I have been doing IF for a few months now as well as keto(palumbo style). There’s a lot of benefits I found to it. as a general principle, I use food to grow as we all should and have eaten 3-400 in protein for years consistently. Now that I have a decent base I found with fasting I have been able to maintain my strentgh but able to drop a good amount of body fat.
Here’s some of the pros I have noticed:
I have a smaller waist, no question. This is more than likely because I am not eating 6 solid meals a day, which were usually meat and a lot of vegetables. Now I get in around one gram of protein per pound of bodyweight on average, and although after my meals my stomach distended, the next morning It is flat.
I also have a much more demanding family life and work schedule. Going from cooking twice a day and meal prepping for years, IF is simply more convienient, I don’t have to spend as much time prepping. And since me activity levels have been lower, my caloric needs have changed...
It’s cheaper, not as many meals needed = less money spent on groceries.
Keto has helped with my energy, I don’t have many low energy days and can still train intensely, even though I am fasted. I have to think this has something to do with my body using ketones for energy, and even in the fasted state I have body fat to burn for energy. Traditionally I have done keto without the fasting regimen and I have always attributed my results to my reduction in appetite as opposed to using ketones, but I have done 26hr fasts and then hit intense leg training sessions and was still progressing in my lifts or at least maintaining. This was an eye opener for me.
Reduction of appetite... simple and plain I just do not think about food like that anymore, this has been another eye opener to me, so take my comments about keto reducing my appetite and double it, because my appetite is by far the lowest it’s ever been with the combination of the two
Insulin sensitivity has increased tremendously. No surprise there!
Cons:
Some days just suck... no energy, CNS seems to take more of a beating and needs longer to recover, pumps can sometimes be non existent.
Cannot train as long as I would like to sometimes. I have to shorten my volume and time in the gym if I want to keep progressing... this could also be a pro if your time is limited. Currently it is a pro for me because of my schedule, but in the long term this would drive me crazy!
In the last few months I have recomped nicely. I have had a few carb refeeds as I felt needed and due to my insulin sensitivity they only helped further my progress. I have decided at some point very soon to introduce carbs in periworkout. This has already worked to my advantage and now that I have made a big dent in fat loss, I want to further recomp and adjust my nutrition to fuel more training. I will still try to get in a 24hr fast once a week and cut out my carbs on rest days or days with low activity.