This could be a bit off topic - but this post recently crossed my newsfeed re: women and IF; http://civilizedcavemancooking.com/reviews/how-intermittent-fasting-saved-mewhile-slowly-killing-me/

It was interesting to hear among so many success stories, that for some, it might actually be a fairly poor fit. Know yourself and what you can work with.

That being said I've been on Leangains for almost a year now and paleo for 6 months, wouldn't have it any other way. Two things to note, Martin recommends a 14 hour fast for women, so that might make eating breakfast a possibility depending on when you start in the evening. Say eat dinner at 6PM, fast through the workout, eat breakfast at 8AM? Second, hunger is mostly hormonal, once you get used to the new eating schedule you shouldn't feel grumpy but rather energized as your body mobilizes resources to cope with the lack of nutrient intake - I am far more productive during my fasting morning blocks than just about any other time of day. Hope that helps.

I've experimented a lot with this, i would recommend you to do so.

I workout in the morning too on a fasted state, and no matter what i need my post workout meal. Skipping dinner affected my sleep. What worked best for me was ONE 24hour fast during the week and the rest of the days my normal breakfast,lunch,dinner!

Gumby,

First check out some of the blogs on the safety of women and IF. For the purpose of this response I am going to assume you've read those and still want to try it.

I used to workout in the PM, I could skip breakfast and lunch, combined with a good night's sleep could easily fit in a 12-18 hour fast prior to working out.

But for me, the AM workout is easier to fit into my schedule. So I switched back. Most of the studies I have read talk about the benefit of fasting before working out, I have not read a good study on the benefits of remaining in a fasted state after working out (and further most of the studies show huge benefit to a post workout meal of protein).

So I now have dinner a bit early (finished by 6-7pm) and then don't eat the rest of the night. that way I still have a 11-12 hour fast for my morning workout, and I can fit everything in.

I never eat before I run first thing I do is brew coffee put on my shorts and am out the door. I'll either run or lift weights but that coffee induces a poop which I won't have to worry about while I'm out on the road. So I guess for breakfast I have a coffee and a poop. does this make me an intermittent faster? then I'm running late, but I'll try to eat as soon as I can, hopefully a snack before lunch.

eating a small amount of protein and carbs after an intense workout is really important. It will up your glycogen levels in your muscles; important in muscle repair and maintenance. eating one egg and some raspberries will give you the calories you need to get on with your day. Also, fats are a great energy source for when at rest

HI, i will start by saying "it depends" on the level of exercise. In winter I skip breakfast 3 days per week and at the same time I exercise (indoor spinning) for 1h 2morning per week, having just a juice and a yoghurt after, meaning missing breakfast completely 3 days and having a post exercise 2 days per week. In spring I skip breakfast only for 2 days (the rest days) because I start biking outside, in the summer I tend only to skip food only once a week, but I do miss both breakfast and lunch, I basically take a rest from activities in the middle of the week and during the day I drink fruit juice and only have dinner. I practice sport both days at weekend hence I do not miss breakfast then. I found that in the summer I look forward to the day where I tend to be light.Just for info, in winter I exercise between 8 to 10 hours, spring and summer I build to 12 to 15, autumn I revert to 8 to 10, per week.

Hello Gumby!

I agree most closely with polynesian_metal on this one. I'm a 5'5" 140 lb female in the military, who (contrary to common perceptions) sits at a desk in a room with no windows 10-12 hours/day. I definitely do best when I get up (4AM) and do a short run of two miles at about 70-75% max HR in keeping with Mark Sisson's move slowly bit. I find that after my run, shower, and coffee I'm not really hungry until maybe 10AM. Seeing as how I get to bed around 8PM this works out to a natural 14 hour fast. I do my "real workout" of lifting/HIIT/sprinting/swimming in the afternoon.

This is the routine maybe 4-5 days/week. Sometimes, well, I just get hungry earlier. On these days I try to make breakfast something light and VLC like two scrambled eggs or some bacon or a handful of macadamias. Since like most women I'm working on lowering body fat I want to stay in a depleted-glycogen, ketosis-encouraging state through the morning and afternoon. After my real workout I'll have something like a half roast chicken with a salad or some leftover steak and asparagus.

Just thought of a question. Where are you with your daily carbs? More in the 50/day or 150/day range? I find that fasting is harder when I'm doing more fruit and/or starchy veggies. When I stay < 50/day it doesn't really matter when I eat.

Good luck!

I read somewhere that fructose isn't a good source of carve after a work out. It's not as readily converted to glucose or somethin. Could be nonsense, but I always do coconut water and/or squash after my work outs. Seems to work out just fine. I IF and find it absolutely essential to have a post work out neal, so muscles don't start eating themselves... Just give yourself at least 16 hours without food as there's a 4 hour absorption period after every meal where the body is using what you ate and not subcutaneous adipose (aka-the belly fat we all biology). I don't have the link, but this guy posted a three part thread on MDA about IF. His sn was pklopp search for him and read it maybe? I thought it was enlightening and very well-written.