A big part of my life 2 days a week is my Intermittent Fasting Days. That's 104 days of fasting a year!!
Does it work?
That depends on what you are trying to achieve.
Stabilising your weight.
This depends on how much you eat a week on your days off fasting.
For a while I was stable with my weight. I was training regularly, running regularly, weight training... and not over-eating on my days off.
However, after about 11 months my weight started increasing slightly(1.5kg). Around the start of winter I would say the following year.
I was very tired around beginning of November 2013, so I decided I would not do some of my heavier training for around 4-5 weeks.
I realised I should switch to a twice a week fasting to make sure I didn't increase any weight over that time.
Switching from 1 day to 2 days I feel one needs to be ready for it. After nearly a year of IF Fasting 1 day a week I felt ready to give it a go.
So over December, right through Christmas I stuck to my 2 fasting days. I managed to lose the 1.5kg I'd gained. However, I will add that as I wasn't training my appetite was a lot less as well.
After Christmas Period
Once I got to January and started training again, I felt I probably needed to fast twice a week. I would make my second day a bit looser, up to 800cal on that day.
I also wanted to fast that extra day. I kind of really liked the idea of the second fasting day. Although I haven't got to that point yet, I get my days where I wish I had a 3rd day of fasting!
I haven't taken any recent pictures of myself but I can see my stomach has flattened yet there has been no muscle loss. I've been training my legs more in the last 6 weeks, I'm sprinting on the track again so I need to weigh myself to see where I am. I generally hover around the 76-77kg mark. I'm 5' 8".
Sometimes I find the day after fasting and training my appetite picks up a bit the following evening. I go with that. As I know I probably need the extra calories for the weight-training work.
As a bodybuilder
As a bodybuilder I've spent years trying to get this peak point of training week in week out, gaining muscle and losing fat. But it never happened. If I increased my training it pushed me into over training and reduced my Immune system.
But I can confidently say now, as long as I'm training regularly each week, with the running included, I can do the training, build muscle, lose bodyfat.
I'm 53 this year. I'm not interested in getting huge gains in a short period of time. I work the long term. The lifetime term. I'm looking better than last year.
I feel the size I am now just needs refining. If I get too much bigger than I am now I'll look too big for my frame(in my eyes not a serious body builders eyes:).
The 5/2 IF diet is ideal for this type of goal. It will work even if you want to get bigger I would speculate. You just need to eat more on your days off. ( If you can!!)
Reduction of Portions
I have found since I switched to 5/2 in the week, I get my mealtimes where I just can't face anything heavy. Whereas in the past, before fasting, I could eat a bigger portion. These bigger portions would usually coincide with heavier training. But I found after about 4 weeks or so, fat would start creeping onto the body as well. Often this isn't that visible and before long you've moved into a look that's too bulky and chunky rather than shapely. But now I don't get that anymore. I get the days sometimes where I feel really hungry. I go with it. I find that within a day I'm back to normal eating again.
Training without fussing about food portions
My favourite thing at the moment is that training and eating are now in harmony. I can just focus on the training and know my weekly diet and fasting program keeps the fat-burning optimised and I am feeding my body the calories it needs.
My heaviest loaded training day is once a week. It consists of a 2 mile run. Some sprinting on the track. Either an 800; 400m & 200; or 200 & 100m. This is followed by a full body workout in the gym!
I prefer working with weights after running as I'm properly warmed up then. I also fast on this day. At the moment I only weight train once a week. I only run once a week. I do about 15 miles a week cycling(5 miles at a time), 7 tai chi classes of teaching and 2 self practicing sessions. I've just introduced a 20 minute swim once a week and I'm hoping to get that extra tai chi practice day in.
Does it work?
That depends on what you are trying to achieve.
Stabilising your weight.
This depends on how much you eat a week on your days off fasting.
For a while I was stable with my weight. I was training regularly, running regularly, weight training... and not over-eating on my days off.
However, after about 11 months my weight started increasing slightly(1.5kg). Around the start of winter I would say the following year.
I was very tired around beginning of November 2013, so I decided I would not do some of my heavier training for around 4-5 weeks.
I realised I should switch to a twice a week fasting to make sure I didn't increase any weight over that time.
Switching from 1 day to 2 days I feel one needs to be ready for it. After nearly a year of IF Fasting 1 day a week I felt ready to give it a go.
So over December, right through Christmas I stuck to my 2 fasting days. I managed to lose the 1.5kg I'd gained. However, I will add that as I wasn't training my appetite was a lot less as well.
After Christmas Period
Once I got to January and started training again, I felt I probably needed to fast twice a week. I would make my second day a bit looser, up to 800cal on that day.
I also wanted to fast that extra day. I kind of really liked the idea of the second fasting day. Although I haven't got to that point yet, I get my days where I wish I had a 3rd day of fasting!
I haven't taken any recent pictures of myself but I can see my stomach has flattened yet there has been no muscle loss. I've been training my legs more in the last 6 weeks, I'm sprinting on the track again so I need to weigh myself to see where I am. I generally hover around the 76-77kg mark. I'm 5' 8".
Sometimes I find the day after fasting and training my appetite picks up a bit the following evening. I go with that. As I know I probably need the extra calories for the weight-training work.
As a bodybuilder
As a bodybuilder I've spent years trying to get this peak point of training week in week out, gaining muscle and losing fat. But it never happened. If I increased my training it pushed me into over training and reduced my Immune system.
But I can confidently say now, as long as I'm training regularly each week, with the running included, I can do the training, build muscle, lose bodyfat.
I'm 53 this year. I'm not interested in getting huge gains in a short period of time. I work the long term. The lifetime term. I'm looking better than last year.
I feel the size I am now just needs refining. If I get too much bigger than I am now I'll look too big for my frame(in my eyes not a serious body builders eyes:).
The 5/2 IF diet is ideal for this type of goal. It will work even if you want to get bigger I would speculate. You just need to eat more on your days off. ( If you can!!)
Reduction of Portions
I have found since I switched to 5/2 in the week, I get my mealtimes where I just can't face anything heavy. Whereas in the past, before fasting, I could eat a bigger portion. These bigger portions would usually coincide with heavier training. But I found after about 4 weeks or so, fat would start creeping onto the body as well. Often this isn't that visible and before long you've moved into a look that's too bulky and chunky rather than shapely. But now I don't get that anymore. I get the days sometimes where I feel really hungry. I go with it. I find that within a day I'm back to normal eating again.
Training without fussing about food portions
My favourite thing at the moment is that training and eating are now in harmony. I can just focus on the training and know my weekly diet and fasting program keeps the fat-burning optimised and I am feeding my body the calories it needs.
My heaviest loaded training day is once a week. It consists of a 2 mile run. Some sprinting on the track. Either an 800; 400m & 200; or 200 & 100m. This is followed by a full body workout in the gym!
I prefer working with weights after running as I'm properly warmed up then. I also fast on this day. At the moment I only weight train once a week. I only run once a week. I do about 15 miles a week cycling(5 miles at a time), 7 tai chi classes of teaching and 2 self practicing sessions. I've just introduced a 20 minute swim once a week and I'm hoping to get that extra tai chi practice day in.
While losing weight after getting knowledge about it from http://eatstopeatskeptic.com/, I tried and experimented with many different fasting lengths and eating windows. I would do a 19 hour fast (of which 6 – 8 of those are hours are spent sleeping) 2 – 3 days a week, doing a 12 – 16 hour fast the other days. It really brings many positive changes in my body and mind. Feeling quite comfortable now.
ReplyDeleteSounds very positive. Mind clarity is one of the things I really like too. It's one of my top projects in life.
DeleteThe those who are not advised to consider Intermittent fasting as their way associated with losing weight. These individuals include pregnant women, individuals with a history of heart arrhythmias, hepatic or kidney insufficiency, but the others can try this way of the healthy weight reduction. Thank you for this particular nice article
ReplyDelete