shoothead

I'm not really a yogiholic but it's been my "workout of the day" for months now. Anyway...some things about me - I have been interested in fitness and nutrition since I stepped on a scale in a bathroom at a loft party that my band was playing at in 2000 and it read 22something. I stepped off as soon as I saw that I weighed in the 220s. That was my moment of clarity. I lost about 50 pounds slowly over 18 months as I began to pay attention to my food and workouts. Since then I have been tooling and retooling and trying to get lean and strong. I had a setback 2 years ago as I had a major knee surgery (tibial tubercle + cartilage transplant + 2 screws) but I am now back on track. The setback was more for strength and mobility and less weight control. I have weighed roughly the same, 175, since 2004. I am 6 feet tall. According to my latest DEXA scan I am 11.8%BF. My goal is 9%. I will get there slowly. My latest 5k was 23:18 and I want to improve on that to 21:00, then 20:00. I will do it. More things about me - I am a father of three. I drink bourbon. I photograph things. I swim and run. I try to eat Paleo. I fast. I work in Boston, live in Maine. I infrequently post about my journey here. I don't count calories, though I did when I went from 22something to 175. I joined here to offer as much advice/input as I am seeking. I feel like I have a lot to offer and learn and basically wake up every day looking to augment the knowledge I have gained about fitness and nutrition. At 38, with mobility issues in my knee, there's a lot I can't do with weights, but that isn't stopping me from getting more fit and one of my interests is how to properly work around injuries so as to not further injure. I feel super strong some days and like a 3 legged table other days. I'm here to tweak and help others tweak. I don't overdo things. I just do them. Thanks, Lee

(This is my first NF post) This is a topic that interests me. I've been doing IF for about a year now with the intention of not simply managing weight but the other benefits (such as natural HGH increase) outlined in Brad Pilon's "Eat Stop Eat" It took a couple of fasts for me to find the right times to start/stop but I've been in a good flow now for about 8 months where I can now easily do a 24 hour fast a week, or 2 18-22 hour fasts. Lately I've been trying some techniques where I fast around workouts - for example, Monday night I stopped eating at 6pm and ate the next day at lunch (12:30) for a roughly 18 hour fast, I have not eaten since. Last night I did a Bikram Yoga class which floored me. This morning I feel awesome and I'm headed to the gym once I finish my coffee (sitting at SBUX typing this up). These morning workouts are usually pretty solid and have just in the last month or so started withe weights again. I was doing a lot of swimming before. I plan to eat around 9am for a 21 hour fast. So I ate one meal yesterday which was a giant salad with egg, ham, bacon, and avacado among other things. I feel like IF gives me a reset and I like the feeling I get when both the pre-fast and post-fast meal is heavily laden with veggies - I usually do a giant egg scramble over greens and peppers/onions. I have also played soccer and run while fasted and the first few times I thought I was tired but I mentally pushed through it. Now it doesn't phase me. I don't notice any difference in energy levels while doing any sort of workout while fasting. As others have pointed out, try it for at least a month and you will know if it's for you or if you need to make any adjustments. Good luck!! Lee