# Intermittent Fasting - Lean Gains



## Contest (Oct 4, 2011)

Hi all,

I was considoring implementing IF into my diet as I'm trying to lean up even further. I'm currently sub 10% BF but I'm

looking to hit 5%.

I've read a lot about the "Lean Gains Diet" but I have a few questions.

*1. *How many times should I fast per week if using the Leans Gains protocol. I can't seem to find any concrete information on this but I was considoring maybe twice per week.

*
2.* Does the below protocol fit the Lean Gains method...

11am - Breakfast (100g Oats, Protein, Fibre, Multivitamins, Omega 3)

1pm - Workout (BCAA during working and a protein shake post-workout)

4pm - Meal (Chicken and Vegetables)

5pm - Protein Shake

7pm - Casein + Quark

I know it's advised to get in 3 meals within the 8 hour feeding period but I don't think my stomach can tolerate so much food intake in such a small time span.


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## Ser (Aug 10, 2008)

I haven't tried the fasting route, i don't believe in starving my body for ANY amount of time*just my view*

I have known many people to get down to the nitty gritty where fat levels are concerned and not one of them have fasted.....am a firm believer in the theory of 'if you starve your body it will rebound and hold onto every single morsal you give it and hold water due to the shock' having seen it happen with my own eyes, again, its just *my* opinion.

IF you insist on doing it....stretch your stomache to be able to cope...otherwise its not a fasting period, its just starving yourself when you can't fit in the basic amounts when you ARE supposed to be eating....good luck

If you want to drop further, do a little more cardio, or manipulate your macro's....the body does NOT respond well to starvation imho.


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## Contest (Oct 4, 2011)

Cheers for your input Ser. Much appreciated 

Well the Lean Gains protocol of fasting basically says eat within an 8 hour window and then fast for 16 hours. This shouldn't be too detrimental to the body should it?

Also, I've read in many places that fasting can be beneficial to one's health by improving bloody lipids, neurological health as well as giving the digestive system a well earned rest lol.


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## Ser (Aug 10, 2008)

A diet high in meat is NEVER good to the digestive system...it has to work very hard to get through it, my recommendation if you want to be kind to your digestive system is to have colonic irregation(sp) and take digestive enzymes.

*I* could never fit my macro's into an 8 hour period, and you have said you can't either...so it won't work for you(i don't know if it works if you do it correctly, but i can be pretty sure if def won't work if you don't do it correctly lol)


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## Contest (Oct 4, 2011)

Just the thought of colonic irregation sends shivers down my spine lmao.

I was considoring on eating quite a bit of cashews and almonds through the 8 hour eating window as I find it extremely easy to eat them LOL. That should

quite easily help me reach my daily calorie count. Plus there high in protein and good fats so shouldn't really be too bad. What do you think mate?

Also, I just found out that the Lean Gains protocol is a daily diet LOL. Do you think implementing it 3 times per week would yield any results or would it just be a waste?


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## Ser (Aug 10, 2008)

If you do the diet....do it the whole hog...if its daily, then bust your ass and do it daily, i would love to read about the results you have! I personally wouldn't do it, i have stuck to the same method and it has worked for me, eat what i should when i should, cheat on cheat day, train hard and rest well. If i am gaining fat, change my macro's, if i am losing size, change my macro's. I tend not to cardio, i have two young children who keep me active...and then there is the adult stuff....which *should* count as cardio, between those two and being diet controlled i have managed to NEVER lose sight of my ab's, obliques and splits down my legs, hams and glutes, i do NOT suffer like someone prep'ing, desperate for food and hungry, am always well satisfied as far as food is concerned and know when am due to eat as my body tells me....and recommend this route to everyone as people always comment on my condition and ask if i suffer to keep it. All this fad stuff is exactly that *IMO*, a FAD, but am open to reading about how someone fared, it is ALWAYS of interest even if i do not plan to do it myself, i just don't go in for reading the falsified [email protected] that promotes it. Promise me if you DO choose to follow this route that you will have a journal and be honest so i can read all about it!

As i said, i am unsure of whether it will work, but if you only half follow it i can be sure it won't work!

In for a penny, in for a pound


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## Ser (Aug 10, 2008)

Also...as for the colonic...at first it IS uncomfortable, but never painful if you relax(take a valium or twa, that'll do the trick) Remember, your intestines weren't 'made' to digest meat...you will have YEARS of build up throughout...nice subject, i know:laugh:

It ain't pretty...but you get used to it, i now do it at home(i started off cause i wanted to try anal and realised the benefits it brought whilst stopping there ever being a 'mess' that would make me want to die!!!!...i lost a few inches INSTANTLY off my waistline!!!!)

I recommend it to guys competing, to do it regularly in the lead up to show day as its hard to get the upper part of the intestine cleared out without training and going a little further each time, if your class comes right down to the nitty gritty...it COULD make a difference! Just make sure you take 'good' digestive enzymes as the flushing will flush your natural ones away....and you need them for good digestion!

Apart from those benefits...it has its filth factor...should you be anally adventurous :devil2:


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## Contest (Oct 4, 2011)

Well Ser, after much thinking and deliberating, I'm not sure whether the Lean Gains diet is 100% for me. Due to me going gym at different times

in the week and working at different times, I wouldn't be able to keep a fixed constant pattern that this method requires. On top of that, I can't

really see myself fasting every single day as my mind would just go crazy LOL. I know I've got the will power to do 3 days out of 7, alternating every

other day but I don't know whether that'll make any difference.

The only other type of Intermittent Fasting I've seen that seems plausible is the "Eat, Stop, Eat", protocol where an individual would fast for 24 hours, maybe

once or twice a week but this method seems to be designed for people who want to lose weight and doesn't seem ideal for someone who works out hard

4-5 times per week.

Still in two minds on what to do but I'll keep you updated with a journal 

By the way, does anyone her use the Lean Gains protocol and if so do you do it everyday or a couple of times per week. Would appreciate some feedback


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## TheComebackKid (Feb 17, 2012)

I agree with Ser. Sticking a pipe up your ar5e is a better idea than partial starvation.


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## Contest (Oct 4, 2011)

TheComebackKid said:


> I agree with Ser. Sticking a pipe up your ar5e is a better idea than partial starvation.


LMAO Not really my thing mate.

Although I have to say recently my stomach has been feeling quite f*ck*d. I eat roughly 1kg of meat a day and I don't

think it's doing my gut any favours. I do take Orange Triad multivitamins which as digestion support and supplement on fibre

twice a day (Whole Pysillium Husks, Inulin & Apple Fibre) but it doesn't seem to be doing anything LOL.


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## Contest (Oct 4, 2011)

So the LeanGains protocol basically dictates skipping breakfast but using BCAA's in the morning instead, followed by your workout?

How were your results using this method mate?

The only issue I have is that I can't keep up with constant pattern everyday. I may try LeanGains 3 times per week just to see whether

I see any results. My diet is super clean anyways and my daily carb intake does not exceed 120g. This means I'll be using a conjunction of

"Low Carbs" and "LeanGains", alternating everyday between the two. Everyone's body is different and who knows, this may work for me


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## Contest (Oct 4, 2011)

simmonds87 said:


> Yea, like you say everybody is different.
> 
> I was quite high BF but droped 5% in 2 months, and felt 'firmer' throughout, use with a low carb protocol and you should reaping the rewards from both areas.


My BF is already sub 10% thanks to eating clean and using a low carb approach but I'm trying to take it down even further. Hopefully throwing

in IF a few times per week should help me achieve this


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## Feelin-Big (Apr 12, 2011)

Ser said:


> *I haven't tried the fasting route, i don't believe in starving my body for ANY amount of time**just my view*
> 
> I have known many people to get down to the nitty gritty where fat levels are concerned and not one of them have fasted.....am a firm believer in the theory of 'if you starve your body it will rebound and hold onto every single morsal you give it and hold water due to the shock' having seen it happen with my own eyes, again, its just *my* opinion.
> 
> ...


x2

Not a diet i will ever attempt to pursue...


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## Guest (Mar 28, 2012)

Always amusing when the majority of a thread about a topic is "well I've never done it/know anything about it but *I* don't think it'd work"


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## Ser (Aug 10, 2008)

Funny Frank...if you actually read it, you would realise it said i don't know if it will work when implemented properly..but it sure as **** WILL NOT work if you only follow half of the plan.. 

Always love it when someone comes into a thread and posts NOTHING to do with said thread... :whistling:


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## Guest (Mar 28, 2012)

Ser said:


> *I* could never fit my macro's into an 8 hour period, and you have said you can't either...*so it won't work for you*





Ser said:


> I haven't tried the fasting route, i don't believe in starving my body for ANY amount of time*just my view*
> 
> .the body does NOT respond well to starvation


Sounds to me like you're saying it won't work without you having tried it, which is exactly what I said.

But what do I know i'm just quoting what you said in this thread word for word


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## Guest (Mar 28, 2012)

And to the OP all your questions are answered on leangains.com just look for the leangains guide


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## Ser (Aug 10, 2008)

re read the bits you quoted...and the rest of my posts in this thread...then re read my last post before this one...he said he couldn't fit in the food he was supposed to in that amount of time...so wouldn't be following the protocol correctly, so it wouldn't work for him.

I also said ime the body doesn't respond well to starvation, its what *I* have experienced.....


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## Contest (Oct 4, 2011)

I've learnt that the Lean Gains protocol advocates 2-3 meals during the 8 hour feeding window. I've also learnt that there

are a few ways of using this protocol. Some do fasted training and some prefer having 1 pre-workout meal. It all comes down

to which method best suits your lifestyle.

I'm basically going to use this method of IF every other day to see whether I see any results. Obvsioiuly there's no harm in trying this.

It may or may not work but I feel it's all about experimenting with what works best for you.

Here's my IF plan...

*11am* - 100g Oats, Protein Shake, Fibre, Multivitamins, Fish Oils

*1pm - 3pm* - Workout

*3pm* - Protein Shake

*4pm* - 400g Chicken, Vegetables (Either 50g brown rice, 1 sweet potato or 50g Quinoa)

*5pm* - Protein Shake, Fibre

*6pm - 7pm* - 250g Quark, Protein Bar, Casein Shake

Will do this on Tuesdays, Thursdays & Saturdays


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## bayman (Feb 27, 2010)

Ser, I've never read so much crap in so few posts. "Starvation" ha! Metabolic rate only declines after around 3 days of total fasting (zero food) for reference. Your body is quite well adapted to going long periods of time without food, and even has convenient energy stores in glycogen and fat to cope with this very eventuality. When in our evolutionary past would we have had access to food 100% of the time like today? Fasting for 16hours each day won't have any adverse effects, in fact, it may have many positives not limited to:

- Increasing insulin sensitivity

- Mental acuity

- Disease prevention

- Preventing overeating

- Not worrying about when your next meal is

And how exactly are our intestines not designed to eat meat. We're omnivores by design.


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## bayman (Feb 27, 2010)

Contest said:


> I've learnt that the Lean Gains protocol advocates 2-3 meals during the 8 hour feeding window. I've also learnt that there
> 
> are a few ways of using this protocol. Some do fasted training and some prefer having 1 pre-workout meal. It all comes down
> 
> ...


This is NOT leangains. If you're not cycling your cals and carbs, or using the eating window every day it won't work as is intended.

Randomly swapping your meal frequency about will just lead to hunger. Your hunger hormone (ghrelin) adapts to a give meal frequency, so if you've always eaten breakfast and then don't for a day you WILL feel hungry until it resets. Ghrelin takes a few days to adapt to any given meal frequency for reference.

I've been running various incarnations of leangains for about 4years in case you want to know my credentials on the issue.


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## Contest (Oct 4, 2011)

bayman said:


> This is NOT leangains. If you're not cycling your cals and carbs, or using the eating window every day it won't work as is intended.
> 
> Randomly swapping your meal frequency about will just lead to hunger. Your hunger hormone (ghrelin) adapts to a give meal frequency, so if you've always eaten breakfast and then don't for a day you WILL feel hungry until it resets. Ghrelin takes a few days to adapt to any given meal frequency for reference.
> 
> I've been running various incarnations of leangains for about 4years in case you want to know my credentials on the issue.


Hi Bayman,

You don't need to give me your credentials mate, I've read all your posts in the other threads to do with Lean Gains 

The only difference between the 8 hour eating window I've posted and my normal eating pattern is that I'd get in another meal roughly 10pm

which is always a 400g chicken salad which is then followed by the Casein shake and Quark before bed. Would that still not be classed consistant

enough mate?

Incase my post is confusing, here's my fast day...

*11am* - 100g Oats, Protein Shake, Fibre, Multivitamins, Fish Oils

*1pm - 3pm* - Workout

*3pm* - Protein Shake

*4pm* - 400g Chicken, Vegetables (Either 50g brown rice, 1 sweet potato or 50g Quinoa), Multivitamins, Fish Oils

*5pm* - Protein Shake, Fibre

*6pm - 7pm* - 250g Quark, Protein Bar, Casein Shake, Fish Oils

And here's my normal eating day...

*11am* - 100g Oats, Protein Shake, Fibre, Multivitamins, Fish Oils

*1pm - 3pm* - Workout

*3pm* - Protein Shake

*4pm* - 400g Chicken, Vegetables (Either 50g brown rice, 1 sweet potato or 50g Quinoa), Multivitamins, Fish Oils

*6pm - *Protein Shake, Fibre

*8pm* - Protein Bar

*10pm* - 400g Chicken, 300g Salad, Fish Oils

*12pm* - 250g Quark, Casein Shake


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## bayman (Feb 27, 2010)

How often are you working out?


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## Bamse (Feb 5, 2011)

bayman said:


> Ser, I've never read so much crap in so few posts.


Which is ironic, seeing how she cleans her colon on a regular basis.


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## Contest (Oct 4, 2011)

bayman said:


> How often are you working out?


On average 4 times per week mate. I workout on Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri.

My plan was to use IF on alternate days so that's Tues, Thurs, and Sat. The other days will be

alternated with my usual low carb diet. As you can tell from my previous post, the only thing that

will vary between the IF and Low Carb days is that the last meal (Chicken Salad) will be eliminated.

Can I ask Bayman when you yourself used the Lean Gains protocol, how many calories and meals

were you fitting in the 8 hour window?


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## bayman (Feb 27, 2010)

Contest said:


> On average 4 times per week mate. I workout on Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri.
> 
> My plan was to use IF on alternate days so that's Tues, Thurs, and Sat. The other days will be
> 
> ...


I don't see the point in you running it then in that format. The idea behind leangains is to place your excess calories (especially carbs) at times when your body is most likely to use them for muscle growth and repair. In truth leangains is just IF plus carb cycling, the IF hopefully helpling with insulin sensitivity, nutrient partioning and possibly giving health benefits too.

Given you workout early afternoon, your Workout days should look like this:

Fast till 11am, break the fast with a moderate meal (about 20-30% of your cals), workout, get the rest of your cals and carbs PWO "feast".

Rest days should have the same eating window for consistency and hunger, but you spread your cals over 2-3 meals. Normally rest days would be at maintenacne or slightly under if the goal is recomp or fatloss.

The normal leangains protocol is for recomping, and calls for a -20% cal deficit from maintenacne on rest days and a +20% cal excess on workout days. Pure lean bulking might look like -10% rest, +40% workout. Cutting varies depending on how aggressive you want to be.

For me, rest days tend to have 2-3 meals, in this way I find you can have nice big feeds and feel satisfied rather than the tradional 5-6 small meals which leaves me feeling ravenous. Workout days tend to be a small meal pre-WO, and then the evening is just "feeding" till I go to bed.

All of this is covered on the leangains website, someone has put together a usefull pdf too if you google "leangains pdf"


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## bayman (Feb 27, 2010)

Forgot to mention, in terms of cals, when "leangaining" I was easily fitting 3500kcal into my 8hr window, but I do like to eat big.


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## TheComebackKid (Feb 17, 2012)

FrankDangerMaus said:


> Always amusing when the majority of a thread about a topic is "well I've never done it/know anything about it but *I* don't think it'd work"


I know if i jump off a building and flap my arms I know I aint gonna fly. I don't have to try it, but please you go ahead.


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## Wevans2303 (Feb 18, 2010)

If you're going to do it then just make sure you eat your calories in the 8 hour window, the window can be whenever you like to fit into your schedule and there is no set rule on how many meals you should consume whilst in the eating window.

If you want my personal opinion I don't think it works for me, I am always just too hungry even after giving it 6 weeks, once I started eating breakfast again I felt like I had more energy and recovery improved significantly.

It obviously works for some people, but a lot of the guys that he posts on his website are on steroids, despite what he says otherwise.


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## bayman (Feb 27, 2010)

TheComebackKid said:


> I know if i jump off a building and flap my arms I know I aint gonna fly. I don't have to try it, but please you go ahead.


This would imply IF doesn't work.

The evidence to the contray in terms of research and actual results states otherwise.


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## Fatstuff (Mar 2, 2010)

bayman said:


> This would imply IF doesn't work.
> 
> The evidence to the contray in terms of research and actual results states otherwise.


As opposed to the evidence of people flapping their arms and jumping off buildings!!


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## bayman (Feb 27, 2010)

Wevans2303 said:


> If you're going to do it then just make sure you eat your calories in the 8 hour window, the window can be whenever you like to fit into your schedule and there is no set rule on how many meals you should consume whilst in the eating window.
> 
> If you want my personal opinion I don't think it works for me, I am always just too hungry even after giving it 6 weeks, once I started eating breakfast again I felt like I had more energy and recovery improved significantly.
> 
> It obviously works for some people, but a lot of the guys that he posts on his website are on steroids, despite what he says otherwise.


Martin is at pains to state that the approach is not for everyone; some people just function better with traditional breakfast.

For me though, I always found breakfast an inconvenience - having to force it down not being hungry the majority of the time, in the thinking it was the "most important meal of the day" and that I'd be "catabolic" after sleeping. It was quite liberating to learn the truth on the issue, and saves me heaps of time in the mornings now.

The main benefit of IF for me has been making me more aware of my calorie intake, what I'm eating (pretty difficult to screw up with only 8hrs to eat in), and consistency as a result of this.

Again, it's not magic though.


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## bayman (Feb 27, 2010)

Fatstuff said:


> As opposed to the evidence of people flapping their arms and jumping off buildings!!


It's a perfect example of a logical fallacy. Comparing the two is idiotic.


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## Fatstuff (Mar 2, 2010)

Totally agree with IF, single best way to control your calorie intake imo, not to mention all the other proven benefits. I always skip breakfast if fcuk all else even if I'm not cutting calories, just because it suits my lifestyle, the earliest I will eat is when I'm on days and I get up at 5 I'm usually hungry around 9 or 10 . Days off work, I eat around midday!

Totally underrated!


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## Contest (Oct 4, 2011)

Does the Lean Gains protocol completely dismiss having a breakfast though?

Martin has 4 different protocols of which 2 consist of pre-workout meals. Can these pre-workout meals

not be a typical breakfast of say Oats and Protein with the post-workout meal being meat, rice and vegetables?


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## bayman (Feb 27, 2010)

Contest said:


> Does the Lean Gains protocol completely dismiss having a breakfast though?
> 
> Martin has 4 different protocols of which 2 consist of pre-workout meals. Can these pre-workout meals
> 
> not be a typical breakfast of say Oats and Protein with the post-workout meal being meat, rice and vegetables?


Think about the word: Break-Fast. It's just your first meal after a period of not eating for a while.

You don't have to workout fasted no, Martin has outlined the approaches for fasted training, 1 meal prior and 2 meals prior. Personally I favour 1meal prior to training at about 2pm (so a late lunch) and I tend to train about 5pm.

Yes, your first meal could be oats and protein if you want. You need to get out of thinking about it having to be traditional breakfast foods though!


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## Contest (Oct 4, 2011)

bayman said:


> Think about the word: Break-Fast. It's just your first meal after a period of not eating for a while.
> 
> You don't have to workout fasted no, Martin has outlined the approaches for fasted training, 1 meal prior and 2 meals prior. Personally I favour 1meal prior to training at about 2pm (so a late lunch) and I tend to train about 5pm.
> 
> Yes, your first meal could be oats and protein if you want. You need to get out of thinking about it having to be traditional breakfast foods though!


Cheers for the info Bayman.

Martin also outlined that he prefers breaking his fast with a meal consisting of meat but I suppose it's all preference really.

I tried this protocol today by the way. Here's how my day went...

*11:00* - 100g Oats, 50g Whey, 25g Casein 10g Fibre, Multivitamins, Omega 3

*12:30* - Workout (25.6g BCAA in 1.5L water sipped through my workout)

*15:00* - 50g Whey

*16:00* - 400g Chicken, Broccoli, Sprouts, Green Beans, Carrots, Multivitamins, Omega 3

*18:00* - 80g Protein Bar, 50g Whey

*18:45* - 227g Quark, 50g Casein

*19:00* - Started my fast

My total calories for the day was roughly: 2500 KCal

My stomach feels quite bloated at the moment as I was literally chugging down food hourly

and my timing got a little screwed up at the end as something important had come up so I

consumed a fair bit between 6pm - 7pm.

May I ask Bayman whether it's a bad idea to eat so frequently? Calorie wise what I had wasn't

big but it's now 3 hours into my fast and my stomach feels extremely full and bloated LOL.


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## bayman (Feb 27, 2010)

Contest said:


> Cheers for the info Bayman.
> 
> Martin also outlined that he prefers breaking his fast with a meal consisting of meat but I suppose it's all preference really.


He actually states protein, a carb source (preferabkly starchy) and veggies. My "breakfast" on workout days tends to be 75g (uncooked weight) Basmati Rice, about 250g of cooked meat and veggies. Fuels me up nicely for my session later on.



Contest said:


> I tried this protocol today by the way. Here's how my day went...
> 
> *11:00* - 100g Oats, 50g Whey, 25g Casein 10g Fibre, Multivitamins, Omega 3
> 
> ...


My only criticism of the above would be the amount of Whey you are getting through. The approach (for whatever reason) seems to work much better with real foods, although a bit of whey / protein powder is permissable.

My breakfast is shown above, PWO I tend to have 1litre of skimmed millk with 100g of Cereal of my choice as a treat (love cereal lol), then my main evening meal, which tends to be meat / fish with a boatload of rice or potatoes and veg. Pre-bed I'll have a big tub of quark or cottage cheese with frozen fruit etc - a favourite is CC with berries and cocoa.

See how you get on with this, if you don't have the cpapcity to eat big, it might not be for you.


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## Threepwood (Nov 12, 2009)

Been doing IF for the past week, I thought doing my workouts without having a meal before would kill me ... But nope, i just have a scoop of whey in water and my workouts haven't suffered (so far).

I still do feel VERY hungry after my last meal even though i've reached my maintenance calorie intake. Does it take a couple weeks to get used to the eating pattern or should i be upping my cals?

(using IF to cut)


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## Greenspin (Dec 27, 2010)

Threepwood said:


> Been doing IF for the past week, I thought doing my workouts without having a meal before would kill me ... But nope, i just have a scoop of whey in water and my workouts haven't suffered (so far).
> 
> I still do feel VERY hungry after my last meal even though i've reached my maintenance calorie intake. Does it take a couple weeks to get used to the eating pattern or should i be upping my cals?
> 
> (using IF to cut)


Personally, I just arrange my feeding window so it ends at the same time as I go to bed. That way once I start eating I don't really have to stop in the sense of resisting my appetite. Brushing my teeth also helps if I'm going to be awake and don't want to cary on eating.


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## TheComebackKid (Feb 17, 2012)

bayman said:


> This would imply IF doesn't work.
> 
> The evidence to the contray in terms of research and actual results states otherwise.


There's ample evidence that demonstrates the effectiveness of retaining and gaining lean mass from the traditional 6 meals every 3 hours approach. In terms of the weight of research I'd say it's no contest. People are easily swayed by the latest diet gimmick and its a shame that companies can exploitatively market these scams without there being any dissenting opinion.


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## Fatstuff (Mar 2, 2010)

TheComebackKid said:


> There's ample evidence that demonstrates the effectiveness of retaining and gaining lean mass from the traditional 6 meals every 3 hours approach. In terms of the weight of research I'd say it's no contest. People are easily swayed by the latest diet gimmick and its a shame that companies can exploitatively market these scams without there being any dissenting opinion.


But 6 meals works not because it's 6 meals, but because they ate a certain ratio of macronutrients, a certain amount of macronutrients and they trained in a particular fashion.

You could hop to the shop, it would still get u there, but the fact that hopping gets you there doesn't disprove the fact that walking gets you there as well!


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## Superhorse (May 29, 2011)

I've been using it for a while now. Fasting through to 1pm even on non training days. It works fine but not necessarily any better than any other smart approach like carb cycling etc.

The poster who mentioned a lot of the guys being on juice on his site is bang on as well. Much easier to fast with test flowing through your system!


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## bayman (Feb 27, 2010)

TheComebackKid said:


> There's ample evidence that demonstrates the effectiveness of retaining and gaining lean mass from the traditional 6 meals every 3 hours approach. In terms of the weight of research I'd say it's no contest. People are easily swayed by the latest diet gimmick and its a shame that companies can exploitatively market these scams without there being any dissenting opinion.


Ample evidence? Where? On forums? Because we all know anecdotal evidence is the gold standard right?

There certainly isn't any clinical research showing 6 meals to be better that 1, 3, or 10, calories and macros being equal of course. A lot of research actually shows lower meal frequency to trump higher, in terms of mass gains AND mass rentention. On balance though, the difference between the two has shown to be minimal.

Prove me wrong, find me some research to comment on. But please don't post articles from websites or anecdotal reports as "evidence".


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## Guest (Mar 30, 2012)

bayman said:


> Ample evidence? Where? On forums? Because we all know anecdotal evidence is the gold standard right?
> 
> There certainly isn't any clinical research showing 6 meals to be better that 1, 3, or 10, calories and macros being equal of course. A lot of research actually shows lower meal frequency to trump higher, in terms of mass gains AND mass rentention. On balance though, the difference between the two has shown to be minimal.
> 
> Prove me wrong, find me some research to comment on. But please don't post articles from websites or anecdotal reports as "evidence".


ample evidence from broscience bro


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## Fatstuff (Mar 2, 2010)

bayman said:


> Ample evidence? Where? On forums? Because we all know anecdotal evidence is the gold standard right?
> 
> There certainly isn't any clinical research showing 6 meals to be better that 1, 3, or 10, calories and macros being equal of course. A lot of research actually shows lower meal frequency to trump higher, in terms of mass gains AND mass rentention. On balance though, the difference between the two has shown to be minimal.
> 
> Prove me wrong, find me some research to comment on. But please don't post articles from websites or anecdotal reports as "evidence".


But it works for big dave in the gym and he's huge and ripped, natty as well so it must be true!


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## Contest (Oct 4, 2011)

bayman said:


> He actually states protein, a carb source (preferabkly starchy) and veggies. My "breakfast" on workout days tends to be 75g (uncooked weight) Basmati Rice, about 250g of cooked meat and veggies. Fuels me up nicely for my session later on.
> 
> My only criticism of the above would be the amount of Whey you are getting through. The approach (for whatever reason) seems to work much better with real foods, although a bit of whey / protein powder is permissable.
> 
> ...


I think the issue with what I did is that I didn't train fasted and because I train for long hours, it shortens my eating window. Saying that I tend to drink a lot of Whey

on normal days anyways just because I find it easy and I'm used to it LOL.

I broke my fast today at 11am and god was I hungry LOL. At 12am last night when I jumped into bed I felt like I was going to die of starvation LOL. I enjoy it though

but this is definetly something I couldn't do on a daily basis but I will do it every other day and see what kind of results I get.


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## Guest (Mar 30, 2012)

Contest said:


> I think the issue with what I did is that I didn't train fasted and because I train for long hours, it shortens my eating window. Saying that I tend to drink a lot of Whey
> 
> on normal days anyways just because I find it easy and I'm used to it LOL.
> 
> ...


Doing it every other day is going to be bad for hunger, as bayman has pointed out re ghrelin.


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## Contest (Oct 4, 2011)

FrankDangerMaus said:


> Doing it every other day is going to be bad for hunger, as bayman has pointed out re ghrelin.


What if I just man up and cope with the hunger, would that still be an issue mate? I plan to start fasting closer to when I jump into bed so

I don't think that hunger will be a big problem for me the next time I fast. I also plan to sleep for longer on these days.


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## Wevans2303 (Feb 18, 2010)

bayman said:


> Martin is at pains to state that the approach is not for everyone; some people just function better with traditional breakfast.
> 
> For me though, I always found breakfast an inconvenience - having to force it down not being hungry the majority of the time, in the thinking it was the "most important meal of the day" and that I'd be "catabolic" after sleeping. It was quite liberating to learn the truth on the issue, and saves me heaps of time in the mornings now.
> 
> ...


I understand Martin doesn't recommend it to everyone, I am pretty much the opposite to you, when I was fasting I felt really weak and flat and as soon as I ate something just knowing food was going in woke me up and within half an hour of eating some porridge oats my body just heated up big time to the point where I would sweat and need to get a fan out. If I eat in the morning with perhaps a 30 minute/1 hour delay I feel a lot better and the more frequently I eat I find I don't get energy drops throughout the day.


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## Contest (Oct 4, 2011)

Just to give a little feedback.

I've been doing IF 3 days out of 7 and keeping the pattern consistant. At first I thought I was going to die from starvation but now

I find the fasting bit very easy.

The main benefits I've seen...

- Weight has gone from 86kg to 83.5kg

- My stomach in general feels much much better. I no longer feel bloated or experience any stomach upsets. On the days I don't fast I do get a little bloated due to amount of food I consume but it settles down quickly.

- My waist size has gone down. My lifting belt is a small size which is designed for 23"-32" waists. I was originally on the 5th knotch with me getting to the 6th with someone elses help. Now I get to the 6th knotch very easily by myself.

This is definetly something I'll be keeping up


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## Threepwood (Nov 12, 2009)

After 3 weeks of doing IF leangains style ..

Waist has gone down 1.25" and hips (around my ****) has gone down 1"

Going to keep it up and try to not eat so ****e at the weekends as this is deffo slowing down my progress


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## Threepwood (Nov 12, 2009)

Just put up a pic of my progress so far btw ..

http://www.uk-muscle.co.uk/losing-weight/174418-help-bf.html


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## J.Smith (Jul 7, 2011)

Bumping this.

What about if someone was going to follow the leangains 16hour fast/8hour feed but also added in one full day of fasting a week also...how would you add that in?


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## Greenspin (Dec 27, 2010)

J.Smith said:


> Bumping this.
> 
> What about if someone was going to follow the leangains 16hour fast/8hour feed but also added in one full day of fasting a week also...how would you add that in?


I did this, but I added 2x 24 hour fasts. But I slightly 'cheating'. What I did was start fasting at the time I normally would of for the start of my 16 hour fast, but extend it to a complete 24 hour fast: I then had a meal of protein, veg. and fat, then started my next 16 hour fast as per usual, till the next day, where after 16 hours fasting I would eat and so on.


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