I’ve fasted on exercise days for a few months and found the only thing was that I felt much more hungry than if fasting on rest days.

On the basis that an hour of hard cardio should help the body better process food over the following hours (BBC Horizon – The truth about exercise) I intuitively think it should be better to fast on rest days when less active. something like this…

M: Gym + eat normally
T: Fast + HIT
W: Gym + eat normally
T: Fast + HIT
F: Gym + eat normally
S: Run + eat normally
S: Slob out

I just bought this book and am excited by the program. I’ve been on the HCG diet for a month or so and have lost 14 lbs. HCG diet is only 500 calories EVERY DAY so this looks like heaven. I’m wondering if the long term 500 cals per day with effect weight loss on your diet. I will be eating so much more (thank god).

I complete my 14th fast day tomorrow. I am 64 yr old male and excercise at the gym 3 – 4 days a week. I excercise quite easily on a fast day and at the moment focus on cardiovascular workouts. I normally do between 30 – 45 min workouts burning between 450 and 650 cals. I mentally add the total weekly calorie to my “banked 3800 cals saved on my two fast days. This means in a good week I can “bank” a total of at least 6000 cals, not bad on a 2 day a week diet. I have found no negative effects while working out on my fast days but I believe it is a personal issue for each individual.

Im getting into training to cycle Lands End to John o’ Groats in July. I want to work up to 90miles a day. Yesterday started out being a fast day, I did a hilly 34mile ride (1350cals used?), having had a 300cal breakfast. But I was struggling towards the end and dived into a cafe for a bowl of soup and a coffee to get me the last 5 or 6 miles home. I cant see how I could do up to 90miles on a fast day in future, I’m sure I would end up with the dreaded “cyclist’s bonk”. Any thoughts?

My wifeI started the diet about a month ago and so far has only lost a pound in weight. Her main concern is that the day after diet day she always get diarrhea and wonders what she can do within the constraints of the 5:2 diet to alleviate this problem. She is hypo thyroidic and also has glucose intolerance. Can you give us any advice. Keith Nicholls

this is my 3rd week fasting. i typically do a hard cardio workout 6 days a week burning 500-600 cal depending on how hard i can go at 5am. the am after my first fast day was so awesome i will now make a point of doing my workout before i break my fast. i cant remember a better workout! and breakfast tastes awesome after!

I’ve been limiting my exercise on the CR days to two, sometimes three, twenty-minute walks at a good pace around the lot I work on.

One of my trainers has urged me to work out on the CR days, suggesting that I would use up available glycogen stores and that this would then promote fat burning. I worry that I’ll crash at the end because the workouts are pretty vigorous:  90 minutes and up to 1200 calories burned (if the calorie meter on the heart rate monitor is at all accurate). I’ve experienced such a crash before and it is not pleasant, and needs to be alleviated by a cup of apple or orange juice — which would defeat the calorie restriction.

So for now, I’m doing the CR days on Monday Wednesday and training Tuesday Thursday Saturday Sunday.

Having read all of the posts, I am not sure what to do.  I completed my first half marathon very slowly in March and now have another one booked for mid September. Winter training was dire in such cold weather, and I would really like to improve my time by half an hour(which may be a bonkers idea). I need to get back into running after a cold that would not go and start again. My new ambition is to run the same half marathon in March 14 but actually be the right weight for my height! I should be faster at 2 stone lighter, surely?

You do actually need some glucose available to burn fat. Your body can usually find some glycogen lying around to make glucose to start the fat-burning, but I wouldn’t (and don’t) beat myself up if I find I need a few grams of carbs to get started exercising.

RE-POSTING WHAT MICHAEL SAYS ON

Intermittent fasting and exercise

Michael
7 Jan 13
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Intermittent fasting and exercise
This is one of those questions that I get asked a lot and the short answer is, “yes, it seems to be fine to combine the two and may indeed be beneficial”. The long answer is a lot more complicated. I am just working my way through the academic literature on this, some of which is in the book, but the headlines are:

Make sure you are well hydrated. We get a lot of fluid from food (some of it added during the manufacturing process to add weight, bulk and therefore value), so if you cut your calories to a ¼ during your fasting day you will be consuming less water. I recommend drinking lots of calorie free fluid during the day, whether you are exercising or not. This can be black tea, black coffee (the idea that coffee makes you dehydrate is a myth), water from the tap, herbal teas, whatever. I am not a fan of diet drinks for reasons i will write about later.

I have had tweets saying things like, “i have a dry mouth” or “my mouth sometimes tastes funny on a fasting day” and this is almost certainly a sign of dehydration.
Men seem to not only tolerate but respond better to exercise on fasting days. For women the picture is more complicated. I welcome feedback on this

One of the key benefits of exercise and fasting is they both increase insulin sensitivity, and insulin sensitivity is an independent predictor of future mortality. But they work in different, complementary ways. Exercise for example, particularly short burst of HIT (High intensity training) depletes the glycogen stores in the muscles, while Intermittent Fasting (IF) depletes the glycogen stores in the liver.
On a more general note I had a look at the government guidelines for the BBC R4 series, You and Yours, on exercise, 5 a day and alcohol. I attach links to features I wrote about them for the

http://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/intermittent-fasting-and-exercise/

MIGHT AS WELL RE-POST THE VIDEO

“The Truth About Exercise” 28 February 2012

Michael Mosley investigates recent scientific research that could change the way people exercise, including a study that suggests many could benefit from just three minutes of high-intensity activity a week. He also discovers the health benefits of seemingly innocuous actions, such as walking and fidgeting, and learns why some people do not respond to exercise at all.

THE TRUTH ABOUT EXERCISE

http://vimeo.com/51836895

Hello. Just a feedback on female performance on intermittent fasting. I´m a 30y old female, height 5ft 8in, weight around 122lbs. My Usual routine: I do a 36h fast once a week to maintain my weight, but if i want to loose weight I do it twice or three times a week. It works great when I´m not exercising or exercising very mildly (15min runs twice a week). But now that I´m training for my police physical test, I feel very sick if I fast more the 12 hours. Although I´m not hungry, I can´t function, can´t think straight, feel like fainting all the time, it takes a lot of effort to do simple things, very scary. I know the fasting is causing this cause I instantly feel better as soon as I eat something. After a couple of fasting days of feeling miserable, I am changing strategy for a while so I can improve my performance for my test (which is my priority right now). It´s with a lot of regret that I´m thinking of going back to eating every 3-4 hours for a couple of months, at least until my body gets used to the training :/ Has anyone experienced something similar?

Any. Suggestions for what to eat for my 250 cal. Breakfast when I plan to ride 30 miles on my bicycle?
Protein and/or fat? Carbs are too quickly depleated by intense exercise?
Your thoughts?

How is it working? I plan to start similar routine but I cycle and can’t “bonk” hall for way through a 30 mile ride?