Question for you expert fasters (long post with background)

[BoxingMMA]

Sup Sherbros?

I have a specific question for you guys. First a bit of an intro so you know where I am coming from.

At the moment I am 43 years old, when I was young I trained in all sorts of martial arts, sticking mainly with boxing and muay thai until I was older, then from 25 to 30 I was really hardcore into weightlifting, supplements, eating way too many calories and protein, etc. You guys know the drill. At 29 I got married and things started to go down, I started working out less and less and eating more and more, and by the time I was 34 I was probably bigger than ever (135kg probably) while being 6'2 and naturally big-boned, big thighs, etc. In the gym people always told me I had the "world's strongest man type look" which I didn't consider good at all, but then after that I stopped doing weights all together and things got even worse.

It was probably when I was 36 years old that I finally accepted that I was never going to be like I was before, I was getting injured every time I tried to train, constantly in pain, etc. I decided to start fasting, skipping dinner every night, and running every day instead of weights, which helped me lose some weight, then by the time I was 38 I started adding a keto lifestyle (not 100% just eating fewer carbs) and the energy I got from all the weight I was losing and not eating carbs was unlike anything I had felt before, so much that I started a different weight program, only 30-40 minutes a day, but 6 days a week (instead of the two hours a day gymrat sessions I didn't have time for anymore) and I went to my lowest weight ever, looking better than I ever had in my entire life, I felt like Superman. My natural complexion was always going to be big, but now I was 100kg Naturally, as it always happened, my motivation/high dissipated a little bit and the injuries came back, lower back, tennis elbow (always been plagued by this, especially after 40, can't help it, hereditary) then the pandemic came and I started gaining the weight back, at this point I wasn't doing weights anymore, I finally decided weight training was done for me and started running again but I was gaining weight, I was getting pretty down because all the progress was going down the drain.

At this point, 2020/21 I decided to do OMAD (one day a meal fasting) not only because it sounded easy but because it applies to my lifestyle wonderfully, I eat with my kids after school every day and then forget about food until the next one, I eat whatever I want but try to avoid sugars and carbs, except for maybe Fridays, and I've been doing this for 4 years now, I am almost 44.

What this did is counteract the weight gain and I am now back at a pretty acceptable probably 108kg (compared to when I was 136) I am pretty big so I don't look bad, I buy 36-inch clothes, which can be tight fit on some brands, super comfy in others, but never buy anything over 36 inches, going by the "keep your waistband half or less than half of your height rule" my waistband would be 37, so it's been four years where I've been able to keep weight and lifestyle that I enjoy, I don't need to struggle, OMAD is made for me, it's crazy how beautifully this fasting lifestyle applies to my every day shit, not only that but I sleep better, my digestion is kind of slow so when I eat, it takes me a while to go to the bathroom, OMAD works wonders for me because I eat as much as I like at lunch time and I actually won't go to the bathroom until next morning. (depends on what I eat of course, some meals will be faster, others slower)

So lastly, a year ago, or so, I got the itch to exercise something that wasn't running/bike anymore, I got myself a cable machine with no eccentric motion and I can go crazy as if I was doing weights cardio at the same time, this doesn't injure me so I can do exercises that I like for only about 30 or 40 minutes a day, combining it with Yoga and some meditation, keeping joints, muscles and even the mind in check and you could say my life right now is in the best place it could be as far as how happy I am with how I am eating, how I am working out... I don't want to touch a weight or a treadmill again, I don't want to have another lifestyle that isn't one meal a day.

Then why am I making this post?

I reeeally miss how I was looking back in 2018/2019. I am using the same clothes, 36inch, but back then they fit better and I looked better, but I don't want to have to do the exercise/daily activity sacrifice that it requires to burn the extra calories, I also do not want to have to restrict what I eat a day, because to me watching what I eat and how much I eat of it, is fucking hell.

So the only way that comes to mind is adding a 48-hour fast in between my OMAD's once a week, if I take into account the number of calories I would be skipping by not eating one whole day, (say 2500 calories, 3000) and divide those between 7 days, that's like 300 calories a day, if I add that to the 300+ calories I burn per workout a day, then keep the rest of my life exactly the same, shouldn't I lose some weight? Technically...

This is where I need you experts, what do you guys think about doing this? In my case it would have to be tuesdays, Tuesdays is hell day in my house, both of my kids got their sports, they barely have any time to eat after school and I would find it easier to skip that day altogether and not eat until Wednesday lunch time, so my fasting schedule would ideally be.

Monday lunch, wednesday lunch, thusday lunch, friday lunch (maybe dinner as well as it is friday night and it can't be controlled very much) saturday lunch, sunday lunch, monday lunch, skip tuesday again.

Working out monday through friday.

My worry with this is that I already tried something similar a couple of years ago, for close to a year I was skipping monday altogether and then once a month I was doing a 3 day water fast, eventualy that got too hard and I quit the 3 day monthly water fast and kept the monday fast, which was easy enough but I never so any changes, I quit altogether and kept my OMAD and it was the same, I didn't gain or lose any weight.

Maybe I was compensating, eating more calories the days I did eat, who knows, but this is the only way I can think of losing the extra weight and hopefully somehow managing to get my waist size to 35 maybe 34.

If I was single, I'd try a bunch of different things but I am not, I also have kids, I have a life and I can't go to a gym for hours, I'd rather work out in my home, shower quickly and spend more time with them, also, eating habits can't change, the wife takes care of the food situation in the house and she does an amazing job, we all eat pretty healthy, the kids are in great shape and have very healthy lifestyles, whichever eating habits change (such as adding more fasting) would have to come from my end, without having to disrupt the house daily lifestyle, ingredients, cooking, etc. (she is a chef and is very meticulous with what everyone eats)

So I am running out of options, I can't workout more, I can't eat less, I can't eat other food, I don't want to eat or take any supplements, Ideally I want to eat less calories but I don't want to have to calorie count each day, I want to have my cake and eat it too, I want to do exactly what I am doing but go down that extra inch or two in my waist and that would be enough, no I don't want a six pack or to be super ripped, I just want my pants to be very comfortable and maybe even buy a smaller size down the line.

My very limited brain tells me the only way I can achieve this calorie offset is by simply skipping a meal altogether once a week, the day of the week that eating is more troublesome anyway, then do the same thing you've been doing for years and it should just "magically" happen.

What say you sherbros? If you've read this long it means you were invested in your sherbro's wellbeing, invested in my plight.

Do you recommend OMAD every day but skipping tuesday for one 48 hour fasting cycle a week?

 

[Renard]

If you're buying the same size clothes but you're not looking as good as 2019 then I'd say it's a muscle mass issue not a calories issue. Having a better body composition always makes you look better at equal weight.

Being 2 hours in the gym isn't necessary, you weren't optimizing your time correctly when you were younger. If it's an injuries issue then I suppose you could try calisthenics or bands. Apparently some people get decent gains with high resistance bands, but I've never tried it. There's a couple of overpriced systems designed around it, X3 bar and gorilla bar, but it seems easy enough to make your own DIY version. It'll never be as effective as weights but you won't get any pain to speak of.

 

[Slothbroth]

I think you should not exercise on Tuesday if you plan to skip lunch that day. I always get hungry after training. Can't imagine fasting the whole day after exercise. Sounds like torture

 

[BoxingMMA]

If you're buying the same size clothes but you're not looking as good as 2019 then I'd say it's a muscle mass issue not a calories issue. Having a better body composition always makes you look better at equal weight.

Being 2 hours in the gym isn't necessary, you weren't optimizing your time correctly when you were younger. If it's an injuries issue then I suppose you could try calisthenics or bands. Apparently some people get decent gains with high resistance bands, but I've never tried it. There's a couple of overpriced systems designed around it, X3 bar and gorilla bar, but it seems easy enough to make your own DIY version. It'll never be as effective as weights but you won't get any pain to speak of.

This is true, although some specifically tight shirts or pants I used to use regularly I now only use on special occasions like parties and shit and I will be very uncomfortable with them as opposed to back then when they felt tight but not bad.

I am definitely heavier than I was back then, I am at peace with the fact that I'll never look the way I did back when I was gym crazy, I've had two periods in my life when I prioritized my body, one was in 2005 when I ended up trying to lift heavier and eat more, which made me big and strong. And late 2018/2019, which is the only time in my life I could consider myself thin and was also pretty strong, difference is back in 2005 I was doing the typical 1 hour of cardio, 1 hour of weights methods from centuries ago, with a spotter and all that gym shit, drinking 3 protein shakes a day plus craploads of meat. Let's just say I was strong but not healthy.

In 2019 I was doing a more "this century" type of training, 30 to 50 minutes a day, 6 days a week, dumbbells, bars, pull ups, push ups, only one day of cardio and eating keto with one "free" meal a week and that got me the best I've ever looked.

But none of that was sustainable, right now I don't have the time or motivation and to be honest, strenght or health to work out that way, so I am doing as you say, cable/cardio type routines where I burn 300-400 calories in 30 minutes, then I do some yoga to keep my oldass joints in check. All while eating OMAD.

It's good, just not perfect, I'd love to go down at least one pants size.

 

[BoxingMMA]

I think you should not exercise on Tuesday if you plan to skip lunch that day. I always get hungry after training. Can't imagine fasting the whole day after exercise. Sounds like torture

Thanks for your input, it's funny because logic would say that and I agree with you but somehow when I do long fasts, it's the workout on the day that I haven't eaten anything for more than 30 hours that I feel I have more energy in.

The funny thing in fasting, at least for me, is that it's usually the first night after you skipped the meal that may get a little tough, say 5 hours after when I was supposed to have a meal. At that point my last meal was the day before so it would be around 28 or 29 hours fasted, it's at that point where it gets tough but at that point I already worked out in the morning so it's no issue.

The interesting thing is the next day, when you wake up and you are more than 40 hours fasted and still have 8 to go, that's when I feel the strongest and have more energy to work out, I get less tired and for obvious reasons I feel light as well so it feels like I can do all the push ups, pull ups, etc.

I actually tried it yesterday, I did what I said in my original post, last meal I had was monday lunch, then went the rest of monday and all of tuesday without eating, tuesday night was a little tough but wednesday morning I felt like I could lift a house, worked out then ate a very big meal, 3 chicken breasts, salad, cactus with eggs, even had some dehydrated cucumbers and made myself a coffee with half and half milk. I think it was easily 2500 calories, then that's all i've eaten until today again at lunch time.

I really hope that day that I wont be eating at all sort of reduces my weekly calorie intake to the point where I just magically start to lose a little bit of weight.

But summer is coming. fuck

 

[jeff7b9]

I have been intermittent fasting for about 8 years, currently eat between around 5pm and 10pm.

The thing with IF is that it is VERY different from person to person. What works for me might not work for you.

My only advice to you, based on MY experience and the rudimentary science of IF is to be consistent.

Your body produces insulin when it expects to eat, which in turn makes you hungry. If you follow the same basic schedule each day, no insulin response = no hunger (or not much) and everything is relatively easy peasy.

If you start doing a pattern that is asymmetrical as you laid out (which I have done before) then you are breaking up the body's natural insulin schedule and defeating/messing with one one the primary benefits of IF.

Do you count your calories during your eating window?

Do you know your base metabolic rate aka how many calories you burn (prior to exercise)?
I think a lazy quick way is weight in pounds x10, not sure the kg equivalent but i am sure Google has it

I would advise just cranking up the calories you burn and slightly limiting the calories you intake. It just seems like a plan you will be much less likely to abandon than the asymmetrical plan with 48 hour fasts. Maybe it will take ever so slightly longer to get to your target weight but if you can maintain that as a lifestyle then you will be way better off than doing a more aggressive plan that you eventually quit.

Set attainable goals and stick to a plan.

 

[NoSmilez]

I think CICO is more sustainable than long fasts. Join a gym and lift some weights.

 

[KBE6EKCTAH_CCP]

Sorry TS your OP was really long so i can t say I read it all but:
- some things may work for most people
- some things may not work for most people BUT may work for you
- i my case i lost like 4 Kgs (10 Freedoms roughly) within a couple of months
- I needed something to kickstart my weightloss. That was 3 days water fasting. Then i did like one month of caloric deficit.
- Moral of the story: weight loss is about suffering. Figure out your formula and do it, but know you'll suffer.
- Good luck.

 

[BoxingMMA]

I have been intermittent fasting for about 8 years, currently eat between around 5pm and 10pm.

The thing with IF is that it is VERY different from person to person. What works for me might not work for you.

My only advice to you, based on MY experience and the rudimentary science of IF is to be consistent.

Your body produces insulin when it expects to eat, which in turn makes you hungry. If you follow the same basic schedule each day, no insulin response = no hunger (or not much) and everything is relatively easy peasy.

If you start doing a pattern that is asymmetrical as you laid out (which I have done before) then you are breaking up the body's natural insulin schedule and defeating/messing with one one the primary benefits of IF.

Do you count your calories during your eating window?

Do you know your base metabolic rate aka how many calories you burn (prior to exercise)?
I think a lazy quick way is weight in pounds x10, not sure the kg equivalent but i am sure Google has it

I would advise just cranking up the calories you burn and slightly limiting the calories you intake. It just seems like a plan you will be much less likely to abandon than the asymmetrical plan with 48 hour fasts. Maybe it will take ever so slightly longer to get to your target weight but if you can maintain that as a lifestyle then you will be way better off than doing a more aggressive plan that you eventually quit.

Set attainable goals and stick to a plan.

Thanks man.

I eat around 2500 calories a day and maybe burn around 400 only, being honest, cranking up the calories is what becomes problematic now, just as it does removing calories from my daily meals, simply because those things would be temporary, I know I wouldn't be able to sustain them and would get back to my usual patterns, thus regaining what I lost.

What I want is to add something to my life that organically, even if it takes a while, would lower my waist to 35/34.

Skipping a day without eating is simple enough for me and mathematically it makes sense, it would be the same as eating a little bit less every day. I am the kind of person who would rather suffer big one day than a little bit every other day.

I would be able to do this daily, no problem, except for vacation. With summer coming I am taking the kids out to a bunch of places so exacting this new plan will be problematic right now but I just did it two weeks running, I skipped two complete tuesdays without eating and I feel great, just not sure if I am actually losing any weight, I don't even own a scale, I just go by how tight my clothes are.

 

[jeff7b9]

Thanks man.

I eat around 2500 calories a day and maybe burn around 400 only, being honest, cranking up the calories is what becomes problematic now, just as it does removing calories from my daily meals, simply because those things would be temporary, I know I wouldn't be able to sustain them and would get back to my usual patterns, thus regaining what I lost.

What I want is to add something to my life that organically, even if it takes a while, would lower my waist to 35/34.

Skipping a day without eating is simple enough for me and mathematically it makes sense, it would be the same as eating a little bit less every day. I am the kind of person who would rather suffer big one day than a little bit every other day.

I would be able to do this daily, no problem, except for vacation. With summer coming I am taking the kids out to a bunch of places so exacting this new plan will be problematic right now but I just did it two weeks running, I skipped two complete tuesdays without eating and I feel great, just not sure if I am actually losing any weight, I don't even own a scale, I just go by how tight my clothes are.

At the end of the day...




All the matters is that you find what works for you. And you seem to have the right idea in being realistic and patient. Stick with it and adjust if needed but stay the course.

Yesterday I hit a milestone of sorts, I fit in all my size 34 shorts, which was my waist size in high school. I still feel like I have a long way to go, but i am super happy with that, especially because I see other 45 year old parents all the time and I am pretty sure most of them don't fit in their high school clothes.


You got this man!!