How to set up an intermittent fasting diet

How to set up an intermittent fasting diet

Welcome to Intermittent Fasting 101. This is a primer or guide to the setup I personally use for intermittent fasting to burn fat.

Here's the extremely basic summary of how it works:

* On training days, eat for 9 hours a day and fast for the remaining 15 hours.

*On off or cardio days, eat for 6 hours a day and fast for the remaining 18 hours.

* Strength training 3 days per week

* Cardio 2-4 times a week

* Eat maintenance + 500 calories on strength training days

* Eat 50% of maintenance on other days

*The majority of carbohydrate intake occurs on strength training days

This plan is also specific for fat loss. Mass gain (bulking) and maintenance plans will be available soon. Now for the detailed explanation of:

How to set up an intermittent fasting diet for fat loss

Setting eating/fasting times

The time of day you eat depends on whether or not you are lifting weights that day. On lifting days your eating window is 9 hours and on on or off days your eating window is 6 hours. You need to be able to do weight training and cardio at the same time of day as this disrupts the schedule.

Meal plan for strength training days

The fast is broken by a pre-workout shake 15 to 30 minutes before exercise and lasts 9 hours. For example, since I train at 1 p.m., my eating window starts at 12:30 p.m. and lasts until 9:30 p.m. This can be inconvenient if, for example, you train at 8 p.m. I find that lifting weights works best at lunchtime or in the morning.

Next, we will create a schedule of rest days or cardio days.

Meal plan for off or cardio days

The fast is broken one hour after completing cardio training and lasts 6 hours. In my case, I do cardio at 1pm, so my fast is broken at 3pm. On rest days it remains 3 p.m.

Summary

Since I train Monday/Wednesday/Friday, the big picture looks like this:

Monday: Fasting ends at 12:30 p.m. and begins at 9:30 p.m

Tuesday: Fasting ends at 3 p.m. and begins at 9 p.m

Wednesday: Fasting ends at 12:30 p.m. and begins at 9:30 p.m

Thursday: Fasting ends at 3 p.m. and begins at 9 p.m

Friday: Fasting ends at 12:30 p.m. and begins at 9:30 p.m

Saturday: Fasting ends at 3 p.m. and begins at 9 p.m

Sunday: Fasting ends at 3 p.m. and begins at 9 p.m

Determination of calorie/macronutrient amounts:

After you've decided on your eating/fasting plan, it's time to figure out how many calories, fat, carbs, and protein you'll eat. I realize this may seem overwhelming at first with all the math, but once you've established your requirements it's really quite simple and routine.

Calories needed for fat loss

Calorie needs depend on whether it is a strength training day or an off/cardio day.

To determine the calories needed for fat loss, you must first determine the calories needed for maintenance. The easiest way to get an estimate is to multiply your weight in pounds by 15. For example, if you weigh 200 pounds, the total calorie requirement for maintenance is 3000 calories per day.

Calorie needs for strength training days:

To determine calories on strength training days, take the amount of maintenance calories and add 500 to it. For our 200 pound person they would eat 3500 calories on the days they exercise.

Calorie needs for off or cardio days:

To determine calorie burn for off or cardio days, simply divide your maintenance calories in half. For off or cardio days, our 200 pound person would eat 1500 calories per day.

Macronutrient Breakdown:

Once your calorie needs for fat loss have been determined, it's time to figure out how much of each macronutrient you need. The amounts vary depending on whether or not you are strength training that day. The macronutrients we will be using are the big three:

* Fat

* Protein

* Carbohydrates

(Remember that fat has 9 calories per gram and protein and carbohydrates each have 4 calories per gram.)

Macronutrient breakdown for strength training days:

Fat:

The maximum amount of fat eaten per day is 30 grams. It doesn't matter where the fat comes from as long as 10 of those grams are in the form of omega-3 fish oil.

Protein:

To determine the minimum amount of protein per day, multiply your weight by 1.25. Our 200 lb person needs at least 250g of protein to maintain muscle. Sources don't matter, but make sure you don't exceed the fat limit. Chicken, very lean red meat, fat-free cheese, and protein powder (whey or casein) are excellent choices.

Carbohydrates:

Carbohydrates make up the remaining calories in your diet. Here too, the sources play no role. Just be sure not to exceed the 30g fat limit and keep sugar under 100g. In our example person, he gets 270 calories from fat and 1000 calories from protein. With the lifting day calorie goal of 3500, that leaves 2230 calories for carbohydrates. Divide 2230 by 4 and you get a maximum carbohydrate amount of ~558 grams.

Macronutrient breakdown for days without lifting or cardio:

As I mentioned earlier, the calories needed for days when you don't exercise or do cardio are half of your maintenance calories. Here is the macronutrient breakdown:

Fat:

Here too, the amount of fat is unchanged compared to the training days. The maximum amount of fat eaten per day is 30 grams. It doesn't matter where the fat comes from as long as 10 of those grams are in the form of omega-3 fish oil.

Carbohydrates:

On rest days or just cardio days, carbohydrate sources should only come from fibrous green vegetables and the trace amounts found in your protein sources, such as whey and cheese. The maximum amount per day should not exceed 20 grams.

Protein:

The minimum amount of protein is your weight in pounds x 1.25. For our sample who needs 1500 calories per day, he would get 270 calories from fat, 80 calories from carbohydrates and the remaining 1150 calories from protein. That would equal ~287.5 grams.

Diet for strength training days

Strength training will be 3 days a week, full body routine. I personally use Monday-Wednesday-Friday, but the days are up to you as long as there is a day off between workouts. Read on for my training recommendation.

Pre workout

On training days, the fast is broken with a whey protein/carbohydrate shake 15 to 30 minutes before training begins.

I suggest a mix of simple carbohydrates and whey protein.

Protein = 0.25g/lb x weight Carbohydrates = 0.25g/lb x weight

Gatorade powder (not the pre-made liquid form) or a maltodextrin/dextrose mix is ​​my preferred pre-workout carb. Keep the fat to a minimum here.

After training

Within 30 minutes of your workout, you will have another shake. However, this time use a mixture of whey, casein and dextrose.

Protein = 0.25g/lb x weight Carbohydrates = 0.50g/lb x weight

The rest of the day

Your first solid meal of the day is 1 hour after your PWO shake. This will be the biggest meal of the day. The remaining meal times are up to you, but I recommend reducing your calories until your last meal. Remember that intermittent fasting does not require you to eat every 2-3 hours. Just make sure you're hitting your calorie/macronutrient goals. However, I recommend a casein shake shortly before mealtime is over. Because it is a slow-digesting protein, it helps you stay fuller for longer.

Diet for off or cardio days

Because calories are greatly reduced on rest days or cardio days, the eating window is shorter. It works best to have 2-3 good-sized meals instead of the 6-7 you read about in muscle magazines.

On cardio days, the fast is broken with a 50g protein shake 1 hour after completing cardio. Two hours after the shake, have your first “real” meal and continue until the 6 hours are up. As I mentioned earlier, carbohydrates are limited to 20 per day and should consist of fibrous green vegetables and the trace amounts in foods.

Intermittent fasting diet strength training routine

Strength training is a 3-day, full-body routine. Again, exact days don't matter, but make sure you have a day off between workouts. On days 1 and 2 you train only the large muscles (legs, back, chest) and add the arms of the smaller muscles (calves) on the 3rd day. You do 4 sets of 6-8 reps for each large muscle and 2-3 sets of 8-12 reps for the smaller ones.

Here is an example of a workout routine:

Day 1: Pushing

Flat Bench Press / Shoulder Press / Leg Press / Weighted Crunches

Day 2: Pulling

Rows / pull-ups / hamstring curls

Day 3: Push/Pull

Bench press / rows / squats / calf raises / side raises / barbell curl / triceps pushdown / side raises / back extensions / weighted crunches

For maximum fat loss, cardio should be reduced to 2-3 times per week. Start with a 5-minute warm-up and then move on to 10 minutes of High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). This works best on an elliptical or spin bike instead of a treadmill. You will do this in 1 minute intervals. Maximum intensity for 1 minute, followed by a moderate pace for 1 minute. Repeat until 10 minutes have passed. After finishing your HIIT session, drink some water and rest for 5 minutes. After your break, do 30 minutes of low- to moderate-intensity, steady-state cardio. A treadmill is ideal for this. Don't forget to wait an hour and consume 50g of protein.

Inspired by Jason Geroianni