Post: #251

(05-21-2015 04:52 PM)Laurifer Wrote:  I've been on keto for about 6 months. I wasn't really watching my caloric in-take but I assume most of the time I was overeating. Though I was still in keto, I wasn't losing any weight, nor gaining.

I think I must have put on muscle and lost fat at the same time, though many say that isn't possible.

I've introduced intermittent fasting to my body and I am appearing much more lean in the mirror and I'm starting to read lighter on the scale.

My routine is usually as such:

Workout day: I eat a breakfast of bacon and eggs with a double espresso, workout, then eat a dinner of meat plus a ton of veggies + salad.

Non-workout day: Double espresso in the morning, fast all the way till dinner where I again eat meat with veggies and salad.

Even on workout days I'll often skip breakfast altogether to really try to burn fat.

I'm never usually hungry until right before dinner, around 7 or 8 PM. I drink lime water throughout the day which I find satiating.

You could either try to cut down on fat, increase protein, or do a structured (carb) refeed. Even then fat loss plateaus are inevitable.

Post: #252

Some experiences and observations during my first two days of a 16/8 fast:

*Hunger pangs which truly test one's discipline, but interestingly they just seem to come and go;
*Sensations of what could be stomach churn towards the very end of the 16 hour fast;
*Slight nausea right after I break the fast:
*Reduced appetite:
*My digestive system seems to be benefitting from a break from constantly being in action;
*My thinking is less clouded (less 'brain fog');
*Surprisingly, I do not seem to have less energy overall;
*I expect my sense of smell and taste to become sharper.

Post: #253

I lost 40 lbs in 4 weeks with IF on my last cut. Getting back on it when I start my next one next week.

The last time I did IF I was lifting 5 days a week (bro split), doing HIIT cardio two days a week, and tracking macros with MyFitnessPal.

This time I'll be lifting three days a week (push pull leg split), doing HIIT cardio two days a week along with walking and dancing bachata regularly, and doing keto/RFL in addition to IF, as well as tracking macros with MFP. We'll see how that goes.

Either way, IF wholeheartedly recommended.

Post: #254

I never realized I have been doing intermittent fasting my whole life and not even aware of it!

As a kid I hated breakfast, I just dont feel hungry in the morning. Living in an Asian culture where your parents force you to eat breakfast as the "most important meal of the day", I still resisted. Not been eating breakfast regularly for about 15 years now.

It doesnt matter how much I eat, and how badly I eat, I never get fat. I've always got a 6 packs even though I gorge on pastry, fat, meat and probably a lot of sugar. I think I get in around 2000 calories each day with most of it protein from meat, and I weigh 135lbs. It doesn't make sense so I thought "must be genetics".

So I guess this IF thing must really be legit. Breakfast most important meal, my ass.

Post: #255

(03-17-2016 03:56 AM)Dalaran1991 Wrote:  I never realized I have been doing intermittent fasting my whole life and not even aware of it!

As a kid I hated breakfast, I just dont feel hungry in the morning. Living in an Asian culture where your parents force you to eat breakfast as the "most important meal of the day", I still resisted. Not been eating breakfast regularly for about 15 years now.

It doesnt matter how much I eat, and how badly I eat, I never get fat. I've always got a 6 packs even though I gorge on pastry, fat, meat and probably a lot of sugar. I think I get in around 2000 calories each day with most of it protein from meat, and I weigh 135lbs. It doesn't make sense so I thought "must be genetics".

So I guess this IF thing must really be legit. Breakfast most important meal, my ass.

lol there are endless amounts of people who are fat people who miss breakfast all the time. There is so much more to your being thin than just missing breakfast. A barely active 135 pounder who gets about an hour of light exercise a week would need roughly about 2k cals per day just to maintain his weight. You said it yourself the bulk of your cals is from protein so I don't know how much gorging is left if you're hitting just 2k cals, that's low cals so it's not surprising that you're not fat. You may well have a fast metabolism that allows for you to be lean instead of skinny fat at that weight but I don't think you can credit your results to if and missing breakfast here but instead give credit to eating in moderation, some to genetics and possibly how active you are if you do more than an hr of light walking a week.

Post: #256

Reviving this thread:

I did a body fat test on a machine at my gym and was disgusted by my body fat percentage. After seeing the success of the many posters here and elsewhere I decided to give IF a go.

My girl was not cool with me jumping in cold turkey and instead insisted we scaled back dinner first to where I don't eat anything after 8pm and then scaled my breakfast omelettes from 3 eggs onto 2, and then onto 1. Each day, I've been adding a bit of butter into my green tea which is not half bad.

The day after leg day this week was hard. Definitely noticed a lack of energy and a massive brain fog. I really wanted to take a nap. However, the next day where I only had one egg in my omelette blew me away. I had so much more energy, my gym performance was out of this world, and I had the most intense energy at work. To the point where my colleagues were all commenting how energized I was.

Today, i've had no breakfast and just some green tea and butter. No hunger at all so I should be good to go until noon when I break the fast at noon.

Very impressed so far with the energy and I like how I feel. I need to scale my caloric intake back if i'm going to see any fat loss but I think this may become a new life routine.

Post: #257

IF absolutely works wonders, but you have to figure out which schedule works best for you. The one that worked for me was having a small breakfast, working out in the morning, then having a massive lunch at 1PM and not eating until the next morning. But once I decided that getting sleep in the AM was more important than working out, I haven't fasted. I think I'm going back to working out in the AM.

Post: #258

What I like about IF schedule is its flexibility. Most popular is skipping breakfast but in reality it doesn't matter when you eat as long as you stick to your feeding window. Some skip breakfast, some skip dinner, some have them both. It's all good cause the real magic starts happening after around 12 hours of no calories intake.

Post: #259

I've been doing IF for one month. So far the body fat is melting off my midsection and my muscle mass has stayed the same. Whenever I used to cut I would lose muscle as well. I have 30 day pictures, if you want to see the difference send me a PM with your email. I have also started to eat much cleaner since I basically have all day to think about how I want to eat. I have also counted all my calories and macros as well so that plays a huge part as well but I'm a satisfied customer of intermittent fasting.

Post: #260

I've been doing IF for about a month, and its definitely showing results. I would recommend it.

Post: #261

I have been on it a month as well. 16/8 schedule. I have found that I am more cut and am maintaining weight well. For the record I did start creatine at the same time, which could be contributing some as well. Overall, however, I am pleased.

Of note, however, I have done a few workouts in the morning before breaking the fast and they surely are not as strong as they would be otherwise. Benefits highly outweigh the negatives, however, in my opinion.

Post: #262

I have also been doing it for 3 months now on a caloric deficit of 500-1000kcal per day and 1 refeed day per week. So far I have lost 8kgs and maintained most of my muscle mass. Sixpack is coming soon, I guess I will need another 1-2 months for that. I definitely look a lot better without a shirt on now, but I also look a bit smaller with a shirt on.

The first week is the hardest. After that your body will get used to your new eating pattern and you won't be hungry any more in the morning after skipping breakfast.

Post: #263

I did the Rapid Fat Loss Diet a few weeks back and had good results, then started hitting a wall as my bodyfat percentage got too low. Ate at maintainence for a few weeks then about a weeks ago started on IF. Only eating between 12 PM and 8 PM and generally trying to keep my carbs low, but I'm not counting. I was having good results, and was down 4 lbs in the first 5 days, then gained LITERALLY 8 LBS of what I hope is water weight in one weekend of extreme calorie consumption and physical exertion (had a sports tournament). Weighed myself this morning up 8 pounds, only ate a small lunch, and weighed myself again in the evening up only 4 pounds. Hopefully after 2 more days I'm back at normal hydration levels so i can feel like I'm losing fat again (I was drinking a lot of gatorade). Will really be hitting this until the end of summer and hopefully reach my goal of 155 lbs. I just gotta keep reminding myself of my goals, as consistency day in and day out is the only way to drop these last 10 pounds. Gotta love the grind.

Post: #264

I have a question, if I drank alcohol during my fast period do I start the fast all over or eat at the time I usually do?

Post: #265

I think im going to give this a shot, im just a bit concerned about a few things:

-If I dont eat breakfast, I get a crippling knee-shaking hunger that renders me more or less incapaciated. Im just very lightheaded and shaky. Have any of you guys dealt with this? I wouldn't want possibly to increase this effect with IF

-If you are already pretty cut (less than ~10%) does this have the same beneficial impact? I keep coming across a lot of examples in my reading where they are either cutting or in a position of trying to lose serious weight. What if you're already very skinny? Proceed anyway?

-I love Monster energy drinks and hate coffee. Can I substitute? Im leaning towards no, due to all the excess sugars in Monster. But damn I hate coffee.

-Anyone get mood swings? I turn into an irratable mofo when Im low on calories.

Post: #266

(07-16-2016 03:58 PM)HonantheBarbarian Wrote:  I think im going to give this a shot, im just a bit concerned about a few things:

-If I dont eat breakfast, I get a crippling knee-shaking hunger that renders me more or less incapaciated. Im just very lightheaded and shaky. Have any of you guys dealt with this? I wouldn't want possibly to increase this effect with IF

Go to walgreens and pick up a blood glucose reader. If you are shaky/lightheaded it is due to low blood sugar; not lack of calories being burned. Pinch the fat on your stomach once--- you know what that is? It's food (calories) waiting to be burned.

If your blood sugar is dropping right away in the morning you need to look at the meals you had the night before. If you're pounding cheetohs and corn flakes instead of lean meats and/or complex carbohydrates-- you are robbing your body of long absorbing proteins. Eat well the night before and last long on the fast the day after.

Booze will also lead to low blood sugar the next morning... hence why we all need greasy foods for breakfast the morning after a bender.

Also, to the poster above: Alcohol will definitely ruin the fasting window. Your body burns ethanol first (as it is a poison) before carbs, proteins, and fats.

Your body is burning stored fat during the fast... when you introduce alcohol, then the booze takes precedence.

-If you are already pretty cut (less than ~10%) does this have the same beneficial impact? I keep coming across a lot of examples in my reading where they are either cutting or in a position of trying to lose serious weight. What if you're already very skinny? Proceed anyway?

IF can work wonders for bulking due to the nutrient partitioning benefits of an extended fast. Pre workout should be black coffee and BCAA's (to spare muscle and give you a little boost for the workout from the caffeine). Be ready to have a monster lift and to eat like an animal within your 8 hour window. We are talking 3.5k calories within a couple of meals... Hopefully you know of a good steak buffet.

-I love Monster energy drinks and hate coffee. Can I substitute? Im leaning towards no, due to all the excess sugars in Monster. But damn I hate coffee.

The energy drinks will not completely ruin your fast, but it does impeded fat loss a bit. Trace carbs (like a small amount of milk in ones coffee) will not turn your body from being catabolic to anabolic; just don't overdo it. Get the sugar free ones.

-Anyone get mood swings? I turn into an irratable mofo when Im low on calories.

The first week or so is tough... but after that it's business as usual. Trick is to stay busy. I pack my morning schedule and don't eat until I have everything on my to-do list checked off. I don't have time to think about toast and shit when I'm working hard on something.

I wish I would've seen this thread earlier. I've used IF to get very lean for shirtless bartending, promo modeling, etc in college.

I even went a step further into ADF (Alternate Day Fasting) with Growth Hormone Releasing Peptides (GHRP's) but thats all for another day.

Post: #267

(06-19-2015 08:15 AM)Nascimento Wrote:  For some weird reason, last night I had serious trouble completing my 36 hour fast.

I woke up in the middle of the night with twitches, muscle spasms, and light-headedness. This was about 30 hours in.

I've done several 24 hour fasts with success in the past, and one 36 as well.

What gives?

One word: Catechlomines. Prolonged fasting produces catechlomines. Do a quick google search for answers on how that little feedback loop works.

Also-- why are you doing 36 hour fasts? By that point, you are well into burning muscle. No bueno; that Ghandi shit should be stopped ASAP.

I ate some Greek Yogourt and a granola bar to even things out. Might have been excessively low blood sugar? I felt fine after eating and fell back asleep shortly.

Oh well. I still weighed in at my lowest weight in the past year. I figure in 5-10 more pounds, I'll be at a 4-pack.

To establish if you are cutting correctly (meaning you are cutting FAT and not the MUSCLE) you should do one compound lift every week with the same weight on the same day i.e. Do as many pull ups as you can first thing on your wednesday workout.

If last week you were doing 20 and this week you are doing 15... You're skimming TOO MUCH. Being lean without muscle will make you look like an AIDS patient... Not a good look.

It's weird, before I started leaning out, I thought I only had about 10, 15 pounds at most to work through. I was seriously wrong. I'm almost at 20 lbs down, and I still got a bit more to go.

Put on a month of bulking to hit the reset switch and get some of your muscle back. The reason you think you need to lose more weight is that you muscle isn't as defined as you want it to be... That's because you cut too hard and tore into the muscles. You'd be surprised at how you look when you fully replenish glycogen and start getting back into the anabolic phase.

A good estimate is that I'm at 15% right now, which is probably the lowest body fat% I've had in years.

Look into ADF--- may be a good fit for you.

Post: #268

Thanks Chubby, I feel more confident about it now. Im gonna do a bit more reading and then jump right in.

Post: #269

(07-18-2016 11:12 PM)Cruisen_Chubby Wrote:  

(06-19-2015 08:15 AM)Nascimento Wrote:  For some weird reason, last night I had serious trouble completing my 36 hour fast.

I woke up in the middle of the night with twitches, muscle spasms, and light-headedness. This was about 30 hours in.

I've done several 24 hour fasts with success in the past, and one 36 as well.

What gives?

One word: Catechlomines. Prolonged fasting produces catechlomines. Do a quick google search for answers on how that little feedback loop works.

Also-- why are you doing 36 hour fasts? By that point, you are well into burning muscle. No bueno; that Ghandi shit should be stopped ASAP.

I ate some Greek Yogourt and a granola bar to even things out. Might have been excessively low blood sugar? I felt fine after eating and fell back asleep shortly.

Oh well. I still weighed in at my lowest weight in the past year. I figure in 5-10 more pounds, I'll be at a 4-pack.

To establish if you are cutting correctly (meaning you are cutting FAT and not the MUSCLE) you should do one compound lift every week with the same weight on the same day i.e. Do as many pull ups as you can first thing on your wednesday workout.

If last week you were doing 20 and this week you are doing 15... You're skimming TOO MUCH. Being lean without muscle will make you look like an AIDS patient... Not a good look.

It's weird, before I started leaning out, I thought I only had about 10, 15 pounds at most to work through. I was seriously wrong. I'm almost at 20 lbs down, and I still got a bit more to go.

Put on a month of bulking to hit the reset switch and get some of your muscle back. The reason you think you need to lose more weight is that you muscle isn't as defined as you want it to be... That's because you cut too hard and tore into the muscles. You'd be surprised at how you look when you fully replenish glycogen and start getting back into the anabolic phase.

A good estimate is that I'm at 15% right now, which is probably the lowest body fat% I've had in years.

Look into ADF--- may be a good fit for you.

I'll also give this some feedback even though it's a bit late. Sounds like you're stuck in the purgatory between cutting and bulking. Seems like your caloric deficit is too steep if you're doing frequent 24+ hour fasts. Ideally a caloric deficit on a cut is 200-300 calories with a refeed ~1x/week to minimize muscle loss. A good strategy, like the above user mentioned, is to focus on strength during cuts. Ideally, you want to increase strength but simply maintaining strength on a cut often keeps muscular loss in check. I agree that it's somewhat useless to be lean when you're skinny (defeats the purpose of bulking if you cut and don't gain muscle), especially if you're already at your lowest weigh in and want to lose 10+ more pounds. I've been in the lifting game for 5+ years and I stay at 10-14%bf year around and have a visible non-flexed 6 pack year round. The backbone to this is prolonged lean bulking with seasonal micro-cuts. The best mentality and easiest framework to successfully lean bulk is to focus on strength gains on your compounds (OHP, squat, weighted pull ups, weighted dips). If you give us some more details on how your cut is going/your macros/body stats, I can throw some more advise your way.

Post: #270

I am glad I checked a Weightlifting & Fitness section of the forum (which I do about once a year). I am trying to lose a bit of weight, to get my ABS out. It was working well for me. I knew nothing about intermittent fasting but I was actually doing something similar, hence the result (lost about 2 kilo in 10 days).
I work nightshifts so my day is reversed. I wake up 23.45 eat at 00.00 shake 00.30 workout 01.00-02.00 shake (basically I split one normal protein + BCA shake in 2 takes) 06.00 proper meal 09.00 a can of tuna, then I go on water till 15.30 when I go to sleep. I drink natural de-caf green tea throughout the day. So it is a 9-15 pattern apparently.
Now I will try to make it into 8-16 and see how it works.

Post: #271

(12-23-2015 04:25 AM)brick tamland Wrote:  Some experiences and observations during my first two days of a 16/8 fast:

*Hunger pangs which truly test one's discipline, but interestingly they just seem to come and go;
*Sensations of what could be stomach churn towards the very end of the 16 hour fast;
*Slight nausea right after I break the fast:
*Reduced appetite:
*My digestive system seems to be benefitting from a break from constantly being in action;
*My thinking is less clouded (less 'brain fog');
*Surprisingly, I do not seem to have less energy overall;
*I expect my sense of smell and taste to become sharper.

Was performing 19-21hr fasts until recently.

Sense of smell and taste greatly enhanced, particularly sense of smell
Reduced appetite
Hunger pangs were a true test of discipline, but I felt lot stronger mentally having to go through this.
Digestive system was given a long overdue break and I felt healthier at having "cleansed" my system a bit
Was very tired and thinking was fuzzy

Post: #272

About a few months in now, i'm really satisfied with my results.

I immediately lost about 7kg in bloat once I was a full week in. I didn't realize how much I was really eating!

My caloric intake is definitely around 2000 now since i'm technically eating two big meals. My weight has now been slowly decreasing ever since then.

I've been a bit sloppy with my eating times as i've gone on vacation and did a lot of sight seeing but overall i've been doing alright. Gym gains have been happening which is pretty good in my book.

Overall enjoying it, I like the lifestyle change the most. Not eating breakfast makes for a much faster morning!

Post: #273

So is the idea to be in a temporary full time16/8 fast mode instead of intermittent (do this 3 times a week) 16/8 fast?

Post: #274

This method is great. I am loosing 1 kilo a week without much effort and without monitoring calories.

I just skip one meal. 7 hours feeding 17 hours fasting and work out every day for a short time

Post: #275

How do you guys know you are loosing fat only and not muscles?