I have been intermittent fasting for over one year.
I skip breakfast each day and eat two meals, the first around 1pm and the second around 8pm. Then, I fast for 16 hours until I start eating again the next day at 1pm.
Surprisingly, since I’ve started intermittent fasting I’ve increased muscle mass (up 10 pounds from 205 to 215), decreased body fat (down 3% from 14% to 11%), increased explosiveness (set a personal best in the clean and jerk of 253 pounds a few months back), and decreased the amount of time I’ve spent training (down from 7.5 hours per week to 2.5 hours per week).
In other words, I’m stronger, leaner, and more explosive even though I go to the gym less and eat less.
You may be wondering…
How is this possible? Isn’t skipping breakfast bad for you? Why would anyone fast for 16 hours every day? What are the benefits? Is there any science behind this or are you just crazy? Is it dangerous?
Slow down, friend. I’ve been known to do some crazy things, but this is totally legit. It’s good for men and women, it’s easy to implement into your lifestyle, and there are tons of health benefits.
Let’s talk about intermittent fasting and everything that goes with it.
What is Intermittent Fasting and Why Would You Do It?
Intermittent fasting is not a diet, it’s a pattern of eating. It’s a way of scheduling your meals so that you get the most out of them. Intermittent fasting doesn’t change what you eat, it changes when you eat.
Why is it worthwhile to change when you’re eating?
Well, most notably, it’s a great way to get lean without going on a crazy diet or cutting your calories down to nothing. In fact, most of the time you’ll try to keep your calories the same when you start intermittent fasting. (Most people eat bigger meals during a shorter time frame.) Additionally, intermittent fasting is a good way to keep muscle mass on while getting lean.
With all that said, the main reason people try intermittent fasting is to lose fat. We’ll talk about how intermittent fasting leads to fat loss in a moment.
Perhaps most importantly, intermittent fasting is one of the simplest strategies we have for taking bad weight off while keeping good weight on because it requires very little behavior change. This is a very good thing because it means intermittent fasting falls into the category of “simple enough that you’ll actually do it, but meaningful enough that it will actually make a difference.”
How Does Intermittent Fasting Work?
To understand how intermittent fasting leads to fat loss we first need to understand the difference between the fed state and the fasted state.
Your body is in the fed state when it is digesting and absorbing food. Typically, the fed state starts when you begin eating and lasts for three to five hours as your body digests and absorbs the food you just ate. When you are in the fed state, it’s very hard for your body to burn fat because your insulin levels are high.
After that timespan, your body goes into what is known as the post–absorptive state, which is just a fancy way of saying that your body isn’t processing a meal. The post–absorptive state lasts until 8 to 12 hours after your last meal, which is when you enter the fasted state. It is much easier for you body to burn fat in the fasted state because your insulin levels are low.
When you’re in the fasted state your body can burn fat that has been inaccessible during the fed state.
Because we don’t enter the fasted state until 12 hours after our last meal, it’s rare that our bodies are in this fat burning state. This is one of the reasons why many people who start intermittent fasting will lose fat without changing what they eat, how much they eat, or how often they exercise. Fasting puts your body in a fat burning state that you rarely make it to during a normal eating schedule.
The Benefits of Intermittent Fasting
Fat loss is great, but it isn’t the only reason to try intermittent fasting.
1. Intermittent fasting makes your day simpler.
I’m big on behavior change, simplicity, and reducing stress. Intermittent fasting provides additional simplicity to my life that I really enjoy. When I wake up, I don’t worry about breakfast. I just grab a glass of water and start my day.
I enjoy eating and I don’t mind cooking, so eating three meals a day was never a hassle for me. However, intermittent fasting allows me to eat one less meal, which also means planning one less meal, cooking one less meal, and stressing about one less meal. It makes life a bit simpler and I like that.
2. Intermittent fasting helps you live longer.
Scientists have long known that restricting calories is a way of lengthening life. From a logical standpoint, this makes sense. When you’re starving, your body finds ways to extend your life.
There’s just one problem: who wants to starve themselves in the name of living longer?
I don’t know about you, but I’m interested in enjoying a long life. Starving myself doesn’t sound that appetizing.
The good news is that intermittent fasting activates many of the same mechanisms for extending life as calorie restriction. In other words, you get the benefits of a longer life without the hassle of starving.
Way back in 1945 it was discovered that intermittent fasting extended life in mice. (Here’s the study.) More recently, this study found that alternate day intermittent fasting led to longer lifespans.
3. Intermittent fasting may reduce the risk of cancer.
This one is up for debate because there hasn’t been a lot of research and experimentation done on the relationship between cancer and fasting. Early reports, however, look positive.
This study of 10 cancer patients suggests that the side effects of chemotherapy may be diminished by fasting before treatment. This finding is also supported by another study which used alternate day fasting with cancer patients and concluded that fasting before chemotherapy would result in better cure rates and fewer deaths.
Finally, this comprehensive analysis of many studies on fasting and disease has concluded that fasting appears to not only reduce the risk of cancer, but also cardiovascular disease.
4. Intermittent fasting is much easier than dieting.
The reason most diets fail isn’t because we switch to the wrong foods, it’s because we don’t actually follow the diet over the long term. It’s not a nutrition problem, it’s a behavior change problem.
This is where intermittent fasting shines because it’s remarkably easy to implement once you get over the idea that you need to eat all the time. For example, this study found that intermittent fasting was an effective strategy for weight loss in obese adults and concluded that “subjects quickly adapt” to an intermittent fasting routine.
I like the quote below from Dr. Michael Eades, who has tried intermittent fasting himself, on the difference between trying a diet and trying intermittent fasting.
Diets are easy in the contemplation, difficult in the execution. Intermittent fasting is just the opposite — it’s difficult in the contemplation but easy in the execution.
Most of us have contemplated going on a diet. When we find a diet that appeals to us, it seems as if it will be a breeze to do. But when we get into the nitty gritty of it, it becomes tough. For example, I stay on a low–carb diet almost all the time. But if I think about going on a low–fat diet, it looks easy. I think about bagels, whole wheat bread and jelly, mashed potatoes, corn, bananas by the dozen, etc. — all of which sound appealing. But were I to embark on such a low–fat diet I would soon tire of it and wish I could have meat and eggs. So a diet is easy in contemplation, but not so easy in the long–term execution.
Intermittent fasting is hard in the contemplation, of that there is no doubt. “You go without food for 24 hours?” people would ask, incredulously when we explained what we were doing. “I could never do that.” But once started, it’s a snap. No worries about what and where to eat for one or two out of the three meals per day. It’s a great liberation. Your food expenditures plummet. And you’re not particularly hungry. … Although it’s tough to overcome the idea of going without food, once you begin the regimen, nothing could be easier.
— Dr. Michael Eades
In my opinion, the ease of intermittent fasting is best reason to give it a try. It provides a wide range of health benefits without requiring a massive lifestyle change.
Examples of Different Intermittent Fasting Schedules
If you’re considering giving fasting a shot, there are a few different options for working it into your lifestyle.
Daily Intermittent Fasting
Most of the time, I follow the Leangains model of intermittent fasting, which uses a 16–hour fast followed by an 8–hour eating period. This model of daily intermittent fasting was popularized by Martin Berkhan of Leangains.com, which is where the name originated.
It doesn’t matter when you start your 8–hour eating period. You can start at 8am and stop at 4pm. Or you start at 2pm and stop at 10pm. Do whatever works for you. I tend to find that eating around 1pm and 8pm works well because those times allow me to eat lunch and dinner with friends and family. Breakfast is typically a meal that I eat on my own, so skipping it isn’t a big deal.
Because daily intermittent fasting is done every day it becomes very easy to get into the habit of eating on this schedule. Right now, you’re probably eating around the same time every day without thinking about it. Well, with daily intermittent fasting it’s the same thing, you just learn to not eat at certain times, which is remarkably easy.
One potential disadvantage of this schedule is that because you typically cut out a meal or two out of your day, it becomes more difficult to get the same number of calories in during the week. Put simply, it’s tough to teach yourself to eat bigger meals on a consistent basis. The result is that many people who try this style of intermittent fasting end up losing weight. That can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your goals.
This is probably a good time to mention that while I have practiced intermittent fasting consistently for the last year, I’m not fanatical about my diet. I work on building healthy habits that guide my behavior 90% of the time, so that I can do whatever I feel like during the other 10%. If I come over to your house to watch the football game and we order pizza at 11pm, guess what? I don’t care that it’s outside my feeding period, I’m eating it.
Weekly Intermittent Fasting
One of the best ways to get started with intermittent fasting is to do it once per week or once per month. The occasional fast has been shown to lead to many of the benefits we’ve already talked about, so even if you don’t use it to cut down on calories consistently there are still many other health benefits.
The graphic below shows one example of how a weekly intermittent fast might play out.
In this example, lunch on Monday is your last meal of the day. You then fast until lunch on Tuesday. This schedule has the advantage of allowing you to eat everyday of the week while still reaping the benefits of fasting for 24 hours. It’s also less likely that you’ll lose weight because you are only cutting out two meals per week. So, if you’re looking to bulk up or keep weight on, then this is a great option.
I’ve done 24–hour fasts in the past (I just did one last month) and there are a wide range of variations and options for making it work into your schedule. For example, a long day of travel or the day after a big holiday feast are often great times to throw in a 24–hour fast.
Perhaps the biggest benefit of doing a 24–hour fast is getting over the mental barrier of fasting. If you’ve never fasted before, successfully completing your first one helps you realize that you won’t die if you don’t eat for a day.
Alternate Day Intermittent Fasting
Alternate day intermittent fasting incorporates longer fasting periods on alternating days throughout the week.
For example, in the graphic below you would eat dinner on Monday night and then not eat again until Tuesday evening. On Wednesday, however, you would eat all day and then start the 24–hour fasting cycle again after dinner on Wednesday evening. This allows you to get long fast periods on a consistent basis while also eating at least one meal every day of the week.
This style of intermittent fasting seems to be used often in research studies, but from what I have seen it isn’t very popular in the real world. I’ve never tried alternate day fasting myself and I don’t plan to do so.
The benefit of alternate day intermittent fasting is that it gives you longer time in the fasted state than the Leangains style of fasting. Hypothetically, this would increase the benefits you receive from fasting.
In practice, however, I would be concerned with eating enough. Based on my experience, teaching yourself to consistently eat more is one of the harder parts of intermittent fasting. You might be able to feast for a meal, but learning to do so every day of the week takes a little bit of planning, a lot of cooking, and consistent eating. The end result is that most people who try intermittent fasting end up losing some weight because the size of their meals remains similar even though a few meals are being cut out each week.
If you’re looking to lose weight, this isn’t a problem. And even if you’re happy with your weight, this won’t prove to be too much of an issue if you follow the daily fasting or weekly fasting schedules. However, if you’re fasting for 24 hours per day on multiple days per week, then it’s going to be very difficult to eat enough of your feast days to make up for that.
As a result, I think it’s a better idea to try daily intermittent fasting or a single 24–hour fast once per week or once per month.
Frequently Asked Questions, Concerns, and Complaints
I’m a woman. Should I do anything differently?
I haven’t worked with women on implementing an intermittent fasting schedule, so I can’t speak from experience on this one.
That said, I have heard that women may find a wider window of eating to be more favorable when doing daily intermittent fasting. While men will typically fast for 16 hours and then eat for 8 hours, women may find better results by eating for 10 hours and fasting for 14 hours. The best advice I can give anyone, not just women, is to experiment and see what works best for you. Your body will give you signals. Follow what your body responds favorably to.
Also, if you’re a female, there is an all‐female group on Facebook that follows intermittent fasting. I’m sure you could find a ton of great answers and support there.
I could never skip breakfast. How do you do it?
I don’t. Breakfast foods are my favorite, so I just eat them at 1pm each day.
Also, if you eat a big dinner the night before, I think you’ll be surprised by how much energy you have in the morning. Most of the worries or concerns that people have about intermittent fasting are due to the fact that they have had it pounded into them by companies that they need to eat breakfast or they need to eat every three hours and so on. The science doesn’t support it and neither do my personal experiences.
I thought you were supposed to eat every 3 hours?
You may have heard people say that you should have six meals per day or eat every 3 hours or something like that.
Here’s why this was a popular idea for a brief period of time:
Your body burns calories when it’s processing food. So the thought behind the more meals strategy was that if you ate more frequently, you would also burn more calories throughout the day. Thus, eating more meals should help you lose weight.
Here’s the problem:
The amount of calories you burn is proportional to the size of the meal your body is processing. So, digesting six smaller meals that add up to 2000 calories burns the same amount of energy as processing two large meals of 1000 calories each.
It doesn’t matter if you get your calories in 10 meals or in 1 meal, you’ll end up in the same place.
This is crazy. If I didn’t eat for 24 hours, I’d die.
Honestly, I think the mental barrier is the biggest thing that prevents people from fasting because it’s really not that hard to do in practice.
Here are a few reasons why intermittent fasting isn’t as crazy as you think it is.
First, fasting has been practiced by various religious groups for centuries. Medical practitioners have also noted the health benefits of fasting for thousands of years. In other words, fasting isn’t some new fad or crazy marketing ploy. It’s been around for a long time and it actually works.
Second, fasting seems foreign to many of us simply because nobody talks about it that much. The reason for this is that nobody stands to make much money by telling you to not eat their products, not take their supplements, or not buy their goods. In other words, fasting isn’t a very marketable topic and so you’re not exposed to advertising and marketing on it very often. The result is that it seems somewhat extreme or strange, even though its really not.
Third, you’ve probably already fasted many times, even though you don’t know it. Have you ever slept in late on the weekends and then had a late brunch? Some people do this every weekend. In situations like these, we often eat dinner the night before and then don’t eat until 11am or noon or even later. There’s your 16–hour fast and you didn’t even think about it.
Finally, I would suggest doing one 24–hour fast even if you don’t plan on doing intermittent fasting frequently. It’s good to teach yourself that you’ll survive just fine without food for a day. Plus, as I’ve outlined with multiple research studies throughout this article, there are a lot of health benefits.
What are some good resources on intermittent fasting?
You can learn a lot about intermittent fasting by reading articles like this one and the resources below, but the best way to learn about what actually works for you is to experiment. That said, I’d recommend the following resources.
Martin Berkhan’s site on the Leangains version of intermittent fasting is great. You can find it here. If you’re looking for a few articles to start with, I’d recommend this one, this one, and this one.
Andy Morgan has also created an excellent site that covers the Leangains model of intermittent fasting, which you can find here. I particularly like his method of counting macros instead of counting calories, which you can read about here. (That said, I don’t count anything. I just eat.)
There is a very active forum on Reddit where people post their own progress with the Leangains style of intermittent fasting. You can check that out here.
Brad Pilon wrote a good book on intermittent fasting called Eat Stop Eat, which you can buy here.
And finally, John Berardi’s report on intermittent fasting is a great example of testing the ideas in practice. You can download it here.
What Are Your Thoughts?
Have you tried intermittent fasting? If so, how did it go?
Are you thinking about trying it, but you still have some questions? Leave a comment below and I’ll do my best to help out.
Hey James,
I first got introduced to the idea of extended periods of fasting through the book “Warrior’s diet”, but at the time I thought it was stupid and dropped the book several chapters in. Well, the joke’s on me
Later, I got my hands on Brads “Eat stop eat” (great resource!) and now every Saturday night to Sunday night I fast for 20-24 hours. For me, it’s not that much about the look, but fasting has a great impact on the mindset too – first, you learn to practice discipline and get some clarity in your mind, also, teaches to recognize real hunger from the “I’m bored, let’s eat”.
Anyway, reading your article I’m getting tempted to once again introduce skipping breakfast, but at the same time, I am having great results with having a protein shake + vitamin D supplement (we have like no sun in the Baltics in winter
), just after mornings exercise.
Btw, have you had any experience with skipping breakfast, but still having coffee in the morning? Coffee’s another thing I love, but I suspect some negative effects when after fasting for ~12 hours, first thing introduced to the body is coffee (just speculating here)
Cheers
Cool stuff man.
Coffee is totally fine. You can have a splash of milk in it as well if you’d like. The general rule is that you can have something in the morning as long as it’s under 50 calories. That should keep the fast going.
Feel free to give it a try, but as always, pay attention to what’s working for your body and do more of that.
Great work with the article! I look forward to trying this out soon. By the way, you mention that you have been known to do some crazy things? Care to share a story about your many adventures?
Thanks!
Hi James,
This is a very comprehensive article on fasting which is great, I’m going to use it as a reference when explaining to people.
I’ve written up my own experiences of fasting here: http://cjstott.com/fasting/, using the same method as your preference.
I find that when I’m more closely aligned to my Primal diet and am in the fat adapted state I find fasting easier. Like anything you have to get used to it and try what works for you.
I know you don’t say too much about a ‘diet’ but I guess you generally eat a more on the healthy side, whatever you believe that to be.
Cheers,
Chris
p.s. Liking the more regular posts here, signed up ages ago!
James,
I love intermittent fasting and have been doing it sporadically for a couple years now. I feel so much more productive when I am not bogged down processing food. I have also found that doing a healthy keto (veggies and healthy oils) that I have a more sustained energy level and maintain a low bodyfat percentage with ease.
Billy
Hey Billy — thanks for sharing your results.
I like what you’re saying about productivity and processing food. If we think about it from an energy standpoint, any energy that is spent processing food can’t be used for thinking or moving or other tasks. As a result, it’s not possible for us to work at our peak while we’re digesting food. Obviously, we all need to eat, but if you’re thinking about the best way to use your energy, then it might be best to eat after working and not before.
Couldn’t have said it better myself. I am most productive from the time I wake up until my first meal at 1pm.
I have played with big meals and small meals but not IF altho I have read a fair bit about it. I do tend to prefer bigger meals, but with training I find smaller is easier to manage – so how do you suggest eating this way when you often train twice a day and for 2 hours a time? am keen to try something new in 2013 and see how my body responds!! thanks
lisa
Hi Lisa,
What exactly are you training for? I spend no more than 30 to 45 minutes in a gym and do compound workouts (squats, bench and or dips, deadlifts and pullups/chinups) and split them up 3 to sometimes 4 days a week. I do a reverse pyramid on all exercises, but lift heavier weights doing 6-8 per set (includes a weighted vest for pullups). Rest 3 minutes and then go again; I do 3 sets of each. Honestly anything more is more than likely wasting your time, but again I’m not sure what you are training for.
I’m not big on supplements, but I would recommend the powder form of BCAA’s and drink about 15 minutes before working out. Normally the trick is to eat your biggest meal of the day AFTER you work out, but you are working out twice a day. Because of that you might attempt a once a week 24 hour fast (not working out at all on that specific day).
Dude! Pretty nice article! Pretty much covers everything and I hope your readers can reap the benefits! Me, I’m a big believer in Intermittent Fasting. I basically don’t use any supplements and am GETTING RIPPED OUTTA MA MIND! About the question referring to skipping breakfast… People may want to read properly right? It says break-fast so it doesn’t really matter if you start your day with a meal or not. If it fits your eating window, then just do it, but whatever…
In my religion, we fast once a month. It will be easy for me to increase the fasting time because I’m used to it. This will be my life changing style and my motivation for losing weight.
I’m 50 pounds overweight. I want to feel healthy and to have a better life. Thank you for this incredible information. My doctor found out that I have a blood clot on my
right leg. I have to keep my legs elevated for a week until I see the doctor again.
I’m taking a blood thinner (warfarin) and (prednisone), which lowers my immune system.
Also, Ibuprofen 800.
Do you think I can start fasting in this condition? (I need to take my medicine with food.) I know as you explain here I can drink a cup of milk with the pills or something solid not more than 50 calories.
What do you think ? I will probably be out of Ibuprofen in a week, but I’ll continue with the other two a little longer.
Thanks again and good luck to all that are going to start this healthy journey.
Claudia — first, welcome to the community and thanks for the kind words.
That said, please do not take my advice in place of a physician’s advice. I cannot recommend any specific action for you other than talking to your doctor about your plans.
Obviously, I’m here to help however I can, but any action you take is your own responsibility and so I would highly recommend speaking with your physician before changing your lifestyle.
Good luck and be sure to stop back and let us know how things are going and if we can help!
Hey James.
First-up, thanks for a clear, well-written summary of your “leangains” approach to IF; there are few people that talk about IF from a standpoint of both understanding *and* experience. I was excited to have stumbled across your blog; thank you Twitter!
I actually have many questions I’d like to ask you, but at the present moment, there is one in particular for which I would value your feedback:
“How do you manage to eat enough calories on a two-meal plan?”
My current macros have me at 2450kcal on rest days and 3265kcal on a workout day. Goal is to consume about 1.5g/lb LBM of protein (~211g), and limit fats to 20% of my calories. The 20% fat “constraint” is not artificial, it’s based on advice from my doctor due to slightly high cholesterol, and my APOE 3/4 genotype, which suggests my body may not do well with the metabolism of fats.
It’s the “20% fat” constraint that makes eating even the 2450Kcal hard, and despite best efforts, I was 1,000Kcal short of the 3,265Kcal target on workout day. When you have to get your Kcal from lean proteins and clean carbs, man… it’s hard!
This time around, just five days in to the standard leangains 16/8, with two feeds at ~noon and 7:30pm, I am already down 2+lbs in bodyweight. The last time I tried a cycle of leangains, I shed 10lbs in just a couple of months.
I may have to start drinking and snacking to get some of my calories. I prefer to “eat my calories” per Martin’s advice, but since I don’t have issues with hunger or restraint, I may just have to throw some protein shakes down my neck twice a day…
I get the baseline advice could simply be “eat more”! But given the above goals and constraints, can you offer practical advice and/or insight as to how you faced and overcame similar challenges?
Paul — first, thanks for reading and welcome to our community! It’s awesome to have people like yourself who are both interested in learning and practicing things in real life. We’ve got a great community here and I’m sure you’ll find some friends who are willing to chat about these topics as well.
Here’s my take…
1. Your limit on fats does make things harder. As you mentioned, this might be a good time to throw in shakes and other supplements (although, like you, I think eating your calories is better).
2. I would shift your thinking a bit and remember that you have an 8-hour feeding window. In other words, don’t feel pressure to eat everything in two “meals.” Sure, you’ll want to have a big meal after your workout, but you’ll remain in the fed state whether you eat 2 meals 8 hours apart or if you eat constantly for 8 hours. The benefit in IF is from the fast, not from breaks between meals.
3. In my experience, the main difficulty is not eating the quantity of food, it’s planning and preparing it. I would bet that you could consume the 3200 kcal of clean carbs and protein if it was laid out for you in tasty meals. Having that much food ready, however, is a different story. I think the hardest part of eating that much is planning the meals and having everything ready to go quickly and easily when you want to eat.
If this has been a problem for you, then I would spend some time meal planning at the beginning of each week. See if you can’t prep good foods or recipes early in the week to make it easier to stick to them as the days roll on. A little bit of planning can make it a lot easier to have the quantity of food ready when you need it.
Note 1: this is one reason why I think shakes/supplements might be a good option. Very little preparation and planning. They make meeting macros easier, even if they aren’t the optimal way to get them.
Note 2: I probably don’t need to tell you this, but don’t get obsessed with perfection. Even if you only hit your macros 2x/week that’s better than not hitting them at all. Pay attention to what works for you and slowly improve each week. You don’t need to get it right the first time.
Keep rocking, Paul! I’m looking forward to hearing about your progress. And, of course, feel free to drop a line here anytime.
Thanks, James — I appreciate the thoughtful answer.
Totally agree that preparation is key, but I am largely struggling with the eating window itself around work, workout and commuting etc. Here’s how my eating/workout looks:
Noon is perfect; I can consistently break the fast with a decent meal at work.
I workout at ~5pm; again, pretty consistent here — fits my schedule nicely. That means I can’t eat another “meal” before my workout; 1) too close, and the workout suffers, plus 2) meetings/work etc. is hectic in the post-lunch hours.
I generally make it home by 7pm, sometimes closer to 8pm. Preparation (and a great wife!) is essential here to knowing what I am 1) eating and 2) getting it eaten! Generally, though, this meal is not a problem.
So… corrective action(s):
1. Eat more at the noon feed.
2. Get at least one mid-afternoon snack in; even if it’s just a greek yoghurt or similar.
3. Drink a pre AND post workout #protein shake.
The shakes allow for accurate counting toward macros, as well as composition of the Kcal. The pre is well documented to be useful, the post somewhat more subjectively. Regardless, there is often up to an hour and a half from completing my workout to getting home and starting to eat; it’s a big window easily filled with a protein/carb boost.
Regarding Note #2, agreed. The whole point of IF and particularly leangains, is to not obsess about food and when to eat. That said, while I am still learning what and how much to eat to hit my macros, attention is heightened somewhat. In addition, I’d rather err on the side of “over” versus “under” on my macros — otherwise, I will drop weight (mostly lean mass) quickly.
Thanks again for the welcome!
Nice. That sounds like a good plan given your schedule. I’m looking forward to hearing about your progress!
Hi – I heard you with Abel James today and immediately signed up for your updates.
I have two questions -
1 – How do you feel about coconut oil during your fast? Others such as Paul Jaminet (Perfect Health Diet) encourage coconut oil during IM.
2 – What if you engage in BJJ workouts mid-morning?
Thanks!
Brian
Brian — I’m glad you enjoyed the interview.
As for your questions…
1. I’m not familiar with using coconut oil during the fast, but I know that in general it’s very healthy. Additionally, if it’s less than 50 calories, then you’re technically still in the fasted state, so there probably isn’t much to worry about. More than than, however, and you’re not really fasting anymore, which will probably decrease the benefits.
2. As a general rule, you can workout whenever you want while intermittent fasting. I would just have a big post–workout meal ready afterwards. That said, if your BJJ suffers because you’re not eating anything beforehand then I would consider either 1) moving your workout time, or 2) having a protein shake before your workout.
Hope that helps!
I began fasting the very day after this past Thanksgiving. I simply resolved myself to not be one of those people gorging on food all day for days AFTER a big feast such as the holiday meal. I didn’t eat til 3pm the next day. From that point on, I have not eaten more than two meals a day and have not eaten before at least noon.
It makes one so appreciative of eating , and also has instilled the reason in me “make it count” , and by count I mean filling up your two meals a day with nutrient dense food. I do not eat grains by the way. IF has also seen my creativity skyrocket in coming up with meal ideas for my blog. I do not think I ever make the same thing twice. The morning fast places one in a highly meditative state. You become highly aware of just how attached people are to this idea of eating all the time. Almost a desperation of sorts.
As for me, I have kept off the 63 pounds I lost, and couldn’t feel better with a fasting schedule of eating delicious meals. At lunch I am like a little kid at Christmas, everyday!
John — first, congrats on the 63 pounds lost! What an awesome transformation.
And it’s great to hear about the positive impact that IF has had on other areas of your life — not just in relation to the scale. Keep up the great work and thanks for reading.
HI James,
I am a female (acutally underweight right now) but IF seems to work well with my schedule…
Three Questions:
1) I do a 15/9 fast because of schedule… is that ok? Do I still get the effects?
2) Can you gain weight doing this?
3) What is your typical carb intake? I am a ironman/marathon endurance athlete trying to do the whole “fat-Burning” thing so I usually stay around 100g or maybe up to 150 on longer training days… thoughts?
Meghan — first, thanks for reading. It’s awesome to have you in our little community here and I love hearing from people who are out there training hard.
To answer your questions…
1. a 15/9 schedule should work fine, especially since you’re a female. I have actually heard that many women see better results if they go 14/10 rather than a 16/8 split with intermittent fasting.
2. It’s totally possible to gain weight, it just comes down to how much you eat. I would think of it in terms of how much you eat on a 24-hour basis. Whether or not you’re fasting for 16 hours or eating a regular schedule of breakfast, lunch, and dinner shouldn’t matter.
That said, one struggle I have noticed (because I have tried to gain weight while intermittent fasting) is that if you only eat 2 meals (even if they are big meals) it’s difficult to get as much food as you normally would eating 3 meals. So my suggestion would be to view your entire 9-hour feeding window as time to eat. In other words, you can eat as much as you want, whenever you want during that time frame. That should help you get down enough food rather than limiting yourself to 2 meals during that time.
3. I usually cycle my carbs. I eat high carb on the days I workout (150g or more) and low carb on my rest days (50g or less). I would recommend that you stick with your carb intake on training days. If you want to drop carbs on rest days, then you may see some fat burning because of that cycle.
As always, these are just guidelines from my own experience and that of others. You’ll have to play with it a little bit and experiment to find the best pattern for you. Good luck and keep up the training!
I work an overnight schedule, 2300-0700 … any suggestions on when I could have my meals?
When do you normally eat? I would just take the same approach — push your first meal back a few hours and go from there.
Example: for morning eaters, they might eat breakfast at 8am, but when doing intermittent fasting they push it back to noon. For you, if your first meal is at 10pm, then push it back to 2am.
I thought that this made no sense until I tried it. The beauty is that you have more time to be productive. I no longer stress about food in the mornings. I do enjoy my coffee however. I have a few cups every morning.
The one thing that I could never do is a fasted workout. This is where I get weak. Any tips?
Martin — first, welcome to the community and thanks for sharing your experiences. It was the same for me: the biggest barrier with intermittent fasting is mental. Once you get past it and actually try it, you realize that it’s very easy to do and gives you all sorts of time back that you didn’t realize you were wasting.
As for training fasted, it depends on what you’re doing. If it’s strength training, I’ve never had any negative performance impact from fasting. Just workout like you normally would.
If you’re doing heavy endurance training, I would be a little more careful. It’s usually not a good idea to restrict energy intake (eating) at the same time that you maximize energy expenditure (long endurance workouts).
Also, if you’re working out consistently, there’s no real need to do a fasted workout. If the schedule you have right now works, then don’t put pressure on yourself to change it.
Hi James,
I need to get about 60 lbs off. I was living in California and happily working out and living a low carb lifestyle, being thin and happy. Since moving back to london I have gained the weight as it is Carb carb carb everything here!.
I was wondering how it would work if I do 3 days a week of fasting.
This means a fresh veg juice and 2 boiled eggs after workout at 9am then the same in the evening for day one.
No eating on second day and no work out in am. eat large meal at lunchtime…
3rd day same as first.
4th day meal at lunch.
5th day same as first juice and eggs twice a day.
Weekend moderate eating both days.
Does this make sense? I just am desperate to get this weight off.
Thanks in advance. what do you think?
Tina
Tina — feel free to try whatever version of fasting that you wish, but realize two things…
1. I find it better to do the same thing each day. This makes it easier to build a habit over the long run. I know you want the weight off now, but I would focus on living a life that you can sustain for the long-term, rather than doing something extreme just to lose weight. In short, I find it best to follow the same eating pattern each day because it’s usually easier to follow when your schedule gets crazy.
2. The benefit of fasting usually kicks in after you have not eaten for 10 to 12 hours or more. In other words, you don’t enter the fasted state until about 12 hours after your last meal. For that reason, eating breakfast and then dinner probably won’t help very much when it comes to fasting. In that example, your meals are spaced out, but it’s unlikely that there is a big enough time gap to get you into the fasted state. That said, you do get the benefit of eating 1 less meal, which will probably reduce your overall caloric intake and help you lose weight.
Long story short, if I was giving a suggestion it would be to eat all of your meals in an 8 or 10-hour window each day. For example, first meal at noon and last meal at 8pm. Try that for a month or two and see if it works.
Good luck! Remember, healthy lives are built one habit at a time. You don’t need to do it all right now.
I started practicing IF in October 2012. I practically eat only once a day now — at dinner time, 8pm or thereabouts.
I was not doing it daily when I started. Initially, I did it three times a day, Mondays-Wednesdays and Fridays. Then, I extended it to five days a week (Monday thru Friday), then I made it daily. In recent weeks, I decided to extend further the fast during weekends. I take my meal on Fridays at 8pm. Then, the next meal I take is at 12noon on Sundays. Afterwhich, I do not take anything until 8pm the following day, Monday.
I weighed 200 lbs. in September 2012. Now, my weight is down to 178 lbs. My bad cholesterol has dropped; blood sugar has normalized; SGPT is back to normal and I no longer require medication to control my BP as it is now 120/80.
During the day, I feel more alert and have never felt being weak or lethargic in the past six months that I have been on IF.
IF may not work for everyone but I feel great practicing IF. And, the results are there for everyone to see — weight reduction and all the blood exam & BP results all point to the benefit that I have gained from IF.
Mind you, I eat anything and all the food I can consume during my non-fasting days.
Hi there, James,
Your articles are my new favorite thing! Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experiences with us.
I’d like to confirm that tea is allowed in the morning (less than 50 calories), and ask about your water intake. Is water limited during the fast period?
All the best!
Just saw your 12 lessons post. Just what I needed. Thank you!
Awesome. I’m glad it helped!
Thanks for reading, Holland.
Hi,
Great article. I’m really keen on beginning to practice If Fasting but need to drop about 15 kilos (33 pounds) as well. Any suggestions as to how I should plan my fasts for fast results? Any advice is much appreciated.
Jordy — thanks for taking the time to read and share your questions. It’s great to have you here.
I know it’s not sexy, but I prefer slow growth that actually stick in the long–term rather than trying to create a fast transformation overnight. If you follow the general pattern of intermittent fasting in the article and then combine that with eating healthy, unprocessed foods then you should see good long–term results. Also, if you want to lose weight, then you should eat less.
Those suggestions sound simple, but they work if you stick to them.
Good luck!
p.s. I wrote more about fasting here and here. Those articles should help you tailor your routine.
Thanks for the quick reply James and great advice. So I tried fasting today, my first meal was at 2PM (Roast Chicken & Roast Vegies). I was fine all day and didnt get hungry but gained a massive headache from 3pm on wards till I ate again about 7PM. Do you think this is my body adjusting?
Also do you think 2 and 7 are good times to plan my Fasts around?
Thanks again.
Jordy — glad to hear that you’re trying it out. Keep at it for at least 3 or 4 weeks before deciding whether or not to move on. The headaches could definitely be your body adjusting.
2pm and 7pm are fine if they work well for the rest of your day. As long as you’re getting 14 hours of fasting or more between meals, you should be seeing some benefits.
Good luck!
Wow! What a great article. I bought the 8 Hour Diet book and started my Ifing today, because I’m convinced of the benefits of IFing. So I decided to google and see what else I could find.
Your article really told, in a clear, concise manner, without any BS, the benefits of this way of eating. Also, I love reading about folks personal experiences on this way of eating and appreciate your sharing. I have 60 lbs. to lose, and I just can’t diet anymore. I hate it. I hope this will get me to my goal, no matter how long it takes. It’s something I can live with.
Thanks Joyce! I’m glad you enjoyed the article. I’ll do my best to keep great ones coming.
Keep up the good work. It sounds like you’re off to a great start. And remember, slow and steady changes stick for the long term. Anyone can do a crash diet for two weeks or so. Small changes actually stick and that leads to a big impact down the line.
And as always, thanks for reading!
Thanks James for such a clear and accessible article. I had heard about IF on a number of podcasts previously (I signed up to your newsletter after hearing you on Abel James Podcast) – however I had always thought that IF was for the more dedicated / strict bio hackers, your article presented it in a much more accessible way for me. As a result after reading your article yesterday I have jumped straight into your preferred protocol and thought I would share my first day’s experiences:
-Firstly this is a rest day for me so I will be interested to see how it pans out for my training day tomorrow.
-I was really surprised at how little hunger I felt
. I had a few meetings and found I was able to distract myself with work and just drink water when I felt hunger. What was interesting was I had some hunger pains (stomach rumbles) around 10:00am and thought come 12:00 I would be wanting to eat anything I could get hold of – however come noon I was in the middle of an email so didn’t break my fast until 12:30.
-I am only halfway through my first day so definitely too early to tell but this seems really doable at the moment so fingers crossed
.
One question I do have is I am currently overweight and on the border of obese so I definitely am not in a lean state – I was currently planning to go low carb and have started counting my macro’s to this end (it’s amazing where those carbs pop up). This however seems at odds with your carb cycling approach but I am a bit reluctant to increase my carbs on a training day as I feel I need to keep away from carbs until my body is leaner? Do you have any thoughts on the above – is it safe to load up the carbs abit on my training days without risking halting my weight loss?
Thanks,
Jamie
Jamie — that’s great! Congrats on the progress and I’m glad that you’re already moving forward.
Fasting is so much easier than it sounds, isn’t it? I had a very similar experience to you the first time I tried it.
As far as carbs go, I wouldn’t worry about it too much. You can do a low card diet on intermittent fasting with no problems. Low carb diets work for a lot of people and if it works for you as well, then just go with it. I carb cycle because that works for me, but it’s not a required part of fasting.
Regardless of what you decide to do, just make sure you do something and move forward. You’ve already got some momentum, so don’t stop now. Keep up the good work! And if you have questions, I’m happy to help however I can.
Hi James I’ve just started the intermittent fasting and I’m doing the 12-8 hours I was wandering I train in the morning at about 8 or 9 I normally have a protein carb recover shake after my workouts do I leave that out as well and just eat at 12 just seems a bit wierd working out fasted and not eating for a few hours after my workout finishes
Hope you can help
Thanks billy : )
Billy — the short answer is yes. Just take your protein shake at noon and eat your first meal.
I answered that question (and many others) in a longer format in this article: http://jamesclear.com/reader-mailbag-intermittent-fasting
Hope that helps. And keep up the good work!
Thanks James the protein shake I’m having is a recover one so its high in carbs and sugar because I’m going to finish training at 9 and not eat till 12 should I just change it for a normal whey shake…? Also I train high intensity I’m doing athlean x program don’t know if you know it…? Will I still build muscle…? Still on the fence with the fasting because I use to eat every 3 hours I never really counted my calories would just eat clean I don’t want to find myself counting everything also don’t want to eat less and lose to much weight…?
Thanks mate
Billy : )
Hi. Thank you for the information.
I’ve been doing IF for about ten days and I find it’s working for me. My only thing is I’ve started my cutting period and it’s imperative I meet my daily caloric intake. I use the 16/8 method. How can I ensure I meet my daily calories I’m order to see my cuts please.
Hi Jae — you still have 8 hours to fit your daily caloric intake into. That should be more than enough time to eat what you need. I wouldn’t restrict yourself to a set number of meals. Simply eat whenever you wish and as much as you need during your 8-hour feeding window.
Hope that helps. Thanks for reading!
I saw and just read your “how to start eating healthy” article and then stumbled on this intermittent fasting one. It’s a great read. I typically miss breakfast altogether since I’m not a huge fan of breakfast foods. My lunch and dinner schedules are aligned with what the schedules you posted. The biggest thing is that I’m trying to pack the pounds and bulk up. I was wondering if the leangains method would be more beneficial than the 24-hour fast? I read through your mailbag related to and there’s some great stuff there as well!
Kevin — thanks for reading. I’m glad you’re enjoying the articles.
It’s tough to say what’s “more beneficial” because that depends on your goals, lifestyle, daily schedule, etc.
As a preliminary guess (without knowing too much about you), I would say that because you want to put weight on, a 24–hour fast might be better. The reason I say that is because it provides an opportunity to eat more calories on most days, which should help you put on weight. And then you can combine that with the occasional benefits of fasting to stay leaner than you would otherwise (for example, a 24-hour fast once per week).
That said, you have to take your lifestyle into account. You mentioned that you rarely eat breakfast anyway. For that reason, it seems like trying the Leangains style of fasting would be best. Doing 24-hour fasts so that you can get more calories in throughout the day isn’t very helpful if you’re not going to be eating in the morning anyway.
The only caveat I will add is that if you do Leangains (which is a great system) and you are serious about gaining weight, then you’ll need to commit to eating a lot. You’re probably going to need 3,000 to 3,500 calories per day and you’re going to need that within an 8-hour window.
The most important thing is that, regardless of which option you go with, you actually choose one and get started. Don’t let the split decision prevent you from doing anything.
Good luck man! Can’t wait to hear about your progress.
Thanks for responding so soon James!
I’ll begin and start the leangains method next week since i’m pretty close to already and just try to pack on 3.5k calories in the window and see how it work with my schedule. Hopefully all will go well. I’ll keep you posted! thanks again for responding so fast
Reading this article helped me out a lot, thank you!
I’m thinking about giving IF a try. I’m most hungry between 7:00 and 16:00, after 16:00 I usually only consume a small meal composed of mainly fruit and If I’m more hungry also some protein/vegetables. Based on this it’d probably be easiest transition for me to go on a 15/9 schedule, starting at 7 am. The only downside would be that I workout in the evenings (HIIT, crossfit, spinning or a 10-17km run). Would it hurt my progress to eat my meals a couple of hours before my training instead of after? My goals are to further increase strength and endurance, if I lose some bodyfat on the way it’d really nice, but performance and overall health are my main goals.
Marieke — first, thanks for reading. It’s great to have you in our little community!
I’m glad the article helped. A 15/9 schedule sounds like a fantastic place to start. Let me know how it goes.
As far as training later in the evening, I would try it out for a few weeks and see how you feel. Perhaps adding in a protein shake at the end of the workout would be a good balance and might prevent any muscle loss that you would incur. The most important thing, however, is that you’re getting good nutrition. If you think about your training and diet over a longer time span, then you’ll probably see that training a few hours after eating shouldn’t have much of an impact.
For example, if you think about eating right and training hard over a 24–hour period, then your body will probably optimize to the best of it’s ability. There’s no reason to stress yourself out over a few hours if you’re doing the right things over a 24–hour span.
Hope that helps!
Hey James Clear, I work night shifts in a hotel from 11pm to 7am and when I get home I’m usually tired so I go straight to bed.
I would like to know what would be the best time to fast and eat for me. Was thinking 3pm to 11pm and in between go to the gym; is this ok?
Also, how I’ve been searching how many intake of cals, carbs, etc… during the feeding hours, but I haven’t found anything.
Thanks for the article. It helped a lot!
Glad you enjoyed the article, Humberto!
Eating from 3pm to 11pm would work very well, given your schedule. And yes, feel free to workout during that time.
You can calculate how many calories, carbs, etc. using this calculator: http://www.1percentedge.com/ifcalc/
WoW thanks for the fast!
Will refer this article to my friends!