I took creatine a few years back before I knew what IF was and it worked well for me, this was also when I was in the best shape of my adult life….so far.
But I’m am starting weight training again and wanted to know what people think about taking creatine while doing IF.
Will it slow down the weight loss process because of the water retention it involves or is that not the case?
Yes, but my understanding is that it would more or less be a one time hit. After it’s loaded you’d be storing X amount more water, but after that amount it’s not going to be changing that much week to week. So you might slow for a period then all things being equal go back to normal loss.
I would say yes but because you’ll be building muscle. The water storage associated with creatin leads to an increase in cell swelling, which acts as a stressor on the muscle that leads to muscle growth so you’re likely to see a 1kg weight gain in water storage initially. It depends if you’re going for weight loss or wanting to look trimmer. I personally weigh myself once a month but take body measurements, as although my weight doesn’t drop much, I am losing inches and I feel much stronger and leaner.