Originally Posted by KTucke7:
I don't doze off at my desk like I do once in awhile when I'm not fasting. Are you eating a lot of protein during your window or a lot of carbs? Carbs tend to make me spacey.

Protien mostly. I would say about 60gs during the window. Maybe it is something else.

reflux?
 

[QUOTE=rubidoux;4769567

Another thing I've been doing that is supposed to help reflux is that I have a T of apple cider vinegar a couple of times a day. It's really odd that it helps reflux bc it feels like the last thing you'd want, but it really works for some people. Reflux can be caused by either too much or too little acid and ACV is good if you have too little. I was convinced I had too much bc that's what it feels like, but I guess not.

[/QUOTE]

Rubidoux I was just going to suggest this! cider vinegar is very helpful tho I do put the cider vinegar in water and tend to sip it throughout the day having a bit more before and after I have something that aggravates like coffee or tea. I do about 1 tbsp per 8 oz of water.

I also find it works better to use the Braggs vinegar--it is very mild compared to generic cider vinegar and works very well.

I am doing the alternate day fast--2000/500 loosely and on my 500 day I do have some increased reflux if I drink coffee.


And Hi everybody! I am new to this thread (and IF) and wanted to get some support. I have been reading some of the older posts to see how everyone else is doing.

Cheers

So back a ways on this thread we were talking about women and fasting. Brad Pilon (author of Eat Stop Eat) posted this on Facebook. Since Martin went crazy Brad is the person who seems to have the most experience with fasting from a practical standpoint so his words are probably worth heeding ...

I've really, really been trying to save this for the new ESE update...but since it's building up considerable steam I'm going to make a quick comment on the whole women and fasting thing, but please keep in mind that the full explanation is a chapter in the next ESE...

The main point is this is not unique to women.

At all.

Lowered levels of reproductive hormones, lethargy, exhaustion, metabolic disturbances all happens to both sexes when you have overdone a prolonged calorie deficit. This is not specific to fasting, nor is it specific to women (it's just more easily identifiable in women since men don't have a monthly 'marker' of reproductive health).

It can happen with normal dieting, or even when you are not dieting on purpose but simply cannot meet the caloric demands of your activity level or when your body fat levels simply drop below healthy levels for the demands you are currently placing on your body (man or woman).

It's a very strong signal from your body that you are overdoing it.

Not overdoing fasting, or dieting, or exercising, or work stress or life stress, but overdoing ALL of it.

The stress is cumulative.

Diets and exercise are not building blocks - please don't stack one on-top of the other.

In no way do I support the idea of a Eat-Stop-Eat-LeanGains-Paleo-Vegan-CarbCycling-Cleansing-Diet combined with Powerlifting-toughmuddertraining-bodybuildingcentric-crossfit-pilates-olympic-lifting workouts.

Each and everyone is a stress you place on your body. For that stress to be positive there must be recovery. That's why Eat Stop Eat is designed the way it is. One OR two fasts per week. No heavy dieting in between your fasts. Not fasting for two consecutive days. Weight training 2 to 4 times per week.

Fasting is a form of training -just like exercise. It's simple and effective, but it also needs recovery time.

It doesn't matter if you are fasting or not fasting - too much stress, not enough recovery will eventually produce negative results. And, the stress doesn't have to be physical - emotional stress can have the exact same result.

So please - A) take it easy on yourself. B) Please don't let the quick answer of 'it was the fasting' mask the other issues/stresses in your life that may be compromising your health. Man or Woman.

It's your choice:

Stress + recovery = Improvement

or

Stress + Stress + Stress + Stress = Compromised health.

When did Martin go crazy?

Originally Posted by krampus:
When did Martin go crazy?

I'm not sure it's probably been a long time but he officially fell off the deep end around the beginning of this year ... seems to be related to when the 8 hour diet book came out, ripping off all his ideas...

Originally Posted by MisterMisfit:
So I've started IF for the first time in my life. I'm on the fifth day now and it's getting easier. The first 72 hours of calorie restriction was insane. I was like an insane drug addict getting tied up. Surprisingly, I have NOT binged.

I feel very empowered to take such drastic control over my eating. Some think I will fall off the wagon and binge like crazy. I'm still hungry right now but the urge to eat and "pain" from hunger is less intense. I hope it gets easier. I have been enjoying my limited meals a lot.

What IF plan are you following?

By the way - on another thread I saw people talking about how you would not be able to sustain 1,000 calories for any length of time. If you are eating a variety of whole foods, with a focus on protein, there is no reason you can't meet all your nutrtional needs on 1,000 calories a day as a 5'8" male, even being fairly active.

You will be hungry though. So the potential to rebound into a binge is a real one.

Originally Posted by MisterMisfit:
Is a restrictive calorie diet along the same lines as intermediate fasting?

Intermittent fasting (not intermediate fasting) simply means you only eat during a certain period of time and fast the rest.

If you're eating during the fast period, you're not fasting. However, it doesn't make any difference as there is no magic to intermittent fasting.

Originally Posted by MisterMisfit:
Is a restrictive calorie diet along the same lines as intermediate fasting? I've been eating only a little raw fruit for breakfast, a vegetable dish for late lunch and then a little bit of raw fruit for dinner.

Actually no.

Fasting is the idea of eating all your calories during a certain window. This keeps the amount of insulin release down. Even if you are eating low calories if you are eating 5 x per day over 12 hours or so... you are causing a release of insulin 5 x per day.

So fasting is going a certain period without food and then only eating all your calories (whatever that might be) during a short window (where presumably the insulin release will be lower)

PS you should eat more protein. Not only because you need that for many different issues but also protein has a high thermogenic effect. IE your body had to do more work to digest that as opposed to carbs or fat. And of course, causes less of an insulin release as fruit does.

Originally Posted by JohnP:
What IF plan are you following?
By the way - on another thread I saw people talking about how you would not be able to sustain 1,000 calories for any length of time. If you are eating a variety of whole foods, with a focus on protein, there is no reason you can't meet all your nutrtional needs on 1,000 calories a day as a 5'8" male, even being fairly active.

Thank you for saying that. I gave this poster a IM but I lost my weight via a medically supervised plan that was under 1000 cals but nutritionally balanced with vitamins and protien.

I had very little problem doing that for 6+ months. In addition, this plan has been around for 30+ years and thousands of people have lost weight on it under 1000 cals.

IMHO the evidence stacks up that eating too much is bad for you while calorie restriction, far from being per se disordered eating, can be good for you. As long as you make sure you are getting what you need in terms of macro and micronutrients.

Oh and I maintained for one year. Since May I have been trying to lose 20 more and I am down 6.

Originally Posted by MisterMisfit:
Is a restrictive calorie diet along the same lines as intermediate fasting? I've been eating only a little raw fruit for breakfast, a vegetable dish for late lunch and then a little bit of raw fruit for dinner. My window of eating is between 6-8 hours. I do experience a lot of hunger late at night. If I can't handle it, I eat a little bit of fresh fruit. Any input on this? Should I stop the small snacking and stick to the fast? I will try to increase my protein intake though. I know it is low.

Intermittent fasting is where you fast for a period, eat for a period, whatever those periods may be. It doesn't mean just trying to eat 800 calories for a month, yeah?

Did you read the replies? It's not a fast if you eat, even if it's a very low number of calories. An example of intermittent fasting would be to eat normally one day, then eat nothing the next. You don't eat meals during a fast.

I'm trying to put things simply for you to understand as you just don't seem to. However, as your disregard for any advice given to you is clear I'll no longer attempt reply to you.

Originally Posted by MisterMisfit:
Of course I read the responses. Why are you constantly talking down to me in your responses? There are different IF plans. I'm trying to do daily intermittent fasting aka "16/8."

In the PM to me you said 3 - 7 PM.

Here in this thread you said 2 - 7 PM.

I'm going to suggest 2 - 10 PM.

Also, I think you're being fat too sensative. No one is trying to talk you down. They are questioning your plan.

MisterMisfit/Andy- As many people have already pointed out to you, they are not angry at you for doing IF, they are upset with you because you are ignoring their advice and not even thanking anyone for taking the time to reply and be helpful. A little gratitude goes a LONG way here especially if you want to have members help you and give you advice etc.

As for the IF, you are not FASTING if you are eating during the FASTING period which is from 7pm to 2pm. Now if you're constantly hungry then move around your time, my old window used to be 2pm to 10pm and I ate ALL of my calories (1300-1500) and you being a 23 year old male, you NEED more calories. You're just starving yourself right now and setting up yourself for failure. I am not going to respond to you after this post because you're just ridiculous, really. People like you make me want to leave 3FC sometimes but thank goodness for the ignore button!

GL!

Personally I had quite a bit of difficulty adjusting to training while in a fasted state... and had a few "almost" disastrous workouts... My main focus these days is my running, so I was attempting runs in the morning during my 16/8 routine where I was fasting from 8pm to 12pm the next day (my eating window would normally be from 12pm to 8pm)

Through some trial and error... as well as training with a HRM I've found that if I keep my HR in the 65% to 75% range of my max HR and keep my workouts to about 60 minutes or less and drink a non caloric electrolyte replacement drink, especially now in the warmer weather I do fine... and I consider them to be pretty good "fat burning" workouts...