1 day on/1 day off IF

Greg Battaglia · 05-10-2006, 05:00 PM

I was thinking about exclusively incorporating a 1 day on/ 1 day off IF regimen for this summer. Has anyone had long term (atleast a month) experience with this protocol? If so, when did you work out on fasting days and how active were you on feeding days? I've found that by doing the Warrior Diet I feel great during the fasting period, so much that when the night overeating period comes around I don't want to eat. It's also just too much food at once. I think that a day on/day off approach will work better for me because I will have a much larger window for getting in calories while also avoiding indigestion caused my huge meals. Also, on fasting days do you think I should add in some recovery meals after workouts or just completely fast the whole time? I'm thinking if I have a recovery meal it will interfere with the positive effects of the IF, but I'm also thinking that if I avoid food after a workout I'll seriously mess up recovery.

Jonathon Edward · 05-10-2006, 05:12 PM

Greg,

To be honest, I've been thinking of giving this a shot myself. If I give it a go I think I'll workout on my feeding days and rest on my fasting days. IMHO, the ideal situation would be to workout first thing in the morning on a feeding day and spend the rest of the day chowing down. I don't think it would be feasible to work out on a fasting day. If if you do eat, PWO, you will most likely be sacrificing the benefits you are after. If you avoid food, PWO, you'll wind up seriously compromising recovery (like you said). Keep us posted!

Greg Battaglia · 05-10-2006, 05:27 PM

Yeah, I totally agree, that's why I'm stuck. I don't always have time to work out in the morning. Some days I do, and some days I don't, so this sort of brings me back to the fast-randomly-when-it's-convenient aproach. But then again, with that approach I usually end up in a hypocaloric state and performance suffers, muscle loss, etc. One idea that popped into my mind while thinking about this stuff was that I could do the warrior diet one day, except I'll keep the main meal pretty moderate, maybe only 1000 cals, or less and then eat again when I wake up the next day and have a few meals until about 6:00pm and then fast again until 6:00 the next day and repeat. I don't know, confusing stuff.

Garrett Smith · 05-10-2006, 08:21 PM

Greg,
I totally feel for the "not feeling like eating and then not eating enough, if I do, I feel engorged with food" thing you mentioned.

I just thought, this might be a good approach for a firefighter, the ones here do a 24hr on, 24hr off schedule (with other days off as well), that would seem to be a perfect fit. Work, then eat on the days off.

Please let us know how it goes for you.

Tony Ferous · 05-10-2006, 10:49 PM

I think 1 on 1 off is too extreme..also its not random at all. Are you planning on packing in 2 days of caloire into 1?
I'm going to try for around once a week fast, with perhaps another low cal day somewhere.

Devany had a post a while back where he said that he does still train on fasting days, specifically to preserve muscle mass.

Greg Everett · 05-11-2006, 07:26 AM

tony - the 1 day eating, 1 day fasting schedule is actually pretty promising. you do have to eat twice your normal daily calories (at least) on the eating days. kurtis bowler of cf ranier has had huge success with a plan like this.

Jonathon Edward · 05-11-2006, 10:14 AM

It's also worth noting that nearly all of the studies that have been done on IF have utilized the day on/day off protocol. As such, it seems to be the most scientifically validated approach to IF.

Greg - Do you happen to know how Kurtis has been scheduling his workouts while following the day on/off approach?

Greg Everett · 05-11-2006, 10:29 AM

I'm not sure what his training is like, but here's his description of his eating schedule:

"I've been eating Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and fasting Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. My fasts go from about noon to noon. I'll change it up and fast on weekends too if we don't have anything going on. "

Greg Battaglia · 05-11-2006, 11:48 AM

Thanks for the replies. I don't realy know what to do. I think the day on/day off would work really nicely in terms of health and live extension, but it's probably going to be quite a chore to properly coordinate it with my workouts. I just don't know. I might wing it and see what happens.

Jonathon Edward · 05-11-2006, 12:17 PM

Greg E.,

Thanks for the info. Would you mind elaborating on Kurtis' "huge success" with the day on/off plan?

Greg B.,

Give it a go and see what happens. Keep us posted.

05-10-2006, 05:00 PM	#1
Greg Battaglia Member Profile: Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Springfield PA Posts: 468	I was thinking about exclusively incorporating a 1 day on/ 1 day off IF regimen for this summer. Has anyone had long term (atleast a month) experience with this protocol? If so, when did you work out on fasting days and how active were you on feeding days? I've found that by doing the Warrior Diet I feel great during the fasting period, so much that when the night overeating period comes around I don't want to eat. It's also just too much food at once. I think that a day on/day off approach will work better for me because I will have a much larger window for getting in calories while also avoiding indigestion caused my huge meals. Also, on fasting days do you think I should add in some recovery meals after workouts or just completely fast the whole time? I'm thinking if I have a recovery meal it will interfere with the positive effects of the IF, but I'm also thinking that if I avoid food after a workout I'll seriously mess up recovery.

05-10-2006, 05:12 PM	#2
Jonathon Edward Member Profile: Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Orlando FL Posts: 244	Greg, To be honest, I've been thinking of giving this a shot myself. If I give it a go I think I'll workout on my feeding days and rest on my fasting days. IMHO, the ideal situation would be to workout first thing in the morning on a feeding day and spend the rest of the day chowing down. I don't think it would be feasible to work out on a fasting day. If if you do eat, PWO, you will most likely be sacrificing the benefits you are after. If you avoid food, PWO, you'll wind up seriously compromising recovery (like you said). Keep us posted!

05-10-2006, 05:27 PM	#3
Greg Battaglia Member Profile: Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Springfield PA Posts: 468	Yeah, I totally agree, that's why I'm stuck. I don't always have time to work out in the morning. Some days I do, and some days I don't, so this sort of brings me back to the fast-randomly-when-it's-convenient aproach. But then again, with that approach I usually end up in a hypocaloric state and performance suffers, muscle loss, etc. One idea that popped into my mind while thinking about this stuff was that I could do the warrior diet one day, except I'll keep the main meal pretty moderate, maybe only 1000 cals, or less and then eat again when I wake up the next day and have a few meals until about 6:00pm and then fast again until 6:00 the next day and repeat. I don't know, confusing stuff.

05-10-2006, 08:21 PM	#4
Garrett Smith Member Profile: Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Tucson AZ Posts: 2,264	Greg, I totally feel for the "not feeling like eating and then not eating enough, if I do, I feel engorged with food" thing you mentioned. I just thought, this might be a good approach for a firefighter, the ones here do a 24hr on, 24hr off schedule (with other days off as well), that would seem to be a perfect fit. Work, then eat on the days off. Please let us know how it goes for you.

05-10-2006, 10:49 PM	#5
Tony Ferous Member Profile: Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: sydney nsw Posts: 49	I think 1 on 1 off is too extreme..also its not random at all. Are you planning on packing in 2 days of caloire into 1? I'm going to try for around once a week fast, with perhaps another low cal day somewhere. Devany had a post a while back where he said that he does still train on fasting days, specifically to preserve muscle mass.

05-11-2006, 07:26 AM	#6
Greg Everett Affiliate Profile: Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Sunnyvale CA Posts: 1,063	tony - the 1 day eating, 1 day fasting schedule is actually pretty promising. you do have to eat twice your normal daily calories (at least) on the eating days. kurtis bowler of cf ranier has had huge success with a plan like this.

05-11-2006, 10:14 AM	#7
Jonathon Edward Member Profile: Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Orlando FL Posts: 244	It's also worth noting that nearly all of the studies that have been done on IF have utilized the day on/day off protocol. As such, it seems to be the most scientifically validated approach to IF. Greg - Do you happen to know how Kurtis has been scheduling his workouts while following the day on/off approach?

05-11-2006, 10:29 AM	#8
Greg Everett Affiliate Profile: Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Sunnyvale CA Posts: 1,063	I'm not sure what his training is like, but here's his description of his eating schedule: "I've been eating Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and fasting Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. My fasts go from about noon to noon. I'll change it up and fast on weekends too if we don't have anything going on. "

05-11-2006, 11:48 AM	#9
Greg Battaglia Member Profile: Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Springfield PA Posts: 468	Thanks for the replies. I don't realy know what to do. I think the day on/day off would work really nicely in terms of health and live extension, but it's probably going to be quite a chore to properly coordinate it with my workouts. I just don't know. I might wing it and see what happens.

05-11-2006, 12:17 PM	#10
Jonathon Edward Member Profile: Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Orlando FL Posts: 244	Greg E., Thanks for the info. Would you mind elaborating on Kurtis' "huge success" with the day on/off plan? Greg B., Give it a go and see what happens. Keep us posted.