A month ago I finished a 3 weeks of ADF. There were two days I postponed the fast, just listening to by body but I did pretty well. Actually stuck to a low carb and nutritious diet the days I was eating. I fasted for 36 hours. I didn’t workout, I was just really busy and got lazy adding workouts. I lost fat (inches) I’ve struggled to lose for years. I was really happy with the results and was happy I was giving my body the 36 hours break to fix stuff! I had no problem with fasting after the first couple days and had no problem with energy. BUT on a trip right after I realized I lost an extreme amount of stamina. Any advice? As for the carbs, I started adding carbs to my diet days before my trip and then ate everything on my trip. I didn’t feel any other difference besides my stamina. I plan to work out this time but I’m just getting over Covid and lost more stamina and muscle mass so I’ll be starting from below zero. Any advice on what I should do differently this time would be much appreciated. Edit: question and i should mention, I took electrolyte supplements and added salt. I am borderline anemic so I’m thinking I need to add iron supplements while fasting.
Working out full body and hitting complete protein targets on refeeds is critically important on ADF. In my experience at least.
I’m a gymgoer, but a few weeks ago my plantar fasciitis flared up real bad, and I had to take over a week off. Did a 3+2+3 day ADF basically sedentary, couldn’t walk. Coming back from that, I couldn’t evern get CLOSE to the performance I had before taking the week off. Benchpress weight down, squat weight down, HIIT intensity down, etc. Compare this to weeks I do a MWF gym routine and eat good after every gym session, fasting in between. Doing that routine I add weight to lifts every week.
Point I’m trying to make is your body seems to have a real “use it or lose it” attitude about lean tissue in severe calorie restriction.