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Thread: Intermittent Fasting? (IF)

  1. #1
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    Intermittent Fasting? (IF)

    Those who have tried it care to comment?

    I'm fairly fit already, workout regularly, and eat pretty good (beer weakness notwithstanding). I'm within 5-7 pounds of my "fighting weight" (and I maintain that with some effort), so I'm not looking for some miracle diet or massive lifestyle change, but I'm curious enough to try something different. Conventional wisdom talks about 6 meals a day (which I subscribe to - and have done with success).

    But being the open minded, 21st Century, global citizen that I am (right?), I'm open to trying this to see how it affects *me*. I searched this forum and read some of the flamewars in the diet threads and did a search for IF specifically. I've read much of leangains.com and bodyrecomposition, so all I'm looking for is some personal experience and success/fail stories in this particular group. From reading here, it seems some have tried it.
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    Certainly there is no hunting like the hunting of man and those who have hunted armed men long enough and liked it, never really care for anything else thereafter. -- Ernest Hemingway

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    You'll just be tired when you fast, and if you do it to the point where you lose weight your cal maintenance will go down, so you will gain it back when you stop the intermittent fasting. The problem with any diet that greatly limits calories is you will lose at much lean body mass as fat, so even if you see results on the scale you won't look any better, feel any better, or be in better shape anyway. 6 meals a day is good. Just eat cleaner and you will get fast results.

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    I disagree. IF works and many people have a lot of success with it. The whole 6 meals a day makes sense only if you are trying to keep your caloric intake under 500 per meal in order to avoid an increased insulin response. The whole "keep your metabolism up" is bull from what Ive seen lately.

    Like any diet involving calorie restriction it should be cycled a few weeks on (2-3) and one week off in order to avoid having your body adjust to the lower intake.

    -Rick

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    More than weight loss, IF is best suited for detoxification, cleansing and cell purification... all related to your overall health. Now days, with the "manufactured food" we have, IF can help you live longer and be more healthy...

    Rmpl
    "Our destruction... will be from another quarter. From the inattention of the people to the concerns of their government, from their carelessness and negligence..."
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    I'm a fitness and nutrition professional, 16 years running.

    Fasting is probably the WORST thing you can do to your metabolism and lean muscle mass.

    Combine all the elements of the top accepted dietary regimens out there, from the American Heart Association, Diabetes Association, Zone, Palio, Atkins, South Beach, etc, etc, etc... Find what 90% of them have 80% in common, and you'll find the truth.

    This is a low simple/processed carbohydrate, modestly high protein, high fiber diet, with significant healthy monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat intake, emphasizing real food, and lots of water, spread over 5-6 smaller meals per day.

    Your body will function best here, and with a decent amount of exercise, and proper calorie intake, reach ITS genetic maximum/optimum body composition. For some people, this is single-digit fat levels and a 6-pack. For others, this is simply healthy and "teens" BF%.

    Radical departures from this are generally unhealthy, but exceptionally lucrative if you're trying to sell a book... since desperate people will do anything for a quick fix, or to "prove conventional wisdom wrong". Conventional wisdom exists for a reason. Science.

    A few VERY unique individuals have found UNIQUE results from unique diets, workouts, etc... But for 90% of the population, the formula is the same.

    JeffWard

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    Quote Originally Posted by JeffWard View Post
    I'm a fitness and nutrition professional, 16 years running.

    Fasting is probably the WORST thing you can do to your metabolism and lean muscle mass.

    Combine all the elements of the top accepted dietary regimens out there, from the American Heart Association, Diabetes Association, Zone, Palio, Atkins, South Beach, etc, etc, etc... Find what 90% of them have 80% in common, and you'll find the truth.

    This is a low simple/processed carbohydrate, modestly high protein, high fiber diet, with significant healthy monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat intake, emphasizing real food, and lots of water, spread over 5-6 smaller meals per day.

    Your body will function best here, and with a decent amount of exercise, and proper calorie intake, reach ITS genetic maximum/optimum body composition. For some people, this is single-digit fat levels and a 6-pack. For others, this is simply healthy and "teens" BF%.

    Radical departures from this are generally unhealthy, but exceptionally lucrative if you're trying to sell a book... since desperate people will do anything for a quick fix, or to "prove conventional wisdom wrong". Conventional wisdom exists for a reason. Science.

    A few VERY unique individuals have found UNIQUE results from unique diets, workouts, etc... But for 90% of the population, the formula is the same.

    JeffWard
    Jeff, would you care to critique/read this with an open mind?

    http://www.leangains.com/2010/10/top...-debunked.html

    FWIW, Martin only sells consultations, and he may have a book in the future, but he is not a charlatan like some of the schmoes out there. He has posted on a number of forums giving out advice and refining his methods for years.
    "You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline - it helps if you have some kind of football team, or some nuclear weapons, but in the very least you need a beer."
    — Frank Zappa

    If the gun goes dry I use my knife. If the knife breaks off I use my teeth. I have only one rule - Start one job and see it through - The universe will have to offer someone else the leftovers. Multi tasking doesn't work in business or in gunfighting.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Heartbreaker View Post
    You'll just be tired when you fast
    No, I won't. I feel fine. I even lift on an empty stomach (with BCAAs beforehand) often.

    and if you do it to the point where you lose weight your cal maintenance will go down, so you will gain it back when you stop the intermittent fasting.
    Metabolic slowdown requires substantial weight loss. Google "Minnesota starvation experiment" for an example.

    The problem with any diet that greatly limits calories is you will lose at much lean body mass as fat, so even if you see results on the scale you won't look any better, feel any better, or be in better shape anyway.
    It doesn't work that way. It CAN, if you train and eat in a retarded fashion (see: pro BBer contest prep). Keep intensity (weight on bar) high, eat lots of protein, and don't drop calories retardedly low.

    6 meals a day is good. Just eat cleaner and you will get fast results.
    "Clean" eating is nonsense. There is no such thing as "clean" and "unclean" food.
    "You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline - it helps if you have some kind of football team, or some nuclear weapons, but in the very least you need a beer."
    — Frank Zappa

    If the gun goes dry I use my knife. If the knife breaks off I use my teeth. I have only one rule - Start one job and see it through - The universe will have to offer someone else the leftovers. Multi tasking doesn't work in business or in gunfighting.
    - Michael de Bethencourt

  8. #8
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    I appreciate all the input, and the discussion.

    Like I said, I have no need for fast weight loss, etc. I'm pretty much where I need to be. I imagine that a lot of people that see this stuff are looking for the next "3 week path to losing 20 lbs of fat" idea. That's not me.

    I'm more interested in hearing if it works from someone who's tried it. I already know it goes against "conventional wisdom" (which I use successfully), but that does not mean alternatives don't exist.

    I have a hard time eating in the am. My job keeps me on the go until early afternoon. I'm on the go and getting in the good food often enough can be a challenge (that I can pull off fine). If IF fits my lifestyle better and it does no harm, then it may be worth a shot. The functional statement being "if it does no harm". I workout at 5:30am daily (heavy lifts and intermittent trail running). I end with a fairly robust protein shake. Replacing that with just BCAA's before and after is one of my biggest hurdles. After that I might actually find it easier.

    Then again, I may turn into a tired sack of blubber and bones by noon on the first day.
    ********************
    Certainly there is no hunting like the hunting of man and those who have hunted armed men long enough and liked it, never really care for anything else thereafter. -- Ernest Hemingway

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by 5cary View Post
    I appreciate all the input, and the discussion.

    Like I said, I have no need for fast weight loss, etc. I'm pretty much where I need to be. I imagine that a lot of people that see this stuff are looking for the next "3 week path to losing 20 lbs of fat" idea. That's not me.

    I'm more interested in hearing if it works from someone who's tried it. I already know it goes against "conventional wisdom" (which I use successfully), but that does not mean alternatives don't exist.

    I have a hard time eating in the am. My job keeps me on the go until early afternoon. I'm on the go and getting in the good food often enough can be a challenge (that I can pull off fine). If IF fits my lifestyle better and it does no harm, then it may be worth a shot. The functional statement being "if it does no harm". I workout at 5:30am daily (heavy lifts and intermittent trail running). I end with a fairly robust protein shake. Replacing that with just BCAA's before and after is one of my biggest hurdles. After that I might actually find it easier.

    Then again, I may turn into a tired sack of blubber and bones by noon on the first day.
    It's not supposed to be a quick fix diet, and most of the people who tout it's use say that:

    A. There may or may not be any physiological/partitioning benefit from IF
    B. It certainly isn't for everyone.

    It isn't supposed to be magical, it's supposed to be an alternative way for people to structure their feeding schedule. There is, for many, a huge psychological benefit from eating larger meals, for not worrying about food all the time, for not having to haul around 6 tupperwares full of chicken, etc. Some people, like yourself, don't like to eat breakfast.

    Many people even find mental bonuses to the fasting period, e.g. increased energy and focus due to increased SNS output.

    I can't handle the morning fasting period, so I don't use the whole IF template. I do, however, find value in many of the tenets of the system, such as cycling calories around workout days, fasted training, and others.
    "You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline - it helps if you have some kind of football team, or some nuclear weapons, but in the very least you need a beer."
    — Frank Zappa

    If the gun goes dry I use my knife. If the knife breaks off I use my teeth. I have only one rule - Start one job and see it through - The universe will have to offer someone else the leftovers. Multi tasking doesn't work in business or in gunfighting.
    - Michael de Bethencourt

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    Quote Originally Posted by JeffWard View Post
    Conventional wisdom exists for a reason. Science.
    I guess I missed this the first time I read your post, but this argument seems to ignore all the advances we have made by challenging paradigms throughout history.

    Flat Earth, relativity, manned flight, you name it. If we had stuck to conventional, conservative science none of these would have been possible.

    In the 80s, we KNEW that eating fat made you fat.
    In the 90s, we KNEW that eating CHO made you fat.

    The 6 meal a day paradigm isn't based in much science, just the ramblings of genetically gifted, PED-using BBers, and backed by the supplement industry and its' propaganda arm, the muscle and fitness magazines.

    There is nothing wrong with measured skepticism, but dismissing a concept out of hand isn't good science.

    ombine all the elements of the top accepted dietary regimens out there, from the American Heart Association, Diabetes Association, Zone, Palio, Atkins, South Beach, etc, etc, etc... Find what 90% of them have 80% in common, and you'll find the truth....
    Radical departures from this are generally unhealthy, but exceptionally lucrative if you're trying to sell a book... since desperate people will do anything for a quick fix, or to "prove conventional wisdom wrong".
    So you attempt to marginalize those who promote IF because they may have a financial incentive, but a couple of paragraphs before that, you cite Atkins and Zone as being the standards for nutrition?! I would wager that those two combined are at least a billion-dollar industry.
    Last edited by dookie1481; 04-26-11 at 16:15.
    "You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline - it helps if you have some kind of football team, or some nuclear weapons, but in the very least you need a beer."
    — Frank Zappa

    If the gun goes dry I use my knife. If the knife breaks off I use my teeth. I have only one rule - Start one job and see it through - The universe will have to offer someone else the leftovers. Multi tasking doesn't work in business or in gunfighting.
    - Michael de Bethencourt

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