD are actually 24 hour fasts because we tend to eat dinner early on Sundays, but after work on Mondays, so by the time we eat Monday it's been more than 24 hours since we finished up Sunday nights.

It's all about redefining your relationship with food, understanding you don't need to eat as much as you did when you were younger and developing new habits,