Support NeoGAF

[shnurgleton]

I've been trying out IF for the past week or so as I'm trying to get back in shape. For me it's a bit easier to just skip a meal or two daily than to try to rein in how much I eat at every meal.

Anybody here with experience doing IF? Tips/tricks/results?

 

[bathsalts]

Lots of water or black coffee in the mornings to keep hunger down until later in the day, leverage your sleep time into the fasting period. I like it because I can bulk while doing it and I think I look better than regular bulking, prolly bro-science but w/e.

Ask around in Fitgaf, there's quite a few subscribers to it over there,

 

[True Savior]

Your stomach lining will hate it. The acid likes to be entertained with food. I did this for a couple of years, can't tell you it was only because of it, but I have had some very big issues with my stomach. Both gastro's that I went told me to never stay too long without eating anything (which I did regularly, daily as I woke up soon and only lunched late, and every week I would skip meals).

 

[brawly]

I'll just quote myself from yesterday.

Intermittent fasting. Shit is incredible.

Have an 8 hour eating window. Do not consume any calories outside of it. Drink water only. And lots of it. Sugar free soda if really really needed. Lay off the snacks. Eat lots of vegetables. Cook your own food. Try to have the big meals consist of things like rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes or oatmeal.

My window is from 2pm to 10pm (go to sleep at around 1AM). I work out in the morning and have a green tea after the workout at around 11AM.

I'll add that I work from 1pm to 6pm and feel way better since starting IF. I'm hungry but less tired.

The green tea before work is great.

 

[TI82]

Felt like nonsense for trying to trick yourself into limiting calories by time rather than just not eating as much. I dunno, didn't help me at all.

 

[Nazgul_Hunter]

I tried it, but it didn't mesh well with my chronic gastritis.

 

[otapnam]

this site always gets the hype. i never really went all in back in the day when i was into the gym more and didnt have kids (haha excuses) but you cant deny the results.

https://rippedbody.com/results/

 

[Sinfamy]

Eating breakfast is for milk drinking weaklings.
One meal a day, 4 scoops of protein and a multi. C'mon

 

[adamantypants]

Your stomach lining will hate it. The acid likes to be entertained with food. I did this for a couple of years, can't tell you it was only because of it, but I have had some very big issues with my stomach. Both gastro's that I went told me to never stay too long without eating anything (which I did regularly, daily as I woke up soon and only lunched late, and every week I would skip meals).

Quoting, because this is what my girlfriend's gastro doctor told her too. She's already begun developing permanent damage to her esophagus due to excess acid production and had to change her eating habits to do so

 

[ZOONAMI]

I think we literally just had this thread like last week.

 

[LionPride]

Well there are the times where I just don't eat for like two days by accident

Does that count

 

[Magwik]

I think we literally just had this thread like last week.

I mean it is getting nicer outside which means we all hate our bodies again.

 

[Griss]

I'm not sure what that is, exactly, but I suspect I've been an intermittent faster for the last decade or so.

I don't ever eat breakfast, and I eat lunch at 1pm. Then I eat dinner at 6pm and that's pretty much it. I'll sometimes snack at about 9pm but not usually. Means I eat almost all of my food between 1pm and 6pm. Feels totally natural to me - the reason I do it is because if I eat before 12pm I just feel like shit - guaranteed.

Not sure why it's called a 'fast' if it doesn't last more than a day, though. What I do is just normal eating, imo.

 

[Kas]

I just don't eat, except maybe a small meal or two. Usually a salad and some fruit throughout the day, or a yogurt.

 

[New002]

I started with IF but transitioned to eating all my calories in a 4 hour eating window, generally between 7pm and 11pm, and I find this approach to be the best for me.

I just make sure I hit my macros (minimum amount of protein and fats) for the day. I don't work about keeping an eye on carbs.

Oh, and I track all my calories through MyFitnessPal.

 

[ISWThunder]

I havent been doing it hardcore but I have been trying to fast as often as possible. I probably have a similar solution to you, which is basically to skip a meal, but I've also been limiting my calories as much as possible.

So I'll skip breakfast and eat a salad around 12:30-1. Then I try and eat my last meal before 8, depending on what time I get home from the gym. I also drink a bunch of black coffee throughout the day (which some IF plans don't allow)

In the last 6ish weeks, I'm down around 25 lbs. Started at 244 on 2/20. I weighed in this morning at 217 (but on a different scale and at a different time of day). I thought I would hate fasting, but when it's just skipping one meal, it's been pretty easy. And then, since I've only had one small meal most days, I can be more creative with what I eat for dinner. I dont binge, but I also don't fret using a little extra mayo or sour cream or having a couple drinks at night.

I'm also doing boxing/muay thai a few days a week to get my cardio up and tighten up my skills.

 

[Zepp Twofist]

I always ate just two or three meals a day. Only difference when I switched to my weight loss regiment was that it was more consistently two meals a day, but the key was always keeping track of calories rather than trying to life hack with amount of meals. If it has helped me specifically with weight loss, it's probably by allowing me to eat a big dinner like I used to so it made the transition to eating fewer calories easier.

 

[EXPotemkin]

I've been intermittent fasting for the past few weeks and doing keto for about 3 months. Just started a long fast yesterday, actually.

 

[UCBooties]

Stay hydrated and give yourself time to adjust.

Also, if you are doing it to lose weight, you still need to track what you are eating. It is easy to match or even increase your caloric load when practicing IF if you are not paying attention.

Source: lost 40 lbs using IF and calorie tracking.

 

[natsuyasumi]

I've found IF is fucking easy with keto, because on keto I can go super long periods without being hungry. My body might be like, hmm, food would be good at some point, but I can go hours beyond that before eating and it's fine.

When I'm carb-based hunger is a more urgent, annoying, unpleasant feeling. And I eat a sandwich and then like 2 hours later I'm hungry again, it sucks.

 

[DarthMasta]

Look into the 5:2 diet. It's pretty much eating normally 5 days a weak, eating 500 or 600 calories 2 days a week (500 for a woman, 600 for a man).

 

[off duty ninja]

I have been doing the 16/8 IF for about 10 days now. I work 6:30 am - 3 pm and my eating window is approximately 12 pm - 8 pm but usually I eat my last meal around 6:30 - 7 pm. I actually started doing it for a weekend routine because my work week was locked down but on the weekends I didn't have a good routine and would eat out of sheer boredom.

At first the mornings were really tough but after about 3-4 days I was used to it. Now I get to work and have 2-3 cups of coffee and 32-64 oz of water while waiting until lunch at noon. It is definitely helping me shed the winter weight I put on due to holidays and slacking on the exercise.

 

[zewone]

Skip breakfast, sometimes lunch.

If you're not already on a ketogenic diet, I would imagine IF is much tougher.

When you're fat adapted you get hungry less.

I've been doing IF for almost 2 months. I did 2 weeks of water fasting a week ago as well

 

[Dolobill]

I did IF for about 6 months recently. I got very lean (<10% BF) while maintaining pretty much all of my strength. A bit too lean for my comfort in fact. I'm not as strict with it now and will have breakfast half the time since I've already passed my weight goals. It's an extremely efficient and fast way to cut and control your weight. Very easy diet to stick too. I was always a black coffee drinker so that got me through the mornings with no issues.

 

[JimboJones]

I did it a couple of years ago, it could be tough somedays but I liked the simplicity of it, rather than following some diet plan of what to eat and not to eat and counting calories.
I usually had a cup of tea (with drop of milk and sweetener) for hunger pangs during the day.

 

[mrhyderager]

I had never heard of this, but after reading through this thread and doing some research, i'm going to give this a try. It would be incredibly easy to implement into my current schedule and sounds like it could be of significant benefit.

I'm curious about whether there's a legitimacy to the "fasting state" concept, though. Do you really begin to burn calories after 12 hours of not eating?

 

[zewone]

I had never heard of this, but after reading through this thread and doing some research, i'm going to give this a try. It would be incredibly easy to implement into my current schedule and sounds like it could be of significant benefit.

I'm curious about whether there's a legitimacy to the "fasting state" concept, though. Do you really begin to burn calories after 12 hours of not eating?

Digesting food takes about half of your bodies energy. The longer you can go without meals, will allow your body to do a sort of house cleaning.

During my two week fast I lost 27lbs, loose skin disappeared, scars vanish, calluses i had for a long time disappeared and new skin formed.

If you're interested in learning more about fasting I can highly recommend Dr. Jason Fung. One of the leading doctors regarding fasting.

Here's a great interview with him: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9Aw0P7GjHE&t=3273s

 

[Jzero]

I do this but not to lose weight. I'm just too lazy to eat in the morning so I end up having my first meal at like 1PM.

 

[zewone]

I do this but not to lose weight. I'm just too lazy to eat in the morning so I end up having my first meal at like 1PM.

Lots of benefits to IF that don't have to do with losing weight. Also has anti-aging properties.

 

[oxidax]

I started doing this about some weeks ago to lose weight but I think ive been doing this for decades unknowingly and so my body is kinda used to it and IF its not working properly. I dropped some water weight but thats it. What Im doing is not eating from 9pm to 1pm the next day and then eat 1700 calories (I calculated my weight 170x10 and thats the calories I eat for the day) during that 8hr period. Then I get home and I do an hour of cardio Tuesdays and Thursdays and Mon,Wed and Fri I do 30m Cardio and 5x5.

I feel like I should be losing weight faster but im not :/

 

[zewone]

I started doing this about some weeks ago to lose weight but I think ive been doing this for decades unknowingly and so my body is kinda used to it and IF its not working properly. I dropped some water weight but thats it. What Im doing is not eating from 9pm to 1pm the next day and then eat 1700 calories (I calculated my weight 170x10 and thats the calories I eat for the day) during that 8hr period. Then I get home and I do an hour of cardio Tuesdays and Thursdays and Mon,Wed and Fri I do 30m Cardio and 5x5.

I feel like I should be losing weight faster but im not :/

Calorie restriction has proven to not work well for weight loss. If you're interested in losing weight fast and easy, look into starting a keto diet.

Including IF with keto and you'll likely start seeing results quicker.

 

[p_xavier]

I don't eat on Sundays and while I don't see much weight loss yet, it does wonders on my mind and focus.

 

[Magwik]

I've been intermittent fasting for the past few weeks and doing keto for about 3 months. Just started a long fast yesterday, actually.

How long of a fast are you shooting for?

 

[oxidax]

Calorie restriction has proven to not work well for weight loss. If you're interested in losing weight fast and easy, look into starting a keto diet.

Including IF with keto and you'll likely start seeing results quicker.

Wouldn't keto defeat the purpose of fat loss? and excuse my ignorance..
what I mean is, I am currently at about 23% body fat and I would love to be in the low 10s. Not interested in being ripped but definitely lose the guts. Some muscle would be nice hence why im doing 5x5 and not some "bodybuilding.com get super jacked workout" but isn't keto just fat and will probably get stored in my body?

 

[zewone]

Wouldn't keto defeat the purpose of fat loss? and excuse my ignorance..
what I mean is, I am currently at about 23% body fat and I would love to be in the low 10s. Not interested in being ripped but definitely lose the guts. Some muscle would be nice hence why im doing 5x5 and not some "bodybuilding.com get super jacked workout" but isn't keto just fat and will probably get stored in my body?

The myth that's been perpetuated by American doctors for a long time is that you should avoid fat and eat carbs.

Well, carbs is fancy word for sugar because that what it gets broken down into. And sugar is horrible for you.

A normal carb filled diet actually causes a lot of inflammation and means you're holding a lot more water weight. One of the first things you'll notice when you first enter a ketosis state is that you'll drop that water weight fast the first week. You might lose 10lbs the first, with a majority of that being water weight.

A ketosis diet (basically restricting eating 20 or less grams of carbs a day) closely resembles the benefits of water fasting.

Your body will soon find out that with no carbs to run off of, it will switch from using carbs as energy to fat as energy. Your body does not care if it gets that fat from food your eating, or if it gets the fat from your stored body fat.

In fact, calorie restriction while on a ketosis diet will actually give you the most benefits. Your body will start to get it's 2000+ (depending on your weight) calories from your food or your body. So if you ate 1000 calories, your body would get the other 1000 from your stored fat. (This is just easy math for explaining, I'm sure it's much more complicated.)

Calorie restriction is also very easy on a keto diet, because you will be hungry less because fat satiates you longer than a carb diet.

So, I would recommend you look into. It really changed my life.

 

[oxidax]

The myth that's been perpetuated by American doctors for a long time is that you should avoid fat and eat carbs.

Well, carbs is fancy word for sugar because that what it gets broken down into. And sugar is horrible for you.

A normal carb filled diet actually causes a lot of inflammation and means you're holding a lot more water weight. One of the first things you'll notice when you first enter a ketosis state is that you'll drop that water weight fast the first week. You might lose 10lbs the first, with a majority of that being water weight.

A ketosis diet (basically restricting eating 20 or less grams of carbs a day) closely resembles the benefits of water fasting.

Your body will soon find out that with no carbs to run off of, it will switch from using carbs as energy to fat as energy. Your body does not care if it gets that fat from food your eating, or if it gets the fat from your stored body fat.

In fact, calorie restriction while on a ketosis diet will actually give you the most benefits. Your body will start to get it's 2000+ (depending on your weight) calories from your food or your body. So if you ate 1000 calories, your body would get the other 1000 from your stored fat. (This is just easy math for explaining, I'm sure it's much more complicated.)

So, I would recommend you look into. It really changed my life.

Awesome! Thanks! A diet consisting of lots of Bacon. Im in lol
I found a r/keto and this calculator . I ll definitely do some grocery shopping get into it next week.

 

[Big Blue]

It works great for me because I always have a massive delicious meal waiting for me when I get home from work and as someone who's cutting, makes it virtually impossible for me go over my daily allowance.

 

[triplestation]

16:8 represent

 

[Slayer-33]

I stop eating by 7PM, I work 12am X 8am (sleep 9ish am to 4 pm), I won't eat again until 4:30pm-5pm the next day Mon through Friday, I eat what would be considered cheat/junk food on the weekends and don't fast.

I just started that protocol, I had done it before, during the fasting window I only drink water. This stuff does wonders for your focus/mind and inner healing feeling of your GI tract.

I have yet to include a workout routine to the mix but this is the core of getting back into shape, working out is the gravy.

16:8 represent

20:4 breh!

20:4 >>>> 16:8

BOOM

 

[spootime]

16:8 represent

20:4 >>>> 16:8

 

[triplestation]

20:4 is much harder

That's like something I'd do if I know I'm gonna go to the beach at the end of the week or something like that &#128556;

 

[zewone]

I try to aim for as many 23:1 as I can, but a majority of the time I'm doing 19:5 due to work.

 

[Slayer-33]

20:4 is much harder

That's like something I'd do if I know I'm gonna go to the beach at the end of the week or something like that &#128556;

Not really, just focus on the shit you are going to put together for the main course meal, and then a few healthy snacks imo, just before the eating window closes.

 

[Pedrito]

I used to do 5:2, but now that I'm at an healthy weight, I only do a weekly 24-hour fast from thursday 6pm to friday 6pm.

Pros:
-Easyest way to cut 10-15% from weekly calory intake
-Save money on food
-Black coffee on an empty stomach makes me feel super alert/productive
-Makes me feel "light" before the weekend

Cons:
-Last 2-3 hours can be hard; you start to feel cold
-Sometimes give me a headache

 

[smoothj]

Working great so far for me. Within the last month or so I went from 275 to 252. Doing the 16/8 route. Super easy, I keep it under 1700 Cal's and eat what I want. Only drawback is this god damn constipation lol. Any tips? Been drinking lots of water.

Edit:

So 20/4 is the new hotness huh. Might try it.

 

[spootime]

Working great so far for me. Within the last month or so I went from 275 to 252. Doing the 16/8 route. Super easy, I keep it under 1700 Cal's and eat what I want. Only drawback is this god damn constipation lol. Any tips? Been drinking lots of water.

Edit:

So 20/4 is the new hotness huh. Might try it.

Its all about that fiber bro. I try to eat 1 can of black beans per day and if I cant I at least eat a quest bar.

 

[DarthMasta]

I used to do 5:2, but now that I'm at an healthy weight, I only do a weekly 24-hour fast from thursday 6pm to friday 6pm.

Pros:
-Easyest way to cut 10-15% from weekly calory intake
-Save money on food
-Black coffee on an empty stomach makes me feel super alert/productive
-Makes me feel "light" before the weekend

Cons:
-Last 2-3 hours can be hard; you start to feel cold
-Sometimes give me a headache

What worked for me when I did 24 hour fasting was ending the fast just before breakfast, so the last hours were spent sleeping.

 

[smoothj]

Its all about that fiber bro. I try to eat 1 can of black beans per day and if I cant I at least eat a quest bar.

Appreciate the advice my man. I'll try that for sure.

 

[lupinko]

It does work but you still need to eat right, have some form of active lifestyle, and get proper sleep.

 

[Disxo]

I wonder how can you bulk with that...
Is it more effective?