IF question from Xtrainer

[Vedic]

Yes

 

[Henry Swanson]

IF is a breeze to break into compared to the Warrior Diet.

 

[Ziltoid]

This seems very interesting and I have somewhat done this in the past. I haven't read everything that was posted but I am going to read it all and I might consider trying it. Thanks for clarifying some stuff. A co-worker of mine also IF's once in awhile. I'm going to show him this as well. Sorry if this has been answered, if it has, just show me the link or verbage but does IF affect you m.etabolism? Does it slow it down? Right now mine has been revved up since I eat every 2-3 hours.

 

[ronin0352]

But that's beside the point. It's very easy to follow the typical American junk diet, too. But is it allowing you to maximize your performance? It's not about what's easy, it's about what works best.

I'm not arguing that, and honestly I wasn't having that hard of a time following the & habits either. I thought this would be difficult to get into and stick to, but I'm finding it a LOT easier than I expected, and I'm actually seeing how much I was struggling to make sure I was eating every 3 hours at work. Now, as long as I can eat the first few hours, the rest of the night I don't have to worry about it. (And if I can't, I have some Greens+ Protein bars & protein powder as a back-up.)

Is it allowing me to maximize my performance? I don't know. It's WAY too early to tell. But the science behind it seems to be pretty solid, and I've talked to several people who have had good experiences with it and none who had bad. The closest I've come to hearing a bad experience on it was a trainer at my gym who said he liked the results, but had a hard time sticking with it, and gave up after about a month. It may not work for me at all, but there's only one way to find out since we're all different, right?

Besides, if I go into it with a shitty attitude like, "Man this is gonna suck, I'm never gonna be able to stick with this," then I'll prove myself right. If I go into it with a good attitude, my chances of success are much higher. Whether it works or not is up to my body, but whether I stick to it and do it right is up to me.

 

[oyaji poi]

Seriously dude, get off of Berardi's and Ripptoes nuts.

Why you gotta rip on ripptoe? he's kind of pudgy anyway.

This is an interesting topic, and relevant now that I'm working rather than a student. Eating every 2-3 hours was easy when my fridge was arms reach away. Now I work 12 hours a day and spend so much money eating out. I'd like to do some reading on this before I dive in.

Do you, or anyone else, have any references or sources you can recommend as a reliable place to start to find out what is and how it's done? Scientific or anecdotal. I'm googling it now and there are many hits, and if you have any you feel give a good basis please post. Thanks.

 

[Vedic]

Seriously for loads of information I recommend performance menu or Robb Wolf's or mike Odonell's blog. Great work on it in my opinion.

 

[arctic82]

Another interesting way is the controlled fasting during the day, which basically means limited calories during the day mainly coming from leafy greens and fruits. Small amounts of protein is accepted, then having the normal four hour eating window in the evening.

There are few points that have been used as of why this would be beneficial:
1. Acid/alkaline balance, since most fruits and vegetables are alkaline.
2. Mineral and vitamine absorbion.
3. You get a lot of fruits and veggies during the day so they are not taking room from protein etc at the evening.

Makes sense to me, althou fruits should be lower-GI so not to cause blood sugar swings, and therefore make you hungry.

Side note: About adaptations. As people know, when you restrict calories and fat drasticly, your body will want to supercompensate and store more fat as to protect you and the opposite is also true, when you get adequte fat from diet, body is not that interested in storing it. This makes me wonder is the same true with protein. If severly restricted from proteins for a short period of time, would the body supercompensate the lack by maintaining muscle and building more when alot of protein is introduced again in the diet. After all muscle is vital for survival, and body doesnt want to waste anything... Just thinking...

 

[oyaji poi]

Seriously for loads of information I recommend performance menu or Robb Wolf's or mike Odonell's blog. Great work on it in my opinion.

Thanks, I'll check those out and post again after I've done some reading.

 

[T_Money_]

If severly restricted from proteins for a short period of time, would the body supercompensate the lack by maintaining muscle and building more when alot of protein is introduced again in the diet. After all muscle is vital for survival, and body doesnt want to waste anything... Just thinking...

I'm not gonna be able to give you a source for this, but hopefully someone else will. Basically the opposite of your thinking is true. If you don't eat enough protein your body will break down muscles. Remember, amino acids, and thereby proteins are the building blocks of pretty much every tissue and organ in your body. The skeletal muscle you're thinking about is just about the least important use for amino acids and your body gives it priority as such. Sorry, I learned this stuff in class and can't remember the exact term, I know its like "muscle sparing" or something that describes the amount of protein you must consume in order to spare your muscles from catabolism. I'm sure vedic can explain it better.

Vedic, can you give me a basic rundown of your day. I'm trying to piece it together, but am having a hard time. I've figured out that you workout on just vendetta. Then does your eating window start? And thats why your first "real" meal is oats and whey, which is also your PWO meal? Also, do you eat more complete meals (meaning like an equal spread of macros) through the rest of your window, or do you follow a more berardi with just P+F and veggies?

 

[oyaji poi]

T-money had some good questions. I was wondering some similar things, though as you mentioned (Vedic) IF is a relatively new thing so many answers are individual.

However, the main question I have is similar to T-money's, that is how do you treat the pre-per-post workout time in relation to the IF? I understand it would depend on what kind of IF you're doing, for example an eating window of 1-8pm versus 8-10PM then some protein-fat snacks before bed. I think you'll get the general gist of our questions, and that the questions are strongly based in Berardi and everyone else's focus on eating around the workout time. So basically we're looking to fill in knowledge gaps that we're trying to change.

 

[Vedic]

I workout around my eating schedule. Some days that's 11-6 some days that's 8am to 1pm. It varies for me. Main key is though I don't let it run my life, the weekends I don't IF and sometimes a day during the week I won't.

 

[oyaji poi]

Thank you for the reply. Do you still take a protein shake before, or after with simple carbs, or do you not follow that either?

 

[XTrainer]

That's a lot of talk for someone that hasn't tried it or talked to the leading biochemist who pushed it. Do you refuse to read what I wrote? Myself, Robb, Mike, Aimee, Anna, and many others have seen IMPROVED performance. Seriously dude, get off of Berardi's and Ripptoes nuts.

Relax, I'm not challenging whether or not the diet improves performance, I'm questioning his premise for liking the diet. A diet is not good because it is easy.

 

[Vedic]

Thank you for the reply. Do you still take a protein shake before, or after with simple carbs, or do you not follow that either?

Normally I take "Vendetta" before and during my workout. Right now I am trying something else that is working well.

 

[ronin0352]

Relax, I'm not challenging whether or not the diet improves performance, I'm questioning his premise for liking the diet. A diet is not good because it is easy.

I understand now. I was a little taken back by your comment too. All I was saying is that I was pleasantly surprised at the adjustment. I've been following the 7 habits for a while and thought I would have a hard time making this adjustment, but it's actually easier that eating so often with my schedule. Like I said before, I'll have to do it for a while and get back to ya on the effects.

 

[XTrainer]

But that's beside the point. It's very easy to follow the typical American junk diet, too. But is it allowing you to maximize your performance? It's not about what's easy, it's about what works best.

I don't see how that could be misinterpreted to mean anything but exactly what it says, but no worries.

I think it goes without saying that eating less frequently is going to be more convenient than eating more frequently, for starters.

I am interested to hear about your results. I know my body does not respond well to IF, at least with the "dive in" approach that I've been forced to adopt. But I like to see how different people respond to different approaches like this.

 

[oyaji poi]

Does anyone have any experience in gaining weight during IF? Or is that not the point? Or is it just a matter of eating a shit-ton during the eating window?

What about a before-bed casein shake? No?

 

[Vedic]

I have guys including myself gaining strength from it etc. You would have to be more specific. It's not about eating a 'shit ton" and that being that.

If it's not in the window, then of course not. if it is, then by all means.

 

[oyaji poi]

I mean, I weigh 80kg now. I used to weigh almost 90kg. I want to weigh 90kg. I gained weight by lifting mostly heavy, and eating frequently, but clean. Most of what I've read about IF has been people with a long training history who began IF and reduced their bodyfat levels, with little mention of gaining muscle.


Based on what I did the last two times I lost weight due to being sick then gaining again I reckoned it would take 4-5 months to gain 7kg while keeping bodyfat about the same. I don't know if that is possible with a calorie restricted diet such as IF, which is why I asked about adding protein.

 

[Henry Swanson]

Does anyone have any experience in gaining weight during IF? Or is that not the point? Or is it just a matter of eating a shit-ton during the eating window?

What about a before-bed casein shake? No?

I've gained weight on it. Simply expanding my feeding time and yes taking in some casein before bed. Gave me wicked heart burn though.