IF- Intermittent Fasting
Good or Bad?
There has been a lot of talk in the fitness community about a surfacing method to eat known as Intermittent Fasting. I immediately took interest in this method of eating because Dr. Berardi experimented with a few different ways of intermittent fasting and I thought that I should give it a go so that I could draw my own conclusions.
Initially, I thought that it was silly, unorthodox, and unhealthy. In the past when I was desperate to lose weight, I played with the Warrior Diet by Ori Hofmekler which is a variation of IF. In a nutshell, the Warrior Diet consisted of eating very small snacks throughout the day then having a FEAST at night starting with veggies, then protein, and finishing with carbs. At the time I did not have the tools or knowledge to accurately measure my gains/losses.
In the end, The Warrior Diet was not sustainable for me and I went back to the drawing board.
Now some years later after finally having accomplished my body composition goals, I have a different view about "diets". As an aspiring nutrition coach, my job now is to help others understand results-based eating strategies and the difference between "fad diets" and truly effective methods. I also am interested in playing with methods that are more conducive to my lifestyle than having to eat and prepare 6 meals a day, everyday.
One of these newer methods that has become popular and has a lot of potential is IF. I did a lot of research on IF and the most appealing method I found was LeanGains by Martin Berkhan. He has a very in-depth blog that contains tons of information and interesting articles that challenge the traditional approach to dieting. In short, his approach to IF is to fast for 16 hours daily, workout fasted, then break the fast by eating large meals within an 8 hour "re-feed" window before fasting again. This approach defies the traditional 12/12 split of fasting (while sleeping) and feeding and restructures it to 16/8.
My typical day on this program looks like this:
8am - wake up and drink 16 0z water
9am - drink 16 oz green tea
11:30am - drink BCAA pre-workout
12-1pm - workout
1pm - first meal
4pm - second meal
7-9pm - third meal
*This is NOT part of his program but sometimes I will have an additional scoop of casein protein powder before bed.
It's not that simple. Five days I eat about 1700 kcal within my 3 meals ONLY consisting of veggies, fruit, legumes, beans, lean protein, red meat, and fats.
The other 2 days I eat about 2300 kcal within my 3 meals with everything above PLUS starchy carbs like sweet potato, rice, oatmeal, and YES DESSERT!!!
So as you can see I also cycle high/low calorie days, high/NO starch carbs days, and high/moderate fat days. My average caloric consumption still averages out to about 1800-1900 kcal per day over the course of the week and I still eat the exact same amount of protein on a daily basis.
My workouts have also changed. I take Wed and Sundays off, do TWO days of strength training, 1 full body Kettlebell focused strength workout, and 2 cardio days. Since the fasting protocol takes care of my negative energy balance (and fat loss) I workout MUCH less and still effectively burn fat and maintain/gain lean muscle! With the additional free time, I have had more time to focus on projects, work, and fun.
So far I have had success with this new method of structuring my meals. I sleep better, have more time in the morning, I am more alert and mentally active in the morning, and my workouts have been killer! While some critics of IF argue that fasting promotes muscle burn, my results do not show any signs of muscle wasting. I have been hitting more PR's in the past 2 weeks or so than ever before. Just the other day I did a pistol with a 44lb Kettlebell for 1 rep....something I never had accomplished. I feel very strong during all my workouts and once I get going, I don't want it to stop. I have noticed that I am less emotional (not that that's a bad thing) but I am more calm, easy going, and my libido seems much healthier ;-) even though I am averaging the same amount of calories over the course of the week. Very interesting...
More good news... on my high calorie day I factor in a dessert with my meal. Therefore, those calories are all ready factored into my weekly total. For example, last week I had sweet frog (my favorite) and afterwards I thought to myself, "Wow, I just ate dessert and I don't feel guilty because its already accounted for!" Now, don't be mistaken, 90% of the time I am eating VERY CLEAN and incorporating whole foods. LeanGains allows you to enjoy those treats more frequently as opposed to waiting until your cheat day or cheat meal. This helps to eliminate the feeling of wanting to gorge.
Since starting, I have lost body fat, increased muscle, and my stomach is always flat! No bloating! This is pretty cool considering I am doing way LESS cardio.
All in all, it has been going well. The only difficult time is between 9-11am. That's when I feel hungry and sometimes I get the hunger pains. I distract myself from it by keeping busy and before I know it, its gone and its time to eat or workout. I will be interested to see if the hunger pains go away over time since the metabolism is a very adaptable thing.
Not having to worry about eating all the time or restricting myself from certain foods so much has left me so much less obsessed with food. You've probably heard about food porn? Yea, well when I was on a doing tons of cardio and eating SMALL meals throughout the day I was left still hungry and constantly thinking about food. Is it healthy to be taking pictures of donuts, cookies, ice cream, hot dogs, etc and posting them on facebook all the time? If you are constantly thinking about food, something is wrong. You are depriving yourself of something.
Even while fasting, the last thing I think about is food. I am focused on my productivity for the day. When the time to eat comes around I have HUGE meals because my daily caloric load is condensed into 8 hours. I am so full of good, healthy food I have no room left for craving junk! I am so excited about the fact that I have had NO desire to cheat and I enjoy all my meals.
I am still very early in the experiment, so I am not claiming IF is the solution everyone is looking for. With that said, I am very pleased with how this method has been working for me...overall, so much more enjoyable than 6 meals a day! I am surprised with how much I enjoy fasting and how great I feel while working out in a fasted state.
Stay tuned, as I will post my measurements and pictures as I continue.
-Abby
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