Hi all, I am considering starting fasting for longevity and general health. At the same time, I am only at 22 BMI (considered skinny by my wife) with 22 % body fat (per DEXA scan), want to continue a lot of aerobic training (running mostly) and in addition want to start strength training to build some muscle. Historically I have always had hard times gaining weight. I have not been much successful finding information for people like me and would appreciate any advice. My concerns:
Alternatively, I am thinking about 13-14 hour IF (6pm dinner, 7-8am breakfast) with monthly 24-72 hour fast to get some benefits. Also, would limiting the number of meals/snacks in the eating window compensate for the longer window?
Any recommendations? Anyone similar to me and fasting successfully?
I used to do a 36 hour fast once a week on Sunday my rest day. It was pretty easy for me to just eat a little bit more the rest of the week and stay the same weight.
Fasting on long distance running days was too hard. I couldn’t recover.
Biggest bang for the buck is IF 16/8 if you’re still trying to fuel muscle gain. Eat plenty (of the right stuff) with proteins, but if you’re wanting to lose fat through fasting, you’ll be ok without carbs before your workout at your current body fat content. It may take a little to get used to, but really your runs will be fine so long as they’re not more than 45 minutes or so.
Fuel your body with proteins and good carbs during your eating window and the workouts will still feel good and help you with gain muscle/lose fat progress.
Alternatively, if you’re really not trying to lose any fat, then just eat healthy food with plenty of whole protein to fuel muscle gain. Lift some stuff up and put it down. A little goes a long way if you’re strictly running right now.