IF (Intermittent Fasting) Support Group Part II
 

I wanted to respond to the diabetes issue. It is surprising for many people to discover that fewer larger meals allows your body to better regulate blood sugar levels.

I'm sure it isn't the case for everyone but here is a bit of a review on some research.

http://www.leangains.com/2011/01/bet...ower-meal.html

IF Has Really Helped Me.
 

Thanks for that posting John.

It's amazing, that I have been a diabetic for so long and that with all the diets and weight loss my sugar never went down to where it should be. Only after IF did I accomplish this.

I also noticed that with IF I am not hungry all the time like I used to be and I am enjoying my healthy meals so much more.

I am following a 12-6 daily eating time. I use to hate to make myself eat breakfast and I always had a problem with night time eating. IF is the only thing that has ever solved these issues.

I feel so much better and my weight loss has been steady and smooth with IF.

I do have a question, if anyone knows the answer. Is taking any kind of supplements at night or not during eating times discouraged? I am assuming it is but would love some feedback on it.

Glad to find the thread! I was starting to sweat ;) I have a friend who is hypoglycemic. She decided to give IF a try and hasn't had one episode since she started (Fast 5). She used to average a couple of "spells" a week from it.

Visionary - congratulations! That is amazing! So glad IF is working so well for you! IF is life-changing!

VISIONARY - Congratulations!!!!

I can only tell you that I take meds and vitamins with my IF meals, to discourage breaking the IF habit I worked so hard to build and if I take them without food I feel sick. On a side note, if I am sick and need to take meds outside of my IF mealtime then I will have something small, like a fruit and icecold seltzer water, to take with it.

What kind of supplements? I only take fish oil pills and occasionally a multi-vitmin.

I have been reading leangains website and am wondering about fasted workouts and muscle protein synthesis. Sometimes I think that the things I'm reading might be geared more toward body building or already very fit people vs. someone overweight.

I workout in the mornings till about 10:30 then try to get home and have my protein smoothie (EAS plus fruit and omega oil and greens) within 30 min. as recommended in most places. But it seemed like he was saying that

1.) It's ok to have a pre-work out BCAA drink which I realize is not the same as a regular protein shake. But as a nonbodybuilder is a regular protein shake ok? Is there anything you recommend? Will taking BCAA vs. protein shake make a difference?

2.)You don't need your post protein within 30 minutes of workout because you will get the same benefits if you get your protein within 2 hours.

I realize just moving and getting in the exercise is the most important but sometimes I feel like I might have a little more energy or have a little more efficient workout if I eat something before hand. But I don't want to ruin the IF process. So far I have been doing my workouts only drinking water before and during. My eating window is from about 11am to 6-7pm. thanks!

In response to my earlier question, I have my IF eat time from 1-6 and will give myself a 12-5 window if needed ( Having lunch w someone or just need to eat).

I used to like to take a detox supplement before bed and just don't know if I should do it on a IF plan. I was not doing it every night just if I felt I needed an extra detox boost through the night into the morning. I can drink detox tea... no calories and a liquid. But is a tablet or capsule ok? or should I just stay away from it to keep the integrity of my IF plan.

I am so happy with the results so far, I want to stay with what is protocol.

Also, thank you for the nice encouragement.

As happy as I am with my weight loss, I am BLOWN AWAY by how IF has helped my diabetes!

I continue to love IF. I'm on week 4 and have done approximately 2 24hr fasts each week, and have a 6 hour daily window. I'm down 21.5 lbs and feel great. I'm glad to see all the newbies in here and love reading the successes :)

@luvinit The info on the leangains site re BCAA's or protein are referring to workouts where people are lifting heavy. The site says light to moderate workouts while fasting are fine without supplementation with BCAA's or protein shakes. Unless you are lifting hard and heavy at the gym or doing highly aerobic workouts, you won't need to take anything. I.e. I walk on my lunch hour, lift some hand weights in the AM and don't eat until 5 PM.

As for the fast, BCAA's aren't considered to break the fast. A protein shake will. Hope this helps!

@Visionary Eating 50 calories or more is considered to have "broken the fast." If your pills and teas don't have more than 50 calories total you should be fine taking them in the fasting window. Guess it's a matter of whether they should be taken with food. A lot of vitamins and supplements need to be taken with food to be effective, but some don't.

Folks - would you recommend BCAAs for someone with a physical job who has hit a wall towards the end of the day and dragging their feet towards the last few hours - or strictly for high intensity workouts/weights?

I think SOME days I'm just going to need SOMETHING to keep me going at work - at least for the first month or so - just trying to figure out what the best something would be to keep myself in as much of a fasted state as possible and keep me losing weight.

This is something I think I may try...

I have an odd schedule, since I'm a night-shift nurse (11p-7:30a). I usually wake up around 4, do some errands, gym from 7-8:15, come home, eat, shower, go to work, get home around 8am and sleep. I think IF would work if I made my window 6p-11p (or something like that), b/c I could have a pre-gym snack, an energy drink at the gym, a protein shake when I get home from the gym, a Fullbar (love those) and my dinner meal all before I go to work. I'm usually so busy at work that I don't have time to eat anyways, and if I do, it's junk. I think eating a lot within a few hours would be better, and keep me full through work. Well, I'll let you guys know how it goes! :)

Originally Posted by deucesarewild1:
Folks - would you recommend BCAAs for someone with a physical job who has hit a wall towards the end of the day and dragging their feet towards the last few hours - or strictly for high intensity workouts/weights?

I think SOME days I'm just going to need SOMETHING to keep me going at work - at least for the first month or so - just trying to figure out what the best something would be to keep myself in as much of a fasted state as possible and keep me losing weight.

Yes - I would suggest eating. Your post suggests you don't understand how fat loss works. Fasting doesn't induce some magical state of weight loss or change the laws of thermodynamics. You can fast for 20 hours and eat for four hours and gain fat if you eat enough during the 4 hours. Calories matter. IF does nothing to change this.

If you're running out of steam than adopt a shorter fasting period. You don't have to fast for 24 hours or 20 hours or 19 hours for IF to work. I follow a 16/8 window. A 14/10 window works good too.

Thank you KTucke7, That really helped and it makes sense.

Haha.. I do understand how it works. I know it all comes down to calories in and calories out - that you could should you really want to, eat doughnuts and twinkies all day and lose weight if you keep within calories.

My reason for wanting to use IF to HELP me lose weight (not magically make me lose weight) is that if I eat throughout the day, I will definitely overeat - and I will feel near constant hunger no matter how much I eat - not to mention, stopping to eat takes away precious time (=$$) from my work day :P . IF is the only way Ive found that keeps hunger at bay through the day. Also, I want to keep my window as short as possible as I like to go to bed on a full stomach and the smaller my window the easier it is to control my hunger and appetite and keep my calorie intake lower.

That said, I dont want to be underperforming at work where the faster and harder I go, the more money I make. I do not work on hourly or on salary, I get paid based on my performance and speed. I thought BCAAs might be an alternative to eating near the end of my work day to keep my energy up but my appetite and hunger down, especially considering the physical intensity. Like I said I prefer to eat later in the evening, it works for me socially and mentally and fits in perfectly with my lifestyle, except for the last 1-2 hour stretch the end of the work day. If I adopt a longer eating window, it will be much harder to control things. I am currently on 18/6 window, give or take here and there.

@deucesarewild I drink green tea all day at work. Seems to help with alertness and with appetite control too. On the other hand, BCAA's won't hurt you and might be worth a try if you need something and can't fit eating into your schedule. Drawback to BCAA's would be cost for me.

BCAAs won't help with energy levels. Green tea is a decent idea and worth a try but if it works it will work because of the caffeine.

I know that caffeine would work but it's a slippery slope because sooner or later your body will adjust to the dose and you'll have to up it to get the same effect.

How long have you been IFing? It could be that your body just needs to adjust to using fat as it's primary source of fuel during the fast.

Originally Posted by JohnP:
BCAAs won't help with energy levels. Green tea is a decent idea and worth a try but if it works it will work because of the caffeine.

I know that caffeine would work but it's a slippery slope because sooner or later your body will adjust to the dose and you'll have to up it to get the same effect.

How long have you been IFing? It could be that your body just needs to adjust to using fat as it's primary source of fuel during the fast.

I do drink a lot of coffee :^:

I have been IFing only days this time but I have done it in the past, but then I didnt have this job either. Im sure I will adjust in time, and my question was aimed at getting me through the next month, maybe two. I may throw in an apple in the first couple weeks and wean off. Caffeine alone hasnt been cutting it in those last hours.

Even if I did end up having to have an apple a day before my break-fast it would not make IFing the rest of the time an unworthy cause. Im sure in some time Id be able to remove it completely.

Thanks!

Hello, I'm starting IF again. I like not eating all day. When I was on a diet, I would have 5 to 6 small meals a day. It takes money and time to prepare meals. I like the 5 hour window for eating. This time I will watch my portion size. In my fasting time, I would drink oblong tea and water with lemon juice. Today is my first day back on IF. Thank you for starting the new thread.

I have a question...

When you are fasting what things do you intake that you enjoy?
( Looking for some alternatives to water, tea, coffee...)

I have such a huge variety of tea's mostly green teas. I enjoy them, but would like to find some other things that others would suggest and stay on Fasting protocol.

Best ideas win a prize... well I don't have a prize but you'll be a winner just for coming up with any good ideas that we can all share!:carrot:

I do cold tea as well as hot and make cold brewed iced coffee and mix different types of tea, try a fruit mixed with green or white or oolong or an herbal sweet tea gosh there are so many teas out there that you could never get bored with all the combinations - club soda w/ lime or lemon juice is one of my favourite drinks and some evenings I'll add vodka to that soda.

I'm not an artificial sweetener fan but there are a lot of drink mixes with them and diet soda - but BLECH imo.

Just curious, I usually eat 1-2 regular meals and then have a few healthy snacks such as nuts when I am in my eating window. I'll even graze on protein if I feel hungry.

I notice I am not eating as much, which is a very good thing. I do believe I am getting enough food and nutrition.

Just curious what works for others during your eating times.

Thank you for your input KTucke7! I like his blog but sometimes all the terminology gets confusing.

Originally Posted by luvinit:
Thank you for your input KTucke7! I like his blog but sometimes all the terminology gets confusing.

Any questions just ask. I'm somewhat certain I can answer most of them. :D

Ok, since I am new to IF, I have been strict with my times and it works for me.

I am having great results and never felt better.


It is interesting how a few people, including well intentioned family members are trying to get me to eat outside my time window.

I felt so upset and didn't even want to go to eat with them after the told me to loosen up and eat later. Anyone else have people you care about that just don't get it and try to get you off the plan? Does it make you feel a bit upset when people do that?

Just curious and venting a bit.

Thanks.

Hey IFers!

I have asked this question before- and so have others- but want to confirm what I think is the answer....

I lift 2x a week. My 8-10 RM range is bench around 52 lbs, squat around 66 lbs, etc. I don't know my 1 RM- the weights in the gym I use aren't heavy enough. I think this is considered moderate for women?

From what I understand, this is not heavy enough to require protein within a few hours of lifting correct? I can lift around 8-9 AM and not open my window until 1 or 2 PM, without detriment to my muscles?

Thanks!

Hey guys.. I started doing this and Tuesday was my first day. I feel great and I think this is something that I can stick to. I have a question regarding times. I like the 3-8 window because I dont think I can hold off anymore than 3pm but I usually get off of work and hit the gym or the running trails. That will usually get me home around 8. So in reality I have a 6 hour window.... that sound ok?

Also.. is it a good idea to have one day be an off day? Like eat three meals?

thanks!

I would avoid an off day personally. Your body really gets used to the fast/feast schedule and eating "normally" one day would probably throw you off for a few days and you wont be able to fully adjust to the IF lifestyle.

That said, today I did have to eat during the day as the painkillers I had to take would make me sick to my stomach without eating, and there are some social events where you have to / want to eat - go for it. It sure wont sabotage all of your hard work, but I wouldn't personally go out of my way to have a 3 meals over 16 hours day every week.

Originally Posted by indiblue:
Hey IFers!

I have asked this question before- and so have others- but want to confirm what I think is the answer....

I lift 2x a week. My 8-10 RM range is bench around 52 lbs, squat around 66 lbs, etc. I don't know my 1 RM- the weights in the gym I use aren't heavy enough. I think this is considered moderate for women?

From what I understand, this is not heavy enough to require protein within a few hours of lifting correct? I can lift around 8-9 AM and not open my window until 1 or 2 PM, without detriment to my muscles?

Thanks!

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. :D 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!!! :carrot:

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

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! ;)