By How may intermittent fasting help you maintain muscle mass when dieting? Many people (mostly males) are petrified of Intermittent fasting because they might lose all that hard-earned muscle mass and, of course, strength. People are afraid that fasting will cause them to make less effort when training; therefore, they believe it’s not worth trying. They may continue with the five meal a day, bodybuilder mentality that’s been around for more years than I have been born! I was one of those people as well. Initially, when I started my bodybuilding journey, I was encouraged to “eat more” to get lean. I had to split my meals up 5–6 times per day and make sure I had the right amount of protein for each dinner. It was exhausting for me to cook, prepare, and carry around a huge esky filled with glass containers. People at work used to laugh at me, and some would be fascinated with my journey. Thankfully I had many want to be fans who loved seeing the transformation I made with nutrition and exercise. Later on down the track, I noticed this strategy stopped working for me when that was all over for me. I had developed the worst gut and stomach issues that eating was hard. I was tracking my macros and experiencing bloating, discomfort and also putting on weight. How was this the case? I was following the tried and tested bodybuilder diet – how can it not work now, after all those years? Sometimes this can happen, guys. Anything that worked in the past doesn’t seem to have the same effect now in the present. It’s due to many factors, and we won’t go into it right now. When you think about it, do you want to cook all weekend to have 5–6 meals a day that will supposedly keep your muscle-building potential at its peak? Probably not – and there is also the realisation that it’s not always going to work. Our bodies will do whatever they want anyway.When it comes to fasting, there are several various alternatives you can try. These are all quite flexible, and depending on your goals, you can alternate or stick to a particular one that is right for you. You don’t have to fast every day, and you can always fast for 1–2 days, opting for 24 hours, and then go back to normal eating. The choices are ultimately yours. We need to understand muscle loss before we get into more detail because without exercise, you will lose your muscle mass and gain body fat in the process (think back to the extended covid restrictions!) There is a study here showing that through Intermittent fasting, there is no loss of lean mass (5,6).If you want to become a bodybuilder, then fasting will not work well for you. If you’re going to be lean and have some good muscle mass under your belt, fasting will be great. The best thing I can suggest for you is to try it for 2–3 months and see what results you get. I don’t want to put on huge muscle mass, and I have found through this experience, I lift heavier and have also put on even more muscle than I did, eating six meals a day! The only research done on this finding is the one I have observed myself. The proof is in the comments I get from many people and the changes I have seen in my self. The biggest problem I had was digesting this massive amount of food, which caused issues with my absorption, and therefore, left me lethargic and ill all the time. Now with fasting, everything has changed! Is it the perfect solution for muscle building – for me and my own goals, it is? You have to get in there and try it out yourself. As a friend told me, who was my encouraging voice in my time of fat loss despair, “what have you got to lose apart from that excess weight which won’t’ go away?”I hope you found this article helpful, and I would love you to upvote it if you did. Please also join me on my various social platforms and do go ahead and download your new year’s resolution pack – which has seven days of free nourishing recipes. I’m also on Instagram.