Most athletes I know have tried some type of Intermittent fasting protocol. Maybe because it is the biggest craze in the whole wide crazy world of diets. Unfortunately, like any diet fads, most people tweak the plan as if it was something they could just adjust according to what they think is best for them, especially, their schedule. I’m a firm believer that (if you can), once you know when you train and when you eat, the rest will fit in your schedule. Not the other way around where you eat and train when you can, because we all know that this is not going to happen.

Here are the most common mistakes I see.

• You go all out, too fast.

Most people think that it’s easy to go 24 hours without eating, which is one of the fasting options offered. Even Georges St-Pierre did it often and promoted it as his lifestyle. You might succeed, but it may come at a cost. If you never tried IF, starting with the 24 hour fast is a bad idea. Your body has to be prepared, especially if you never been on a ‘’diet’’ beforehand. Let’s say you succeeded, you went a full 24 hours without eating, which also means no coffee and tons of water, which is often one of the details people fail to read, in the fine prints. The following day should be taken lightly and reincorporate the regular eating habits, which should be eating clean, not whatever the hell you want as a reward! Believe me, I guarantee you, most people do. If you do, you basically did this 24 hour fast for absolutely NOTHING!

• If you ate on average twice a day before, no chance that it will work for you.

Fasting is not a chance for you to eat once a day, it does not work like that. You have to eat the same number of calories you had to eat but in a targeted and reduced window of opportunity. Instead of having 16 hours to eat, you only have 8 hours.

So it’s not your chance to eat just one meal a day, it’s already what you did before, so doing the same thing and expecting different results is a bit of stupidity. Sorry buddy.

Finally, if you spend $ 1500 a day but you only deposit $ 300, someone will come to warn you right?

Change the $ sign by calories, it’s your body that will give you signs sooner or later.

If you want to try your hand at fasting, start with the 12/12, which is probably very near what you have been doing. You basically start eating at 7am and have to have finished your last meal by 7pm. However, fasting is not a free ticket to eat whatever you feel like. You still need to bring in the required amount of nutrients in that window of opportunity. Don’t be that guy (or girl) who thinks that it’s a free ticket to cheat town, because you know, you earned it.

Once you have cleaned out your diet, then move on to the 8/16. Intermittent fasting is basically a way to give a break to your digestive system, not the other way around. It is a natural way to detox the system, IT IS NOT a way to lose weight. Losing weight is the positive outcome.

Now, timing of meals in generals is another big issue when it comes to training as sometimes, it can get very tricky or even impossbile to add more meals throughout the day as the workload is at times too much.

What I usually want to make sure first, especially if they want to go up or down a category, I want them to plan their day around their meals. The goal is to make sure that our goal will be achieved, but also that the energy will be there when the athlete needs it.

Unfortunately, no athlete is the same so don’t expect them to all be able to digest easily and be ready to work hard. Individualizing the plan must be a priority and go accordingly. You might want to have at least 2 hours before a big workout/sparring and something easily digested can be taken maybe an hour before technical/flow work.

One thing we can’t forget, adrenals is a big problem in any type of world where we get a lot of strength training and conditioning work done, almost every single day. When we say adrenal fatigue, always suspect high cortisol and when it is the case, the digestive system is less efficient (lack of rest and digest/parasympathetic time) so consider looking at the digestive issues that might be present. You will often find issues like bloating, gas (up or down), energy drops, constipation or irregular bowel movements and also soft, hard, non existent or rapid bowel movements after each meal.

In this case, start by looking at habits.

1. Are they chewing foods efficiently.

            If they have a hard time swallowing food, it means that it was not chewed enough so basically, the food should be almost liquified.

2. Are they eating fast.

            Most will eat fast to get it over with, eating often standing up while doing something else. To maximize digestion, you need to be sitting and in a calm environment.

3. Water intake in or between meals.

            Drinking too much water (or just a lot of liquids) while eating lowers your HCL in the stomach, shutting down it’s ability to digest and breakdown food efficiently. Some people get away with it but a lot of people already don’t have to ability to produce enough HCL in the first place, hence the rest and digest/parasympathetic issues with elevated stress over extended periods of time.

4. When and how they incorporate cheat meals

            I have nothing against cheat meals but overdoing it can lead to bigger problems, especially when it impairs the training sessions for a few days. I don’t do them on off days. I rather have them on training days as it will create a deficit which will make them usefull. Off days should be also one for the digestive system.

5. Sleep patterns

            I often use sleep patterns as a way of knowing if the body responds well to the training phases. If they suddenly complain about sleep issues when they never did before, this might be due to over training or just a shitty diet. Work accordingly.

These will give you a good idea of what is going on in general and you can start by modifying these habits positivily by educating them on how it influences digestion and how to maximize it by applying simple eating habits.

Coach Eric