Show HN: The 8 hour diet web app

Assuming you are implying that weight training is something that only men need do for this approach to work I would say that the health and fitness industry has done a huge disservice to women by suggesting that weight training is only for men.

My wife started lifting 3 years ago and loves it, she hated cardio and now rarely does any beyond weekend mountain biking but she lifts for an hour 5 - 6 times a week. The upshot of that change is that her back pain has gone, she can eat more calories than she used to (healthy food though), her posture is much better, she can lift heavy things without a problem and she carries less needless body fat. The benefit it had to her mountain biking was huge, she went from being last up the hills in out group to being the first up everyone with a decent amount of gap to second place.

There is no need for men and women to train differently.

- Eating every 3 hours is useless. It's great for bodybuilders that need to increase or decrease their caloric input fast, because removing 100kcal from each meal yields a 500kcal deficit, and adding 100kcal from each meal yields a 500kcal surplus, which makes controlling weight easier when eating is your job. For most people however, eating often has no benefit.

- Lifting weights is great whether you're a man or a woman. Its benefits are not contingent on having high testosterone. Testosterone will only impact your ceiling and rate of progress but that's ok because you are here to improve, not compete.

- Cardio is good, but the morning part doesn't bring any benefit whatsoever. HITT is great but not recommended for overweight people because of the potential strain on joints and the fact that it has a huge negative impact on recovery (thus impeding the previous point on lifting weights). LISS on the other hand might be boring, but has no impact on joints whatsoever and can even help you recover from lifting weights. Before you go for a sprint, try going for a walk.

- No alcohol - no argument here

- 5 times a week is great if you can afford it, but not necessary - 1 time a week yields a huge improvement over 0, 2 a slightly smaller improvement over 1, etc.

- Sleep - no argument here, most people need more sleep than they think they do, and less time in front of a screen

- Muscle confusion is not a real thing, it's just a marketing term invented to get you to hire an overpriced personal trainer. You should absolutely not change your exercise routine as regularly as you might think. Your body responds to progressive overload of stressors. For instance, doing the exact same movement 3 times a week and adding one repetition to every set every session is taking a stressor, the exercise for a given sets x reps, and overloading it, which provokes adaptation and thus progress. Similarly you can add a small weight every session, or add a set, or combine all of those. This is how training routines are actually build. By systematising progress like this you can measure how well you are responding, and adapt the other variables accordingly (absence of progress often comes from dietary issues, or lack of sleep)

Scientific Principles of Strength Training, by Dr. Mike Israetel, Dr. James Hoffmann, and world-class powerlifter and coach Chad Wesley Smith, is an excellent and easy read on the general process of training.

I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask but:

Do you use a very accurate body weight scale or does it not matter as much over time? Mine can show pretty large fluctuations by weighing twice when there should be no change (weighed twice in 1 minute without eating or excreting). On the other hand, maybe it doesn't matter too much since the noise might be smaller than the difference between starting and ending weight for the day.

How do you measure the food and drink throughout the day? I have a good digital food scale but I'm picturing I'd have to probably carry it with me at first. Trying to picture how to do that at a restaurant. I suppose you would eventually know what works for lunch without a scale and then weigh yourself before dinner to see where things stand. I eat out at lunch a lot so I'm thinking about how to make this work.

But yes I think many of the Mediterranean cultures have it figured out. The espresso-high fat (croissant) breakfast and one huge meal work great with my intermittent fasting.

1) from 8pm until noon next day - eat nothing, drink lots of water and 1 cup of coffee when I get up. On training days BCAA during the training and whey shake afterwards.

2) from noon until 4pm - eat 2 meals of proteins, fresh veggies and fats. Important here is no carbs!

3) from 4pm until 8pm - eat everything, and lots of it :)

Results are great! I am close to max strength now, my concentration is better than ever, sugar cravings are next to none. I lost 5kg of mostly fats. Subjectively I look better than ever.

To conclude, the best is to try - maybe it'll fit you, maybe it won't. You have nothing to lose :)

EDIT: formatting

In a normal (say up to half-marathon) running plan, getting faster and stronger by pre-feeding carbs feels good, but for the long distance it's a lot different.

There is literature out there that intermittent fasting is an effective tool in weight loss. I think the jury is out as to the metabolic effects, but just not snacking away all day helps you lose weight.

examine.com is very well researched. this article provides 10 references.