2 meals a day?

[march83]

I've also done IF. It was helpful for calorie partitioning. it's hard to over-eat eat when you're only eating in an 8hr window (though it's definitely not impossible).

these days, for work days i don't eat breakfast but I split the 16hr fast with a protein serving first thing in the morning to try to keep the stress levels down - normally a scrambled egg or a bit of protein powder. skipping breakfast doesn't seem to have any impact on training in the evening.

if i'm riding i'll start before breakfast, eat during the ride and eat when i get home - i don't try to keep any sort of fasting window on training days.

[casual_cyclist]

Have you tried it yourself?

Yes, but not over a long period. No issues. I felt great after a 24 hour fast. I want to start doing that more regularly.

2 meals a day seems to be all about intermittent fasting. Probably depends more on the person if it's appropriate.

Not really. 2 meals a day seems to be more about Time-Restricted Feeding (Time-Restricted Eating) which is about eating the same number of calories but in a reduced timeframe. It is thought that people who eat the same amount but in a reduce time window may be leaner than people who eat the same amount over a longer timeframe. It would depend on the person to see if it is appropriate.

IF is about deliberatly not eating and it is about reducing calories overall. The physiological changes that happen when we fast happen to everyone. I think many of our health issues as a society are relating to constant eating. People might have a 3 hour break between eating if they are lucky. The research indicates that at least a 4 hour break is needed to start the cellular repair process. I think that most people should be able to manage a 12 hour break regularly. Also remember this is not an every day thing. Once or twice a week would be a great start.

I am going do my Tuesday and Thursday fasts starting next week. I will stop eating by 8 on Monday/Wednesday and then just green tea until 12 the next day. So that will be a 16 hour break from eating twice a week. I think that will be good for me.

[fixedlegs2012]

When Im working towards an event I will do a 24hr fast usually on Mondays, 6pm Sunday through to 6pm Monday night. Sometimes I can do Tuesdays as well. Yes I am depleted but I can work through it. Expect headaches, grumpiness, tiredness Im willing to put up with them. Thankfully so is my wife. I eat a very high protein diet anyway and very very low carbs, lots of chicken, fish, and vegies.

[Le Mong]

I eat at about 10am and somewhere between 2 and 4pm most days unless I'm on 3am shifts, then I'll add a 3am meal in.. The whole 2 meals a day will leave you hungry is a crock of $hit if you eat the right food, eating gel's when your not on the bike? Great way to piss money up the wall. I can not eat for 16+h and feel fine. Regularly eat at 4pm, sleep through the night get up and ride 4h and come home still not hungry using only basic electrolyte substitutes on the bike, go figure. I've dropped 12kg in 2 months and picked up well over 10% FTP.

My point is, every body is different, I've worked out I'm not particularly tollerent to large amounts of carbs and function fine on less than 50g a day average. It took 6 weeks to adapt and now I eat what I need when I need. If your going to make a change it will take 6+ weeks to show if it works for you or not, thats the hard bit. I felt like hammered horse $hit for weeks 2 to 5 but after that I felt better than I have in years.

[durianrider]

Nigel Mitchell is Team Sky's dietitian and is as good as any in pro cycling.
something to start you in the right direction

http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/insigh ... ght-Loss-0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://youtu.be/c2c6CH5nJ_4" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://roadcyclinguk.com/racing/intervi ... m-sky.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/fitness/ ... diet-37892" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Ive trained with Sky a few times. Nigel Mitchell is a friendly chap but overweight and out of shape himself. The riders don't really follow his advice. Richie is now on the banana and date vegan smoothies. Nigels advice is mainstream and fits in good with media sound bytes - 'eat a bit of protein, have some carbs, don't miss your healthy fatz..'

Pro riders look at the person giving them advice. If they are fat or slightly chubby and are giving weight loss advice, they just nod their head cos its 'team orders' but in reality they are like 'yeah right buddy, how about you trim up first and then lets see how good your diet tips really are'.

People need to eat, party, live and ride with pro riders to see what really goes on. I have. Its NOTHING like what the mainstream media diet tips articles insinuate haha.

[durianrider]

When Im working towards an event I will do a 24hr fast usually on Mondays, 6pm Sunday through to 6pm Monday night. Sometimes I can do Tuesdays as well. Yes I am depleted but I can work through it. Expect headaches, grumpiness, tiredness Im willing to put up with them. Thankfully so is my wife. I eat a very high protein diet anyway and very very low carbs, lots of chicken, fish, and vegies.

Thats typical for someone doing such an IGF1 boosting diet, they gain so much weight longterm they have to do drastic starvation/calorie restriction measures if they want to drop weight. What you are doing though is increasing your chance of heart disease, cancer, stroke and diabetes by eating such a high fat/protein low carb diet.

The Kenyans living on corn 3x a day don't have to fast or skip meals or do any fad diets. They just carb up and live their simple lifestyles. 2 billion skinny asians fueled on rice can't be wrong either. Once they eat more fat and protein though like we do in the west, they will too have bulging western waistlines and be tempted by 5/2 atkins style fad diets.

[CKinnard]

Nigel Mitchell is Team Sky's dietitian and is as good as any in pro cycling.
something to start you in the right direction

http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/insigh ... ght-Loss-0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://youtu.be/c2c6CH5nJ_4" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://roadcyclinguk.com/racing/intervi ... m-sky.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/fitness/ ... diet-37892" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Ive trained with Sky a few times. Nigel Mitchell is a friendly chap but overweight and out of shape himself. The riders don't really follow his advice. Richie is now on the banana and date vegan smoothies. Nigels advice is mainstream and fits in good with media sound bytes - 'eat a bit of protein, have some carbs, don't miss your healthy fatz..'

Pro riders look at the person giving them advice. If they are fat or slightly chubby and are giving weight loss advice, they just nod their head cos its 'team orders' but in reality they are like 'yeah right buddy, how about you trim up first and then lets see how good your diet tips really are'.

People need to eat, party, live and ride with pro riders to see what really goes on. I have. Its NOTHING like what the mainstream media diet tips articles insinuate haha.

You mean you've sat down the back of their rides a few times and had a chat while they've knocked back gels.
I'll bet you a dollar Richie doesn't do banana and date smoothies in Europe.
Before you answer, I'm very good mates with a senior member of the Team Sky board and in contact most days.

[foo on patrol]

^^^ ^^^ Gotcha!

Foo