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[IndianGirl]

I found this very interesting, as it is an intuitive way for many people to eat; most of us don't mind skipping breakfast.

Apparently, if you skip breakfast and thereby fast 16 hours per day, this leads to rapid fat loss, as well as helps maintain/build muscle. You could throw in a little exercise during your eating period.

http://articles.elitefts.com/articles/interviews/intermittent-fasting%E2%80%94to-feast-or-not-to-feast-an-interview-with-martin-berkhan/

http://www.leangains.com/2010/04/leangains-guide.html

http://fitnessblackbook.com/diet-tips/martin-berkhan-scorch-through-your-fat-loss-plateau/

[NTB]

IG, it's good to hear you are into IF!  I know you were trying "6 meals a day" at one point, so I'm wondering how you feel about the two different approaches.  It's possible that both could work for different reasons.  I do prefer the IF approach of Martin Berkan or fast-5 though, for some of the reasons that Martin gives in his interview that you linked:

Well I struggled for a long time trying to find a dietary regimen that I could maintain in the long term. The “six meals a day” approach just didn’t cut it for me...I found that a “nibbling” approach did more to trigger my appetite compared to not eating at all...I started eating according to my natural preferences, which was skipping breakfast and eating when I got hungry around noon. It worked surprisingly well, and I got very lean without any big effort. I also maintained strength and muscle very well, which I attributed to the particular pattern of the meals. The diet is set up to have the greatest caloric load in the post-workout window to aid in recovery and growth....I started looking into the research behind many of the nutritional myths out there. The reason I ate every second to third hour before was because it was supposed to be good for you. It turned out that was a bunch of nonsense. For example, nothing indicates that a high meal frequency is better in terms of metabolism, anabolism, or any other of the touted benefits so common in the fitness media....And contrary to what most people believe before trying it, fasting is very easy. Your appetite is blunted for most of the time, so it isn’t like you’re starving during the fast. There’s also a range of mental and physiological benefits unique to fasting such as improved insulin sensitivity, increased growth hormone output, and increased mental alertness as well as cardiovascular and neuro-protective benefits. The nutrient partitioning benefits of eating most of your calories in the post-workout period should also be emphasized.

All of which I can vouch for from my own personal experience.

[Sanchiaza]

Thanks for this IG, it's great.

I have a question - Martin Berkhan says no calories during the fast. What about calories that don't have an insulin response, i.e. oil?

[IndianGirl]

Hi Todd, good to hear from u

My meal was previously more like '10 meals a day' LOLL!! It was not difficult for me to 'plan' these meals as apart from 2-3 real meals, the rest of the meals comprised of half an apple, or a banana or a fistful of nuts or a toast with peanut butter and jam, some oil capsules (I use Vit E and Primrose oil, as recommended by my gyneac), some dessert etc....so my multiple meals were never complicated. I did lose weight on multiple meals.

I am not particularly into IF. I am using a mantra to suppress my appetite (http://boards.sethroberts.net/index.php?topic=7650.0http://boards.sethroberts.net/index.php?topic=7650.0)
This does suppress my appetite, and I now eat much less than before. I am even managing to skip some meals (maybe lunch or breakfast) on some days, depending on how hungry I am. Previously it was not possible for me to skip meals (I would feel light-headed and get a headache), but the mantra has given enough AS that I can manage to eat less and occasionally skip meals.

So I am not into any particular style of eating, I just follow my hunger, sometimes my eating pattern is LeanGains/IF style, sometimes multiple meals. I am using the mantra for the last month or so, and find that it has helped curb cravings, so i dont overeat anymore (I eat all I want to eat, but still total calorie consumption per day is low), so I am consistently able to lose weight. I am at a new low of 57 kgs, which I have hit earlier but not managed to maintain--this time I am maintaining since last few days, and looks like scale is looking still downward

[IndianGirl]

Hello Sanchiaza

I dont know if Martin Berkhan would allow oil consumption during the fast period in the LeanGains style. Maybe u could post your question on the Leangains site?

However, on this forum, there have been many people who had SLD oil during their fasting period to cause appetite suppression, and it worked fantastically well for them and lead to huge weight loss. If I find the thread, I will post.

So if you are trying SLD oil and Fast 5, then maybe follow something like this:

8 am breakfast: SLD oil

2 pm lunch: regular lunch

7 pm dinner: regular dinner

9 pm: SLD oil

[NTB]

I am using a mantra to suppress my appetite...This does suppress my appetite, and I now eat much less than before. I am even managing to skip some meals (maybe lunch or breakfast) on some days, depending on how hungry I am. Previously it was not possible for me to skip meals (I would feel light-headed and get a headache), but the mantra has given enough AS that I can manage to eat less and occasionally skip meals....I am consistently able to lose weight. I am at a new low of 57 kgs, which I have hit earlier but not managed to maintain--this time I am maintaining since last few days, and looks like scale is looking still downward

IndianGirl,

Thanks for clarifying, and congratulations on your successful weight loss!  I did read your post, both on this forum and on the "Getting Stronger" forum, and am very interested to see how effective it has been for you.  I think that meditative techniques like mantras can be very powerful in rechannelling energy and forming new healthful habits.

there have been many people who had SLD oil during their fasting period to cause appetite suppression, and it worked fantastically well for them and lead to huge weight loss. If I find the thread, I will post.

Regarding Sanchiaza's question: Most IF advocates, including Martin and fast-5, recommend pure fasting (drinking only water or perhaps herbal teas between meals) and Martin doesn't explicitly say anything about small doses of oil or other non-insulinogenic snacks.  But I agree here with IndianGirl: many others (myself included) have observed that such very small interventions are compatible with fasting, as long as they are kept small and are spaced out in time.  I don't follow classic SLD myself, but I found that taking isolated doses of oil, spaced out by several hours, was an effective "bridge" or way to transition to pure fasting.   Usually I have no problem with a pure fast, but occassionally I will sneak a small non-insulinogenic snack.  It probably blunts the effectiveness of the fast very slightly, but that's better than getting hungry.

[Sanchiaza]

Thanks for this IG - yeah, I've been tootling around on the leangains site for the past couple of hours (also weightology and bodyrecomposition) - and I figured that I could easily move my oil dose to last thing of the day and see how that works. Or, theoretically it could be "lunch".

Certainly I know that leaving 4 to 5 hours between meals has worked for me, but I haven't really done a 16-hour fast. Well, no time like the present... Last meal of the day coming up!

Again, thanks for the links IG, I've found them to be really interesting and helpful.

Ahh, thanks Todd - I've just seen your response now... Great! 

[Juche]

I wouldn't personally feel comfortable skipping breakfast. I know everyone is different, but for me personally a breakfast high in low GI carbs, casein protein and whole grains does a good deal to stabalize my appetite throughout the day.

If I did a 16 hour fast I'd look into fasting the last 8 hours of the day plus 8 hours of sleep. So eat from 9am-5pm, then fast 5pm-9am.

[brzee]

Yes,  IF works great.  I have been doing 5 non-eating hours between 3 meals during the day, then I stop eating 3 hours before sleep and that creates an 11-12 hour fast before I eat my breakfast.

I have found this to be very effective.  I gained this schedule and information through a separate book that talks about correcting our leptin resistance.  Very interesting information and it was new to me.

I think that doing the oil during the 5 hour fasts each day would be perfect.  I am not, since I am not trying to loose any more weight.