How Do YOU Do IF?

Let me clear this up, I am not asking HOW to IF, but how YOU all IF

My body has just begun to adapt to 16/8 eating window versus the 6-8 meals a day that I did for the longest time and hated. When I was doing that there were tons of logs out there on what each of those 6-8 meals should consist of and how spaced apart they shold be.

Now with IF gaining popularity there seems to be much fewer posts/logs about what and how frequently to eat during that 8 hour window. I am curious what all of you do?

Post:

  • your goal while using IF (cut, bulk, overall health, etc)
  • if you eat any specialty diet (paleo, vegetarian, high fat low carb, see-food diet, etc)
  • your eating window
  • what you eat and when
  • your overall experience (good, bad, good for cutting bad for adding mass, etc)
  • etc

thanks!

I eat after I train (sometime in the afternoon, depending on what my schedule allows), and stop when I go to bed at around 10-11 pm.

I start with a very high calorie protein shake, and jam as much food down my gullet as I can; lots of meat and often sweet potatoes, quinoa, etc. I try to eat at least twice more during the day. On training days I seek to exceed 4,000 calories, on rest days I dial that back by a few hundred calories (give or take) and aim to keep the blood sugar lower. I stopped logging my intake about two months back, but I’m about to start up again to make sure I’m taking in enough food.

I find IF keeps me sane. Frequent feedings were murdering me time-wise, with a wife, kid, and a busy work schedule. I spend less time in the kitchen, more time doing what I need to, and I’m getting better results (gained 10 lbs while simultaneously dropping 6% body fat in the first three months). It works for me.

My fasts are random.

Most days I don’t eat my first meal until after the sun goes down but some days I get hungry and eat before that. I stop eating by 11pm-ish.

I don’t count calories or macros. I eat a paleo-type diet with the exception that I also eat dairy. Every few weeks I allow myself a “cheat” - this weekend I ate a hamburger with the bun :slight_smile:

I like how much energy I have throughout the day and the fact that I just feel more clear headed in the afternoons.

I train fasted 4 days per week in the early evening.

Getting stronger and leaner and I will keep it up until it stops working.

Goal: Bulk
Diet: See food, eat food
Eating window: depends on the days when I have class, but basically tuesday/thursday 9 a.m. - 7 p.m., mon./wed/fri 330 p.m. - 1130 p.m.
Food: Chicken, vegetables, eggs, rice, milk, fish, bread, peanut butter any time of the day, preworkout I try to get most of my carbs with oatmeal, raisins and honey, postworkout your normal shake and some fast carb, then more regular food as stated above

Works great for me with school b/c of class and homework so I get all of that done, then can focus my energy on eating/lifting then more hw in the evening without having to eat 6+ times a day. At first I had a hard time getting all my macros in, but once you figure it out youre golden.

I?ve done several different things, but I think that what I?m doing right now is best. I backload carbs, so I never eat carbs during the day. Low-carb on non-workout days (less than 30g) and very high-carb, very low fat (less than 10 grams) on workout days (twice a week). The high-carb low-fat days are the refeeds. Protein is high on all days.

On low-carb days, I eat a bunch of meat (beef, chicken, pork), vegetables, and cottage cheese with artificial sweetener. On high-carb days, I eat as much sugar as I can get in my gullet (white rice with sugar, white potatoes, kiddie cereal, really sweet sauces on meats and veggies, etc.) while keeping protein high.

Length of the fast varies from day to day, depending on how busy and hungry I am. Some days I eat lunch, but it?s always a pure meat lunch (since I backload carbs). Other days my first meal is dinner.

It?s amazing how these sugary refeeds keep my hunger at bay on the low-carb days, allowing me to keep calories quite low on those days. Must really be working to reset leptin.

Also, I?m gluten-free.

My goal with IF has been to cut, and it’s been working. Since I upped my protein several months ago, strength has gone up, I’ve continued dropping bf, and I’ve added lean mass and is respectable given that I’m cutting (lesson: eat lots of protein!).

[quote]ryanisrizzle wrote:
Now with IF gaining popularity there seems to be much fewer posts/logs about what and how frequently to eat during that 8 hour window. I am curious what all of you do?[/quote]

Two reasons I can think of:

1 - the ‘6-8 meals’ approach lends itself to obsessive details, both in timing and in food choices/meal composition

2 - more to your original question, one of the major points of IF is that it is so flexible, variable. (as previous posters’ data confirms)

goals fatloss, strength gain
5am - 1pm: fasted training first thing and then work (landscaping)

1pm - 5pm: if im organised or at home, maybe a couple of shakes and about 10 eggs. often i dont eat anything till 5pm. coffee is god

5pm - 10pm: stuff my face with meat, eggs and veg, 1 avocado

not looking to change