[vibbs]

I use Zero on Android. Guess it's available for iOS as well.

[graaja]

Originally Posted by smileline

Can you please recommend some good Free IF app for iOS !!!

I use Zero on my iPhone. Below is the link to the app.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/zero-f...r/id1168348542

[Shreyas_H]

An interesting thread.

Similar to many others here, Intermittent Fasting has helped me quite a bit!
While I've been physically active most of my life, last few years I was unable to concentrate on my health and had put on quite a bit of weight. Lethargy + work was to blame.

At the highest, I was at 85 Kgs. Over the course of a little more than a year, I am now down to 70 Kgs.
This was achieved through a mix of portion control, Intermittent fasting and physical exercise. I have a sweet tooth and have still been eating sweet regularly

I found my rhythm in running and completed a half marathon as well during this period!

The advice I can give anyone hoping to lose weight is to be patient. It takes time. Also, don't try out any diets that is not sustainable in the long run. Crash diets / fad diets may give some results but you will soon gain the weight back after returning to the usual food habits.

Plan to lose 2 Kgs more and then concentrate more on my Body Fat % - need to build more muscle. I've realized that it's simply a better and healthier way of living and am not going to go back to the old ways of not taking care of my body!

[ampere]

Not sure to comment or not. Do you folks really need an App to track the fasting hours? I have never been needing it.

Easiest way to look is: A 12-2PM time-slot for lunch, means you finish dinner before 8PM. Anything earlier is a bonus.

If you are in the habit of late night snacking thanks to office work, your lunch pushes out into 4/5 PM slot.

[graaja]

Originally Posted by ampere

Not sure to comment or not. Do you folks really need an App to track the fasting hours? I have never been needing it.

It is not just to track fasting hours. That is easy. But the important use of the app is to provide some motivation factor. For example, a person who may have skipped a day in fasting, may continue to keep the streak alive.

I have been fasting the past couple of years and never needed any app to track. But when I started using the app and started sharing the results in a fitness group that I am part of, many of my friends also started fasting and sharing their fasts. Believe me, in the 45 days I have started using this app, at least 15 of my friends have taken up intermittent fasting. And once someone does IF for a couple of months, it automatically becomes a habit and later even if one stops using the app, the habit would continue.

Below are a couple of statistics from the app. Some of my friends have started doing 20 hours of fasting just 2 to 3 weeks after starting IF, and have been reporting good energy levels, general well being etc.

[vibbs]

Originally Posted by Shreyas_H

Plan to lose 2 Kgs more and then concentrate more on my Body Fat % - need to build more muscle. I've realized that it's simply a better and healthier way of living and am not going to go back to the old ways of not taking care of my body!

Nice progress. I concur with your views of using IF to control weight. I cannot agree more with your last line as well!

My only regret now is that my decision to get fit was way too late. I turn 40 next year and have only regrets on wasting away atleast 15 years of my life to Glutony and Slumber.

Everytime I try to force my pace and improve my running, I get reminded that I am no longer in my prime and its a pity I took so long to realise the benefits of getting fit.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by vibbs

My only regret now is that my decision to get fit was way too late.
...
Everytime I try to force my pace and improve my running, I get reminded that I am no longer in my prime and its a pity I took so long to realise the benefits of getting fit.

Stop feeling like that and don't be critical on yourself, past is past look forward to the future which is the positive side Better late than never!
On the pace part, it's ok you still will improve over time and that should be enough to keep you healthy and fit.

*I started even later than you in terms of age

[ampere]

Originally Posted by graaja

It is not just to track fasting hours. That is easy. But the important use of the app is to provide some motivation factor. For example, a person who may have skipped a day in fasting, may continue to keep the streak alive.

I see your point. Probably at the initial stages its a good boost. For me a its now a way of life. So app does not help in a major way. Also for you I guess its important to track, given you fitness regime. I dont go that hard.

Originally Posted by vibbs

Everytime I try to force my pace and improve my running, I get reminded that I am no longer in my prime and its a pity I took so long to realise the benefits of getting fit.

No need to increase your pace. Max you need to go is about 8-9km/hr. If you are training for a marathon, its a different league.

Run at a pace only to the point where you can have a good control on your heart rate. That was the other reason, why in the fitness tracker/smartband thread I had mentioned about this. That is; in case one plans to take up running/jogging, a good handle on heart rate always helps.

Also running fast you wont help. Its always about endurance and controlled breathing.

[vibbs]

Originally Posted by NPV

Stop feeling like that and don't be critical on yourself, past is past look forward to the future which is the positive side Better late than never!
On the pace part, it's ok you still will improve over time and that should be enough to keep you healthy and fit.

*I started even later than you in terms of age

Thank you. Sure. I am elated at the new found fitness. Just that it makes me reflect back on how much I lost. But yes, it is important to move ahead. I have a target. I call it Fitatforty. Ultimate aim is to run a full marathon by then. But will be happy if I do a respectable half.

Originally Posted by ampere

No need to increase your pace. Max you need to go is about 8-9km/hr. If you are training for a marathon, its a different league.

Run at a pace only to the point where you can have a good control on your heart rate. That was the other reason, why in the fitness tracker/smartband thread I had mentioned about this. That is; in case one plans to take up running/jogging, a good handle on heart rate always helps.

Also running fast you wont help. Its always about endurance and controlled breathing.

Thanks Ampere. I am not training for a marathon in terms of real training. But yes I have the aim of running a full before I turn 40 next year. But as mentioned before, I will be happy if I complete a half as well.

My target for this year was to have a sub 50 min 10K. My personal best is 59 mins and that was after a 11-12 hr fast. I have been able to close in on 25 min 5 Ks a couple of times but mostly my 5 ks are around lower 30s. I dont think I will be able to meet my target for this year.

I agree steady constant speed is good for overall health, but these small milestones are what pulls me up daily to get going. Although this may be suited for running thread, but since we talk about IF as well, I think it fits here more.

I have seen that I am able to sustain long duration (more than an hour) if I maintain a 7 - 7.15 Min per Km pace during fasted state on an average. But if I increase my pace to 5.xx per kms, I am not able to run beyond 20 mins in fasted state. I know it has to do with my energy levels in fasted state, but since fat loss is a bigger aim than performance improvement at this state, I am not willing to break my fast to get some performance boost while running. Of course there have been exceptions to the above timings specially if I manage an early morning run (at 6) due to lower heat.

So mostly now a days, I run a 5-5.15 mins per km pace for around 15 mins or a more relaxed 6:30-7 is for 40-45 mins. It does not help further that 4 days a week I have now reserved for weight training.

[Tapish]

The lockdown has been a boon for my fitness. Before the lockdown, I was usually travelling every week making a strict fitness and diet regime almost impossible.

Over the past three months, I have lost around 6-7 kgs. I used to hover around 74.5 kgs, which was very high considering my height - 5.5". I'm now down to 67.5-68 kgs.

I did the following over the last three months:
1. No strict diet - I had experimented with IF and Keto and gained weight quickly when I could not follow them so this time I gave the diets a miss. Have been doing the following though:

• Almost no white sugar - have a chocolate/ ice cream every week. Sometimes when I'm craving sweets, I have a cup of curd with some jaggery (not more than twice a week)
• Cut down refined flour entirely - no pizza/ sandwich etc. Brown bread once a week
• Replaced rice/ roti with millets - Only in the mornings/ lunch though - no heavy carbs in the evening
• Dinner before 8 pm
• No outside food (courtesy lockdown) Make a chicken sandwich when we are craving some outside food

2. Running - I used to play squash pretty regularly before a wrist injury ruled that out two years ago. Started running again. Initially started with 1-2 kms intermittent running and by now am able to run 5k in 34 mins (3-4 times a week)

3. Walking - Overall (running + walking) goal is 8 km per day. Have been fairly religious about that.

Happy to fit into old clothes and feeling fitter than ever.

Tapish

[GTO]

Guys, Keto is now big & popular enough to warrant a dedicated thread. Created one at this link (Keto snacks, meals & restaurants in India (including low-carb stuff)).

Please check it out & contribute. Thanks!

[smileline]

I have been doing IF and total fasting (Completed one set of total fasting for 08 days), lost considerable amount of weight in three months (16 kgs), from 99.5 to 83 kgs. With good cardio for 90 to 120 minutes per day, mainly comprising of stair climbing, (due to Lockdown) averaging about 150 floors a day.

lately I feel I have hit a plateau and looking for solutions, I guess the body has got used to the level of exercise and IF. Need to change my metabolic activity.

Suggestions from seasoned BHPians are welcome.....

Regards

[StarrySky]

Originally Posted by vibbs

My personal best is 59 mins and that was after a 11-12 hr fast. I have been able to close in on 25 min 5 Ks a couple of times but mostly my 5 ks are around lower 30s. I dont think I will be able to meet my target for this year.

I have seen that I am able to sustain long duration (more than an hour) if I maintain a 7 - 7.15 Min per Km pace during fasted state on an average. But if I increase my pace to 5.xx per kms, I am not able to run beyond 20 mins in fasted state.

I think you may be pushing yourself too hard with your running in fasted state. I think you should not do any of your faster run workouts in fasted state. So don't target to do a 5K in 25 mins in fasted state, if you cannot easily manage it in non-fasted state. Last year when I was trying IF, I used to try and push myself during fasted runs - even completed a HM in fasted state. At 2:08:xx it was my fastest HM at that time. Later, I found advice in this thread itself as well as from other sources that this is the wrong way to approach fasted runs. Fasted state runs should be at easy pace. Over time, your "easy pace" will get faster.

Coming to HM and full marathon distances, I did my first HM distance run almost 2 years back. At that time, I was doing 5K runs 2-3 times a week, with a 10K run during the weekends - but only during spring and summer months. My fastest 10K was around 57-58 mins, similar to yours. One day, I decided I want to do a HM distance run and went for it. I was almost finished by 15th or 16th km, then somehow forced myself to complete the target distance. I made it in 2:29:xx. Now almost 2 years later, having done no runs above HM distance runs and zero marathon training, I decided to go for the full marathon distance. So last week, I did just that. Took ample caution with the goal of reaching the target distance and made it in 4:51:xx. Felt like I could do a few more km at that pace.

So, if you are planning to do a HM, I will recommend that you just go for it. You may surprise yourself You can try the marathon distance after a few HM distance runs. Of course, I will not recommend any of this in fasted state.

PS: I understand the itch to get better all the time. I am about 3 years older than you and wasn't a regular runner till Jan of 2019. Given that, with regular running I am quite sure you will reach your goals. Just be patient

[procrj]

Originally Posted by smileline

lately I feel I have hit a plateau and looking for solutions, I guess the body has got used to the level of exercise and IF.

You might want to try HIIT or mix your cardio with some weight training in order to change the balance. This has worked for a friend of mine and I have seen posts from a couple of BHPians w.r.t the same. Would also recommend that you look at this from a longer term health and lifestyle change viewpoint as you will not be able to sustain the same weight loss rate since your body has burnt 'easy fat'.

[Striker]

Thanks to this lockdown and my total negligence, I have gained 8 kilos in 4 months. Currently weigh 106 kilos, 6.2 foot tall, and 33 years of age. Stumbled upon this forum recently and quite amazed reading through several pages equipping myself as much as possible on the health benefits due to IF and LCHF lifestyle.

Took help from few friends who also follow Keto diet along with some internet searches, I have gathered the following snack and meal options with recipes - posted here (Keto snacks, meals & restaurants in India (including low-carb stuff)).