Intermittent Fasting

[yankfan]

Has anyone ever heard of this before? If so has anyone tried it? My exercise science teacher does one fast every week, and I recalled him discussing one day in class this semester, so I decided to give it a shot. I did my first Fast yesterday and it wasn't too bad. It is essentially no caloric intake for anywhere from 16-24 hours in a day, and doing this every once in a while maybe every week, every other week, etc. I ate my last meal on Tuesday around 7 pm, then didn't eat again until around 5 pm the following day. The proposed benefits are increased longevity, increase insulin sensitivity, induce an increase in Autophagy during the fast (lysosomes break down various waste products in your cells and in your body) which reduces oxidative stress, decrease risk of CV disease and Diabetes, and increase brain function. Ah, and help people lose fat, and gain lean muscle mass, if you exercise of course.

Unfortunately there isn't much Human research on this, most of the studies I found were done on rats :wall: but I do think (hope) there will be more research coming out on this topic. It seems to make sense in theory. Allow your body to focus on cleaning up the waste in your body, instead of constantly putting more calories in and having it metabolize the food. What I thought was interesting when I first heard of this was the fact that our dogs have been "fasting" most of there lives, and so far they have both lived to be 20 years old. After our dogs were fully grown, we would only feed them once a day, around 6 pm. It has been that way ever since and they seem like they are in it for the long haul Could be unrelated, but interesting to think about. Also I know this isn't a magic bullet type of protocol, you can't just fast, and then go eat a boat load of shit food, but I do find that this could be beneficial if paired with a healthy diet/lifestyle.

 

[Th3 Maelstr0m]

Check out leangains.com & Brad Pilon. They are the two leading guys on this topic.

 

[yankfan]

I have heard of Brad's book Eat Stop Eat, I'll check out leangains.com too. Thanks

 

[Diamondback 2/2]

I can't remember the group that did the study, but the technique that was being discussed on intermittent fasting was: eat day followed by low calorie day. Basically eat what you want Mon-Wen-Fri, reduce calorie intake (600 or less) Tue-Thu-Sat and rotate your Sun.

The way it was explained was that it keeps your system guessing and causes your body to continually burn fat.

I've been planning to do a variation of the above after the first of the year.

My plan is:

4 days of 100 calories or less.

Followed by off/on days of 2500-2800 calories during high-cal day, with 600-800 calories during low-cal days.

I'm going to give it a 30-45 day run and see what the results are, my main concern is maintaining energy and not feeling like I am actually starved all the time.

 

[yankfan]

Sounds interesting. So are you saying you will do 4 days in a row of 100 calories or less to start it off? And then after that you will start alternating the low cal/high cal days? Or maybe I am just reading it wrong. Also, what would your workout schedule look like with regards to this high cal/low cal schedule? Sorry for all the questions at once just curious.

 

[Diamondback 2/2]

Sounds interesting. So are you saying you will do 4 days in a row of 100 calories or less to start it off? And then after that you will start alternating the low cal/high cal days? Or maybe I am just reading it wrong. Also, what would your workout schedule look like with regards to this high cal/low cal schedule? Sorry for all the questions at once just curious.

Yes that basically it, workout schedule is just trying to stay active, stay on my feet, etc....I'm a broke dick and lazy, so I do not do much, although I should be.

 

[yankfan]

Gotcha, sounds good. If you could, let me know how it is/how you feel once you get into it. Those first 4 days sound like they are gonna be rough. I may try something similar to what you will be doing with regards to the low cal/high cal days.

 

[MilkTruckCoPilot]

I would just like to point out that food quality, sleep and smart training should be at the top of the list before IF. If your sleep is not in order then your fatloss is going to be cockblocked.

That being said, I do a 16/8 version of IF but I'm not a Nazi with it. I dip into a fast out of necessity as well, I was on the road and went 6-7 hours between meals. I think it's another tool but certainly something should be placed at 4 or 5 on the priority list.

OP, there is some research indicating lower testosterone levels in those that fast for extended periods. I'll see if I can dig it up. Mark Sisson has a 6-7 part series on IF at marksdailyapple.

 

[yankfan]

I agree completely. I make sure I always get at least 8 hours of sleep and make sure the food I am eating is not bad quality (as much as I can for being a college student with a small budget). As far as training goes, when doing the 16/8 IF, when do you workout? During your 8 hour eating window? I am always paying attention to getting the pre and post nutrients needed for workouts and recovery

 

[MilkTruckCoPilot]

Yea, I'm training during the window. Cardio is always done fasted in the morning. When I lift in the evenings I just make sure that I eat around 2 hours prior to the session.

 

[booker]

I hit met cons in the fasted window and leave strength training for after eating. I really like the leangains approach, but as MTCP said, you can't IFOC (IF on crap). Don't be super strict with it for too long of a time or else your hormonal response(s) will get out of sync. I typically IF 2 or 3 days a week, and when traveling (especially flying) and it seems to work best for me, but YMMV (n=1). Mike ODonnell (http://www.theiflife.com/) is a really good source of information as well.

 

[yankfan]

Awesome, thanks guys. And thanks for the link to theiflife booker

 

[SkrewzLoose]

I like eating too much to try fasting...
I am going to try a bit of a "system cleanse" once I get back from Christmas leave. I'll probably be pretty cranky over that weekend...

 

[yankfan]

I hear you, I did start getting a bit hangry nearing the end of my fast the other day

 

[MilkTruckCoPilot]

FYI if you know there is going to be a period in which you have to take a long drive, flight or go a lengthy period of time without eating due to poor food choices, no food ect then I recommend eating a meal high in fat prior. This will slow down digestion and keep you full. Once one becomes fat adapted, fasting is easy and being fat adapted means running on a nice even keel with energy.

 

[Gypsy]

The way it was explained was that it keeps your system guessing and causes your body to continually burn fat.

I've heard just the opposite when you continuously fast, your body goes into a starvation mode and stores everything you eat. Which makes sense to me.

I like eating too much to try fasting...
I am going to try a bit of a "system cleanse" once I get back from Christmas leave. I'll probably be pretty cranky over that weekend...

Eat clean, as in zero processed foods of any type. Veggies, lean proteins and fruit, legumes and the occasional handful of almonds (in raw form). I feel great when I eat like this, and when I don't I can definitely feel the difference. On the plus side I've lost 30 lbs while building muscle.

 

[Polar Bear]

I've heard just the opposite when you continuously fast, your body goes into a starvation mode and stores everything you eat. Which makes sense to me.



Eat clean, as in zero processed foods of any type. Veggies, lean proteins and fruit, legumes and the occasional handful of almonds (in raw form). I feel great when I eat like this, and when I don't I can definitely feel the difference. On the plus side I've lost 30 lbs while building muscle.

You are correct your body shuts down and tries to store for future use. I am living proof, I don't really eat shitty but will not eat for days or very little because of work and stress this year. Pack on 20 lbs of FAT

 

[booker]

Continual fasting does result in down regulation of metabolism, but the body of research behind intermittent fasting indicates that down regulation isn't as likely to occur. However, intermittent fasting can cause adrenal stress (catecholamine issues) and isn't the best thing for females over the long haul.

Be careful to not the mistake of correlation and causation, stress is a more likely culprit than the lack of eating in the increase in weight. Cortisol can wreak havoc on your system.

As stated above, you can't IFOC, you still have to eat "clean". Again, most of the dietary the things we are talking about are 99% of the time a N=1 matter, so you have to tweak things to suit you and your situation.

If you want to look a little deeper into the research: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=intermittent+fasting

 

[CQB]

It's certainly come a long way since I used to do it some time ago. The approach was simple, fruit a day before to slow the bod down, fast day with water only, then fruit on the third day to start the engine again. I recall feeling quite good but not being able to do a great deal. I'm not to sure if I could do four days on 100 calories though.

 

[Diamondback 2/2]

The 4 day 100cal deal is not for diet, its a cleansing deal.

The high cal/low cal is not a stop eating (I.e. starve yourself) diet, you are still eating but just limiting the calorie intake. Its different than shutting your body down, etc.

As for weight gains/losses from eating or not eating. Just about every nutritionist I've ever spoke with states the major issue with peoples weight problems is based around the type and amount food they eat. Also what they drink in calories.

I'm not totally up to speed on IF, hint the reason I'm going to try it out. I can't state anything as fact or anything of a sort. Just trying to find something that works with my life style, eating habits, and that won't disrupt the rest of the household.

I read one study (can't remember where) watched a few videos online and spoke with my nutritionist and came up with the low/high cal diet. I'll post my thoughts on it after 30-45 days.