Resisted for the longest. Switched to IF 3 years ago. Let my weight drift up about 20 lbs during covid. (even on IF...just eating a lot) Decided I wanted to be lean again. Still IF, but pulling in 3 'hard' fasts / week on non workout days. 20+hours and one large meal. Done on non-workout days.

Snapped this in the gym tonight. I cant believe I refused to try fasting for so many years. This is a lifestyle where you can have your cake and eat it too! It is almost easy.

No more cal counting...barely use the food scale anymore. (was a slave to a food scale and macro counting for YEARS)

Damn brah

How many grams of protein you get in that one meal that you have on your test days?

Impressive man. I’ve found out that hunger is no longer the hard part of cutting to below 10% bf for me, it’s actually the lmpact on my energy levels. I feel like death once I reach the 9-10% mark, without even being hungry. Is the lack of energy

More Lambo pics

Usual diet food wise?

You look amazing bruh. Especially at your age.

I’m actually a big proponent of IF. I think it can be a healthy way of eating. BUT I’d challenge you with two questions 1) youre clearly biking. How do you think it would work out for a non bike rider. 2) have you actually measured and counted the calories you actually eat? One of the arguments about the diet (it’s not a bad thing! It’s actually a good thing) is that it’s not so much about the fasting but that you are actually less calories as a result of the limited meal structure. I personally think there could be some truth that it’s healthier to eat with this structure regardless.

Side question. Do you have any calories at all during the day? Like a small snack? I know some hardcore IFers say you can’t have anything but water because it will effect your metabolism.

nice. I did a 10 day fast last year. honestly felt great. And people were telling me I looked better in the face, even though I probably only lost 5-8 lb of actual fat

are you married? if not how is your sexors life with sloots?

mirin! I've been on IF for maybe a month now (I'm not really counting the days) and I have cut down, but definitely hit a plateau on fat loss. I'm also feeling a lot of the energy loss as my lifts have gone down maybe ~20lbs on most compounds. How is the one meal routine working for you? Is that one meal during the ~4 hours you're not fasting?

looking good!

Nobody listens

Eat when you’re hungry and don’t count calories. Looking solid, OP.

Thick. Solid. Tight.

Cutting atm too…I stopped counting calories years ago. Issue I’m having though is I don’t think I’m getting enough protein in but fuk it. Strength is staying the same and seeing progress in the mirror

I love IF, have done it for probably 5 years now and will never look back.

You are on some sort of test supp though right? I haven't had that much lean bulk since my 20s.

you look great! what's hiding under the hat?

I stopped worrying about hitting every day at 220, which I consistently did for a decade plus. I just rolled with it. I do take whey with leucine if I feel the day was not enough, but I dont really sweat it.Ha...went to a meet and my buddy shows up in a MINT 91 5.0 GT all orignal 30k mile car. Looks like it came off the show room! I was a Sr in highschool when this car was made so it holds a special place for me.

I eat VERY open. This is an example of how I might break my harder fasts.

I am not lifetime natural as I have said. But I am also not that far from where I hit nattie. I posted plenty of side by side pics, but in 7 years since going on trt and dabbling a little, I am about 6-10 lbs heavier than I think I could have held lean naturally. So I have eekd out about 1- 1.25lb gains a year. I would not have gone on TRT unless I needed it. I had a broken neck and brain injury. Figured out it damaged my pitutary. I was both hypo thyroid and hypo gonadal. Took me 3 years to figure out why I felt so bad. I had test levels lower than a 12 yo girl. I still have a 400+lb bench and was 195lbs lean. So I never would have guess it.Married 20 years. My wife does not like me lean. She does not like the way it looks and she likes me 'softer'. We dont do this for the ladies folks. If you think this why to train you are off. You can get a 'fit bod' in a year that girls will like better. Training for 20+ years, grinding and building density where everyone thinks you are gassed to the gills, is not winning any women. I do the best I can in business relations to hide my physique. Nothing good comes from it.Less than I am scripted. Feel best at 700-800 levels. If I get to the upper end, I feel tired and groggy. I dont think it makes a difference. Going 4-5x over the top of the natural level would, but simply shifting 500ng.dl wont make much difference. People overplay the role of test. At this stage of my training, even a full blown bike ride would not have much impact. It is why I dont feel the need to do it. For me to progress beyond where I have would take levels that I would not be comfortable taking. The few times I dabbled, I stayed at what people would call 'beginner'. Even that I could not really tell. I came to the conclusion that I am not willing to take the health risks and frankly I dont want to be much bigger. I wondered what I could do, but I never wanted to cross a line where I needed to be dependent on supps to maintain mass or strength. I trained naturally for 15+ years and I know what it takes to build and hold muscle. If I got off something and started shrinking or losing strength, it would not work for me.I am an italian and if I did that I would have a 38" waist. I have been there before. I have no 'off' switch.
[
Trt at normal levels. Was lifetime natty until went on trt 7 years ago. I am not that much different in size from my natural physique. I do think that at some level TRT helps when you really get lean. I never had trouble gaining mass and strength, but when I was still natural, dipping under 10%, I felt I would shed muscle a lot more quickly. That is what I think the biggest difference is. It was not big deal since it came right back as soon as I started eating again. I cant tell for sure since there has also been 7 years of consistent training which I cant discount. But I wont be so ignorant to think it has not helped some. But I dont think TRT is what some think it is and if I had not needed it, I would have not chosen to go on. People who go on TRT for gym gains are morons. Just go ride a bike and get back to normal if that is what you want to do.Hair.. Not hiding anything. I always wear a hat. Like 365 days a year. Habit from an eye injury I got in my 20's. One pupil does not constrict so I shade my eyse from light. I never go outside without a hat and sunglasses. The hat is just my thing. I feel naked being int he gym without it.

Not quite as much as their used to be. Im almost 49. My brother 4 years older is almost bald. Both grandfathers were bald totally in their 50's. I am an italian man. Some pics of my better half as well...Pic of me from 11 years ago last. I used to have a crop...but such is life and I am cool with it.

how many mg/mls of fasting do u take a day?

Lol, this might work if you have the appetite of a 12 y.o. girl. If I did this I would be smashing 4-5k calories/day, easy. And I could do that without touching "junk" food.

have you
tried only
juice diet?

Brah, what in the living phuck. You have a bombshell wife (srs mirin) and you are going to beat yourself into submission to maintain a physique that she doesn't like? This sounds like a mental disorder (srs).

Actually quite a good point. It is funny and predictable. Anytime I post up pics, some of the misc come back with the predictable dismissal of 20 years of training and say....what are you on....

But you are correct. If I were gassed to the gills, I certainly would not 3 days a week go 20-22 hours without eating and then only eat one meal. So there are not blanket statements, but if one wanted to really ride bikes hard, with multiple add ons...etc, you can certainly change the 'rules'. You still need to work, but rules change. Or maybe better to say the entire curve moves. Add in other things, and yes...completely different playing field. I dont have experience with that, and although I have wondered, I have decided that I dont want to go there.

I still train like I did when I was natural and I eat the same. Being on TRT does not change the rules in that regard. Even a mild beginner bike ride does not shift things enough. I would be lying if I said I did not understand the comments of why people throw out those comments. Even I am a little jealous of the guys who dont put the work in and results just come regardless of what they do. But being around for 20+ years in the gym, I know those moments are fleeting and will be gone. You simply cant do that forever if you care anything about your health.

After the first 4-5 years, this life is a grind at best. SUPER small changes year to year almost too small to track. I have been back consistently for 11 years, total of 20 years in the gym. I have not missed more than 4 workouts in that time, unplanned. It is hard to track progress, but I have developed a look that most people assume is bike riding. But few people put in time. I have posted plenty of pics of myself nattie, and disappointingly, they are not all that different.

This is a great example of what sets people apart that fail at this and those who succeed. Motivation for training HAS to come from within. External sources are fickle and they will fade in and out. The source of your desire for training has to come from within. If not, you WILL fail. Period. You have to want to train and there will be nothing that will stop you. Whether you are chasing PR's or mass, it does not matter. The desire to do so need to come from within.

I am almost 50 and not many people my age do this. I train 4 days a week. It does not matter what stresses in my life there or what obligations I have, I find a way to do it. I trained though a spinal fracture 3 years ago (with my ortho's blessing). You just do what you have to do and NO ONE will stop you.

So yes. My wife says I am not 'her favorite version of myself'. She like me more 'fit' and less muscled. When I first got back into the gym, I dropped almost 40 lbs into the 170's, within a year, I gained back all the mass I had carried earlier in life. Yes, I was still lifetime natty here and yes I gained back 16lbs in one year. I actually gained most of it back in about 6 months. Muscle memory is a real thing.

The before and smaller pics are the me she 'preferred'....

gjdm

Damn dude... Lookin big and lean as fuk. Fasting is legit and I've been doing OMAD for a couple years now

I dont think I could get all my required food in one meal.  BUT I do use OMAD for this cut.     I have practiced IF for 3 years and then about 6 months ago, I started bringing in OMAD one meal a week.  When I saw it was not going to make me wither away, I brought in 2 days.   Now I try to take all my 3 off days and do OMAD with about a 20-22 hr fast leading up to it.

I still supplement extra protein before bed with leucine and some fiber added in just for good sense.


I was so resistant to trying IF or any kind of fasting.    I have spent YEARS clawing for every ounce of LBM and getting in 220g of protein EVERY day for almost a decade, I was too nervous.   When I got my spine fracture and disk injuries, I said fuk it and gave it a try.   I went IF and kinda tracked protein.   Over time I saw that I did not need to be so ADD about it.   I literally lived in fear of losing mass before about not eating enough and only doing very low structured deficits.

IF has changed my life.   It is AMAZING at how easy this is.



BUT>>>> Let me say, if you have progress strength and mass wise to make, I DONT think IF is the ideal way to go about it.   A structured surplus is the best way to gain strength and mass.   Upon my initial return, I did 500 cal per day.  After a few years I dropped to 250cal per day. About the smallest surplus you can reliably track and you have to work hard to get it that close.

For about my first 5 years back training, I was never the same weight two weeks in a row.  I would eat up for 4-5 months 30-40 lbs and then diet down for 12 week and start all over.  I have gained and lost 100's of lbs in the pursuit of mass and strength.  Most of it was done naturally.    I am a big believer in the fact that FOOD is where most people miss the mark.  It is VERY hard to eat like you need to in order to accomplish.  Most people are not that disciplined.   And most will fail.   But eating is the most powerful tool we have at our disposal.

I am 20 years into this.  I am not getting any bigger or any stronger.  I accept that.   So my goals are to go 50 and beyond feeling good and being healthy.  Having my cake and eating it too.   It took me a long time to get here, but staying here is actually kinda easy.  I just have to control what I eat.    So I would not want to suggest that fasting is a one size fits all thing.  But for cutting, I have found no better way.

If I were younger and still had room to grow, I would be eating like a mf'r!

This is healthy

i refuse to ride the bicycle, but looking thicc bwoi

I have posted many times, but what most people presumptions are that my body is the result of bike riding. I will agree that there is no doubt it has probably helped. I believe over a 7 year period I am 7-10 lbs heavier that I would have been able to hold as a life time natty AT SUB 10%BF levels. Above that, I dont think it would make a difference.

These are some of my last lifetime natty pics. The last ones were leaned out but I quit cutting since I was losing too much mass. I was by no means small or undeveloped prior.









This last pic is a lifetime natty vs current RDB. About 8 years separate these pics. I am probably about 7 lbs heavier at similar composition. But losing my nattie card did not create my physique. If you think so, feel free to say.

Have you tracked your glucose?

Might be interesting.

My doc was doing 3-day bone broth fasts once a month. His glucose would get down into the 50s.

Actually I have though my blood work. I get blood done twice a year.

What is interesting, is prior to starting IF, I always had very low fasted blood sugar. I would always test below the bottom of the scale when I had fasted blood done. One time in the low 50's also. I am guessing that is why I always felt the drive to eat and if I did not, I would get 'hangry'.

As I went along with IF, I no longer had the feeling I could not go without food. The last few times I have gone in for fasted blood work, my number now are in the 80's and 90's (healthy). The low on the scale is 70.

So I have almost 10 years of one pattern of being chronic low in a fasted state, and now almost 3 years of a complete change AND I can feel the difference since I dont experience 'hangry' any more. I can safely say it is not a coincidence. IF has changed things other than just my meal timing. It has has some physiological effects beyond.

My lipids have improved also. I always had good cholesterol and triglycerides. But at times my HDL numbers were lower than I wanted. Now 3 years into IF, eating TONS of crap WAY worse than I ever did.... Like I seriously eat fried chicken 2-3 times a week. I eat ramens for my lunch carbs...etc. Way more 'junk food'. Covid hit and I did not care. I was and am eating about two tubs of icecream / week...etc. My total cholesterol is 130, triglycerides are below 50 and my HDL/LDL ratio is ideal. And I have not done any cardio in 3 years.

IF has made my body process everything better. Really kind of cool to see. I would have never believed it, but I am proof and my doc keep a pretty close eye on me. But all the guys who think I am massively riding bikes....try to do that and have good blood work every 6 monthsIt just aint happening....but that is another story....