Intermittent Fasting for Strength Training and Fat Loss

[anonymous]

The whole template of this diet is so flexible that it allows for a ton of experimentation.

For the next few days, I will be eliminating carbs from my diet (or at least, very minimal). Doing this to shock the body and keep it guessing.

Also, I figure it could only help stoke the fire a bit and help me lose fat faster...not enough to get weak and lose muscle, of course.

[kkancho]

This is what I've been doing the last 2 weeks:

12:30PM lunch (chicken breast + broccoli)
4:30PM **get home from work and wolf down a banana + 2 scoops of whey
*hit the gym*
6:30-7PM eat a banana + 2 scoops of whey and have dinner right after and try to get in the rest of my protein intake before 8:30PM with things like tuna/200g cottage cheese

gonna keep this up while working on my diet and see how it goes

how do you guys wolf down all the protein when you only have 2-3 hours post workout?

I could skip lunch and break my fast at 4:30 but it'll be too long of a fast I think since I sleep at 10:30.

[aer_vlad]

I seriously have no idea how you guys do this. I drove a friend to the airport today and didn't have time to eat breakfast... OMG, I was trying to eat the steering wheel driving back.

How do you people fast for 20 hours on here? Ridiculous! I'm starving within 2 hours of waking up.

I'm very intrigued and appalled at this diet. Crazy!

[dustinh6719]

I seriously have no idea how you guys do this. I drove a friend to the airport today and didn't have time to eat breakfast... OMG, I was trying to eat the steering wheel driving back.

How do you people fast for 20 hours on here? Ridiculous! I'm starving within 2 hours of waking up.

I'm very intrigued and appalled at this diet. Crazy!

Not been doin it for long but gotta say im pretty used to it by now. I just eat a big meal right before bed and im set for the next day.

[EmperorRyker]

I seriously have no idea how you guys do this. I drove a friend to the airport today and didn't have time to eat breakfast... OMG, I was trying to eat the steering wheel driving back.

How do you people fast for 20 hours on here? Ridiculous! I'm starving within 2 hours of waking up.

I'm very intrigued and appalled at this diet. Crazy!

I have to say I sometimes get hungry short after waking up, as well, despite being on IF for over half a year now. But what I found is that these feeling of hunger pass within 10 minutes or so, and later on I only have such perfectly controllable hunger pangs once, if at all, prior to when my eating window opens.

[wazzup105]

I have to say I sometimes get hungry short after waking up, as well, despite being on IF for over half a year now. But what I found is that these feeling of hunger pass within 10 minutes or so, and later on I only have such perfectly controllable hunger pangs once, if at all, prior to when my eating window opens.

+1

1 - it get's better
2 - you get used to it
3 - get some discipline. (embrace the hunger )

(and have some trust, not worrying helps)

[damirk]

Whats up guys. I started IF'ing a few days ago and I really like the ideas and concepts but im still trying to find ways to adjust it to my schedule (work midnights on the weekends 11p-7a) I just wanted to get some opinions on fasting times, maybe martin can chime in if he swings by the forum. I guess 1 question i had was how much of a difference does an hour make in terms of fasting? Do our bodies really know the difference between a 16 hour fast and a 15 or 18 hour fast? Also how important is it to keep your eating window to similar times each day. Sometimes i find it difficult because i work 11pm-7am only a few days a week and have a normal schedule the rest of the time so those few days tend to throw me out of wack.

[Darkie]

Hey,
Ive started this way of eating 2 days ago. My only problem is that i dont have a constant work schedule but instead my work includes working in 3 shifts

2 days 08:00-16:00
2 days 16:00-00:00
2 days 00:00-08:00
2 days off

I was wondering if someone has an idea how to adapt this way of eating with my working schedule. Or maybe someone that has the same working hours and is already on the diet? I use this diet to bulk up and my maintenance calories are around 2200. I currently bulk on 2500 calories 300 above maintenance. Thanks upfront guys

[apace]

I ve been trying this diet on and off but i can't get much out of it , probably still not doing it right , as i work 2 jobs i have to change my eating pattern with some meal being just homemade protein bars , but a typical day goes like this :-
Wake up 6 am 1 cup green tea or 1 ltr cold water
start work at 8 a.m. 2 cups black coffee
9 a.m. 5 gr bcaa
10 a.m. grren or white tea
11.30 a.m. espresso
also drinking about 3 - 4 ltrs cold water during the day
1.30 - 2pm eat source of protein always different or eggs or beef or fish or chicken + loads of veg .
3 pm green tea
5 pm finish work go home take another espresso and some cayenne pepper before the workout
7 pm basically same as 1 st meal
9 - 930 pm 2 scoops protein powder mixed with peanut butter

at the moment you can see that its low carb as mainly i carb load just on sunday .

training 2 x /week jogging
2 x / week mix of bodyweight exercises + gymnastic ring training
1 x / week full body workout using compound movements and heavy weights

[EmperorRyker]

Hey,
Ive started this way of eating 2 days ago. My only problem is that i dont have a constant work schedule but instead my work includes working in 3 shifts

2 days 08:00-16:00
2 days 16:00-00:00
2 days 00:00-08:00
2 days off

I was wondering if someone has an idea how to adapt this way of eating with my working schedule. Or maybe someone that has the same working hours and is already on the diet? I use this diet to bulk up and my maintenance calories are around 2200. I currently bulk on 2500 calories 300 above maintenance. Thanks upfront guys

Maybe someone's gonna come up with a perfect solution to your predicament, but my advice would we to not go on IF. No need to complicate things.

[tjwoody]

I have to say I sometimes get hungry short after waking up, as well, despite being on IF for over half a year now. But what I found is that these feeling of hunger pass within 10 minutes or so, and later on I only have such perfectly controllable hunger pangs once, if at all, prior to when my eating window opens.

im similar....usually when i wake up im ok. i feel a bit hungry but really dont feel hungry till about 9am. this is when i suck down a bunch of water and a sugar free gum. its 1030am here now and im actually pretty good. i ate at 6:50pm last night so at 11 i will break fast with a lil fruit and like 11:15 start other part of eating. dont like using microwave at work too early .

im going to give it a try a bit longer but at my work i can eat all day so only think i pers. want to see is it it helps me lose fat at all. i do like that i can eat more when i in the 8 hour window and it REALLy helps on the weekends. Who knows maybe i will turn into a weekend warrior IFer!

In sept I will be increasing cals to recomp...so prob like 800 more then I am at now and i gotta say...going to take some time to get used to eating that much more in a meal.

[S62]

I seriously have no idea how you guys do this. I drove a friend to the airport today and didn't have time to eat breakfast... OMG, I was trying to eat the steering wheel driving back.

How do you people fast for 20 hours on here? Ridiculous! I'm starving within 2 hours of waking up.

I'm very intrigued and appalled at this diet. Crazy!

You got hungry because you are used to eating at that time. I used to be like this and hated it.

I transitioned very easily, 2 days in a row I woke up at noon and had a meal at 2pm, the next 2 days I woke up early but still waited until 2 to eat. Then the next 3 days at work I had some coffee which I rarely do and I was set. It's been downhill ever since. Weekends I tend to break the fast even later, heat and humidity destroy my appetite. Also, after the first meal you kind of not want to eat later, weird...

[damirk]

Hey,
Ive started this way of eating 2 days ago. My only problem is that i dont have a constant work schedule but instead my work includes working in 3 shifts

2 days 08:00-16:00
2 days 16:00-00:00
2 days 00:00-08:00
2 days off

I was wondering if someone has an idea how to adapt this way of eating with my working schedule. Or maybe someone that has the same working hours and is already on the diet? I use this diet to bulk up and my maintenance calories are around 2200. I currently bulk on 2500 calories 300 above maintenance. Thanks upfront guys

what kind of work do you do? how accessible if food for you during work?

[jxd]

I seriously have no idea how you guys do this. I drove a friend to the airport today and didn't have time to eat breakfast... OMG, I was trying to eat the steering wheel driving back.

How do you people fast for 20 hours on here? Ridiculous! I'm starving within 2 hours of waking up.

I'm very intrigued and appalled at this diet. Crazy!

It only took me half a week to get used to this, now I have to set reminders for myself or I can go much longer than 20 hours without eating.

[RippedChic]

I really want to try this! I'm pretty close to doing it anyway actually, I guess, lol, I don't usually have breakfast until after my workout which ends up being 8 or 9 and then eat dinner at 5:30 and never eat after 6. So I've already got a 14 hour fast, why not bump it up? What do you think would be my best bet, getting rid of breakfast and just eating my other meals, or getting rid of dinner so I can eat right after my workout? Any other tips I should know?

[Darkie]

what kind of work do you do? how accessible if food for you during work?

If I get all my food in zip bags i can eat it there its no biggie. Im working in an ISP, tech support and system administration. I have like 1 hour of spare time each shift, I can either take it all at once or divide it to like 4x15 mins intervals. The only problem is the workout hours, they keep changing with my shifts, sometimes i workout in the morning and sometimes around 17:00 in the afternoon. I rly like this nutrition plan so if someone has an idea please share it.

[determined4000]

???

Why not just shift everything 8 hours to fit the schedule
2 days 08:00-16:00 eat from 16 on the first day, 20 on the second (20 hour fast)
2 days 16:00-00:00 (eat 00:00 on the first day, 4:00 on the second (20 hour fast)
2 days 00:00-08:00, etc
2 days off (whenever)

[damirk]

If I get all my food in zip bags i can eat it there its no biggie. Im working in an ISP, tech support and system administration. I have like 1 hour of spare time each shift, I can either take it all at once or divide it to like 4x15 mins intervals. The only problem is the workout hours, they keep changing with my shifts, sometimes i workout in the morning and sometimes around 17:00 in the afternoon. I rly like this nutrition plan so if someone has an idea please share it.

Like I said im working on finding a steady pattern myself, but as far as i understand the diet from reading martins as well as other users posts, the workout times should not be a big deal. If you work out in the morning, take some BCAA's pre-workout and several times throughout the day up to your eating window. If you workout around close to your eating window, but fasted take 10g BCAA's before workout and start your eating window with a PWO meal and go from there. From what i understand as long as you stick to the 16/8 fasting eating guidelines you should be ok. Its recommended to try to be consistent it terms of when eating approximately same time so you don't throw your hormones out of wack, but im not sure, if anyone has more info on this please chime in!

[aer_vlad]

I might try "easing" into it. As in, moving my breakfast one hour later every other day until I'm eating one big meal. I dunno. Last year, I thought I was gonna pass out lol.

Do any of you do cardio? - I guess I mean run >15 miles/week. If I recall, that's where I was really having trouble. I'd lift, then run and about 20 min later I would get light headed and my vision would start to get splotchy...zero energy.

Everybody on here speaks about how "great fasted workouts are." ****, they almost kill me! hahaha.

[determined4000]

I might try "easing" into it. As in, moving my breakfast one hour later every other day until I'm eating one big meal. I dunno. Last year, I thought I was gonna pass out lol.

Do any of you do cardio? - I guess I mean run >15 miles/week. If I recall, that's where I was really having trouble. I'd lift, then run and about 20 min later I would get light headed and my vision would start to get splotchy...zero energy.

Everybody on here speaks about how "great fasted workouts are." ****, they almost kill me! hahaha.

I wakeup
cardio
commute
work
commute
workout
eat
eat
eat
eat
eat
sleep
repeat

personally I wouldnt like the idea of doing cardio after lifting after being fasted

Fasted cardio is easy because you dont feel weighted down or have indigestion
Then by the afternoon I have some coffee/tea/Mtn Dew pre workout. With noting but caffeine in your system you will feel fairly energized.

[FemmeFatale28]

I might try "easing" into it. As in, moving my breakfast one hour later every other day until I'm eating one big meal. I dunno. Last year, I thought I was gonna pass out lol.

Do any of you do cardio? - I guess I mean run >15 miles/week. If I recall, that's where I was really having trouble. I'd lift, then run and about 20 min later I would get light headed and my vision would start to get splotchy...zero energy.

Everybody on here speaks about how "great fasted workouts are." ****, they almost kill me! hahaha.

I some form of cardio 6 days a week.. 2 days of cardio twice a day and this includes 10+ miles a week.. all fasted. I have no energy what so ever by the end of the week but thats because I am not eating enough calories to support my activity, when I start feeling like this I have to have a maintenance day and since this week was BRUTAL (training wise) I have to eat more tomorrow. I should have probably done that today but I weigh in on Saturdays so I wanted to wait until tomorrow. Thing is I dont have 100% say in all my activity since im in the military. Some weeks are harder than others. So my day is like this

wakeup
workout #1
workout# 2
work
eat
sleep.

except Thursdays and Saturdays I only workout once, and thats cardio.

[aer_vlad]

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...

I am pretty sure...actually, there is no way I could NOT eat after working out. I'm literally starving after I workout. Only time my appetite is diminished is right after I finish cardio in the morning (before breakfast) - but I'll be real hungry in about an hour.

How do you people workout then just go about your day with empty stomach? The agony! lol

[determined4000]

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...

I am pretty sure...actually, there is no way I could NOT eat after working out. I'm literally starving after I workout. Only time my appetite is diminished is right after I finish cardio in the morning (before breakfast) - but I'll be real hungry in about an hour.

How do you people workout then just go about your day with empty stomach? The agony! lol

In that case
wakeup
work/school
cardio
weights
feast
sleep

[doctapeppa]

I ve been trying this diet on and off but i can't get much out of it , probably still not doing it right , as i work 2 jobs i have to change my eating pattern with some meal being just homemade protein bars , but a typical day goes like this :-
Wake up 6 am 1 cup green tea or 1 ltr cold water
start work at 8 a.m. 2 cups black coffee
9 a.m. 5 gr bcaa
10 a.m. grren or white tea
11.30 a.m. espresso
also drinking about 3 - 4 ltrs cold water during the day
1.30 - 2pm eat source of protein always different or eggs or beef or fish or chicken + loads of veg .
3 pm green tea
5 pm finish work go home take another espresso and some cayenne pepper before the workout
7 pm basically same as 1 st meal
9 - 930 pm 2 scoops protein powder mixed with peanut butter

at the moment you can see that its low carb as mainly i carb load just on sunday .

training 2 x /week jogging
2 x / week mix of bodyweight exercises + gymnastic ring training
1 x / week full body workout using compound movements and heavy weights

- Why are you having BCAA in the morning? Unless you are lifting weights in a fasted state you don't need BCAA. If you are then go for the BCAA 15 minutes prior.

- Your Espresso's don't have sugar in them, do they? If they do, you aren't fasting.

- Don't have protein powder as your last meal. You want a filling solid meal as your last meal. Cottage cheese is great.

- Why are you taking Cheyenne pepper before the workout? I don't think it will hurt you other than giving you a belly ache but that isn't going to help with anything.

- How many calories are you ingesting in total and what are your goals? How many calories are you having in your "carb load"?

[spicyprice]

Question for you experienced IFers:

I currently have my eating window open from either 12-8p or 4-8p, depending on how I feel (sometimes have gone on a huge deficit, sometimes maintenence-25% and the smaller window is on the lage deficit days.) That being said, I do a bit of cycling and am starting to train for a 100 mile 4500 ft climb ride in 10 weeks. When I go for long training rides (a;ways in the early AM generally on the weekend) how should I structure my fast? Anyone with endurance experience and IF simultaneously?

[zpm]

quick question : Is it okay to use Purple Wraath 10 minutes before work out and jack3d 30 minutes before?Or is this stack (jack3d or other NOs + purple wraath) too much for the body to handle ?

[doctapeppa]

quick question : Is it okay to use Purple Wraath 10 minutes before work out and jack3d 30 minutes before?Or is this stack (jack3d or other NOs + purple wraath) too much for the body to handle ?

Purple wraath is just amino acids. It's found in meat and dairy. You can take it with whatever you want. Jack3d contains caffeine so if you take too much of it it will make you feel sick (anxious, sweaty, nauseous)

[zpm]

Purple wraath is just amino acids. It's found in meat and dairy. You can take it with whatever you want. Jack3d contains caffeine so if you take too much of it it will make you feel sick (anxious, sweaty, nauseous)

So i take it you recommend another NO w/o caffeine or less caffeine ?

[doctapeppa]

If you want my opinion, I'd say drop the supplement. BCAA before a fasted workout and that's it. If you want caffeine there are much cheaper ways of getting it than through Jack3d. Concentrate on your diet.

[Vietgoboi]

So i take it you recommend another NO w/o caffeine or less caffeine ?

If you want my opinion, I'd say drop the supplement. BCAA before a fasted workout and that's it. If you want caffeine there are much cheaper ways of getting it than through Jack3d. Concentrate on your diet.

Yup ^

Some protein in pre-workout, for anabolic growth.