IF

Some really interesting information of the business of Intermittent Fasting. Fasting is hard, but you put your mind to it, like anything. I just finished a 24+ hour fast on Monday after getting home from a birthday celebration, having indulged in a few pigs in a blanket and other non-primal libations that shall remain nameless.

I fasted from Sunday night, 10pm bedtime, until Tuesday morning’s first cup of coffee. The jury is probably still out on whether you should break a fast with a cup of coffee, but oh it tasted fabulous. Not sure how you operate when your diet goes off course. I find it exponentially difficult to right the ship back to healthy as I gain momentum in an unhealthy direction.

The Monday fast was a decisive, no-negotiating, rationalization-proof, means to take back control. It worked. Thinking for the next week, I’ll go even more strict, with the Zone diet (which can be prickly with its measuring and counting), and IF. Will most likely go IF Warrior Diet style, of the two options found most appealing:

Leangains

(16-hour fast/8-hour feed)

This brand of fasting is based on an 8-hour feeding period followed by a 16-hour fast. However, it also layers a few other food rules on top. The diet should be high in protein, should cycle carbohydrates, should include fasted training, and should use nutrient timing (eating the bulk of your calories during the post-exercise period). On this plan, you fast from, say, 9 PM on Monday night until 1 PM on Tuesday afternoon. If you’re going to exercise, you’d do so just before 1 PM on Tuesday, with 10 g BCAAs (branched chain amino acids) during training. After training, you eat 2-3 meals before 9 PM, with your biggest meal coming right after exercise. The fast begins again on Tuesday evening until Wednesday at 1 PM, and repeats every day.

Warrior Diet

(20-hour fast/4-hour feed)

On this plan, you would either fast, or eat very small amounts of specifically recommended foods, for the first 20 hours of each day, working out during this period of under eating. Then, you would eat the majority of your daily intake within a 4-hour over feeding window. After that 4-hour over feeding period, you would repeat the under eating/fasting for the next 20 hours. Generally, most people place their 4-hour over feeding window at the end of the day, as it’s more convenient for family dinners and after-work training sessions. However, modifications can be made based on individual and scheduling differences.