Thank Briguy for your answer and welcome Aaron to the conversation.
In short, creating an energy deficit regardless of dietary method (Intermittent fasting, ketogenic diet, paleo, vegan, even weight watchers) will help you to lose weight. I would not necessarily advise intermittent fasting if you are already carrying out fasted training sessions. Research has shown that extended periods of time spent being in an energy deficit via nil food intake (in addition to fasted training) through out the day can have resulting negative consequences on training quality, training gains, recovery, performance and health (increase cortisol – stress hormones, reduced testosterone, reduce immunity, increase risk of injury/illness).
As you have highlighted Briguy it sounds like you are struggling to adhere to the IF and so perhaps creating an energy deficit via an easier method would be more sustainable. Often UA clients I work with do really well at adhering to good eating practices through out the week, but then relax a little at the weekend, e.g. increase alcohol intake, relax on restrictive eating, go out to dinner /social activities that lend to eating more. This then can offset the energy deficit created in the week and result in energy maintenance and no or little weight loss achieved. Can you determine small changes via keeping a food diary to help you reflect on what you are eating (as you again highlight by recording your calorie intake you established weight loss via this method, but you don’t have to count calories to achieve weight loss). Again showing you do not perhaps need to IF if you can create an energy deficit via simply cutting out or down on foods. There are simple and effective dietary changes you can make that can be implemented to help achieve sustained weight loss maintenance (often the hardest part of the whole process, keeping the weight off) but also dietary changes that can help alleviate muscle mass loss when you lose weight. When clients implement dietary changes advised via the custom nutrition plan, they often report to feel leaner and achieve weight loss (if desired).
In summary I would not recommend IF in addition to carrying out fasted training sessions. If weight loss is desired then I would advise to create an energy deficit via simpler methods e.g. find the easy wins to create an energy deficit e.g. reduce alcohol intake, cut out any processed foods e.g. chocolate etc (if present), reduce portion sizes, use less oil when cooking, avoid being heavy handed when using butter.
I hope this makes sense and answers your question?
Rebecca
