IF Life Rule #1: Keep the "Intermittent" in "IF"
“IF” does stand for “Intermittent Fasting”, but some may forget to keep the “I” in with their lifestyle. This could be a mistake.
There are many ways in which IF can work for a person, and each person may vary in approaches (believe it or not…shocking I know). I like to say that IF is a great “tool” to use in your lifestyle, and it is not some set “diet” plan that has to have a strict set of rules for everyone.
The IF lifestyle is also about being a “freeing” one.
Free from the nutritional dogma and strict diet rules of today that keep so many OCD with eating (without ever really enjoying it in the first place).
Your weight loss (or really fat loss) will be a result of using IF the right way as it fits into your life.
An athlete training hard each day with high calorie demands may not have the same path to success as a busy stay at home parent who may only exercise a couple times a week. Finding what works for you is key.
But one thing that should be constant, is keeping it intermittent at heart when you first start off (aka the IF Life Rule #1).
Overloading one’s lifestyle right out of the gate with too much IF, without realizing how your body and recovery will react from it, may be a quick way to burnout fatigue, muscle loss, and/or stubborn/rebound fat gain.
Along with eating, all the stress in one’s lifestyle must be accounted for whether it is from daily exercise, mental workload, or lack of sleep. IF can be another stress as well, especially if it keeps you from eating enough calories in the first place.
crash diet + excessive exercise + stressful lifestyle = crash and burn
So enjoy your IF lifestyle and just remember that these simple rules can work:
- The word “Intermittent” should still be a part of your “IF” lifestyle
- Eat when you are hungry, fast when it makes sense to you
- Become aware of other lifestyle stress factors, and how to keep them under control
- Anything can be changed (including how often you use IF). So don’t give up….just fine tune to make it work for you
No need to make this super complicated, or think there is only one way for everyone…just find what works and when in doubt keep it “intermittent” (like it implies in the name).
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{2 Comments. Read them below or add one}
Hey MoD,
Started IF about three weeks ago, I’m doing mostly 16/8 and few 22s. I do strength training twice a week and 3 crossfit wods.
I’ve noticed that I don’t seem to be dropping weight. I’m not discouraged b/c I love the other benefits of IF but it does seem weird that my calorie intake has dropped substantially and I’m still hovering around the same starting weight. To be the clear, week one I just played around with the fasting and I ate garbage. Last two weeks I’ve been pretty close to leangains style 16/8….I suspect that my body is holding onto water and maybe fat as a response to the dramatic shift.
Any advice?
Love the site btw, long time cathletics guy too. Thanks for all the great info.
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"2 Meal" Mike Reply:
What’s your body composition doing? Leaner and more defined muscles? No change? That tells the story more than just the number on the scale, as you could be rebuilding muscle and/or storing more water/glycogen in those muscles. So I wouldn’t sweat the scale, go more by what the mirror and clothes are telling you is going on.
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