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Intermittent Fasting (IF) is The Holy Grail of fat loss
#1
I felt compelled to write this to help out the masses.
Specifically, about getting ripped with Intermittent Fasting.
I consider ripped 12% body fat and under.
A true 12% looks really, really awesome.
You would turn heads at the pool with a true 12%.
You hear and see people that workout for 1-2 hours a day, everyday, and look pretty average.
Personally, I HATE working out.

I recently went from 20% (180 lbs) down to 12% (162) body fat in 5 months with 12 minutes of WEEKLY total exercise which included ZERO CARDIO.

How did I do this?
INTERMITTENT FASTING.
Before, I tell you what IF is, let me show you my workout routine for those 5 months.
This is the routine I followed that helped me drop 18 pounds and got me down to a true 12% body fat in 5 months.

Monday - Close Grip Bench Machine - 2 sets x 10-15 reps
                 Chest Press Machine - 2 sets x 10-15 reps

Friday - Pulldowns - 2 x 10-15 reps
              Concentration Curls - 2 x 10-15 reps

This is it.
Seriously.
Each workout, including warmups, took 6 minutes.
I understand I didn't do any lower body stuff.
Neither did Brad Pitt for Fight Club.
I did no cardio.
Fat loss is 99.9% diet, specifically, total calories.

I was able to eat whatever I wanted, every single day, while keeping my calories in a deficit with Intermittent Fasting.


So, what is Intermittent Fasting (IF)?

Intermittent Fasting is going through long periods of time without eating anything.

IF is not the same as "cutting calories."
Simply cutting calories during your meals can actually make you hungrier and lead you to suffer and eat more.
I have found that IF decreases hunger.
The greatest thing about IF is that you can basically eat whatever foods you want everyday and eat large quantities of them.
Imagine the following...
You calculate your daily maintenance calories to be 2,000 a day.
Following a normal diet, you might eat a 700 calorie breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Each meal leaves you somewhat satisfied.
Each meal is pretty healthy because you're only eating 700 calories a meal.
However, if you followed IF, you can push your first meal out to say like 2pm and eat a 1,500 calorie FEAST.
This 1,500 meal with leave you stuffed and full for the rest of the day.
If  you get hungry before bed you might feel like you need like a 200 calorie snack which could be a protein bar.
And you don't really have to worry about food quality because at the end of the day, fat loss is a numbers game.  
If you are in a deficit, you will lose fat.
For me, I would eat my first meal around 2pm consisting of things ranging from huge servings of chicken with mashed potatoes, to spaghetti and meatballs, to Turkey Club sandwiches with fries, etc.


3 Amazing things that IF allowed me to do

1.  Get ripped with ease
2.  Eat huge daily delicious Feasts
3.  Reduce my exercise to practically nothing


For about 2 or 3 days when first attempting IF you will experience intense hunger during the fast.
This hunger only lasts for about 30-60 minutes.
The hunger during fasting is not linear.
You experience a cool phenomenon where after those 30-60 minutes of intense hunger, the hunger passes and you are not hungry.
Scientific literature speaks to this but I'm not smart enough to discuss it.
Nor do I care about the "why's".


Takeaway Points with IF
1.  Fast for at least 12 hours.  Example, dinner at 8pm with your next feeding at 8am the following morning.
2.  Try to push your first feeding out as long as possible.  The longer the better because it helps reduce the number of total calories you consume.
3.  The first 2 days with be tough.  Just embrace the hunger pains, they go away after 30-60 minutes.
4.  Drink coffee (suppresses appetite)
5.  Distract yourself with hobbies or work
6.  Ditch cardio unless you simply love doing it.  Cardio tends to increase appetite and your ROI with cardio is terrible in terms of calorie burn for time invested

Would like to hear your thoughts...
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#2
Great post. Well presented.

So, basically, you're saying your only meal each day is a 1500 calorie feast at 2pm and a 200 calorie snack before bed? I see how it could work. Will give it a try.
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#3
(10-19-2018, 04:54 PM)Jonesy Wrote: Great post. Well presented.

So, basically, you're saying your only meal each day is a 1500 calorie feast at 2pm and a 200 calorie snack before bed? I see how it could work. Will give it a try.

Exactly.
It takes like 2 or 3 days to get used to skipping breakfast in terms of the hunger.
Embrace the hunger.
It only lasts 30-60 minutes.
Your body adjusts.
Being able to eat a huge meal every day is amazing and you are full all day.
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#4
I'll definately try this. I think diet is the main thing in natural bodybuilding.
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#5
(10-19-2018, 06:36 PM)Jonesy Wrote: I'll definately try this. I think diet is the main thing in natural bodybuilding.

Yea, give it a go, dude.
Try to stick with it for at least a month.
And you're right, diet is key.
As a natural it's so difficult to build a significant amount of muscle so what you need to do is keep your body fat low to show off that muscle.
The leaner you are, the better you look.
A good example of this is Brad Pitt in Fight Club.
He is 5'11" and was reported to weigh between only 150-155 pounds yet he looked pretty damn awesome.
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#6
I get the IF part for getting ripped, but why the minimal workout volume?
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#7
(10-20-2018, 01:17 AM)kiwi45 Wrote: I get the IF part for getting ripped, but why the minimal workout volume?

Several reasons

1. Diet is 99.9% when it comes to fat loss.  Exercise burns very few calories.
2. I wasn't going to be able to build muscle so I was just  trying to preserve my muscle.  Science has proven that 1 set to failure, yes just 1 set, is enough to prevent muscle loss.
3.  I don't love working out like I used to.
4.  I knew I'd be able to adhere to this workout.
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#8
How long til you see results? You say lost 18lb in 5 months. Is that about one pound of fat lost each week?
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#9
(10-20-2018, 03:13 PM)Jonesy Wrote: How long til you see results? You say lost 18lb in 5 months. Is that about one pound of fat lost each week?

Hey Bro.
As with any fat loss journey, you lose fat quicker in the beggining than in the end simply because you have more fat.
For the first month I was losing like 1.5 - 2 pounds a week.
During the last month I lost like 1 pound for the entire month because I was pretty damn lean and I didn't want a 6-pack bad enough to drop my calories.
In the end I  was eating about 1,600 calories a day.
I would wake up and sip coffee until 2pm.
I would then eat whatever I wanted (within reason).
Usually juicy chicken thighs, mashed potatoes, and a ton of veggies.
This meal was like 1,200 calories and I was stuffed.
I didn't eat again until right before bed which was around 9pm.
I would have some string cheese and crackers (weird I know, but super convenient, tasty, and easy to track calories)
This bed time snack was  about 400 calories.
So, the total for the day was 1,600.
If I wanted to get below 12% body fat I would have to do 1 of 2 things (or both)

1.  Eat less
2.  Move more

I wasn't willing to do either because, getting shredded is not worth it to me.
I leave you with this - Be patient and enjoy the process.  This needs to be enjoyable.
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#10
Awesome. I was just about to ask what you ate. I will def try this as of Monday. Thanks for the info.

Just a quick question. Did you drink alcohol at all during the five months?
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