Side note: Intermittent fasting comes with profound health benefits and everyone who can do it, should do it.
I do 18 hour intermittent fasts, and my girlfriend who swore she "always needed to eat breakfast or she'd go insane" now does 16 hour intermittent fasts.
She's only mildly annoyed that the jeans she bought in November are loose on her now.
I'm intrigued by this (maybe we need another thread?). Do you & your girlfriend just not eat breakfast anymore, essentially fasting from 6pm until 12pm every day? Or is it more complicated than that?
I found that I wasn't able to keep it to a standard "eat at 12 PM and 6 PM, don't eat until 12 PM again" because my social lifestyle simply can't account for that sort of rigidity.
Instead, I use an app, Zero - Fasting Tracker (iOS) or you can use Vora - Fasting Tracker (iOS and Android). Basically, when I'm done eating and/or drinking alcohol in the evening, I hit 'Start fasting' on the app, and don't take in anything but water for the rest of the night. I go to sleep, wake up, and don't eat until the tracker hits 18 hours.
When I wake up (between 5:30 AM and 6:30 AM typically), I go do my cardio and weight training, then shower and go to work. I only drink black coffee and water until the fasting timer hits 18 hours (or later, depends on my schedule). I tell the app I've stopped fasting, and then begins my 6 hour eating period consisting generally of two meals, unless I'm planning on doing something exceptionally decadent for dinner. Once I finish dinner and I'm not drinking anything with a caloric charge (pop, alcohol, etc.), I hit 'Start fasting' and the cycle repeats.
You can use the app to track custom fasts, standard 16 hour fast, or it can help you fast based on a 13 hour circadian rhythm. And if you care about stats and analytics, it'll do that too.
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Last edited by TorqueDog; 03-05-2018 at 10:59 AM.
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Do you notice any benefits from your fasts? Skinny jeans aside are you feeling better? Stronger?
Since taking on intermittent fasting (IF), I have more energy in my morning workouts and cardio, less water retained, strength is about the same (which is an upward trajectory since I regularly weight train), and I feel like I'm more focused at work. I'm more easily able to keep my body fat down while gaining lean mass, as IF essentially puts you into ketosis for a short period of time -- but without the requirement of cutting your carbs.
The obvious benefit is that I get to enjoy larger and more sating meals, as I can fit more calories into each meal without blowing my macronutrients out of the water. You don't have to track macros to take advantage of IF; if you keep your meals the same as you did before you started IF but just cut from three to two, you're automatically cutting calories. But it isn't magic, if you just increase your two remaining meals to entirely make up for cutting breakfast, you're not likely to see an improvement weight wise. Calories matter.
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Since taking on intermittent fasting (IF), I have more energy in my morning workouts and cardio, less water retained, strength is about the same (which is an upward trajectory since I regularly weight train), and I feel like I'm more focused at work. I'm more easily able to keep my body fat down while gaining lean mass, as IF essentially puts you into ketosis for a short period of time -- but without the requirement of cutting your carbs.
The obvious benefit is that I get to enjoy larger and more sating meals, as I can fit more calories into each meal without blowing my macronutrients out of the water. You don't have to track macros to take advantage of IF; if you keep your meals the same as you did before you started IF but just cut from three to two, you're automatically cutting calories. But it isn't magic, if you just increase your two remaining meals to entirely make up for cutting breakfast, you're not likely to see an improvement weight wise. Calories matter.
MyFitnessPal is the best thing for tracking your Macros. do it with our without IF you will likely lose weight, all this hinging on being Truthful to it. You can lie to the app but you can't lie to your body if you decide to not put that 2 scoops of ice cream in.
Also with the added benefit of holy crap theres alot of sodium/sugar etc. in meals you wouldnt normally look up.
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Do you notice any benefits from your fasts? Skinny jeans aside are you feeling better? Stronger?
I do about 16-18 hour fasts 3-4 days a week. It’s something you should probably ease yourself into, but if you combine it with a workout just before you break your fast and you can get some very effective results.
I’m not usually a breakfast person, so skipping that meal has always been easy for me. The main thing is to stop eating earlier in the evening and then you can have lunch.
You have to be okay with black coffee or plain tea, the caffeine in both act as an appetite suppressant as well. But it’s pretty easy when you do it. Have an overall healthy diet otherwise with a good mix of carbs, fats and proteins and you’re going to have some good results.
I’ve actually gained weight since I started, but it’s muscle mass, as I’ve been doing a lot of strength training lately. But I’ve lost a lot of the flab around my belly.
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Are the benefits of intermittent fasting due to the intermittant fasting or due to reduce calorie intake and better diet in general?
Is this an instance of a diet is better than random eating?
You’re not restricting calories, you’re changing when you eat. Every time you eat, it spikes insulin in your body, if you’re constantly eating, you’re constantly spiking insulin, and trying to rely on the food to fuel you.
When you fast, you use up your available energy, and then begin to access fat stores for additional energy. This also triggers the release of ketones, which are supposed to improve memory and mental clarity.
So what are the ideal times to eat and the ideal times to not when on IF?
It’s more based on your body and schedule, but if you had an eating window between 2-8 PM, you’d be able to do an 18 hour fast with a late lunch and dinner. Move that as you see fit. Or if you’re like me and like to eat at night, 5-11.
The hardest part for me is social expectations of eating lunch with my coworkers.
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It’s more based on your body and schedule, but if you had an eating window between 2-8 PM, you’d be able to do an 18 hour fast with a late lunch and dinner. Move that as you see fit. Or if you’re like me and like to eat at night, 5-11.
The hardest part for me is social expectations of eating lunch with my coworkers.
Question.
As for Cofee and Tea, would using sweeteners like Splenda be considered as breaking the fast?
It’s more based on your body and schedule, but if you had an eating window between 2-8 PM, you’d be able to do an 18 hour fast with a late lunch and dinner. Move that as you see fit. Or if you’re like me and like to eat at night, 5-11.
The hardest part for me is social expectations of eating lunch with my coworkers.
Thanks for the response! One other question - do you only do this a couple times a week? Or is this something that, ideally, you do 7 days a week?
You’re not restricting calories, you’re changing when you eat. Every time you eat, it spikes insulin in your body, if you’re constantly eating, you’re constantly spiking insulin, and trying to rely on the food to fuel you.
When you fast, you use up your available energy, and then begin to access fat stores for additional energy. This also triggers the release of ketones, which are supposed to improve memory and mental clarity.
I'm not sure I really buy that argument. I tried fasting, and though it didn't work for me, I know I was taking in less calories because I simply couldn't eat enough during the eating window. Even with a schedule like 2-8 or something, I found I'd rarely eat a good lunch due to my work schedule and ended up eating once a day. I just couldn't eat enough calories in one sitting that I could if I had eaten throughout the day.
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Thanks for the response! One other question - do you only do this a couple times a week? Or is this something that, ideally, you do 7 days a week?
Great question, and thanks to Kermitology for all the answers... I think this is totally doable for me except Saturday and Sundays, as big weekend breakfasts are a thing in our family.
Not much to add other than I was into IF for about a year or two. Working a different shift now pretty much made it impossible to continue, but I miss it. Definitely was trimmer when I was into it.
I'm not sure I really buy that argument. I tried fasting, and though it didn't work for me, I know I was taking in less calories because I simply couldn't eat enough during the eating window. Even with a schedule like 2-8 or something, I found I'd rarely eat a good lunch due to my work schedule and ended up eating once a day. I just couldn't eat enough calories in one sitting that I could if I had eaten throughout the day.
Fair enough. The idea is for you to eat the same amount, just in a narrower window. I cook with full fat stuff and don’t worry too much about the fat content of things, actually trying to emphasize the fats if anything since they’re more calorie dense.
9 calories / gram versus 4 for protein and carbs.
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