@@anthonyvanced5420That sounds awful. I can get 10g of protein per 60kcal/100g of fat free cottage cheese. So I just need to eat a 300g pot for 60g of protein and 200kcal, and the rest of the protein should come from eating for the rest of the day.
I've lost 30kg with fasting and intermittent fasting, within around six months. I've kept that weight for over two years now. Fasting was the only sustainable solution for me, simply to not having to think about food. I agree, it's not for everyone. It definitely was for me. So if you're trying to keep those kilograms off, I recommend you give it a try. Cheers
Congrats on losing the weight and keeping it off. When I worked at & later managed a CVS Pharmacy, I saw an obese guy lose about 100 or so pounds over several months. He did an apple cider vinegar intermittent fast: something like he would only drink ACV until 2 pm, at which point he would eat regular meals. It was incredible how much weight he lost, and he's one of the only guys I ever saw who lost that much weight. He kept the weight off for years. I congratulated him almost every time I saw him. He is an incredible success story.
You can definitely retain strength better than most people think, and fat newbies can gain muscle because their bodies have tons of material to scrounge and building is easy. On the other hand. If you're a lean mean marathon runner, and you try to combine fasting and muscle gain, yeah that's dumb. Dr. Jason Fung is a known crazy person. But he's had people fast for months on end. They're not dead. And in fact they're often full of energy, raising kids, and playing sports. They're fine. They're not bodybuilders, but they're fine.
I do IF and prolonged fasting. I still have no issue with weightlifting or walking (very fast and uphills for 40 mins at least). I prefer to exercise on an empty stomach otherwise I get nauseous. As I am still obsese (57 lbs lighter though), my body has a few weeks of food stored on it. Fasting doesn't drain me. I also do low carb when not fasting. Now I just need to build muscle to keep it as I age. Me, 57 year old female, diabetic in recovery and 50 more pounds of fat to lose.
I’m 63 4 years after cancer, chemo and major surgery, and I’m losing weight while getting into powerlifting. I’m sure my fat/weight has fuelled my workouts. I drink a lot of fluid and drink a protein shake after a workout when I fast. It works for me. Still have 40 to go. BTW I have had tremendous strength gains… probably because I was not strong to begin with.
I am joining you on this journey as well as someone who has been FAT their whole life. It has been the most crushing thing trying to fix my body but i needed to fix my mind first and everything was revealed to me in order. THANK GOD
When I started working out, I’d fast on my days off and eat on my workout days. I lost 70 lbs pretty quick and it was relatively simple. I went on a maintenance phase to see what I could and couldnt get away with eating wise and learned a lot. I’m still fasting every now and then but I definitely realized when I’m dizzy from just standing up to eat a little bit so I’m not too out of it. You don’t need to fast but if you’re losing weight it doesn’t hurt if you don’t overdo it. You realize how little you actually need to eat and it helps you portion control because you’ve shrunk your appetite for so long so you don’t need as much to get full
getting dizzy is usually a heavy reliance on sugar. If you train you body to become adapted to utilizing fat for fuel more efficiently then as long as you are not devoid of fat reserves you won't get dizzy ever again!
Same here. I think it really did help me when I was newer since it meant I could put more of my weekly calorie deficit into one day, I probably could have put on more muscle by not doing it but overall getting leaner was more beneficial long term. As I got more advanced it went from 2 days a week fasting to 1 day, then that day went from 500 cals to 800 cal, now it is 1000 cal so I can still hit my protein and long term it will disappear all together. Part of it is more muscle to maintain, the other part is just getting more skilled at planning my weekly eating so I don't need to cram calorie deficit into one day.
@@Jafmanz "train you body to become adapted to utilizing fat for fuel more efficiently" yeaaaah, no. Dr. Mike has already addressed that claim: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ot8Q8YceRNo.html
I also noticed this from months of 24-36 hour fasts. It was great for rapid weight loss at the cost of some muscle. I found low intensity cardio and full body isometrics on fasting days to work well at telling the body to hold onto muscle as much as it can without sucking all your energy
Since I was starting back up after a year+ off I actually gained a good deal of muscle and lost a lot of fat with every other day. But there is a cutoff point when bodyfat is low enough it's no longer worth it.
I fast because I feel amazing doing it. I’ve found it’s the only thing that alleviates my pain. When my body is hungry, even on my fasting hours, I feed it. I just listen. My weight training days i makes sure I eat plenty of carbs. My body is far from healthy, but I am officially off all 6 meds I used to be on. 💪
IF with clean eating has been a blessing to me. Currently down over 30 kg from starting weight beginning of may, when I started going to the gym. Fortunately I don't feel hungry nor want to eat junk food. The only time I do, however, is when my sleep turns to shit. Whenever sleep is good, I find it even harder to get the calories in due to never feeling hungry.
Hey Dr. Mike A topic that I don't see covered very much is how sickness/sickness recovery affects lifting performance. Should one keep certain macro nutrient profiles while ill? How do things change when recovering from something simple like a minor cold vs. recovering from something massive like cancer? There's plenty of nuance here and I'd like to hear your thoughts on it!
At 50yers old, 172 cm drop from 87kg to 67kg in 6 months. Pulse go below 60bpm in relax mode plus a lot of health markers improve. Blood pressure 130/70. Besides no knee pain in the evening. Also My wife stop blood pressure medication after same period. So, from our experience this work.
Definitely getting out of food focus really helps. Having a few days where I don't eat most of the day helps remind me that it's okay for my stomach to not have food in it constantly.
Thanks for always working to reduce the stigma around public indecency and changing it to decency! We need more people like you Mike! Fighting the good fight.
Thank you, Dr. Mike. I came upon your channel and found your video informative and understandable regarding health. I struggle with depression, anxiety, and a lack of self-esteem. I'm a 48-year-old obese male with an enlarged heart and other medical health issues. I started hitting the gym in 2011 and dropped weight from 280 to 222. As of today, I have regained that weight and am now a whopping 290 lbs. I eat a lot and have trouble controlling my weight. My gut is out of proportion, and I struggle to lose it. Watching this video has made me realize that fasting is not what I need to do. I will take the steps to follow your best practices.
Anticdote: did 2 90 hour back to back fasts 3 weeks ago. Lost 17lbs and felt great. Muscle loss appearance wise was minimal, if anything looked way more ripped. The only downside was strength loss, particularly on 2nd and 3rd sets during workouts. Would hit way fewer reps. Think this was due to glycogen depletion and certainly some muscle loss. I’m still not convinced doing this in place of 12-16 weeks of dieting is net negative. Both approaches will cost you some muscle and strength but the speed of fat loss is way higher fasting. The you get more weeks to rebuild at maintenance or slightly above than normal dieting protocols. I’m sure Dr.Mike will say it is not optimal but I enjoy it and as they say the best dieting approach is the one you can stick to.
Interesting point. Fasting compared to what, a slow diet phase? How fast does muscle recovery occur, when you've lost it over a week, vs losing it over 1 month? All relevant questions.
The biggest issue for most people is going to be the impact on day to day living. If you’re fasting for 90 hours, you are going to be the most irritable human alive after day 1. So that’s 3 more days where your cognition slows, you have no energy for anything, your patience is completely gone. If you have a job, you should take a holiday because you’re not gonna be effective in it and no one will want to work with you. Doing back to back 90 hour fasts (180 hour fast? How long was your break? Back to back means consecutive so I don’t know) means taking 2 weeks off work. Who wants to spend that being in that state? If it worked for you, nice work, glad you saw results and have access to that cheat code. For 99.9% of people it’s just not reasonable to do anywhere near that much fasting all at once.
@deifiedtitan I just finished a three day fast (72 hours). I'm planning to do it at the start of every month as a method of resetting my body, as well as for religious reasons. (Hits the belly fat nicely too) The first day is indeed the hardest. I didn't even sleep well. The second and third days were fantastic though. I had even more energy on the second day, and no hunger. If people can get past the first day, they would find a lot to like about it imo. I hate working out fasted though, as you definitely don't have the same strength when not eating. So I just treat them as recovery days and rest. There is scientific evidence that a week of rest (or lighter weight, aka a deload) per month doesn't affect your gains at all, and may even boost them, so I figured that three days would be perfect.
@deifiedtitan It's not the case that your cognition slows. It's the opposite, in fact. Your energy levels and your senses heighten significantly. Your creativity also increases. This might seem counterintuitive at first, but consider a wolf or lion, which eats around once a week. Do their minds slow and do they become lethargic while "fasting"? No. That would be bad for survival. What happens is that your senses sharpen to help you find food. You become more aware of your surroundings. You will be irritable on that first day, but that goes away by the second. If anything, most people would benefit from having a more stable mood at work. You don't realize how much of a sedative food is until you fast for a few days. It's basically a drug that keeps people sated and dull. This is why rulers throughout time tried to make sure their people had bread. Full bellies prevent riots.
All I can say is thank you for existing. 10lbs down using the RP Diet app. These videos were just the thing I needed to reignite my fitness journey again. It's been great and I appreciate the practical, real guidance and advice. It's really helped me understand what changes I needed to make this time around on my fitness journey.
I imagine that after fasting for a day, your diet food might look much tastier than it would if you went from eating normally to eating lean protein and vegetables. I also think it might help set a hard start to a diet that people often try to ease into too slowly
Exactly. Also there’s something about (healthy) fasting that exercises your willpower & makes you feel powerful & get better at other tasks requiring willpower. It’s like a practice in stoicism or something idk
I fast on Fridays during Lent, and do my Saturday morning workouts still fasted (about 40 hours). Falling asleep on that Friday is tough, but I have TONS of energy for that Saturday workout. I probably would struggle with a hard mass building workout, but conditioning, kettlebells, etc. feels awesome. And the timing is perfect to start dropping some of the winter bulk weight before the 'suns out guns out' season starts. Edit: I should add, I don't work out on Friday, just normal activity. The adrenaline really ramps up by Saturday morning.
I’ve done 5 days fasts. Zero issues with energy. The issue most people run into is poor fat adaptation on fasting regimens and thus they get really hungry and struggle to move from carbs and latent calories already in your bloodstream to full fat for energy utilization - it’s abrupt and the same thing as the “keto flu” if you don’t fast often. I’ve done 3-5 days fasts for a 6 month period. Works great as a fat loss tool. I didn’t do gym work around it so I did lose some muscle - probably 7-8 lbs of muscle in 6 months but I kept lean muscle just fine. Highly recommend if you’re disciplined enough to land this diet. I could run, lift, etc on fasted state before. You won’t see your best performance ever because you’ll be running entirely on fat (less potent for quick burst energy needs) but you’ll workout just fine. Not sure if Mike has done this before but I have and I had zero problems when I did do moderate workouts on fast. I felt great on fasted state btw. The pass out part is only real to me when I’m not drinking enough water and keeping electrolytes in check. That was after 4 days of not eating though… not 24 hrs. The more you do it, the weaker the symptoms are. The only thing is that you need to be careful eating after extended fasts. You’ll out fat on quickly because your body will eventually adjust to fast and will try to store fat faster (metabolic adaptation). Mike is awesome. Think this is a weak area for him though for information and expectations. Again, zero energy issues while fasted. No crashes. I’d do aggressive incline walking at 3.8 mph or elliptical work for 45 mins… no problems. So while he’s definitely on point more often than not it’s here’s some gaps in his teaching and expectations here. I’ve spent maybe 100 hours researching fasting topic and following the leading minds (PHDs) in this field. There is a spike to muscle growth if you use your workouts right but it’s not recommended for major muscle gains if that’s your end goal. Fat loss only method.
I've fasted for short and extended periods. While this talk is much more focused on short, one-day fasts as part of a weekly or so schedule, I think I may be able to add some useful and practical advice for people coming off a fast. One specific piece is your meal coming off of fasting. Obviously, I am skipping over many of the important things for longer fasts and assuming that you are coming off of a one-day fast and trying to not gorge yourself. This will help to give you that feeling that you are gorging yourself while keeping it healthy. My favorite meal coming off of a fast is egg drop soup. Six eggs with my pantry broth. I will crack all the eggs into a bowl and pull out two to three egg yolks, mix up the eggs, slowly pour into the hot broth, and add in the separated whole egg yolks. A good pinch of wakame seaweed for contrast and some nice micronutrients. Many veggies (or other ingredients) will work here if thinly sliced. The magic part of this is the volume of eating the soup. It will stretch that band around your stomach making you feel full and that you didn't hold back. However, since a lot of that volume is water, you won't end up feeling bloated for hours like you just tried to fit an entire Thanksgiving meal in your stomach. My pantry broth: 2tbsp Red Boat Fish Sauce, 2tbsp dried mushroom powder, 2 teaspoon potassium chloride, 3tbsp Anthony's butter powder, 3 tbsp Anthony's heavy cream powder, 3tbsp Anthony's collagen peptide powder, 1/4 teaspoon ascorbic acid. Red Boat fish sauce is just anchovies and salt - it is much cheaper at local ethnic stores. The fish sauce and mushroom powder give umami, earthiness, and salt. The heavy cream and butter powder give fat to mimic the feeling of a real broth by helping the flavors stay on your tongue for longer. The collagen is there because I'm older. The ascorbic acid is there to help my body process the collagen. The potassium chloride is an essential safety part of using this meal coming off a long fast. You really shouldn't have to worry about it when coming off a one-day fast. Adding herbs/spices to your personal preference can really make this shine. I call this my pantry broth, because it can all stay in my pantry for when I need it. I like to mix all the dry ingredients in a 16oz mason jar so I can do half a dozen at a time. Then I can grab one of those jars and the fish sauce to make the broth with no hassle. Mix the powders in cold water first for an easier time. This meal is my favorite coming off fasting, short or long. It can address the potential issues and is very easy to modify from the start or as you go along. If you want a thicker mouthfeel on my pantry broth, add a few scoops of casein protein powder (mix in cold water.) Casein protein powder is a weak emulsifier for oil-in-water emulsifications due to increasing the viscosity of the water. Hopefully that helps someone.
I almost gave up on nutrition science and information because of the vast cesspool of conflicting dogma driven RU-vid flavors of the day snake oil salesmen. But then I magically was introduced to Dr. Mike and his no BS approach to disseminating information with no sprinkles has inspired me. Got the apps downloaded and feeling good about tackling this 50 lbs I want to lose. Thanks man❤
I went from 255lbs to 164lbs in about 10 months. Fasting, cutting soda (except the weekend, but still more minimal), healthier eating, and working out 3 days a week. I got lean but didn't grow much muscle. I was a newbie to working out and mostly cardio and full body workouts. My workout routine has changed since and I am going more muscle, naturally, the last few years.
I ran 9 miles a day (slowly) towards the end of my fast a few ramadans ago. I timed my runs to arrive home just before sunset so I could drink water at the end. It was great. People make fasting sound hard or a big deal when it really isn’t.
Fasting does offer advantages over caloric restriction. Interestingly, it tends to make you feel less hungry. The longer you refrain from eating, the less hunger you experience. In contrast, eating less each day can actually make you feel hungrier than not eating at all for two full days each week (with a day between fasts) and eating normally on the other five days. This pattern also leads to less pronounced metabolic adaptation, and sometimes your body may not adapt metabolically at all. This occurs because you are still eating at maintenance 71% of the time, whereas with continuous caloric restriction, you're never eating at maintenance levels, making metabolic adjustments more likely. I use two full fasting days per week to lose weight quickly; with this method, I can lose up to 15 kilograms (33 pounds) in three months. And I've never needed to reverse-diet with that method.
Hi Dr Mike. Your last longer video before this one you talked about a slow weight gain phase. Would love to know more about this please. Also would love to see the same detail tips and tricks videos on strength training if possible. I know this channel is all about getting jacked and shredded, but your strength made simple was so good would love to hear more insights into optimal training and nutrition for this too. Love your work my good sir. Peace! ✌🏾🤙🏾🙏🏾
I've fasted extensively and I think the best approach is to treat it like a work out when planning your week. plan your pre and post eating incorporate some walks, adjust protien intake appropriately ( with stimulation before fast muscle loss can be miniscule your milage may vary, watch and adjust) also I might be imagining it but protien recovery seems fast right after you can probably get away with front loading your protien with a little extra not immediately after you break your fast but certainly that day.
fasting and a diet consisting of mainly beef, chicken, eggs, avocado,rice,yams,kiwi's. helped reverse my insulin resistance and go from 270 to 220 in 4 months(:
Recently fasted for 5 days/130h and worked out each day in gym/climbing to an 80% level. I began the fast with a long road bike tour. I perceived no loss of lean mass. This was about the 8th time I have done this in 4 years and this time was so easy I barely noticed any discomfort.
Glad you covered this in detail, Mike. I used to be BIG on fasting until I actually found it made me feel a lot more stressed in stressful situations. When I researched, that's actually supported by the research, as it increases serum cortisol levels. If it helps you get into a calorie deficit, doesn't make you feel more stressed, and you can still get your protein in, go ahead. Otherwise, focus on 3-4 meals daily, each containing 30-50g of protein and 1-2 servings of fruit/veg with a carb source (rice, potatoes, oats).
I was diagnosed as a type 1 diabetic when I was 7. One of the shitty side-effects I have, is a constant feeling of extreme hunger. (Like devour anything hunger). I do intermittent fasting because it helps me somewhat reduce that hunger, while also maintaining stable blood sugar levels, and keeping my insulin sensitivity much higher. If I don't, I can just eat-and-eat-and-eat, but never feel full. I'm 1.8m, (5,9) and was over 100kg (220lb) in my teens, but as an adult, after weight lifting and following a calorie plan, I managed to get down to 70kg (154lb) at my best. Now I'm around 80kg (176lb) (I have a super-hard time with losing fat, due to the insulin.) Though, guess that means I also put on muscle easier. 🤔
I'm a 49yo female. I have been cyclic fasting for 8+ years between 15 and 30 hours.. I love working out fasted in the morning. I'm also ketovore and haven't lost any muscle in the process of doing both.
I havent been doing this lately but i have done intermittent fasting 1 day fast and 3 day fast. I didn't feel like any had any effect on my physique or energy levels. After overcoming the hunger pangs and tummy grumbling i do feel like it kind of leveled me out. Fats salts and sugars are all kind of addictive and fighting through the urges felt good.
I've been doing IF consistently for 10 months now, increased protein, good fats, reduced sugar and refined carbs, and generally cleaned up my diet. I had very low energy the first few weeks, but it was only temporary. Over time, my energy levels improved and I've lost 4-5 inches off my waist. Blood pressure is back to normal too, and my cardio has improved a lot for my age. My joints also feel a lot better than before. Once I reach my fat loss goal, I'll probably start eating a slight caloric surplus for a while to regain some muscle, but I don't plan to abandon IF completely.
For myself, I highly value fasting as a part of my cutting/maintenance routine. Energy wise, I always feel pretty dang good and am still able to push hard in the gym even on OMAD. That being said, I understand that not everybody's experience with fasting may be as simple and effective as my own.
Fasting is a great discipline builder. Ive been doing Omad for about 8 years. I was a ravenous monster and got almost up to 400lbs and fasting changed my relationship with food. I lost 170lbs doing it and never had energy problems in the gym. I don't care about all the mumbo jumbo around it but i do think its the best way to gain control of your appetite.
I think this is one of the most under appreciated aspects of fasting, it really will change your relationship with food, especially those with an addictive personality
I fast every day 16:8 for the past few months and still train 5 times a week. No fatigue at all. I'm not really looking to grow 16" arms tho. Honestly I feel great everyday
I've done a couple 3-5 day fasts, and can confirm some things happening, at least in my experience, but not all: + definitely more focused. I don't think it's just more free time through less food focus. It's connected with that feeling sharp part in that I just feel like time slows down and suddenly there is more focus to get actual things done. Where previously I just felt like something is too complicated, with fasting I just get on with it and get it done + drops "bloat" but this comes back easily. You look really slim for a few days though - eating in moderation / dieting is for me more difficult than fasting. Once I get going it's difficult to stop, with fasting although I am hungry there's a lack of an urge to eat like when you're hungry on a reduced calorie diet All in all, it's an interesting experience and I think people should try it. It puts things into perspective that most of the things we feel is just our body lying to us. One day of fasting is definitely hard, it's interesting how there's this switch when you're starving but if you hang in there it just sort of disappears.
No judgement but 3-5 days sounds pretty intense. Most fasting protocols I’ve seen only call for 1 day max - IF being the most common. Is going 3-5 days mostly a pure mental test?
@@trill2go It usually gets easier after day 1. The last time I did it, I quit on day 3 because I didn't feel so well, but all the other times before it was relatively easy. One time I even went and played basketball on day 4. We're not talking about really intense level of basketball since it was mostly older people, but you still run around.
@@gorankosutic5743 Day 3 is when your body switches into ketosis. The first time I did it I felt lightheaded and weird for a few hours on that day, but I've done a bunch more fasts since then with no issues. 12 days is the most I've done so far, but I'll go for longer soon. And that's with no electrolytes either, I seem to be fine but I know it's not recommended.
1. feasting all day can hurt recovery as well 2. weight loss will always consist of some muscle loss, the goal is to minimize the amount which can be done with or without fasting 3. time-restricted eating would be better than fasting for those that want to look like him (along with some other supps)
One thing you didn't mention is the potential benefits of skin tightening if you do a 24 to 48 hour fast due to autophagy. So if you are doing a major weight loss a 2 to 4 day fast once a month may help to keep the skin from loosing up too much.
when you do caloric restriction, you get autophagy anyway. and it has nothing to do with the skin. skin tightening is an effect of the skin producing more collagen, that sure doesn't happen when you don't eat any proteins. the only thing that really keeps the skin from becoming too loose is to do slow weight loss. ironically, that's exactly what fasting will not do for you.
@@Kit-kk9cb I question that, because the well-studied effects of fasting show a significant bump in autophagy. Where are people on a calorie restricted diet, may have some initial autophagy due to the body recomposition, (chewing up muscle to lower the metabolism to match the caloric intake) which slows vs fasting where the body will go through a significant recycling assessment and to make sure that all systems are functioning optimally to be able to find food. The question is what is it chewing up and for how long is it doing it. With caloric restriction or an intermittent fasting the autophagy stops once food has entered the system.
@@ninjaspam2000 it doesn't matter. if you have little autophagy over a week or a lot of autophagy over a day really doesn't make a difference. the studies we have show that the caloric restriction is what gives us the needed effect, which means consuming fewer calories than we need over a longer term. caloric restriction however never requires consuming ZERO calories. also, autophagy, a slow metabolism and muscle catabolism are completely different things. in fact, autophagy is a process that virtually always goes on in your cells, the difference is only the degree. i know that in common understanding, autophagy and fasting have become intertwined. and while fasting does lead to autophagy, it is by far not the only way to get autophagy
@@ninjaspam2000 also it's true that when you eat something, the autophagy temporarily stops. however, if you're on a calorie restricted diet, the autophagy will start again after the food is digested. which will be much more quickly than if you ate a high-calorie meal. fasting would be an autophagy sprint, whereas a calorie restricted diet leading to weight loss would be an autophagy marathon.
@@Kit-kk9cb so it seems like the premise that you're operating off of is negative calories equals autophagy. The problem with that premise a calorie is not just a calorie. Eating a low-calorie diet that is too far below baseline can cause catabolism which lowers the metabolism. Eating a low-calorie diet where you are continually grazing means the digestive system will never get a rest and autophagy will never happen. It is just like exercising too much and resting too little. Eating a maintenance calorie diet, using the omad principle can and will cause autophagy. It's not just a matter of eating less. It's a matter of getting the digestive system to shut down long enough to trigger the body to clean up and rebuild.
I did a 5 way fast once. It’s quite freeing. I wasn’t training the way I am now but was lifting and mostly running at the time. Definitely changed my mental framework around hunger. It helped reinforce the way I see food day to day - it’s just a way to fuel my body. There’s obviously times to eat for pleasure but, generally, I just eat what suits my current goals.
As someone that used fasting to get from 235 to 165 I have 1 big pro and 1 big con: it's very good to lose weight,but it makes you used to eating big meals which will lead you to over eating if you go back to a 3-5 meals a day😂
I also noticed this, but when I tried eating 5 small meals, or 3 or even 1 my body would get used to "meal time" and would then be hungry at that time. So what I found to work best for my schedule and calorie needs is one big meal, and a snack
I'm really loving this channel. I'm not even a fitness guy, though. I just love Dr. Mike's attitude and no nonsense demeanour, as well as the wonderful randomness. Plus, it's still fun to learn about things, regardless of whether those things concern you in your day-to-day life or not. 😁😁
I'm the right person to ask about fasting, I have been doing Intermittent fasting it for 17 years , I have tried all types of fasting so let me tell you what happens and what's the difference. With Intermittent Fasting, I gain and lose fat at the same time as any other diet, 3-6 meals per day, not magic pill, nor it reduces the muscle I gain. It's all about Calories In vs Calories Out, and having enough protein. With 24-48 fast, of course you lose weight, but let's start what you lose after 24 hours of fasting, 60 % of water, 20% fat and 20% muscle, Yes muscle especially if you are doing a 48 and more hours of fasting, I tested this, measuring myself and after having a 15 day refeed from a 9 days water fasting with amino acids, and after the refeed, from the 15 pounds of what I lost, 9 were water, 3 were fat and 3 muscle, So prolonged fasting is an horrible idea if you want to look fit, and not skinny fat, Because gaining muscle is extremely hard compared to losing fat, so if you lose the same amount of muscle as fat, that's an horrible diet, but if you do Intermittent fasting, eat enough calories and protein, that would be perfect, and Why I do fasting, because of all of the health benefits and liberation of food, and because I work all day, and then at night I just chill out and eat. Best
i was thinking of trying out the one-day-a-week fasting thing to create a calorie deficit. train hard 6x a week, eat at maintenance, then on fridays fast. is that a bad way to go about it according to your experience?
@@cultofhercules If it is only 24 hours, maybe you won't lose muscle, I'd say you start losing muscle like crazy after 30+ hours, but that will also depends on how sedentary are you going to be in the 24 hours fast and how lean you are, for example, I'm at like 14% of bodyfat, so of course I would take more muscle the leaner you are, but if you are above 25% of bodyfat, most of it will be fat, and regarding if you are going to be sedentary, that would be ideal if you are going to fast 24 hours, because most of the energy will come from fat, but if you are going to be very active with intensity, then you will definitely lose muscle, how can you know if you are losing muscle besides measuring yourself after refeeding?, Well if you feel weaker and lose strength, that's the first sign, so yeah, try 24 hours fast, and if you start to feel weaker, then, that won't be good. Best
I've done a bunch of 6 day+ fasts and didn't notice any strength or muscle loss, although I train with lower volume when fasting. I expect I lost some muscle but must've regained it quickly after.
@@gracefool that's what you think, that you didn't lose muscle, and no, you don't regain it as fast as you think, and yes, I believe you didn't lost strength, I didn't either, but I did lose muscle,I did this experiment and measured everything, and I have very good genetics too 1050 natural test, and even with that I lost the same amount of muscle as fat, also depends on how lean you are, if you are a male at 14% bodyfat or so, yes you will tend to lose more muscle than someone with 20-25 % of body fat, but if you feel ok and look ok, then that's fine. Best
I feel like this is a rather simplistic view of fasting, which is great if you're 10 pounds or so away from goal, but if you're fat like me, extended fasts with light training can seriously pay dividends.
Hey @Renaissance Periodization Mike you first mention (3:00) that fasting for one day is "very healthy for your longevity, long term health, total inflamation.." etc but then mention it as a downside that it has no particular long term upsides. Can you please clarify?
I don’t know why he said it has no longterm upsides. Basically we know from longevity research that leaner people live longer. Monks who fast live crazy long. 😂
@@scarletsletter4466”Leaner people live longer.” That’s a very broad, vague, incomplete statement. Body builders are much leaner than the average person, even when bulking, and they die significantly earlier than average people. People with eating disorders are often lean, but they are not healthy. Also, you can be lean without fasting. It can be a useful tool to reach a desired weight loss goal, but fasting is not necessary.
Thanks for covering this Dr Mike. I am currently working with intermittent fasting to try and control my caloric intake & find it relatively easy to do....even without the squirrel & leaf gazing....so appreciate the info. Lots to think about as usual.
The health benefits of fasting are extremely underrated. So many things can be healed just by dry or water fasting for a few days. Also perfect for fast fat loss if that is your primary goal and always combined with healthy refeeding. For building muscle as fast as possible it's probably not a good idea to fast frequently due to the reasons listed in this video but i still believe that a day or two of fasting every month can even help with for most people that by turning your body more efficient, improving gut health etc.
Yea the cleansing, autophagy, the increase in hgh production, putting your body into fat burning mode using fat instead of carbs, the boost in energy, the anti aging benefits, fixing your hormones, gut health, the sharp feeling. Not to mention it's a way to challenge yourself mentally. There's so much more. I love Dr Mike but he might want to do a little more research on prolonged fasting
When I first started my weight loss journey I kicked it off by fasting for 40-ish hours, and lost 5 lbs in water weight. It was crazy to lose 5lbs in less than 2 days!
I have used fasting of various lengths of time for fat loss. It is nice I have found only for the rapid weight loss. Fasting for 24-36 hours on days off from work does mean you lose a pound of fat or two that week. On fasting days, for holding onto muscle, I found that low intensity cardio and full body isometrics work well because it still tells the body you need to hold onto the muscle without sucking all the energy out of you.
It took me 4 years of trial and error and a ton of videos on youtube to get to the same conclusion. RP is probably the best channel on nutrition and bodybuilding.
Fasting is crazy effective for weight loss. Went from 207 lbs to 155 lbs in 10 months. For some with a higher bodyfat %, it may be worth it. Should there be a maximum? I read 24-36 hours is the limit for reasonable muscle retention. I've had 55 hour days, I'm sure I took some losses on that one, but I had so much fat. Though big take away from this channel, don't do it all in one go. Towards the end, I would fast a ton and the scale wouldn't move that much, initially it was nuts. I think I took out 20 lbs last December as well. Jacked now though, took awhile to build everything back. During the fasting period, my bench couldn't get over 185 lbs and was stuck there for a year, now that I'm bulking, it's catapulted to 225 lbs after 4 months (muscle memory of doing 360 lbs maximally a decade ago).
I no joke lost all my weight fasting. With fasting it's out of sight out of mind. No matter what I did I could never tolerate tracking & counting calories for a meaningful length of time, maybe a week tops maybe it's ADHD but it was so much worse trying to lose weight that way, than to simply not eat for days at a time. The meticulousness was like torture and the the oh f*** I forgot to weigh my nuts I just ate, now I have undid my day of torturous attention to detailed counting.. shit 😂
I fast for religious reasons. I make sure the fasting day is a rest day from training. My next session will either be the next day after a meal, or two days later so I had a full normal eating day before the session. During a cut it can be a nice bit of extra weight loss too. Do you think there are any other considerations for lifters doing multiple day fasts? Sometimes I'll push the fast to 48-96 hours. Where in a mesocycle to periodize it or something?
Wow, I write a comment on this, and that silly Jason Fung, not three days ago, and BAM! you're on it. Either we're on the same wavelength, or you are very astute with the comments section. Either way, thanks!
The first fast i did was 5 days and it was a really good experience. It was eye opening how much i actually wanted to eat out of boredom instead of hunger. It felt really good, but time felt like it moved at half the time and i wanted nothing to do with human interaction. I felt stronger during training on the third day, but fatigued faster. The strength after refeeding was an amazing feeling and really makes it worth it to do it once in a while. Does the growth hormone increase support non muscle recovery in any way? Because that was another thing i noticed, random pains and soreness and stiffness just dissipated during the fast and didn't come back.
@@ViDeTool That doesn't explain that it just never came back again though. I've tried this a few times with the same result for different little nagging pains. If it's just anti-inflammation then ibuprofen should've made it not come back too.
I am absolutely one of those I'm gonna eat everyone who talks to me person when fasting. However, intermittent fasting has been great for me to not add calories/macros late at night when I think I don't have to record them and thus they don't count. Kitchen is closed after dinner and doesn't open until after my morning movement/workout.
Speaking from experience - fasting can be a great tool, especially for fat loss. It's not a miracle, like Thomas Delauer or Dr. Berg make it out to be. However, it can help a lot.
After years of trying several diets going back and forth from abs to chubbiness I came to the conclusion that there is no "one size fits all". I learned that I do way better on the lower carb and not so frequent meals side. The only thing that suffered in the first few years of fasting and lower carbs was my strength in workouts but this was totally fixed once I started paying attention to taking enough electrolites. It was crazy what a difference a small quantity of table salt could do. I now follow a customized version of the old and controversial "Anabolic diet" by Dr. Mauro Di Pasquale and it works great for me. But whatever you do guys please don't just stop counting calories, it's the main reason low carb/keto and fasting diets fail.
Dr Mike there’s a “nutrition plan” called 5/2 where you eat Mediterranean “zone” style (or whatever you prefer) for 5 days, then fast 2 nonconsecutive days. However on those days you don’t have to starve, you can consume up to 500kcal of protein shakes/ greens/ bone broth/ etc. 1 of the fast days should be your rest day. I actually find it helps me sleep better that day, as well
I picked up the rp diet app. It put me at 2600cals to cut. Losing 11lbs in 8 weeks. Instead, I gained 5 lbs in 10 days. At least it reprogrammed itself to 1900cals. See how this goes.
Make sure you’re very accurate with what you enter. I noticed some weight gain after a while then realized I cut my steps down drastically after looking at my health stats.
Fasting (OMAD) used to be a nice tool for me to get in shape, after years of doing it, it is just a life style choice and it feels convenient. I can definitely train hard while fasting and I can also eat enough food for recovery in one meal. But that is me, I do not intend to participate in a bodybuilding competition, I just want to have a reasonably low body fat amount while staying strong significantly over average. I STRONGLY DISAGREE WITH THE "TAKE IT EASY" ADVICE.
The maximum fasting i have ever done was like 7days. It always work for removing bloating and removing cravings.. If done well could be good to retune your food cravings. This time i did a 5day before starting a diet. I was 105kg when i started. After 5days of fasting and 5days of dieting i'm close to 100kg. Forcing myself to fast BEFORE diet put me in the mental conditions to avoid cheat meals and craving. My goal is to go back to 85kg. Slow but steady.
For people who are metabolically messed up, fasting is amazing. I began my journey obese and was dealing with intense chronic pain. I started by just changing my eating window. I ate the same type of foods, the same amount of calories, and wasn’t able to exercise due to said chronic pain. I still lost 30 lbs in the first 3 months! My chronic pain (sciatic) went away and I was finally able to start a regular exercise routine. Went on to lose another 30 lbs.
Tomorrow morning i finish a fast, Sunday 11p-Friday 11a. So 108 hrs. The most ive ever gone previously was (maybe) 32ish hours. The first night following the first day without food was the worst. It is a deload training week. So i did 50% weight for my peak numbers before the deload. Diet was a little off the last month and id put on 18ish lbs of mostly bloat. Im right back at the weight i was before going off diet, still did deload, zone 2 cardio half of my normal weekly amount. It has not been bad. Feeling a little deflated, but highly doubt i lost anything muscle wise long term. Skin cleared up, id recommend, but not during a training cycle
16:8 for 5 days of the week and 12:12 for the weekends. Feels good and balances well with my work/family/gym timetable but I couldn’t imagine fasting 24+ hours and thinking “I’ll go smash it at the gym now” I wouldn’t have the energy 😂
I genuinely believe you are on the same humour wavelength as Ryan Reynolds. It is absolutely ELITE. You can just talk out your ass and it is the funniest monlogue I ever heard, every time.
Intermittent fasting has done wonders for my overeating habit. Been skinny fat my whole adult life, and in the last 4 months im down 25 lbs and look n feel ao much better
