Anyone here do any form of intermittent fasting?

[JLB105]

Even something bad basic as a rule like “I never eat after 7pm”. I’m 44 years old and feel like the older I get the more sensitive my body is to calories. I find myself grazing on foods at night between 7-10pm and it’s usually crappy stuff (sugar and carbs). A rule like never eating after 7pm might be helpful for me.

[FatButWeak]

I do. For most of my life Im eating a very low carb/ketogenic diet. On non training days I dont eat until 2PM. Then I eat only from 2-8PM. On traing days I eat my normal ketogenic diet. I find that the intermittent fasting helps me keep my calories down. I got the leanest Ive ever been doing this. And Im 47.

[JLB105]

On your 2-8pm days, how many meals do you squeeze in? You feel like you’re getting enough protein?

[MWY]

I've found a simple "don't snack" rule works very well for me as far as dietary compliance goes. I eat 3-4 meals 3-5 hours apart and don't eat anything in between. I tried real IF (only eating between 12 PM and 8 PM a few years ago and found it gruelling to comply with. I lost about 30 pounds (going from 260 to 230) doing it over the course of a couple of months, but it was miserable and I hated it and ended up putting all that weight back on after I stopped.

[JLB105]

MWY do you consider protein drinks a meal?

[FatButWeak]

On your 2-8pm days, how many meals do you squeeze in? You feel like you’re getting enough protein?

I usually get 2 full mals in plus a protein shake, which has circa 50grams of protein. I shoot for 200-225g of protein per day. I always get my protein in, even on IF days. I think the greatest beenfot of IF is the overall caloric reduction.

[George Christiansen]

I've done it in the past, when I was only exercising, but am sort of doing it again since the new year. I think it works better for "abstainer" type personalities.

I get up at 6:30, take BCAA's before training at 9AM, and then have a shake afterwards at around 11AM. I have another shake at around 2PM and then my last meal is generally somewhere between 5PM and 7PM, but I am not anal about it.

The shakes are just a means to spend less time cooking and eating and get more stuff done. Basically 24 oz milk, 3 scoops of whey, and a banana or two.

[Hans Bachmann]

I did IF before i started training. Went from 320 to 220 and from 240 to 175 two years later. I was starving myself because i didn't know what i was doing. I never liked to eat breakfast, so I would eat breakfast and lunch at work, then a big meal in the evening and fast for 14hrs. Now I drink a protein shake in the morning, eat 2 meals at work and one big meal after work before training, and limit myself to a protein shake before bed, maybe a sandwich if I'm really hungry for some reason. I roughly plan out what i want to eat during the week, while roughly hitting my macros, and include two snacks/sweets. Usually i keep the snacks for the weekend, this helps me to keep down the urge throughout the week.

[George Christiansen]

I maybe should have added that I only track calories and protein. I am not avoiding fat, but not seeking it out either and cut that out the most when calories are running out.

I also usually eat three regular meals a day on the weekends because I am less busy.

[FredM]

Even something bad basic as a rule like “I never eat after 7pm”. I’m 44 years old and feel like the older I get the more sensitive my body is to calories. I find myself grazing on foods at night between 7-10pm and it’s usually crappy stuff (sugar and carbs). A rule like never eating after 7pm might be helpful for me.

I found it to be tremendously helpful for managing hunger long term. I fasted for 12-24 hour periods one day a week (before SS) and am still reaping the benefits of being able to much more easily manage hunger. Before fasting, skipping a meal felt very brutal. Now I sometimes forget to eat a meal and don't even notice I fasted for 15 hours by accident.

While training hard it's a nightmare from my experience, although I'm sure it's manageable in the 8-12 hour time frame -- fasting for 24 hours during a training week is a recipe for bombing harder than you ever have on lifts.

I'd recommend trying it on weeks you know you're going to miss a training day, or on a Saturday if your training schedule is MWF. I wouldn't recommend trying "never eat after 7pm" because that's already what you're struggling with. If you try fasting for a 12-15 hour period on a different day, you'll notice your body adapts better to periods without food, and you simply won't be as hungry after 7pm -- which makes long term compliance much more likely.

Another trick is to stock your fridge with healthy snacks and slowly train yourself to go for those instead. My goto are baby carrots.