How to gain weight while on 5.2

This topic contains 4 replies, has 3 voices, and was last updated by Zedster 6 years, 7 months ago.

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Zedster

11:11 am
1 Sep 17
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Hey folks,

Okay my post is the exact opposite of what most others post here. I have been on 5.2 for 2 months now and gotten to the point where I can go 20-22 hours before my first meal on fast day. I have lost between 3-4% body fat (I am currently around 14-15%) and am getting to a point where I do not want to lose any more weight. I love the way I feel these days and do not really want stop fasting but I do want to start putting on some muscle, instead of just changing fat to muscle. I have upped my caloric intake by 500-1000 a day on non fat days for the last 2 weeks. Yet, every weigh-in after fast days I have lost a bit more.

So my question is what is the best way to gain weight while fasting. Should I drop to only fasting 1 day a week maybe? I have also read about people that do just a 24 hour fast (instead of the 36+ that this program advises) once or twice a week and still get decent results. Anyone with experience with that? Or am I just not eating enough on non fast days.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Zed

bigbooty

12:14 pm
1 Sep 17
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Dieting does not change fat to muscle. I am in maintenance and I still fast but it is only one day per week now. Either eat a lot more and fast for 2 days or fast for one day and eat slightly more to maintain your weight.

dykask

12:36 pm
1 Sep 17
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@zedster – I typically go 36 hours without eating. At that point it seems I have a lot more HGH and am primed for muscle building. Then I typically do a hard and painful workout before showering and breaking my fast. In my diet I try to consume around 50g / day of protein. The result is I’ve only slowly losing fat but I have been building muscle, although it is a slow process. I have very little refined sugar in my diet but also not too much meat. I eat as much cheese as I can and I don’t mind eggs either. I try to eat a very wide variety of vegetables. I also eat a lot of fruit when I can.

Everyone is different. It took me a few months before I could push while in the fasted state. My body fat is in the 17% to 18% range, so I still have a lot more fat than you. I also have some motivation because I have a 16 year old boy and I like being stronger than him.

So basically my strategy is to have enough nutrition and take advantage of the fasted hormone levels. For now it has been working. For me the downside is the fat loss is slow.

dykask

12:37 pm
1 Sep 17
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Oh another thing you can do, only fast one day a week.

Zedster

1:28 pm
1 Sep 17
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@bigbooty yes dieting alone will not turn fat to muscle but IF, good nutrition and good workout plan will. IF is not a “diet”. I personally have lost about 6% bodyfat in last 3 months and not lost or gained muched (until recently obv.)

@dykask I am very aware of what you are saying as you can see from my comment above. I too usually do a pretty intense HIIT workout on fast days. I am going to cut that back until I gain a bit I think. I train hard every other day.