[JessaminePoppy]

The articleon wikipedia about IF is very interesting.

OP, have you tried relaxing methods to help with the emotional problems caused by the diet? Meditation is kind of difficult (I find it difficult), but maybe relaxing teas might be able to help?

Are you allowed warm milk? That's also supposed to aid sleep..

[stayce88]

(Original post by wholenewworld)
where do you recommend I buy one like that for the cheapest price possible?

Ive got the girly pink and grey one for £110 from the sweatshop website

[Sophie_girl]

Ate this today and it's pretty representative of my diet:

Breakfast: Smoothie (skim milk, strawberries, raspberries, kiwi)
Lunch: Salad + mozzarella + avocado, banana
Snack: Small slice of cake
Dinner: Brown bread sandwich with tomato, cucumber, 2 slices of cheese
Post workout snack: 0% fat greek yoghurt

Wouldn't usually have cake though, probably nuts instead.

How healthy is it? Workout is cardio and one of the sample starting weights routines posted in the fitness forum.

[ch0c0h01ic]

(Original post by HFerguson)
Macronutrient ratio may not make a difference to weight/fat loss, but there's no denying protein is a more satiating nutrient, potentially reducing feelings of hunger, and not feeling hunger is a high-ish priority/important for a lot of people dieting.

It depends on the circumstances.

If hunger is an issue try eating a high protein diet alongside fibre and water rich foods.

However...

If hunger is not an issue you certainly don't need to eat a high protein diet.

Regardless of how much protein someone consumes they may still have issues with hunger and they will still need willpower and self discipline to be successful.

[Sazzy890]

Breakfast/snacks in morning (I usually eat this at work which is why I don't have cereal):

- Banana (didn't have a banana today as I ran out, so had a handful of cashew nuts)
- Orange
- Raisins
- Fruit and grain bar

(However, if I'm at home I will have a bowl of fruit and fibre with semi-skimmed milk instead)

Lunch:

- Jacket potato, no butter
- Sometimes, instead of a jacket potato, I'll have a salad including pasta and boiled eggs

Dinner:

- Chicken in a spicy sauce, rice, and boiled vegetables (usually broccoli, cauliflower and carrots)

Drinks wise I usually have water or tea (if I have tea, I have it with sweetener rather than sugar)

[wholenewworld]

(Original post by ch0c0h01ic)
It depends on the circumstances.

If hunger is an issue try eating a high protein diet alongside fibre and water rich foods.

However...

If hunger is not an issue you certainly don't need to eat a high protein diet.

Regardless of how much protein someone consumes they may still have issues with hunger and they will still need willpower and self discipline to be successful.

is 1g protein per kg also enough for muscle building btw?

[Jonnyy]

(Original post by wholenewworld)
I recently upped my protein intake of one gram per kg to closer to one gram per pound of body weight to aid in my quest. Since then I have felt more anxious, I snap at people/lose my cool, I focus less well and worst of all I have now begun to have appallingly bad insomnia.!

Protein, not even once.

[wholenewworld]

(Original post by Jonnyy)
Protein, not even once.

I don't get it.

I've just eaten lots of carbs with only a little protein. Otherwise I'd be crying at your response!

[twelvepenguinbugs]

(Original post by Sophie_girl)
Ate this today and it's pretty representative of my diet:

Breakfast: Smoothie (skim milk, strawberries, raspberries, kiwi)
Lunch: Salad + mozzarella + avocado, banana
Snack: Small slice of cake
Dinner: Brown bread sandwich with tomato, cucumber, 2 slices of cheese
Post workout snack: 0% fat greek yoghurt

Wouldn't usually have cake though, probably nuts instead.

How healthy is it? Workout is cardio and one of the sample starting weights routines posted in the fitness forum.

You barely seem to eat anything! Where's your main meal? A salad? Your breakfast is also really insubstantial, oats or maybe poached egg on toast would be good to have in addition to a smoothie. It does depend on what time you work out though. Trust me I've tried the whole low-cal over exercise thing and it never works in the long run, it's better to look positively upon food as necessary fuel for your workouts. How many calories are you taking in/burning on an average day with exercise? Try adding some eggs or lean meat, unless you're a vegetarian of course.

[Mark85]

(Original post by Sophie_girl)
Post workout snack: 0% fat greek yoghurt.

I would get rid of the zero fat and replace it with normal yoghurt.

They market 0% fat as if it makes it a health food; it doesn't. They take the fat out and lose the fat soluble minerals and vitamins and some of the protein. It is like throwing the yolk out of an egg. Then to compound matters, they chuck in a load of sugar or sweetners to try and remedy the taste.

Since dairy seems to be your only protein source you should definitely consider switching to the natural full fat options for milk, cheeses and yoghurts.

[Sophie_girl]

(Original post by twelvepenguinbugs)
You barely seem to eat anything! Where's your main meal? A salad? Your breakfast is also really insubstantial, oats or maybe poached egg on toast would be good to have in addition to a smoothie. It does depend on what time you work out though. Trust me I've tried the whole low-cal over exercise thing and it never works in the long run, it's better to look positively upon food as necessary fuel for your workouts. How many calories are you taking in/burning on an average day with exercise? Try adding some eggs or lean meat, unless you're a vegetarian of course.

Hiya, maybe it doesn't look like a lot, but I have large portions and never go under 1200 calories a day. Yeah I'm veggie, I always say I'll eat more eggs but I'm such a lazy food preparer and eggs always have to be cooked or scrambled etc :/

[Sophie_girl]

(Original post by Mark85)
I would get rid of the zero fat and replace it with normal yoghurt.

They market 0% fat as if it makes it a health food; it doesn't. They take the fat out and lose the fat soluble minerals and vitamins and some of the protein. It is like throwing the yolk out of an egg. Then to compound matters, they chuck in a load of sugar or sweetners to try and remedy the taste.

Since dairy seems to be your only protein source you should definitely consider switching to the natural full fat options for milk, cheeses and yoghurts.

This one doesn't have sugar in it! So there is more protein in full fat milk and yoghurt?

[Mark85]

(Original post by Sophie_girl)
This one doesn't have sugar in it!

Firstly, all milk and yoghurt should at least have some natural milk sugar (lactose) and secondly, if there is no added sugar, I am willing to wager that there is some added xylitol or artificial sweetner.

(Original post by Sophie_girl)
So there is more protein in full fat milk and yoghurt?

The protein difference is probably neither here nor there really, in fact I guess with milk it is fairly negligible but what is important is that a lot of the micronutrients in milk are fat soluble so as soon as you skim off the cream, you throw away all of the vitamin A and D which you probably aren't getting much of elsewhere. I guess my main point is that many protein sources come with natural fats and since you don't get those proteins and hence their fats - you should take the natural fat that comes with dairy. You also mentioned eating avocado which is a good source of fat but it has a different profile of micronutrients to meat, poultry and dairy based fats.

In short, my point was - if dairy is your only source of fat (as opposed to meat, fish, eggs etc.) then you would do best to consume it in its full fat state to get the full micronutritional benefit (i.e. the fullest balance of vitamins and minerals)

[concubine]

(Original post by Sophie_girl)
Hiya, maybe it doesn't look like a lot, but I have large portions and never go under 1200 calories a day. Yeah I'm veggie, I always say I'll eat more eggs but I'm such a lazy food preparer and eggs always have to be cooked or scrambled etc :/

But.... Eggs take no time to prepare, whatever you're doing with them, and it's so incredibly easy.


I literally cannot think of something easier to do than boiling eggs.

[twelvepenguinbugs]

(Original post by Sophie_girl)
Hiya, maybe it doesn't look like a lot, but I have large portions and never go under 1200 calories a day. Yeah I'm veggie, I always say I'll eat more eggs but I'm such a lazy food preparer and eggs always have to be cooked or scrambled etc :/

What I tend to do is get a 12 pack of eggs, boil them all at once (takes about 15 mins) and then put them in a box in the fridge, they last ages and are a good, cheap protein snack. I think you can buy microwave poachers too to make it easy if you wanted a hot egg at breakfast.

[Chicharito14]

I've been running IF for over a week now, my strength has improved in some lifts etc.

Diet wise, I've made sure i hit my macros on most days, sometimes a little under or over.

Im eating 175g protein, 160g carbs, and between 40-60g of fat (aiming for good fats). On rest days, i've kept my diet the same, but just done cardio, such as LISS on the treadmill or bike.

Weight has gone from 171 lbs to 169 lbs exactly. I'd guess I'm around 16% bf at the moment, and aiming to get down to 10% some day.

Going to keep this running for another 2-4 weeks, and see how I'm progressing. I'm aiming for 165 lbs in 4 weeks, which is certainly doable.

I might as well keep this updated every week or so, to let you guys know how i've found IF.

[RhiiSparks]

(Original post by Chicharito14)
I've been running IF for over a week now, my strength has improved in some lifts etc.

Diet wise, I've made sure i hit my macros on most days, sometimes a little under or over.

Im eating 175g protein, 160g carbs, and between 40-60g of fat (aiming for good fats). On rest days, i've kept my diet the same, but just done cardio, such as LISS on the treadmill or bike.

Weight has gone from 171 lbs to 169 lbs exactly. I'd guess I'm around 16% bf at the moment, and aiming to get down to 10% some day.

Going to keep this running for another 2-4 weeks, and see how I'm progressing. I'm aiming for 165 lbs in 4 weeks, which is certainly doable.

I might as well keep this updated every week or so, to let you guys know how i've found IF.

Sounds like you're getting on okay! From what I've gathered from doing IF so far though, I think you're meant to change your macros dependent for rest days.
If I've understood what I've read correctly, more carbs and less fat should be had on workout days, and then less carbs (not sure about increasing fat) on rest days - still with plenty of protein obviously!

Can anyone else confirm/correct this?

[Sophie_girl]

(Original post by concubine)
But.... Eggs take no time to prepare, whatever you're doing with them, and it's so incredibly easy.


I literally cannot think of something easier to do than boiling eggs.

I guess... Actually I rarely eat hot food unless I go to a restaurant. That's pretty sad.

[HFerguson]

(Original post by RhiiSparks)
Sounds like you're getting on okay! From what I've gathered from doing IF so far though, I think you're meant to change your macros dependent for rest days.
If I've understood what I've read correctly, more carbs and less fat should be had on workout days, and then less carbs (not sure about increasing fat) on rest days - still with plenty of protein obviously!

Can anyone else confirm/correct this?

Nope, that's Leangains, not intermittent fasting itself. Leangains is just one of several applied intermittent-fasting protocols. Intermittent fasting just means fasting for longer periods of time than traditional.

[RhiiSparks]

(Original post by HFerguson)
Nope, that's Leangains, not intermittent fasting itself. Leangains is just one of several applied intermittent-fasting protocols. Intermittent fasting just means fasting for longer periods of time than traditional.

Oh righttt! that's probably why I read it then as that's the one that I'm doing