Intermittent fasting

Msfit

New member

What's up guys?

Today I want to share my dieting strategy with you. I've been using Intermittent fasting protocol for the past 5 months and it's been the one that I like the most and the one that provided me more results. I've used the 16/8 strategy, fasting for 16 hours and having a feeding window of 8 hours. Usually, I do 3/4 meals a day and my first meal is around lunchtime, 1 o'clock and it's the pre workout meal and my last meal is around 9 o'clock. For professional reasons, my schedule can be a quiet thight sometimes and it's hard for me to manage work schedule, cardio, training, food preparation and sleep/rest and I can get more work in the morning without thinking about for or have time for breakfast/breaks mid morning and I don't think about the food that much. And there's less meal's preparation to be done. And another reason is that I prefer to have larger meals a few times a day because it makes me feel more satisfied than having small meals throughout the day and still feeling hungry when I finish to eat and thinking about the next meal and the time do it. 

I found this strategy very helpful and it brings multiple benefits because during the fasting, the body produces energy from the fat and the body can clean it rejuvenate itself and it's organs like liver, I'm much leaner (because I control my calories and macros intake for a body recomposition), feel more energy, feel less hunger, better insulin and carvings and with a controlled diet I didn't feel that I've loose muscle mass (if I didn't wasn't significant). Also being known that the fasting in humanity history is often associated to longevity and healthy living.

I follow as well the IIFYM but I choose not no eat much junk food because I make feel more cravings and wishing for junk food all the time, I prefer to diversify my food options to not eat exactly the same everyday in some meals but always choosing the ones with most nutrition value, good foods. 

Intermittent fasting is not for everyone for many reasons as amount of food that they have to ingest, lifestyle, metabolism, ideology, beliefs etc...

What are your thoughts on this and on Intermittent fasting? Have you tried as well?

 

subzeronation

New member

Thanks very much for sharing. I am an advocate of intermittent fasting. It appears you have found something that works well for you and if I could offer you some advice I would say stick with it. 

I like mixing up different type of diets with small slow changes. Everyone of us experience diet adaptability and will reach a plateau. When this happens it is a good idea to make small changes to our actual diet. This causes our bodies to readjust to find that balance and in many cases renewed progress. 

Rince and repeat until you reach your goal.

In my honest opinion the IIFYM is what I would call a lazy mans diet because their is no accountability to create healthy eating habits other than counting macros. No diet restrictions is unheard of in the body building business when the goal is to obtain a competitive physique. If anyone finds that it works for their lifestyle and positively helps them achieve their goals then good for them. I just can't see it as being beneficial for those who are serious minded about a competitive physique.

Thanks again for sharing and good luck!

 

Msfit

New member

Hello subzeronation, thanks for you comment :)

It's good to know that you are a supporter of IF too. How can I add some variations to the IF, change the amount of meals or the feeding window like do less or more hours of fasting?

 

About the IIFYM, maybe I explained me wrong or used it wrong. My diet follows more of a flexible diet because I usually try to have more "healthy" options for the same meal but I always stick with my macros for the that meal. For example, for that meal I can choose between different types of fish, meat or eggs, and I try to have some options as well for the carbs, regarding to the fat I have almost always the same options for personal experience, depending on the meal timing as well. But always choosing the best nutritionally foods. It's very rare for me to have junk food like cookies, ice cream,  desserts, chips etc because like true food and it would raise my glycemic level and it would make me constantly thinking about more processed food of junk stuff :) 

 

subzeronation

New member

Thank you for sharing in more detail. Fantastic that you are focusing on healthy options. The reason that you think about sugar when you include sugar in your diet is because it is addicting. Without getting real technical about it simply put sugar activates the exact same reactions in the brains that many addictive drugs do. I recommend and I do this personally is limit sugar intake as much as possible to only what is contained in the foods naturally. 

Whole foods are a key to our success and the higher the quality the better. Many competitive bodybuilders spend 1-2 thousands dollars a month on food alone and for good reason. And that is just for them! That is just not possible for most of us but we do have some great opportunities locally to buy high quality foods. When possible stay away from the big grocery stores and buy from local growers or producers. I purchase from a local meat market or a local farmers market on a regular basis. In many instances the pricing is very competitive to what you would find in the major chains and the food didn't have to travel 2500 miles to reach my table. :))))

Every single persons nutrient requirements are unique so NO single diet will work for everyone but small changes will help each of us find exactly what we need to maximize results.

This is a very hard business to be part of and most do not have it in them to do it properly. If you do not have the discipline to refuse the donut and make a better food choice how can you expect that person to be disciplined enough to put in the extra set or rep. It won't happen. When we begin to be disciplined in the little things we can learn to be disciplined in the big things.

This is NOT a 24/7/365 day business. We each need to enjoy life but when it is time to work a champion puts in the work in every area 100%!

 

Msfit

New member

Hey subzeronation, 

Thank you for sharing and explaining that too, I do follow the same line of thinking, or better, ideology for personal experience sugar is really addictive but if you are strong minded and focused it's easy to say no to sugar food even if you try to eat with with the eyes ahah just because I don't usually eat it. I do spend loads of money on good food a month but is the food that makes me feel good and its the food that our body needs to reach our goals not even I  would like it to be other way.

If we don't have the will to chase our goals as well make the necessary changes, for ourselves anyone else can do it, we have to have a self-commitment ;)

 
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