Intermittent fasting

[The Cosworth]

I hadn't realized but I am doing like a 10-5, 10-6 fast naturally. I break it on the weekends (to have breakfast with the family) but I feel like crap. I'm not religious on it and have cream in my coffee but I am considering adjusting slightly to give this a shot. I've found I've leaned out a bit but mostly just feel healthier and fitter when I go train.

So stupid question, when I am eating are there restrictions on food / caloric amount? Im not talking about 2 full pizzas here but if I am extra hungry one day I can eat more than maybe a number should allow?

[max_boost]

It won't be sustainable if you can't be consistent with what works for your body. Some days I eat fast food 3x a day lol pizza morning, fried chicken afternoon and burger at night. I've actually stopped IF as I noticed it doesn't matter what time I eat as long as I don't over eat.

Gotta be patient to get the results.

[tirebob]

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Great writeup @tirebob and thanks for sharing.

Question: Did you notice any psychological changes? i.e Were you able to think more clearly..?

I definitely feel clearer than I did previous to doing this, even when I have had a long night and not much sleep I just seem to be able to function better.

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I hadn't realized but I am doing like a 10-5, 10-6 fast naturally. I break it on the weekends (to have breakfast with the family) but I feel like crap. I'm not religious on it and have cream in my coffee but I am considering adjusting slightly to give this a shot. I've found I've leaned out a bit but mostly just feel healthier and fitter when I go train.

So stupid question, when I am eating are there restrictions on food / caloric amount? Im not talking about 2 full pizzas here but if I am extra hungry one day I can eat more than maybe a number should allow?

My understanding is it is just like anything diet related. It is all about calories in vs calories expended. I think no matter what dietary eating style you subscribe to, you can benefit from IF, but without a doubt the types of food you eat will affect whether or not it is for weight loss or simple maintenance. I think you just need to figure out what you are trying to do and eat the food that helps you.

As for when you are actually in fast mode (8-16), consuming more than 50 calories during that time will break your fast and negate the effect.

[ercchry]

I don’t worry about calories at all, it’s incredibly difficult to over eat in a 6hr window... if anything I tried to eat as much as I can! Haha. It is important to have that cheat day though... good reset. Hell, last couple months have been too hectic to even stick to my 6hr window and i’ve been eating and drinking my face off and barely put back on 6lbs... this week I sorta... not really have been trying to get back to it and i’ve already recovered half of that gain

[tirebob]

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Well done Bob. Just make sure you don't yo-yo, which is the biggest issue. Long term progress is way better than if you lost 50 pounds in a short period of time, think you did really well, then fall off the wagon a bit and then gain back 25. This happens so fucking often because people usually want results fast and go to the extreme until they can't handle it anymore and think they deserve "cheat days" or whatever.

Good luck, and keep it up!

Yeah, for sure the yo-yo effect is my biggest worry, but my goal is to change my lifestyle and not simply diet with a weight goal in mind. I am not doing this for any sort of personal appearance reason. I simply want to feel good and be healthy for my wife and kids as much as for myself. For the first time in my life I felt like I was actually dying and on my way to the grave rather than living and thinking about the future and it honestly scared the shit out of me. It took all of 2 seconds seeing that number on the scale to short circuit and make a commitment to changing.

I have had a couple minor cheat meals, but even my cheat meals I am trying to be smart about it. Had a burger when I took my kid out for lunch but got a salad instead of fries and drank water instead of a beer or pop. I also am intentionally scaling back from my normal eating a bit for two days after I had a little bit of a cheat making sure that I am super clean (homemade healthy soup and salad for example).

My goal is simply to make the best possible eating choices I can, and eat well often enough that those times when I am at my mom's for thanksgiving dinner, I don't have to sweat eating a piece her ridiculous coconut cake! lol! That said this TG when I did eat some, I wasn't even halfway through a small piece when I felt like I had enough and the sugar got to be overpowering.

[JRSC00LUDE]

My Commercial banker has lost over 120 pounds at 50+ (age) doing pretty much what you're talking about here and, adding lots of walking. It's amazing really.

[saiyajin]

that's awesome nicely done @tirebob

[nissanK]

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Yeah, for sure the yo-yo effect is my biggest worry, but my goal is to change my lifestyle and not simply diet with a weight goal in mind. I am not doing this for any sort of personal appearance reason. I simply want to feel good and be healthy for my wife and kids as much as for myself. For the first time in my life I felt like I was actually dying and on my way to the grave rather than living and thinking about the future and it honestly scared the shit out of me. It took all of 2 seconds seeing that number on the scale to short circuit and make a commitment to changing.

I have had a couple minor cheat meals, but even my cheat meals I am trying to be smart about it. Had a burger when I took my kid out for lunch but got a salad instead of fries and drank water instead of a beer or pop. I also am intentionally scaling back from my normal eating a bit for two days after I had a little bit of a cheat making sure that I am super clean (homemade healthy soup and salad for example).

My goal is simply to make the best possible eating choices I can, and eat well often enough that those times when I am at my mom's for thanksgiving dinner, I don't have to sweat eating a piece her ridiculous coconut cake! lol! That said this TG when I did eat some, I wasn't even halfway through a small piece when I felt like I had enough and the sugar got to be overpowering.

Great job tirebob!

I think you hit the nail on the head of how to be successful with this, it's lifestyle changes.

As soon as it's viewed as a diet, your perception changes towards a results only mindset which makes it hard (IMO) to keep with it. When telling my family members about it the first thing they ask is "Is it a 6-12 week program?" Well no, there's no real end in sight really as I'm changing the life style of how I view eating completely.

I have cheat days also and I'm not dead set on a strict meal time and macro/calorie target every day, but (as you mentioned above) paying a little extra attention the next few days after a cheat day helps ensure you don't fall back into previous habits.

[you&me]

I'd been on IF since March with some great results, but with a new baby and major project with my business, I kinda fell off the wagon between Sept and the middle of Oct.

Your post is very inspiring, Bob! It will help me stay on track with my recent restart of IF again.

Congratulations, Bob!

[Misterman]

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.

As soon as it's viewed as a diet, your perception changes towards a results only mindset which makes it hard (IMO) to keep with it.

Unfortunately it appears as if most of you here are utilizing IF in exactly that manner, in a fad diet sense. Nothing wrong with it if you aren't overly concerned about your health, and mainly just weight loss. You're not trying to be in great shape or fit, just weigh less, then this will work. Half the battle is finding something that works. The best diet in the world won't work if you don't stick to it. But it definitely surprised me to see the way guys are eating while doing this IF diet when I opened the thread.

[ercchry]

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Unfortunately it appears as if most of you here are utilizing IF in exactly that manner, in a fad diet sense. Nothing wrong with it if you aren't overly concerned about your health, and mainly just weight loss. You're not trying to be in great shape or fit, just weigh less, then this will work. Half the battle is finding something that works. The best diet in the world won't work if you don't stick to it. But it definitely surprised me to see the way guys are eating while doing this IF diet when I opened the thread.

the reason fad diets dont work is cause you crave the things you cant have. if you dont need to set limitations on that its incredibly easy to stick to and becomes a lifestyle shift. im coming up on a year soon and havent yoyo'd at all. i have accepted my love of all food and beverages and i know at my age eating like a rabbit will never work for me. yeah, im never going to be competing in some sort of physical competition. but idgaf, thats not me. im just a regular guy who is able to keep his weight in check and still pig out at wing night at 30 years of age, while all my buddies i use to to the whole sports/gym/bs with are now packing on some serious guts due to no shift in eating patterns and many years stuck behind a desk.

but thanks for your comments and not adding anything constructive whatsoever. if you're such an expert... maybe try adding some knowledge instead?

[The Cosworth]

Well just broke my first officially tracked one at noon. Never ate a yogurt or banana so slowly in my life. LOL. I feel so fragile. Made it 15 hours only but didn't want to wreck it too much. Was at the game until about 930-10 otherwise I normally could have eaten around 10/11 am.

[tirebob]

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I'd been on IF since March with some great results, but with a new baby and major project with my business, I kinda fell off the wagon between Sept and the middle of Oct.

Your post is very inspiring, Bob! It will help me stay on track with my recent restart of IF again.

Congratulations, Bob!

Thanks man! Even just posting what you did helps inspire me more... That is the key I think. Staying inspired and helping each other along is everything!

[Misterman]

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the reason fad diets dont work is cause you crave the things you cant have. if you dont need to set limitations on that its incredibly easy to stick to and becomes a lifestyle shift. im coming up on a year soon and havent yoyo'd at all. i have accepted my love of all food and beverages and i know at my age eating like a rabbit will never work for me. yeah, im never going to be competing in some sort of physical competition. but idgaf, thats not me. im just a regular guy who is able to keep his weight in check and still pig out at wing night at 30 years of age, while all my buddies i use to to the whole sports/gym/bs with are now packing on some serious guts due to no shift in eating patterns and many years stuck behind a desk.

but thanks for your comments and not adding anything constructive whatsoever. if you're such an expert... maybe try adding some knowledge instead?

Why is everyone so fucking testy in this place? I guess car season is over so naturally people like us get bitchy.

Once again, nothing negative, if using IF simply as calorie limitation works for your goals, then that's awesome! Keep doing it! Kudos again.

My post was more just a query or odd observance. I was unaware that people were using this diet purely as portion control. Is that the way it is known to the general public? In the fitness industry it is being sold on it's scientific merits for how it affects blood sugar and GH production among other things. I'd have to say I have my doubts about it's benefits when applied in its intended sense by following a constructed diet with specific macros. It was actually always my hunch that most of the benefits people were seeing in the fitness world was due to unintended calorie restriction that naturally happens by only being allowed to eat for 8 hours a day.


You made an interesting comment about "eating like a rabbit won't work for you". That doesn't work for anybody. It's too bad misinformation like that is still so common, it's stuff like this that leads to these fad diets like this in the first place. The human body actually responds better to high calories, it's the main driver of your metabolism if your macros are in check.

[The Cosworth]

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Why is everyone so fucking testy in this place? I guess car season is over so naturally people like us get bitchy.

Hahah, you are frequenting the bitchiest threads and engaging in it (see flu shot thread). Just thought your comment was funny.

Carry on.

[ercchry]

To me rabbit food would be the spinach/kale/boiled chicken “healthy/clean eating” shit. It’s boring, I hate it. Butter is life

Also it’s not a calorie restriction thing. I can eat less, but if I do it with the old school “6 meals a day!” Bs it does nothing

The whole idea is that when the body isn’t digesting food in your stomach it’s able to do other thing, and also start to burn stores

My recovering time is insane when I do IF, I’m never sore. Because of this I can workout daily and my strength has tripled... my baseline wasn’t great though so not saying much as i’ve Had a massive laundry list of injuries over the years and haven’t seen a gym in over a decade. But what’s crazy, even when I was 16-19 and working out and playing football and rugby my waist is easily smaller now than it ever was then. It just works, my body loves.

[A790]

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The human body actually responds better to high calories, it's the main driver of your metabolism if your macros are in check.

Speaking of misinformation... ha.

Few questions for you:

1. Define "responds better". What specifically are you referring to?
2. So you're saying that if I keep my macros in check, I can eat a caloric surplus without fear of putting on weight?
3. Are you also suggesting that caloric restriction is ineffective with respect to weight loss?

[Misterman]

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Speaking of misinformation... ha.

Few questions for you:

1. Define "responds better". What specifically are you referring to?
2. So you're saying that if I keep my macros in check, I can eat a caloric surplus without fear of putting on weight?
3. Are you also suggesting that caloric restriction is ineffective with respect to weight loss?

1. Referring to fat loss
2. Not exactly what I was saying, but technically that is correct.
3. No. Caloric restriction is very effective for WEIGHT loss. However it is very ineffective for lasting FAT loss. That's a big issue with the industry, people try and use the words weight and fat synonymously. And they're not the same thing.

[A790]

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1. Referring to fat loss
2. Not exactly what I was saying, but technically that is correct.
3. No. Caloric restriction is very effective for WEIGHT loss. However it is very ineffective for lasting FAT loss. That's a big issue with the industry, people try and use the words weight and fat synonymously. And they're not the same thing.

1. Fair enough.

2. Horseshit. I can gain weight eating chicklen breasts and carrots if I eat 6k calories worth of them.

3. Fair enough.

[nissanK]

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Speaking of misinformation... ha.

Few questions for you:

1. Define "responds better". What specifically are you referring to?
2. So you're saying that if I keep my macros in check, I can eat a caloric surplus without fear of putting on weight?
3. Are you also suggesting that caloric restriction is ineffective with respect to weight loss?

With number 2, I think you're mixing up putting on weight(broad generalization) with increasing LEAN body mass.

And your statement is a bit contradictory. If you're watching your macros *which are based on your goals ie weight loss or muscle gain* then you will never technically have a calorie surplus. They go hand in hand.