There are a variety of factors to consider:

Even though you're not lifting really heavy you're still putting your body into a catabolic state. If you're doing 14-16 hour fasts I doubt it matters much. If you're doing 20-24 hour fasts it matters more.

Second factor - how long is your lifting session? What kind of effort are you putting in? The longer the session the more you're contributing towards depleting liver glycogen.

Assuming your goal is to maintain your muscle mass you only need to lift one time a week to do so. Depending on the answers above I think you might be better off lifting once a week and on a day when you can eat shortly after lifting and doing something else for exercise when you can't.


Putting all theoretical wanking aside - I doubt it makes much if any difference. The important thing would be that after a lifting session that first meal should have a lot of protein and ample carbs.

Thanks John. My window is around 16-18 hours. Lifting sessions are usually 45 minutes and I lift to failure- the basics (squats, lunges, pushups, lat pull down, press, row, etc.).

My goal is to maintain, with my ideal goal to build. However I'm on 1200 calories/day right now so I don't think that's quite realistic ^_^.

I like your idea of only lifting 1x/week and opening my window earlier. Couldn't hurt!

I just had another weigh-in and was down 2.5 lbs. This puts me into ONEderland...yay! I just disclosed to the ladies I work with that I only eat between 1-7pm and they started lecturing me about how my body was going into starvation mode, etc...I am sticking by my plan. It's working for me, I am seeing terrific results and don't plan to change anything anytime soon!

Good going AndLy!

Oh AndLy That is awesome.... Happy Dance for you!!!

YES, stick with your plan. It's amazing people always want to give you some other advice after you discover what WORKS for you.

Again! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!

I agree IF really does work. I am an IF'er for life.

@Visionary (your venting)

There are a lot of people like that around. I think that they just don't realise how important your diet is to you and that you're sticking with it!

You could always try explaining to them that it has worked for you so far and that you won't change it

Hi IFers! This is how I used to eat when I was a skinny mini, I just thought I was a weird eater. But I like to eat BIG MEALS when I eat. A bite of this and a bite of that is not where I stop and my dad is the same way. Half my family has the normal eating genes and my dad and I have the genes that prefer to have one morsel and unleash the wild horses! I much prefer not dealing with food for a period of time and then eating whatever I want.

So I'm glad this is a way of eating people do! So count me in, I'll be following this thread.

I was wondering if anyne out here does Eat Stop Eat? It's intermittent fasting with two fasts of 24 hours in the week. I also wouldn't eat breakfast most days I'm assuming. I never did when I was younger. Plus I have a habit of eating all of my calories in the morning and at night and that generally puts me 1,000 calories over my goal most days.

Anyway, let me know your thoughts, it's always nice to have a bouncing board for my food thoughts.

I should also say, a couple months ago I lost 15 pounds through calorie counting. I basically had to white knuckle myself through the whole thing and run five-six miles a day to do it. While I have only gained back two pounds over the past couple months, my progress has halted. It is just very very very hard for me to stop and start eating all day, as I'm sure it is for many IFers. Even three meals at about 600 cals each is unsatisfying to me most days.

@purdumse The reason I like IF so well is that my appetite stays under control. It is like that first meal triggers my eating and cravings. I don't know much about Eat Stop Eat. Have read some but have never tried it. I read the Fast-5 ebook, and decided to try it. I was amazed at how easy it was. I think not eating until 5 PM keeps my appetite under control. Most days, I don't even think about food until close to "feeding time."

You still have to count calories. IF isn't a magic bullet. It is MANAGING those calories that is easier with IF. Instead of taking your 1500 calories (or whatever your number is) and trying to spread them over 16 hours, you can have a couple decent sized meals and feel more satisfied. That is the case with me at any rate.

Good luck!

Congrats AndLy!

Thanks to JohnP and indiblue for addressing the post work out protein. I do a bodypump class 3 times a week. Not cause I'm focusing on building muscle or anything but more because it's fun and makes me feel tough!

Hello ~

I'm a newbie to IF and am currently 3 hours away from completely my first 16 hour fast. I am going to work with a window of 8 hours 1 pm to 9 pm for eating to start. That alone is a huge change for me ~ I generally open the 'fridge straight from bed (sigh).

I eventually want to work up to 24 hour fasts but am going to go this route to start. Nothing else has seemed to work for me and I've been reading about so much success with this so....

I will work to switch my window to 11 am to 7 pm so that I'm not eating so late at night. Any advice on how to do this other than just do it?

Thanks all!

I don't have any specific advice on moving your window other than maybe adjust it by 15 minutes a day until you have moved it to the time you are wanting to start at. Good luck with IF, I'm down over 30 lbs total

@Mickiejean The only thing I would say is that the myth of late night eating having anything to do with weight loss/gain has been debunked by several studies. So I wouldn't worry about moving your window back unless it is more convenient for you or if eating before bed bothers you physically. I'm one who sleeps like a baby on a full stomach and that is the way I do it. I do fast five with an eating window of 5 PM to 10 PM.

Andly: Congratulations! I totally hear you and struggle with the same issue when I tell people. Sigh.

KT: Better appetite control is exactly what has happened to me too and even after slipping off for a few weeks due to emotional eating, I have maintained my weightloss instead of gaining. I totally agree with you about counting calories though and that this is management. You have hit the nail on the head.

I am having such a problem with stress eating. Since starting IF, I know definitely that my main problem is emotional eating. The one thing that is completely different since I began this woe is that even though I have left it several weeks ago for an erratic eating schedule, I have maintained the weightloss, even lost a pound, that I had when I stopped.

It feels so good to be back on it though and I need to find a way to get my mind in a better place since the stress is not going away. Yeah IF!

I do intermittent "fasts" of as many hours as I can muster but I don't do the Fast Five as there is no magic for me in a five hour window. But the more I can spread my calories out the better I manage them and I also like the relief of having larger meals but I am so past the myth of eating every few hours. My glucose control is better when I DON'T do that. I don't know why.