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The Lean Gains / IF learning and Discussion Log

YamAddict said:
I love it, I'm doing IF for bulking. Only thing I'm doing differently is eating all of my calories in the morning, and then fasting till the next morning. That way, when I go to work or hang out with friends, I don't feel bloated or tired or anything.
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As weird as this may sound I had to move 40% of my Cals before work out and have a shake post with some food, when I ate all my Cals after my work out I was too bloated and didn't even wanna have sex hahahahahaha true story
 
Just started my IF today. I found I could not eat all the food I'm supposed to in one day. My training day calories are about 1800 and my rest day is 1100. Today was a workout day and I don't think I even made it to 1100. Is this normal? How do I get my appetite up? Can I do three meals/day instead of the two that they recommend?
 
Bluebird1108 said:
Just started my IF today. I found I could not eat all the food I'm supposed to in one day. My training day calories are about 1800 and my rest day is 1100. Today was a workout day and I don't think I even made it to 1100. Is this normal? How do I get my appetite up? Can I do three meals/day instead of the two that they recommend?
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yep, critical part is 8 hours eating, 16 hours fasting. Add more fats in if you have to, nuts are good
 
EasyEJL said:
yep, critical part is 8 hours eating, 16 hours fasting. Add more fats in if you have to, nuts are good
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Ugh I feel so full and I didn't make it through the 8 hours of eating. I calculated over 200 grams of carbs for my workout days - I think this is really high. Is it okay to add in the fats (nuts, avocados), and drop my carbs a bit more?
 
Bluebird1108 said:
Ugh I feel so full and I didn't make it through the 8 hours of eating. I calculated over 200 grams of carbs for my workout days - I think this is really high. Is it okay to add in the fats (nuts, avocados), and drop my carbs a bit more?
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definitely. the medical research done wasn't particular about the macro ratios, just the overall concept of the short eating window.
 
EasyEJL said:
definitely. the medical research done wasn't particular about the macro ratios, just the overall concept of the short eating window.
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Thank you - that will be so much easier following the eight hour eating window without overloading on the carbs and obsessing to much on macros - although I will still count calories and macros to see what I am taking in.
 
Bluebird1108 said:
Just started my IF today. I found I could not eat all the food I'm supposed to in one day. My training day calories are about 1800 and my rest day is 1100. Today was a workout day and I don't think I even made it to 1100. Is this normal? How do I get my appetite up? Can I do three meals/day instead of the two that they recommend?
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That seems really low how much do you weigh and im assuming ur following the cutting protocol?
 
Bluebird1108 said:
Just started my IF today. I found I could not eat all the food I'm supposed to in one day. My training day calories are about 1800 and my rest day is 1100. Today was a workout day and I don't think I even made it to 1100. Is this normal? How do I get my appetite up? Can I do three meals/day instead of the two that they recommend?
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That will change. I had problems for about the first week. Your body will adjust.
 
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Today's Trivia will take place at 7:00pm Eastern Standard Time...
 
live to lift said:
That seems really low how much do you weigh and im assuming ur following the cutting protocol?
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I am 5'7", 140-145 lbs (depending on the day, lol). I am cutting. My body fat is about 14% and I would like to get down to 10%. My workout days consist of 1800 calories right now and rest days are 1100. I am on day 3 and getting the protein seems a little easier but still think I am low on my caloric intake - I'm full after a few bits of food - so frustrating! I'm trying to get 140g protein, 100g carb, and no more than 20g fat on workout days - that seems to work best with my body. Rest days are 140g protein, about 40g carb, 40g fat. I'm guestimating at this point based on what I am able to consume. If this seems way out of proportion or I'm doing something wrong I am all ears to improve.

The workouts are killer though and I have been feeling great doing them fasted. I just ordered RecoverPro so am hoping that will help me as well.
 
Bluebird1108 said:
I am 5'7", 140-145 lbs (depending on the day, lol). I am cutting. My body fat is about 14% and I would like to get down to 10%. My workout days consist of 1800 calories right now and rest days are 1100. I am on day 3 and getting the protein seems a little easier but still think I am low on my caloric intake - I'm full after a few bits of food - so frustrating! I'm trying to get 140g protein, 100g carb, and no more than 20g fat on workout days - that seems to work best with my body. Rest days are 140g protein, about 40g carb, 40g fat. I'm guestimating at this point based on what I am able to consume. If this seems way out of proportion or I'm doing something wrong I am all ears to improve.

The workouts are killer though and I have been feeling great doing them fasted. I just ordered RecoverPro so am hoping that will help me as well.
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Bro.
That is skinny fat.
Eat lots of dense and nutritious veggies and protein sources, sleep good and.lift heavy.
You need to.build not cut.
Trust me I always.seem to.recomp.

I added 3.5kg muscle, dropped 1% bf and went.from 81.1 to 84.5 kg in 4 weeks.
Just eat.sleep.supplement.train and.repeat. and ADD MUSCLE
 
runner_79 said:
Bro.
That is skinny fat.
Eat lots of dense and nutritious veggies and protein sources, sleep good and.lift heavy.
You need to.build not cut.
Trust me I always.seem to.recomp.

I added 3.5kg muscle, dropped 1% bf and went.from 81.1 to 84.5 kg in 4 weeks.
Just eat.sleep.train and.repeat. and ADD MUSCLE
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Removed the "supplement" adviced and fixed :3! No need for him to supplement , all he needs is to diet and train , diet smart , train hard , sleep big! all to get a recomp going ;p
 
runner_79 said:
Bro.
That is skinny fat.
Eat lots of dense and nutritious veggies and protein sources, sleep good and.lift heavy.
You need to.build not cut.
Trust me I always.seem to.recomp.

I added 3.5kg muscle, dropped 1% bf and went.from 81.1 to 84.5 kg in 4 weeks.
Just eat.sleep.supplement.train and.repeat. and ADD MUSCLE
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I'm a chic....:wink1:
And yes, I am skinny fat...I'm a runner - trying to get solid.
 
I started Leangains yesterday ;however, I am just starting out at a 12-13 hour fast. I thought the fast would be hard, but it was actually pretty easy. I drunk tons of water and had a zero calorie/zero carb energry drink and I was good to go until I broke my fast. Got tons of work done at work and felt really good the whole day.
 
sprintstar01 said:
I started Leangains yesterday ;however, I am just starting out at a 12-13 hour fast. I thought the fast would be hard, but it was actually pretty easy. I drunk tons of water and had a zero calorie/zero carb energry drink and I was good to go until I broke my fast. Got tons of work done at work and felt really good the whole day.
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Good for u ... Careful with those energy drinks ... While they are zero calories and according to Martin u can drink anything as long as below 50 calories during the fast BUT ... I wish I had the link ... I've read studies on how some crap in sodas, energy drinks, caffeine stuff, and some other **** spikes insulin which would brake fast ... Try out a week without it and see if u see a difference ... I'm a lot leaner when I fast with only drinking Water, and nothing else than when I have coffee or zero all energy drinks or even chew gum ... Works better for me but I'll do for a few days and have coffee every 3-4 days
 
Vote4pedro said:
Good for u ... Careful with those energy drinks ... While they are zero calories and according to Martin u can drink anything as long as below 50 calories during the fast BUT ... I wish I had the link ... I've read studies on how some crap in sodas, energy drinks, caffeine stuff, and some other **** spikes insulin which would brake fast ... Try out a week without it and see if u see a difference ... I'm a lot leaner when I fast with only drinking Water, and nothing else than when I have coffee or zero all energy drinks or even chew gum ... Works better for me but I'll do for a few days and have coffee every 3-4 days
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I'm a coffee drinker so this is good to know. I'm going to try to give it up for a bit of time to see if I notice a difference - although for the first few days people might want to stay away from my cranky ass :) I'm not all for the sodas and energy drinks though as they don't work well with my system as it is.
 
Vote4pedro said:
Good for u ... Careful with those energy drinks ... While they are zero calories and according to Martin u can drink anything as long as below 50 calories during the fast BUT ... I wish I had the link ... I've read studies on how some crap in sodas, energy drinks, caffeine stuff, and some other **** spikes insulin which would brake fast ... Try out a week without it and see if u see a difference ... I'm a lot leaner when I fast with only drinking Water, and nothing else than when I have coffee or zero all energy drinks or even chew gum ... Works better for me but I'll do for a few days and have coffee every 3-4 days
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Thanks for the good info! I am not much of a coffee drinker but I right now I either take the Spike energry or the Red Bull Total Zero (the smallest can).

ps. Spike has Yohimbine HCL and L-tyrosine which leangains reccomends as a supplement to take.
 
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But again, coffee has caffeine and if caffeine could trigger an end to the fast, then most fat loss supps would be counter productive. In the lean gains article it states that the FL supps would be most effective during the fast.

Now if the coffee has lots of cream and suger, that I could understand killing the fast.
 
lonewolf0420 said:
But again, coffee has caffeine and if caffeine could trigger an end to the fast, then most fat loss supps would be counter productive. In the lean gains article it states that the FL supps would be most effective during the fast.

Now if the coffee has lots of cream and suger, that I could understand killing the fast.
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I only take Yohimbine during the fast, most supplements also have calories so my fast is pure fast ... Water water andrew water
 
Since fats don't spike insulin (as far as I know at least) is it alright if I take a 1.5g of EFA's during the fast? I know some of the supplements I take are more effective if taken with fats and I won't be able to spread the dosages out enough if I only take them during the feeding window.

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PintSizPopeye said:
Since fats don't spike insulin (as far as I know at least) is it alright if I take a 1.5g of EFA's during the fast? I know some of the supplements I take are more effective if taken with fats and I won't be able to spread the dosages out enough if I only take them during the feeding window.

Sent from my SGH-I897 using Tapatalk 2
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any caloric intake will cause insulin release, but 1.5g isn't relevant
 
There are a few posts on this page and one a few pages back about sugar free energy drinks, etc and whether or not they will break a fast. There area few comments regarding the caffeine content of these drinks possibly being responsible for an insulin spike that would break the fast.

I don't have links, but I believe there has been research into this area. I have read articles and heard people on the radio discussing it, so I'm sure information could be found via Google or Medline search. There's at least some evidence that suggests that the brain responds physiologically to a sugar free but sweet drink or food the same way it would to a sugary drink or food. That is, the taste buds sense something sweet - sugar or not this triggers the brain/body to release insulin.

I first read about this several years ago and at that time I don't think it had been fully researched. Although it seems to make sense, it may have been proven to be bunk over the years - I haven't really checked since I don't drink artificially sweetened drinks. I thought it was at least worth putting out there...
 
You guys are nitpicking this to death. Caffiene alone can not break a fast there is no calories, no energy consumption at all. It does not break the fast. You guys need to quit thinking in absolutes. You are trying to achieve a balance between glucagon and insulin. During the fast you want more glucagon than insulin. You are not going to completely irradicate the insulin during a fast unless you truly fast as in WATER only.

Martin recommends using caffeine as a tool and you guys keep obsessing over a minor bit of insulin. What about the fact it increases sensitivity. It increase cAMP, it give you energy during your fast. Settle down with all this mess guys. Yes the sugar free stuff can cause an insulin release, but it is very short lived and there is not any real usable energy. Sure you can go all purist and limit the hell out of everything. Why anyone would do that to themselves if not competing I really have no idea. Funny that everyone stresses about insulin from caffiene but the aminos we take cause a MUCH LARGER SPIKE. You can disect the holy hell out of this and take the simplicity and convenience out of it or you can do a little bit of both and enjoy life and results.

Really unless you are competing or fighting the clock to make a deadline then worrying about the minutia of some of this is truly and completely unnecessary. If you just want to be able to continue to make progress, have convenience and still enjoy your food then this will work perfectly for you with going to obsessive lengths to achieve results. Sure you can obsess but if you are going to do that then why even change over the 6 meals a day plan is PERFECT for obsessive people.
 
i started yesterday with fast from 8pm to 1pm.
meal 1 at 1pm
meal 2 at 330pm
workout 5-6pm
meal 3 7-8pm
I feel great!
 
MrKleen73 said:
Unfortunately for me I don't typically have to feel stuffed to gain weight. I gain VERY EASILY! Mine is always a fight to recomp or cut...
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Me too. Now back to page 12 (I'm going through this entire thread. Jeeze there is a lot of info here.)
 
HokiePride said:
Me too. Now back to page 12 (I'm going through this entire thread. Jeeze there is a lot of info here.)
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By the time you finish reading it you will be pretty knowledgeable about IF in general not just Lean Gains.
 
I don't know if this has been mentioned yet, but I have found that IF/Leangains does a fantastic job of alleviating my IBS symptoms. The process of giving your digestive system a rest I believe allows it to heal. One would think that consuming large meals during the eating window would be a trigger to counterbalance this benefit, but I have yet to experience it and I have been doing IF for about 3 months now.
 
Thepaul7 said:
I don't know if this has been mentioned yet, but I have found that IF/Leangains does a fantastic job of alleviating my IBS symptoms. The process of giving your digestive system a rest I believe allows it to heal. One would think that consuming large meals during the eating window would be a trigger to counterbalance this benefit, but I have yet to experience it and I have been doing IF for about 3 months now.
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The body is used to gorging and has it's own process to deal with that. When a really large meal is eaten the bolus entry into the intestines is contracted to only allow a little of the food through at a time in order to not have those digestive problems. However obviously gluttony or continued gorging would not be okay but in the Feast and Famine patterns of eating we had before civilization / irrigation is what our bodies were built to endure and expect.

I don't think anyone has touched on that sbject though and I had only heard that it can help with some digestive issues but not anything specific. Very cool info!
 
Can't seem to keep eat all my post work out meal! Also is a protein shake breaking my fast? I train at 12 but don't break fast until 3pm so i can eat while I'm at home.
 
inda11 said:
Can't seem to keep eat all my post work out meal! Also is a protein shake breaking my fast? I train at 12 but don't break fast until 3pm so i can eat while I'm at home.
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i believe your supposed to keep the fast as a fast besides adding BCAAs and keeping it under 10grams per hour. I hope this is correct :/ haha
 
BCAA's are for fasted training and post fasted training only. Any other time and they unnecessarily break the fast, slowing your fat loss marginally.

Protein shakes are fine during your feeding window.

@inda11 you eat until 11pm? If having trouble getting your food in why not just have a shake with some waximaise or something post workout then have your normal wholefood meal when you get home. Then you could get in some food right after the lift. I get at least half of my protein via shakes. I don't apologize for it either it is how I do things and it works very well.
 
No doubt, Kleen knows what he is talking about. Proof is in the pics.
 
@inda11 you eat until 11pm? If having trouble getting your food in why not just have a shake with some waximaise or something post workout then have your normal wholefood meal when you get home. Then you could get in some food right after the lift. I get at least half of my protein via shakes. I don't apologize for it either it is how I do things and it works very well.[/QUOTE]

Yeah i take 50g of oats with my shake. Shake and take lol. I add oats to every shake to boost carbs because its easy to drink
 
Going to try this again today. I've done IF before during cutting and wasnt bad. I do sort of gradually get into it pushing off meals, having shakes instead of foods until i hit that ~16 hour fasting window. I love the fact of the big meals!

My protocol is about a 1130-730 eating window with weights sometimes around 430pm but I also sometimes do them during the fast around 5am.

Something like:
pro/fats at 1130/noon *this will be a good size meals mostly chicken with veggies and some sort of fats.
preWO food of some pro and carbs around 3 *looking at some pro about good amount of carbs.
post shake around 530 if needed.
last meal about 7 of pro/carbs and some fats to hit cals. moderate carbs, high pro.

On burn days I would prob like some fruit during 2nd meal or lunch. try to stay under 100 c on burn and 200c on build for now.

During morning weights I will do the bcaa protocol with recover pro, some bulk bcaa and modern bcaa that I have. BUt I am prob going to take some bcaa for a bit even with weights in pm or burn days simply to get used to the fasting. That and coffee and I may need some diet cokes.

I will be on EC also. Morning cardio only days I will have some Yom with some caff before with prob BA and save the EC for after.

I ran my #s for 230lbs of fatty and my baseline cals looks around 2400. If I follow a +10 on weights and minus 35% my low days seem low but I am liftin 4-5 days a week but reduced volume so I think I will start with maint cals on weights and -35% on burn days (or cardio only) and see where it leads me. My job is a sit around all day so my only activity is the 6 days of 20-40 mins cardio I do and 4-5 days of lifting of about 50 mins.
 
well made it pretty easy to just after noon. I did have a coffee with 2 packs equal and about .c of calorie countdown milk. I est about 10 cals for all this. about 10am I did have some bcaa drink and eating a grilled buffalo chicken salad with blue cheese. man was it worth it. lol.

I do have a small meal planned for about 3 hours later and I plan on having a pc of fruit then and tonights dinner should be mostly pro/veggies bit of fats and im done.

I will remove fruit from burn days in a couple weeks and keep it in on build days.
 
lonewolf0420 said:
I fast 11pm through to 12pm. I don't train in the morning. Having BCAA upon waking is more counter productive, then beneficial at that time?

I just started LG this past weekend. I notice it has helped with my IBS and bloat. Thank goodness.
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I'm glad it's helped you in that way. I personally am having issues with my IBS that disappeared back when I ate 5-6 times throughout the day (started about 2 years ago) since I went on LG, but of course everyone's body, and more importantly everyone's IBS is different.
 
multiple feedings over the day totally screws with my digestive system - IF seems to help me as well... I feel overall more balanced & less like I have to constantly take a crap - that feeling totally gets in the way of being able to eat properly....
 
(pardon me if this was addressed in the previous 100 or so pages...)

I'm having trouble nailing the 8hour feeding window.... Between work & home life - my window has unfortunately opened up closer to 9-10 hours food/14-15 fast. I get so hungry around 10am at work, but it's so hard to get my dinner in before 6pm....

Any tips on how to shorten that? Am I making it harder on myself? Am I losing out on too many of the benefits of IF?
 
MrKleen73 said:
BCAA's are for fasted training and post fasted training only. Any other time and they unnecessarily break the fast, slowing your fat loss marginally.
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So you do deem BCAA unnecessary if not training, do too them breaking the fast, but the effect of that on fat loss is minimal? So why are they unnecessary?
 
As long as caloric intake is less than ~40-50 in a 60min window it should be fine. I take BCAAs approx every 2hours. I sip on them for 20-30 min.
 
daniel11 said:
As long as caloric intake is less than ~40-50 in a 60min window it should be fine. I take BCAAs approx every 2hours. I sip on them for 20-30 min.
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Bingo. Under 50 calories doesn't break a fast. I don't know how long the window is for that, but doing that once every 2 hours is fine.
 
Im doing this on build days also. Especially next week burn/build days since I compete June 24. Want some insurance I'm good to go.
 
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