Do You Even Fast?

BenPOF

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Nov 2, 2009
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Vancouver, BC
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[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8FRuXJuImM]Fasting or 5 Meals Per Day? - YouTube[/ame]

Hey guys, have any of you tried this 20 hr fast, once a week? I've never done it but this video makes sense. But if anyone has any experience w/ this, would love to hear it.
 


What a coincidence, I just read Eat Stop Eat today by Brad Pilon, and while I haven't tried it out yet it's definitely on the to do

Looks like the same data being presented.
 
Being part of a manic born again sect I used to fast regularly for spiritual enlightenment. We would fast a whole week at the beginning of January. We regularly did 3 or 5 day fasts. These were water only fasts. We were taught how to break the fast safely (one guy broke a 5 days fast with a vindaloo and ended-up in hospital). The feeling of enlightenment was almost certainly a bio-chemical thing though, rather than the holy spirit.

After the first couple of days fasting is kind of ok but the first 1 -3 days are awful, which is why I think one day fasts would be tough.

I actually think fasting is pretty stupid. Your body needs a constant stream of vitamins and minerals. Though having said that, our bodies are still pretty much as they were thousands of years ago, when we were hunting for food every day, so perhaps gaps without eating are the norm as far as the body is concerned.

What do I know ...
 
It worked well for me, but I did it more than once per week. I did it almost every day with a calorie deficit and dropped 20+ pounds of fat in less than 2 months.

Flavored zero calorie drinks, even diet soda, helped a lot to get through some of the fasting time hunger/cravings at first. It became easier after a while.

I was down to 11% body fat, but have been lazy since the cold weather hit and not fasting or watching my calorie intake as much. I plan to start again after Christmas with the goal of a single digit fat percentage.
 
I can vouch for the couple times a week 22hr fasts; you'll get enough nutrition. My own method is now a hybrid of eatstopeat and leangains, but I'd you read both you'll see the aim is similar...if you struggle going a full 22hrs but can do 16hr with no issues then leangains is for you. I am in the 22hr camp -- I still mix it up every month or so to take a break and give the body a chance to not get totally acclimated though (I juice a few days a month and will not track anything a few days a month).

When I'm doing it the way I should be and having primarily a bolus of awesome (meats and veggies) then I shed fat slowly and exhibit strength gains in the gym. When I'm failing, then it is like failing at any other lifestyle eating plan.

Good luck and feel free to reach out if you have questions; once you get used to feeling lambic hunger you'll be 75% to controlling it.
 
Once a month for a few days. Not really a voluntary choice, but just listening to my body. It lets me know when it's time for a cleaning. :) Didn't need to read a book to figure it out. Just listen to your body -- it lets you know what it wants.

I don't really choose the days, and it just happens. Honestly, at the end though is when I come up with some of my best and most creative ideas. Productivity is down the shitter, but creativity is sky-high.

Then I'll have a nice chicken caesar salad or something, a good night sleep, and feel like a million bucks the next day, banging out work like none other.
 
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Being part of a manic born again sect I used to fast regularly for spiritual enlightenment. We would fast a whole week at the beginning of January. We regularly did 3 or 5 day fasts. These were water only fasts. We were taught how to break the fast safely (one guy broke a 5 days fast with a vindaloo and ended-up in hospital). The feeling of enlightenment was almost certainly a bio-chemical thing though, rather than the holy spirit.

After the first couple of days fasting is kind of ok but the first 1 -3 days are awful, which is why I think one day fasts would be tough.

I actually think fasting is pretty stupid. Your body needs a constant stream of vitamins and minerals. Though having said that, our bodies are still pretty much as they were thousands of years ago, when we were hunting for food every day, so perhaps gaps without eating are the norm as far as the body is concerned.

What do I know ...

I've tried 24 hour fasts before a few times and I don't find them that bad. After 5 hours of ignoring hunger the desire for food pretty much goes away imo. I guess once the brain realises there definitely is no food coming it stops sending out the signals to acquire food or something. Having said that I don't think I could do 3 days :crap:
 
tl;dw

Interesting since I'm about to start a 3 day fast.

It's easy to pull off. Did it a few years ago in high school. You drop weight like crazy the more you do it, and your body gets used to it quick. And if you do sprints in addition, you'll see changes in a week or two. Good luck on dat self discipline
 
Didn't watch the video, but I've been doing IF since end of Sept. I do 18 hour fasts though, so I don't eat between 7pm and 1pm. Have a small lunch around 1pm, a couple of servings of BCAA's during the afternoon, hit the gym at 5pm and have a large meal straight after that.

I've found it a much easier way to maintain a calorie deficit than traditional diets. It's much easier to eat more of the things you like, and after a couple of weeks the fasting period doesn't bother you at all, your body just adapts to it and you don't get hungry in the morning.

If I'm going out for a meal in the evening or something, I often do virtually 24 hour fasts too, and just have the one big meal. Train fasted on just BCAA's then have the big meal after. Losing about 8lbs a month - 20lbs down and another 20 or so to my goal weight, and I'm yet to have lost any strength (in fact I've gained on a couple of lifts, and I've been training for years).

I plan to keep up with IF as a permanent lifestyle change though, even when I'm looking to get back to steadily gain weight again from March. Only difference will be the size of the meals.
 
The power of fasting on your discipline also shouldn't be underestimated. Studies have shown, that you can actually train your "discipline muscle" and that exercising discipline in one area of your life can carry over into other areas. So short time fasting doesn't only help you lose weight, it can also increase your ability to hustle all day long.
 
I fast 24 hours every week. Started like 2 months ago (24 hours twice a week when I started), and lost fat though I am not overweight anyway. Went down to 24hours a day as I don't want to reduce weight anymore. The main reason I am fasting is for the health benefits, not for losing weight. My wife fast twice a week, she lost fat when she plateaued on the other diets.
 
Yeah after checking out eat, stop eat and leangains, I think I'm going to go with eat, stop, eat. Leangains looks like its for guys who are into working out and getting ripped which is no longer a priority since I've landed my fish.
 
If you're going to fast, and deprive your body of all the vitamins/minerals it needs to function in this fucked up world we live in, then I sure hope you live in a super clean environment like on top of a fucking mountain or something like that, because if you live in the city and work your ass off daily like the rest of us, you're not putting your body in the appropriate setting to get the benefits of fasting. In fact you're doing the opposite. Here's a rundown of the negative stuff you're exposed to daily:

1) You're breathing shit. (carcinogens from vehicles, airborne bacteria, pollution, etc...)

2) You're drinking water that contains shit. (all types of chemicals that I need a whole book to write about)

3) You're stressed out more than you should be.

4) You're looking at a screen (TV/Computer) more than you should be which exposes you to more carcinogens.

5) Cell phone and radio waves are going through your brain daily.

and more shit like this...

All of the above make your body crave vitamins and nutrients to repair itself and fight threats. It's definitely not the right setup to be fasting for long periods of time.

If you want to fast, go on a Vipassana retreat in the Himalayas or something, drink spring water, get away from all the harmful shit that modern society is throwing at you.