Switched to no food until afternoon - feel great!
Discussion
techguyone said:
You don't do the two days back to back... just pick two days at random in a seven day period like. Tuesday & Friday say.
Ahhh...makes sense!Not sure I like the chopping and changing of 5/2 - i'm liking the simple consistency of "dont eat till 2, then eat healthy"
Wondering what 5/2 would do better/different.
I tried the 16 hour fasting and liked it. Not difficult at all to maintain; big meal about 8 or 9pm then just skip breakfast and don't snack. Simples.
Unfortunately, I've just had a rash of migraines so have gone back to my normal diet for a while as missing meals is apparently a trigger. But when I equilibriate I will be back on it again, as it seemed to work for me.
Unfortunately, I've just had a rash of migraines so have gone back to my normal diet for a while as missing meals is apparently a trigger. But when I equilibriate I will be back on it again, as it seemed to work for me.
Same here, been doing the 16/8 fasting for 2 months now. I feel far more alert, I'm eating more than ever but still losing body fat whilst gaining muscle. I train fasted twice a week and normal in the evenings twice a week. It's a revelation and something I'm sticking to as its so easy. Would like to know if u still get the dramatic health benefits you get with 5/2 fasting though regarding the million to 1 chance of having a heart attack!
coming to end of another week and a bit of an update.....loving it!
For weight loss its superb, I have got to the point where my loss was slowing but I am back to dropping an easy 2lb a week. I feel great all the time. Heres a simple day summary:
Wake up....I have a coffee to start the day (pretty much the only one I drink unless I get offered one during a clinet visit. If I have 10 cups a week thats about average. I dont feel hungry. I'm sat here at 8.20am, been up a couple of hours and still 4 hrs plus till I eat and feel fine. I certainly feel that I could eat, I just dont need to.
Mid morning....Normally busy so dont really notice not eating. Today I'll be driving my kids to their training so before I know it I'll be home at 1pm and ready to eat. The very worst effect is that I may get a rummbly stomach, but its more annoying than causing me to want to eat. Any desire to eat falls way below the desire to be in shape. I sometimes work out in the morning (cardio) and it feels fine....very light on my feet and doesnt increase hunger at all. I avoid weights at this time.
First meal...normally between 1-2pm and it tastes GOOD! I am not "very hungry" at that point, but certainly enjoy it! I keep it sensibly sized though, just a normal lunch.
Late afternoon....feel full still. Never get close to "hunger". Feel very alert and awake, none of the "slump" I used to feel. I will sometimes train weights here so after that will have a protein shake. If I am preparing to play basketball that night I'll have a banana or porridge but a small portion.
Evening....I train hard (either B Ball or weights) and feel brilliant. Not sure if its being lighter or having an emptyish stomach but I feel very fast/strong.
Last meal....my biggest meal. In the past I would do 5/6 small meals and my mistake was always getting to the last one and blowing it! Now I am free to blow it! After a hard session I'll feel ready to eat (again, not "hungry" the way you'd think...just very ready to enjoy the food -- and my body craves good stuff. It's odd, I used to want junk at this time but now my body is calling out for decent food. This will be a bigger meal but one thing I notice is that it's impossible to over compensate for the fasted period. You couldnt eat (and dont want) enough at this time to blow the day....you just arent that hungry. My body has quickly got used to the feeling of either being hungry and ready to eat or full. in the past I'd find myself eating a tube of pringles and KNOWING I wasnt even hungry!
bed....feel full and get a great nights sleep but wake feeling good because I havent been dealing with a tube of pringles all night!
Going forward....the plan is to stick on this till the 6 pack shows. I expect around Xmas. Not sure what I'll do then. I'll admit, I'm not sure how to make this work to GAIN much weight, which I may need to do. But for now I'm fine - I'm a big believer in either being in cal deficit or not. I dont like to try and drop fat and up lean weight at the same time....it makes no sense to me to focus on two opposite things like that. Time will tell.
For weight loss its superb, I have got to the point where my loss was slowing but I am back to dropping an easy 2lb a week. I feel great all the time. Heres a simple day summary:
Wake up....I have a coffee to start the day (pretty much the only one I drink unless I get offered one during a clinet visit. If I have 10 cups a week thats about average. I dont feel hungry. I'm sat here at 8.20am, been up a couple of hours and still 4 hrs plus till I eat and feel fine. I certainly feel that I could eat, I just dont need to.
Mid morning....Normally busy so dont really notice not eating. Today I'll be driving my kids to their training so before I know it I'll be home at 1pm and ready to eat. The very worst effect is that I may get a rummbly stomach, but its more annoying than causing me to want to eat. Any desire to eat falls way below the desire to be in shape. I sometimes work out in the morning (cardio) and it feels fine....very light on my feet and doesnt increase hunger at all. I avoid weights at this time.
First meal...normally between 1-2pm and it tastes GOOD! I am not "very hungry" at that point, but certainly enjoy it! I keep it sensibly sized though, just a normal lunch.
Late afternoon....feel full still. Never get close to "hunger". Feel very alert and awake, none of the "slump" I used to feel. I will sometimes train weights here so after that will have a protein shake. If I am preparing to play basketball that night I'll have a banana or porridge but a small portion.
Evening....I train hard (either B Ball or weights) and feel brilliant. Not sure if its being lighter or having an emptyish stomach but I feel very fast/strong.
Last meal....my biggest meal. In the past I would do 5/6 small meals and my mistake was always getting to the last one and blowing it! Now I am free to blow it! After a hard session I'll feel ready to eat (again, not "hungry" the way you'd think...just very ready to enjoy the food -- and my body craves good stuff. It's odd, I used to want junk at this time but now my body is calling out for decent food. This will be a bigger meal but one thing I notice is that it's impossible to over compensate for the fasted period. You couldnt eat (and dont want) enough at this time to blow the day....you just arent that hungry. My body has quickly got used to the feeling of either being hungry and ready to eat or full. in the past I'd find myself eating a tube of pringles and KNOWING I wasnt even hungry!
bed....feel full and get a great nights sleep but wake feeling good because I havent been dealing with a tube of pringles all night!
Going forward....the plan is to stick on this till the 6 pack shows. I expect around Xmas. Not sure what I'll do then. I'll admit, I'm not sure how to make this work to GAIN much weight, which I may need to do. But for now I'm fine - I'm a big believer in either being in cal deficit or not. I dont like to try and drop fat and up lean weight at the same time....it makes no sense to me to focus on two opposite things like that. Time will tell.
Hoofy said:
Interesting. Out of interest, do you count calories or just eat whatever during the non-fasting period?
At first I counted .... but now i dont bother. I used to count (eating 6 meals a day) because it would make me stop when i hit the limit. Now I know I so rarely eat over the limit it doesnt matter. I suspect I may be short of my limit on some days....but feel fine. If i was looking to gain i may have to re-think this.Tiggsy said:
At first I counted .... but now i dont bother. I used to count (eating 6 meals a day) because it would make me stop when i hit the limit. Now I know I so rarely eat over the limit it doesnt matter. I suspect I may be short of my limit on some days....but feel fine. If i was looking to gain i may have to re-think this.
Oh, well, it seems to be working. I have two reasons for counting:1) If I go over, obviously, I'll put on weight
2) If I eat too little (~1000, which isn't difficult if you make the right food choices), my weight loss comes to a grinding halt!
Tiggsy great post.
Sounds like your really getting into it, one point I do disagree on though is the ability to lose fat and gain muscle. I have been training for nearly 15 years now and until I started the 16/8 fasting I would have agreed with you, but not now. It is possible to build lean muscle on this diet, well it is for me anyway
As I said in my previous post I have lost fat but by eating a calorie surplus diet during my 8 hrs eating has enabled be to build muscle as well. I have never found anything that works like this before, and the only suppliments I take are the 10mg of BCAA's twice a week before my fasted training sessions. Obviously everyone is different and I know what works for me may be entirely different for a lot of other people.
Sounds like your really getting into it, one point I do disagree on though is the ability to lose fat and gain muscle. I have been training for nearly 15 years now and until I started the 16/8 fasting I would have agreed with you, but not now. It is possible to build lean muscle on this diet, well it is for me anyway
As I said in my previous post I have lost fat but by eating a calorie surplus diet during my 8 hrs eating has enabled be to build muscle as well. I have never found anything that works like this before, and the only suppliments I take are the 10mg of BCAA's twice a week before my fasted training sessions. Obviously everyone is different and I know what works for me may be entirely different for a lot of other people.
Opara said:
Is the timng of the meals important? Normally I have breakfast at 8:00 lunch at 12:00 tea at 18:00 with some healthy snacking.
So to do this all i'd have to do is delay breakfast until 10:00 and no snacking after 18:00?
http://www.leangains.com/ read the article on 'why does breakfast make me hungry'. I try to break my fast after midday at least, but I imagine it depends on what time your up on a morning and what time your going to bed. I'm up at 7am so try to eat between 12.30 and 8.30.So to do this all i'd have to do is delay breakfast until 10:00 and no snacking after 18:00?
Opara said:
Is the timng of the meals important? Normally I have breakfast at 8:00 lunch at 12:00 tea at 18:00 with some healthy snacking.
So to do this all i'd have to do is delay breakfast until 10:00 and no snacking after 18:00?
Hmmm...not sure. For me its 2pm - 10pm that eat. So I spend 6am - 2pm awake and fasting, not sure how it would work if you break the fast early?So to do this all i'd have to do is delay breakfast until 10:00 and no snacking after 18:00?
Tiggsy said:
Hmmm...not sure. For me its 2pm - 10pm that eat. So I spend 6am - 2pm awake and fasting, not sure how it would work if you break the fast early?
Well i'd still be abiding by the 16/8 however the difference I guess is that the latter part of my fasting would be happening whilst I was asleep.Opara said:
Is the timng of the meals important? Normally I have breakfast at 8:00 lunch at 12:00 tea at 18:00 with some healthy snacking.
So to do this all i'd have to do is delay breakfast until 10:00 and no snacking after 18:00?
well many sources say that timing is largely irrelevant. It's all about Calories in v Calories out. That all these 5+ meals a day thing is abit of a fad, and that you should do whatever works best for you in order to maintain a regular deficit.So to do this all i'd have to do is delay breakfast until 10:00 and no snacking after 18:00?
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