IF Newbie

Brian Lawyer · 03-06-2009, 12:44 PM

Any advice for a Newbie to Intermittent Fasting?

Let me qualify by saying I have not taken the time to do much research myself. I asked my coach about my weight for an Olympic lifting competition in May. I told him I thought I needed to be at 85kg or 187lbs to be competitive. I currently weigh 195 to 200lbs, and probably have only dropped below 190lbs a couple times since I was 19 years old.

So my coach sent me the PMenu article on Intermittent Fasting and said, "Do the intermitten fasting that i sent you and decrease your fast uptake carbs. You do not have much fat but if you lose slowly and sanely you will be just fine."

So to be honest, I just perused the article and it appeared to be somewhat intimidating due to the complexity. I have roughly been following the Zone diet because of it's simplicity. I bought a food scale and portioned out all my food for a few weeks and now I have all my zone portions memorized.

As my coach noted above, I already do not have much fat. I actually prefer to be in the 195lb range but I definitly need to get to 187lbs for competition. Any advice...

Dave Van Skike · 03-06-2009, 02:30 PM

Competition for what?

IF is pretty foolproof and adaptable. there's no magic. I don't buy into much if any of the scientifical litarature on IF. I still do it because it's the easiest way for me to be intentional about what I eat.

Steps:

Figure out how much and what kinds of nutrients you need for the day.

Fast between 15-22 hours a day.

Don't eat until it's time. Break your fast before your workout. (or don't, doesn't matter for some people).

When it's time. Eat all the nutirents you need within the window.

Stop eating. when the window is closed and try to be consistent with meeting your target nutrients.

I'm a big advocate of not fiddling with the eating window much at all. I try to keep it exactly the same each day.

Brian Lawyer · 03-06-2009, 03:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave Van Skike

Competition for what?

What do you mean competition for what? What else am I on this forum for? An Olympic lifting competition dummy! Just kidding with you. I guess I could have been doing a fight or something.

Anyways, thanks for putting IF in a nutshell for me. I'll go read the article now and maybe come back with some more questions.

Garrett Smith · 03-06-2009, 04:54 PM

Brian,
Zone is complex. IF is easy. For me it typically means skipping breakfast, moving lunch a bit later, always eating dinner, and then skipping lunch altogether some days. I do a Paleo food list 80% of the time.

Nearly eliminate your non-Paleo carbs, keep your Paleo carbs moderate, no alcohol, minimize liquid calories, and you should be just fine.

Aaron Austin · 03-06-2009, 07:03 PM

Brian, you may also want to consider the Eat Stop Eat method. I find it works well for me. You basically fast 24 hours from dinner one night to dinner the next. I have been doing this on my rest days for the last couple weeks. I normally workout on my lunch break and find I perform better having had breakfast around 7 am. So the rest days are the only option I have for IFing.

Dave Van Skike · 03-06-2009, 07:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brian Lawyer

What do you mean competition for what? What else am I on this forum for? An Olympic lifting competition dummy! Just kidding with you. I guess I could have been doing a fight or something.

Anyways, thanks for putting IF in a nutshell for me. I'll go read the article now and maybe come back with some more questions.

didn't realize.
most of us are doing it for fun.

Brian Lawyer · 03-07-2009, 10:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave Van Skike

didn't realize.
most of us are doing it for fun.

I wish I could just do something "for fun". Unfortunately, I have an OCD type personality and can't ever just do something for fun. That is why I had to quit martial arts. I couldn't just go train every once in a while "for fun" I had to be competitive, which meant tons of training. With Martial arts training, you are pretty much confined to your coaches training schedule. At least, with this new olympic lifting hobby I have I do the majority of training on my own.

Dave Van Skike · 03-07-2009, 10:45 AM

There are treaments available for that.

Garrett Smith · 03-07-2009, 03:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brian Lawyer

I wish I could just do something "for fun". Unfortunately, I have an OCD type personality and can't ever just do something for fun. That is why I had to quit martial arts. I couldn't just go train every once in a while "for fun" I had to be competitive, which meant tons of training.

I used to have this issue. You'll want to figure out how to deal with it so it isn't a problem. I don't really have this issue any more, I'm now happier in general (and in my athletic pursuits), and I've broadened my horizons towards entering meets in various disciplines...just. for. fun. I'm hoping to enter a raw PL meet and a Highland Games this year, along with a couple or three OL meets. I don't care how I do compared to others, I'd simply like to see progress in myself, which to me means learning something from a mistake at the very least.

The end result of the hyper-competitive approach tends to be that the athlete in question ends up injured significantly enough to end their career, which then results in their only being able to constantly talk about their "good ol' days" of competing.

Make sure to see the Dave Draper quote I posted the other day.

Matthieu Hertilus · 04-16-2009, 05:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave Van Skike

Competition for what?

IF is pretty foolproof and adaptable. there's no magic. I don't buy into much if any of the scientifical litarature on IF. I still do it because it's the easiest way for me to be intentional about what I eat.

Steps:

Figure out how much and what kinds of nutrients you need for the day.

Fast between 15-22 hours a day.

Don't eat until it's time. Break your fast before your workout. (or don't, doesn't matter for some people).

When it's time. Eat all the nutirents you need within the window.

Stop eating. when the window is closed and try to be consistent with meeting your target nutrients.

I'm a big advocate of not fiddling with the eating window much at all. I try to keep it exactly the same each day.

Could you still reap the benefits of IF by doing it twice a week (more likely on rest days)? I wanted to start doing 15 hour fasts (maybe longer if I can handle it) from 9pm to noon the next day which is my rest day then do the same thing later on in the week on my second rest day. The rest of the week I would eat normally.

Also, during fasts, are you supposed to fight the hunger and tough it out until you've done at least 15 hrs or is that a sign telling you that you shouldn't be fasting?