Anyone using intermittent fasting long term

Looks interesting, I wonder how it would affect your metabolism though.

From:

http://theleansaloon.com/2010/09/07/intermittent-fasting-a-viable-option/

Not only is the popular advice of snacking a poor generalization, but it’s often accompanied by the threat that our metabolism would “drop” if we don’t eat every three hours. This advice has no scientific support but only evidence to the contrary -

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8172872

Nolan Shaheed doesn't eat until dinner and takes a month off from running each year when he only eats every other day. It seems to work for him. I have played around with it for awhile and find it easy to do (dinner-dinner fast or just skipping breakfast) than dieting and it feels real good too! I have been able to run while fasting with no problem.

Here I am buying into all the snacking propaganda corporate America feeds us. I am doing this. What would be the best technique for this?

interesting.. Through most of HS I only ate once a day (dinner), so it was practically a series of 23-24 hr fasts. No problems with running, even with 85+ mile weeks and running close to 20 hours into the fasts.

TDF wrote:

Nolan Shaheed doesn't eat until dinner and takes a month off from running each year when he only eats every other day. It seems to work for him. I have played around with it for awhile and find it easy to do (dinner-dinner fast or just skipping breakfast) than dieting and it feels real good too! I have been able to run while fasting with no problem.

Perfect, thank you. I hadn't seen much from folks who run daily and the impact on running.

Can't find many better examples than him. (Not to mention I'm a jazz fan)

Tiger_runner wrote:

Here I am buying into all the snacking propaganda corporate America feeds us. I am doing this. What would be the best technique for this?

A couple sites I have seen referenced (they are not runners though) are

and

. But if you google, there are many more.

Personally, I'm going to follow theleansaloon for it's simplicity and I'll do a 20/4 plan (20 hour fast with 4 hour dinner window).

I like the fact that I don't really have to alter my diet, just when I eat (and even then, not that much). I'll still try to eat as healthy as possible, but it certainly allows for junk food and alcohol.

I supposed you would really have to gorge yourself in those 4 hours to exceed your daily required caloric needs, not something I would expect any runners to do (perhaps a 300lb fatty with no self control though).

You can read more about Nolan Shaheed on this page. Just skip the first part. http://recoveryourstride.blogspot.com/2010/01/nolan-shaheed-fast-guy-with-fastinating.html

There's a book out (Ultra-Fat to Ultra-Fit) by a PhD who used intermittent (24 hr fast I think) to lose about 150 pounds and qualify for boston. He did intermittent fasting about six months. Good book.

Herschel Walker only eats once a day - small meal in the evening (salad, soup, bread). Said he's been doing this since college. Dude still looks like he did at 20.

Always something new!

Bill Rodgers ate all the time. He stopped to tie his damn shoe while running a 2:09...in the heat...at Boston!!

Get your ass up in the morning. Run. Eat a good breakfast.

Go to work. That's right, work!

Come home, run again. Eat. Have a beer or two.

Go to bed early.

Do it all over again.

I fast all the time. It's good for you.

Intermittent fasting blog references this thread

http://theleansaloon.com/2010/09/09/fasting-and-endurance-sports/

Mick Lovin wrote:

Always something new!

Well wikipedia says intermittent fasting has been tested in the lab on animals since 1943.

The other thread references a study in Spanish medical literature from 1957, testing on humans eating on alternate days, either 900 calories or 2300 calories.

This is nothing *new*. It's not a fad and it's not a diet. It's a different way of eating.

BTW, how many current world records does Rogers currently have?

Regardless, no one is advocating this is one size fits all.

I fast at least once a month. I am LDS and we usually fast once a month or more if we feel compelled. I have my last meal on Saturday at 5 pm and do not eat again till Sunday night after 5, its not much but I usually drop weight just from that.

In college one of my friends was running 120 miles a week and ran out of food money. He continued his running with no change and did not eat for four days until another friend found out, felt sorry for him and gave him $50 to go get some food. He said that it made him feel like he was going to die and was an all around horrible experience. Granted this was more time than 1 day, but fasting still sounds like a bad idea.

Someone who enjoys running wrote:

In college one of my friends was running 120 miles a week and ran out of food money. He continued his running with no change and did not eat for four days until another friend found out, felt sorry for him and gave him $50 to go get some food. He said that it made him feel like he was going to die and was an all around horrible experience. Granted this was more time than 1 day, but fasting still sounds like a bad idea.

4 days of fasting vs 18-20 hours, yeah that's a fair comparison.

ra ra ra retard wrote:

4 days of fasting vs 18-20 hours, yeah that's a fair comparison.

Totally agree. No one is saying you can/should run 120 miles weeks without any food, no wonder he felt like shit.

Another common method referenced is alternate day fasting, you fast for a full day and then eat normally the next day. I thought that feels a bit extreme for runners and I was pleased to see that "confirmed" by Nolan Shaheed, who only does alternate day fasting during his month long annual break from running. When training daily, he eats one meal a day.

Boston Rob wrote:

Another common method referenced is alternate day fasting, you fast for a full day and then eat normally the next day. I thought that feels a bit extreme for runners and I was pleased to see that "confirmed" by Nolan Shaheed, who only does alternate day fasting during his month long annual break from running. When training daily, he eats one meal a day.

many alternate-day fasting studies actually have subjects eat about 25% of their total food on fasting days, and then eat more than usual on feeding days. these studies found a lot of benefits in this protocol.

But i believe that shorter fast periods work just as well for delivering health benefits without having to go to alternate full day fasts.