For a few weeks I have been IF'ing to lose weight and become healthier in a sustainable way. Currently:
* From 196 lbs down to 187 lbs, 5"11 M
* 18/6 schedule: lunch at noon and dinner at 5.30pm. Not very hard for me to skip breakfast and just have coffee/water for a few hours. Before IF I first started to skip snacks in the evening, which felt like a good start.
* Diet: no full Keto but reduce carbs by changing to low carb bread, replacing bread, eating more fat products like cottage cheese, nuts, etc.
* Cheat moments are usually eating more carbs and drinking some alcohol (while visiting friends) but trying to stick to IF schedule or extending the fast the next day instead.
* Exercise: 5 times padel or tennis per week in the morning during the fast. Usually at 50% cardio and 50% fat burning heart rates (\~800-1000cals per session). Since I understood that short HIIT exercises help build Growth Hormones and weight loss, I recently added them. Either sprinting for 2 times per week or intense push-up / burpee exercises, 30 sec on / 30 sec rest for only a few mins.
* I have lost around 8lbs in a few weeks time. Feel a lot better already with much less cravings than with my lifestyle before. Hope to reach 175 lbs. Currently plateauing a bit at 187lbs, so hope the HIIT will make a difference.
* With all of the above I try to get to a rhythm that I can sustain. OMAD does not feel like sth I could do more often than maybe 1-2 per month so haven't done that yet.
Questions I have:
1) Is it smart to do cardio padel/tennis during my fast in the morning? Or is it better to break the fast with some carbs upfront (eg fruit/oatmeal).
Read some contradicting articles on this, where one said that when exercising above fat burning heart rates your body breaks down muscle tissue and does not draw from fat storage. Other articles said it is good to work out during the fast if you do not feel weak (which is the case). Since I'm plateauing a bit while I'm sure I burn much more calories than my intake, having some doubts lately.
2) Other suggestions to improve metabolism/plateauing that I may have missed.
3) Or other changes you would make to my schedule?
Answer
Here’s my two cents, the body is a big complex system. There’s basically no switches that get biologically flipped to just on and off, it’s all trends and margins. You can drive yourself a bit batty trying to optimize the 5% when the 95% is just eating better and moving more.
When to work out? When you have the energy for it and it fits into your schedule. Concerned about muscle loss, eat enough protein. Plateauing, add 100 calories to your deficit every week until you’re happy with progress again.
>I’m plateauing a bit while I’m sure I burn much more calories than my intake, having some doubts lately.
One thing to watch out for is that the body is incredibly efficient. The calories we burn exercising are almost always less than what gets estimated.
Answer
I have to run on an empty stomach or else I feel sick, regardless if I ate 2 hrs before, I just can’t do it. My friend on the other hand has timed himself to eat breakfast as early as 5:30am so he can workout by 7:30am, He wants to bulk, I want cardio. I guess it’s a matter of what your goals are.