Tribe By Noire
20:4 intermittent fasting Guide
Why The 20 hour Fast?
The body enters a fasted state after reaching 14 hours without calorie consumption. The most common form of daily intermittent fasting is 16:8 which is when you fast for 16 hours and eat within an 8 hour period. This is a great way to start with intermittent fasting.
The next step up from 16:8 is 20:4. This gives you 6 hours of increased fat loss rather than 2. 6 days of the 20:4 fast gives you 36 hours per week in a fasted state. Here’s what you have to look forward to with this strategy:
- Significantly reduce body fat
- Reverse insulin sensitivity
- Dramatically improve brain function
- Retain & increase muscle mass
- Regenerate newer & healthier cells
Managing Hunger
Doing a 20 hour fast may sound intimidating at first, so I’ll simplify it. The hours you sleep are automatically a part of your fasting time. If you sleep for 8 hours, that cuts your fasting balance down to 12 hours. Natural appetite suppressants like apple cider vinegar, green tea, black coffee, and pre workout make it a lot easier to make it through the rest of the fast.
Starting the morning off drinking 8 ounces of water with 1 tbsp of apple cider vinegar will give you an extra boost in energy as well as an extra boost in fat metabolism. This will get you through a few hours.
Taking a pre workout supplement with caffeine in it before training will both improve performance in the gym while also getting you through an additional 2-4 hours of the fast.
Lastly, having a 20-24 ounce bottle of tea handy to drink towards middle of the fast will also help with managing hunger. The teas that I recommend are:
- Green tea
- Hibiscus tea
- Mint Tea
Regardless of whether you decide to implement any or all of these strategies make sure to drink plenty of water to stay hydrated and detoxify your body during the fasting period.
20:4 Diet Plan
There’s a few key benefits to having a 4 hour eating window:
- No need to pack food for work or rush through a lunch break
- The time restrict makes it nearly impossible to over eat.
- Meal prep is much easier and less time consuming.
- Few insulin spikes makes fat loss much easier.
- You’ll never go to bed hungry.
Meal structure
- Fruit & protein smoothie
- High carb/protein cooked meal
- Raw or lightly steamed greens carbs & protein meal
- Protein smoothie
This is a basic outline that works very well to fill the macro requirements needed to fuel intense training while building and retaining muscle mass. Here’s a high protein/high carb meal by meal example of what this could look like with a calorie goal of 1800-1900 cals:
Meal 1
- 2 kiwis – cals 114 – carbs 29g – fat 1g – protein 2g
- 1 cup of black berries – cals 62 – carbs 14g – fat 1g – protein 2g
- 2 scoops of naked pea protein – cals 120 – carbs 2g – protein 27g
- 1 cup of oat milk – cals 130 – carbs 24g – fat 2g – protein 4g
- 1/2 of buckwheat dry (kasha) – cals 335 – carbs 63g – fat 3g – protein 12g
- 2 tbsps of natural peanut butter – cals 190 – carbs 6g – fat 17g – protein 7g
*Cals 951 – carbs 139g – fat 25g – protein 55g
Meal 2
- 4 cups of bok choy – cals 52 – carbs 12g – fat 1g – protein 4g
- 2 ounces of super firm tofu – cals 250 – carbs 7g – fat 12g – protein 27g
- 1/2 cup green lentils dry – cals 360 – carbs 60g – fat 1g – protein 26g
- 1 cup of baby bella mushroom – cals 22 – carbs 4g – protein 2g
- 2 scoops of naked pea protein – cals 120 – carbs 2g – protein 27g
- 1 cup of oat milk – cals 130 – carbs 24g – fat 2g – protein 4g
*Cals 934 – carbs 109g – fat 16g – protein 90g
Total
Cals 1885 – carbs 249g – fat 43g – protein 146g
This is a very well rounded diet structure that covers each category of food, so you don’t have to worry about developing dietary deficiencies.
To keep things interesting you can rotate the foods, sauces, and seasonings you use. Here’s an example of what I mean:
- Swap out buckwheat kasha for farina or oatmeal
- Swap out kiwis for apples, oranges, or grapefruit
- Swap out black berries for blue berries, or raspberries
- Swap out lentils for chickpeas, or black beans
- Swap out tofu for tempeh, or seitan
- Swap out baby bella mushrooms for king oyster mushroom, or shitaki mushrooms
- Swap out bok choy for kale, or spinach
There’s a massive abundance of options, but these are just a few examples.
DIET PLAN
THE FULL STEP BY STEP GUIDE
Nutrition Guide
IN DEPTH DIET STRATEGIES
copyright © 2020 Tribe By Noire. All Rights Reserved