So I’m seriously considering giving IF a shot… I recently read Berardis experiment with IF and leangains seems to be the best?
I’m definitely somewhere in the meso/endo category and I like to eat big meals. Apart from this I really want to give it a shot because I’ve been eating 6 small meals a day now for some time and every single day I wake up feeling sick as hell.
I assumed it was simple carbs or milk or even protein powder doing it, but I cut them all out and as far as I can tell it’s when I’m eating regular small meals.
My main worry about doing IF is that eating all of my calories in just 3 meals could be pretty tough. I can eat a lot, but jesus. There was a reason I had it spread over 6 meals you know?
Do you have any tips about eating all that food in 3 meals?
Higher calorie foods… personally, i find it quite easy to fit in 3000-3500 calories in the 8 hours window. It doesn’t have to be limited to 3 strict meals. The biggest component of IF’ing appears to be that your largest, highest carb meal, should be consumed POST workout. after that, you can eat whenever, and however many meals you please, as long as it does not exceed the 8 hour time constraint.
I personally have 3 “meals” and about 2 snacks. friends find it quite odd because i pretty much am eating something every hour for 8 hours.
I also typically consume a meal pre-workout on my leg days, however still maintain the 16/8 fasting protocol. He lays out a few different “meal options” on his website.
[quote]eightohfive wrote:
Higher calorie foods… personally, i find it quite easy to fit in 3000-3500 calories in the 8 hours window. It doesn’t have to be limited to 3 strict meals. The biggest component of IF’ing appears to be that your largest, highest carb meal, should be consumed POST workout. after that, you can eat whenever, and however many meals you please, as long as it does not exceed the 8 hour time constraint.
I personally have 3 “meals” and about 2 snacks. friends find it quite odd because i pretty much am eating something every hour for 8 hours.
I also typically consume a meal pre-workout on my leg days, however still maintain the 16/8 fasting protocol. He lays out a few different “meal options” on his website.[/quote]
Thanks for the advice dude! Didn’t know you could snack between meals, should make things easier.
My first meal was a real treat man, I’ve been limiting my carbs so much before going on to this that eating like 100g in one sitting seemed like heaven lol.
Leangains is just one way of doing IF; you could go 15-20 hours without eating just one day a week, that’s IF too. Many other permutations possible; if you’ve never done IF before, I suggest trying a few different versions.
[quote]Jeffrey of Troy wrote:
Leangains is just one way of doing IF; you could go 15-20 hours without eating just one day a week, that’s IF too. Many other permutations possible; if you’ve never done IF before, I suggest trying a few different versions.[/quote]
im thinking about trying to fast once/week, mostly for the immunity boosting and the increase in GH and test. if im only doing it once/week, and on a none training day should i pulse with BCAAs or would it be more effective to just drink water and maybe a greens powder?
[quote]eightohfive wrote:
the benefits of IF’ing come from REPEATED and consistent following of IF protocols… not once a day/week fasting…
i absolutely love IF. results are fantastic[/quote]
I think you missed the point of his post. He seemed to be referring more to a variation in the fast v. eating time intervals rather than an infrequent use of IFing as a whole.
I like IF a lot as well, but I’m not dogmatic about a 16/8 timing or anything. Some days it’s more like a 15-24 hour fast, and the eating window varies between 2-8 hours. I still get all of my cals in just fine, since I don’t really have any problem with pounding 3000-4000 cals in a couple hours.
Mr. White, I agree with incorporating some dirtier food sources to help hit macros/cals at first. Using foods you like to help get your stomach accustomed to the food volume has been helpful to me. As you get more comfortable pounding down large quantities of food, you can clean up.
[quote]Jeffrey of Troy wrote:
Leangains is just one way of doing IF; you could go 15-20 hours without eating just one day a week, that’s IF too. Many other permutations possible; if you’ve never done IF before, I suggest trying a few different versions.[/quote]
im thinking about trying to fast once/week, mostly for the immunity boosting and the increase in GH and test. if im only doing it once/week, and on a none training day should i pulse with BCAAs or would it be more effective to just drink water and maybe a greens powder?[/quote]
BCAA’s, EAA’s or casein hydrolysate would probably help with muscle retention/general comfort through the fast, though you likely won’t waste away and die without them. I just see a much better retention of muscle fullness fasting with something like that. I personally use Humapro during my fast.
If you’re doing it once per week only, it might make sense to fast for a longer period of time- something similar to the pulse fast timing maybe?
Mr. White, I agree with incorporating some dirtier food sources to help hit macros/cals at first. Using foods you like to help get your stomach accustomed to the food volume has been helpful to me. As you get more comfortable pounding down large quantities of food, you can clean up.[/quote]
Thanks bro… I’ve added a few carbs I wouldn’t normally eat like french fries and onion rings with my first meal of the day. Just getting a lot of everything for that meal for now.
Second meal is crazy… I start getting full half way through the meal which is strange to me since I used to eat more frequently and not get full at all…
Mr. White, I agree with incorporating some dirtier food sources to help hit macros/cals at first. Using foods you like to help get your stomach accustomed to the food volume has been helpful to me. As you get more comfortable pounding down large quantities of food, you can clean up.[/quote]
Thanks bro… I’ve added a few carbs I wouldn’t normally eat like french fries and onion rings with my first meal of the day. Just getting a lot of everything for that meal for now.
Second meal is crazy… I start getting full half way through the meal which is strange to me since I used to eat more frequently and not get full at all…
[/quote]
Try eating faster. Good way to trick your body- takes some time for the feeling of fullness/satiety to kick in, so you can pound out a shitton of food before your body registers it if needed. I quite literally eat 3-5lbs of food each day in one extended meal… I put down at least half of it in the first 10 minutes of eating, then eat the rest as I can.
Eating up to 6-12 double cheeseburgers a day for a week helped me to get comfortable eating a lot. Did that a few weeks ago while I was sick.
I also read Berardi’s PDF on IF. Very, very helpful and answered a lot of questions. I’ve recently begun to try IF too, starting with a 16/8 window and now an 18/6 window. BCAAs and green tea during the fast are helpful (simply having a flavor in your mouth). I was honestly shocked that I wasn’t hungry during the fast. My hunger is absolutely linked to eating – eating makes me hungry. In that regard, I would offer to those considering IF that you may be surprised, too. It’s not as hard as you might think. It also makes a lot loss dirty dishes, less meal prep and planning, and frees up your day!
for everyone who has done 24 hour fasting, did you stick with mostly BCAAs and greens poweders. or did you also continue to take other supplements/vitamins (fish oil, zinc, magnesium etc…)?
[quote]chkeeley wrote:
I also read Berardi’s PDF on IF. Very, very helpful and answered a lot of questions. I’ve recently begun to try IF too, starting with a 16/8 window and now an 18/6 window. BCAAs and green tea during the fast are helpful (simply having a flavor in your mouth). I was honestly shocked that I wasn’t hungry during the fast. My hunger is absolutely linked to eating – eating makes me hungry. In that regard, I would offer to those considering IF that you may be surprised, too. It’s not as hard as you might think. It also makes a lot loss dirty dishes, less meal prep and planning, and frees up your day![/quote]
I’ve found the same thing. I’m not hungry at all apart from after the initial 16 hour fast…
Mr. White, I agree with incorporating some dirtier food sources to help hit macros/cals at first. Using foods you like to help get your stomach accustomed to the food volume has been helpful to me. As you get more comfortable pounding down large quantities of food, you can clean up.[/quote]
Thanks bro… I’ve added a few carbs I wouldn’t normally eat like french fries and onion rings with my first meal of the day. Just getting a lot of everything for that meal for now.
Second meal is crazy… I start getting full half way through the meal which is strange to me since I used to eat more frequently and not get full at all…
[/quote]
Try eating faster. Good way to trick your body- takes some time for the feeling of fullness/satiety to kick in, so you can pound out a shitton of food before your body registers it if needed. I quite literally eat 3-5lbs of food each day in one extended meal… I put down at least half of it in the first 10 minutes of eating, then eat the rest as I can.
Eating up to 6-12 double cheeseburgers a day for a week helped me to get comfortable eating a lot. Did that a few weeks ago while I was sick.
[/quote]
[quote]tork94 wrote:
for everyone who has done 24 hour fasting, did you stick with mostly BCAAs and greens poweders. or did you also continue to take other supplements/vitamins (fish oil, zinc, magnesium etc…)?
Thanks[/quote]
Non caloric supps would be fine. If you are doing a 24hour fast fishoils with your meal at the end of the day would be appropriate.
You do not have to restrict the feeding window every day; you CAN have one meal per day one or two days per week (not two days in a row).
You need to go a certain amount of time to hit autophagy; however, I think it’s when you pass 24 hrs that you start to lose muscle. So I would recommend at least one meal even on fasting day (either breakfast or dinner).
I would be interested to hear what and what amount that people eat in the 8 hour window while IF?
I am considering it, but just wondering exactly how much I will be looking to be eating in the 8 hour window? Where do I find a guide on IF?
Is this advisable for someone that lifts 3 times a week, and does cardio 4 times a week?
[quote]tork94 wrote:
for everyone who has done 24 hour fasting, did you stick with mostly BCAAs and greens poweders. or did you also continue to take other supplements/vitamins (fish oil, zinc, magnesium etc…)?
Thanks[/quote]
I still take vitamins/minerals/creatine/no-ops. SOme of the nootropics are fat soluble so I take them with a couple caps of fish oil. Other than that I don’t take down any substantial amounts of macronutrients.
I don’t use greens powders or green tea right now, but I include stims like Spike/HOT-ROX and coffee.
I use Humapro while fasting- EAA’s rather than BCAA’s- and it’s worked great. Just fasted for a little over 40 hours over the weekend. Muscularity held well, I picked up some good leanness, and when I hit the gym yesterday I hit a 20lb PR on deads.