I've done IF for a week now. I've been craving salads as well. Interesting!
The scale is finally moving a bit. I had hit a nasty plateau and why I started IF. Question for everyone doing IF: Do you count calories?

Went to the gym for the first time since starting IF a few days ago. My class that I always do was much harder for me to get through this morning. Is that just something that comes with IF? I mean I only had water in my system.

Lil$Ag said:

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I've done IF for a week now. I've been craving salads as well. Interesting!
The scale is finally moving a bit. I had hit a nasty plateau and why I started IF. Question for everyone doing IF: Do you count calories?

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On the program I endorse, when in active weight loss mode, I restrict calories on Mondays and Thursdays to approx 25% of your normal daily intake. For most men that's about 600, although you can calculate your actual needs and then just divide by 4. I use MyFitnessPal to count calories on those days, but in reality, I've developed four or five "menus" that I know what the calories are for, and usually just pick one of those on calorie restriction day. For example, today is a "fast day" (what my wife and I call calorie restriction days, although technically since we 8/16 every day I suppose every day is a fast day...) and I'll have a big huge veggie only salad for lunch (no nuts, cheese, croutons) with a homemade mustard/balsamic vinaigrette. That has less than 100 calories. For dinner, a baked chicken breast and a huge bowl of steamed veggies and a glass of red wine. I'm still well under 600 calories for the day. Thursday is usually similar but we do baked white fish of some sort. Or if I grill over the weekend (almost always) we may have leftover meat. I did venison burgers yesterday, so may just choose a leftover patty to eat with my veggies. Skip the bun and that is still a low cal choice.

nashvilleaggie11 said:

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Went to the gym for the first time since starting IF a few days ago. My class that I always do was much harder for me to get through this morning. Is that just something that comes with IF? I mean I only had water in my system.

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Most people adjust after a couple weeks. You might try some coffee too - the caffeine will help boost energy.

Ya, I haven't drank black coffee before but may need to start doing so in the morning. I have been taking a 20 minute nap around 4pm since IF and have picked up a keto friendly starbucks ice coffee the past few days to keep me going. Hopefully body will adjust soon.

nashvilleaggie11 said:

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Went to the gym for the first time since starting IF a few days ago. My class that I always do was much harder for me to get through this morning. Is that just something that comes with IF? I mean I only had water in my system.

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My workouts definitely suffered a bit when I started, to the point that I was seriously questioning sticking with it. I am in week five now of 16/8 and my body has adjusted and workouts are back to normal. The only time that I feel like I have to eat is before my weekly long run, but that is a different animal. Easy runs, tempo/speed work, and weight lifting in the morning are all fasted now.

Is this what is referred to as 5/2? I'll try the 25% on a couple of days and see how it goes. Thanks!

Lil$Ag said:

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Is this what is referred to as 5/2? I'll try the 25% on a couple of days and see how it goes. Thanks!

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Yes. I do 5/2 and 8/16 on non-25% days.

I recently made the switch to 18/6 and have noticed that it becomes easier to do a 24 hour fast once a week.

Why is anyone fasting on this thread? Just curious...

If you eat dinner at 8:00pm and wake up at 6:00am you're already fasting... I find it dumb that people think an additional couple of hours a day of denying your body of calories is supposed to help in any way.

ttha_aggie_09 said:

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Why is anyone fasting on this thread? Just curious...

If you eat dinner at 8:00pm and wake up at 6:00am you're already fasting... I find it dumb that people think an additional couple of hours a day of denying your body of calories is supposed to help in any way.

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Why do you feel fasting is unnecessary?

Because I have seen nothing to validate short term fasting.

Google Rhonda Paul fasting, plenty of studies done to prove the benefits. Your circadian rhythm, digestive enzyme cycle, and mitochondria all are sensitive to time

Is this a joke?

No, it is not. I am curious what drives people to do this over eating well balanced meals.

Sorry if I am skeptical of every single diet plan that comes out before praising it as the best thing in the world. I'm also not one that goes on diet plans, so I am inherently bias against them.

P.U.T.U said:

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Google Rhonda Paul fasting, plenty of studies done to prove the benefits. Your circadian rhythm, digestive enzyme cycle, and mitochondria all are sensitive to time

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All good info but the mitochondria and cellular level results lack the proof on shorter term programs. It is my understanding based on the stuff I have read, that those are derived and theory based off the effects of long term fasting.

Their are definitely valid benefits of the plan. The question I have is, to what degree is this really effective more than eating regularly (in moderation) and well?

Not saying it is.

Where you eating clean before IF? If so, did you see results when adding the IF? Do you feel better?

ttha_aggie_09 said:

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Not saying it is.

Where you eating clean before IF? If so, did you see results when adding the IF? Do you feel better?

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This quote seems to imply one or other

I am curious what drives people to do this over eating well balanced meals

I was eating clean before.

I saw better results with IF.

I feel better with IF.

I especially like fasting cardio.

I don't "do" diets and I have never tried to lose weight... that's my background.

You're correct. That quote does seem to imply both. I should have added "on a regular interval" at the end.

ttha_aggie_09 said:

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Because I have seen nothing to validate short term fasting.

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Dr. Peter Attia explains fasting to joe rogan

CT'97 said:

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ttha_aggie_09 said:

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Because I have seen nothing to validate short term fasting.

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Dr. Peter Attia explains fasting to joe rogan

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Thanks for sharing! Just one guy but his credentials are there.

Interesting comment:

"the benefits are vastly overstated and a lot of the benefits are based on what we know from tests with animals"

Crazy note from the video... the dude spent 3 years in Ketosis!

Guitarsoup said:

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ttha_aggie_09 said:

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I don't "do" diets and I have never tried to lose weight... that's my background.

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So you don't really have any experience at all. Got it

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Quite the contrary... you do realize that you can focus on nutrition without having a goal of losing weight, right?

No both Attia and Paul have teams of scientist helping them. Attia has helped the Navy, cancer patients, and special needs kids with research for over 10 years. Science is there whether you like it or not

It has nothing to do with what I like or don't like... if the science was there, he wouldn't have led with a disclaimer about the science being based on animal studies and they don't know for sure if the results are the same on humans and/or how the benefits are vastly overstated. His words...

The majority of what I have read from others in the health and nutrition field, will not commit to the scientific facts around intermittent fasting in humans. Does that mean it doesn't work? No ... most will argue the lack of science is because of how hard it is to compare to a "regular" diet, as regular is extremely hard to define with most Americans.

I'm wondering if anyone has used IF to gain muscle as advocated by Martin Berkhan aka "Leangains" guru.

You keep saying "the science" but what does that mean to you? What is your background? What research have you read? Doctors James Fluckey, Robin Fuchs-Young, Michael Polymenis, Yuxiang Sun, Shaodong Guo, Chaodong Wu, Heather Francis, and Gianfranco Alpini and others would likely disagree with you about fasting or IF.

I will make note that the people I have worked with have the best results over the age of 35, actually 40 see the most benefit. As far as muscle gain you can do it but for me involved protein supplements which I prefer not to take. Now I just try to eat in a 12 hour window which is the peak time for your digestive enzymes

I started IMF today. I'm looking at 16/8 with a 12:30-8:30 window. I workout in the afternoon/evening Su-Fr (cardio & strength train), so I feel this will work with my schedule. Saturday is the only day in which I work out in the morning.

I'm curious as to whether any runners can provide feedback on how they handle Saturday morning long runs while doing IMF. I can do 5-6 miles without fueling beforehand. Anything further than that and I have to take in fuel (gel, banana, something). I have a few half marathons coming up this fall, so my mileage is about to ramp up.

Should I just break the fast earlier on Saturday? I've done fasted workouts before, but have to eat soon afterwards. Any advice is appreciated.

I just don't fast on long run days. I end up fasting until noon five days a week on average and that has worked well for me. But, I am starting programmed marathon training soon and am going to be intentionally flexible with the fasting. I do 90% of my runs in the morning, so I will sacrifice the fasting if needed in order to not sacrifice the quality of the runs. Not sure how it's all going to work out but we'll see.