I’m getting a stream of inquiries about my personal cutting season, so I put up an FAQ for you Angels <3 

Some preface first! :)

• I started training seriously with free weights since May 2011
• It’s my second time attempting Intermittent Fasting (IF)
• Check out my lil library of resources regarding IF if you’re new to the idea

Some personal notes on who IF works best for (and other notes):

• If you love to indulge in a big meal over mini-sized meals
• Quality of food > Frequency of food intake
• If you used to have a bingeing history, where the first bite will often lead you to crave for even more food - Fasting clears your palette and reboots that psychological pattern
• Extremely.busy.individuals….
• Who prefer not cooking 6 meals and lugging around tupperware boxes everywhere on campus (Remember: it always boils down to matter of preference)
• IF is different from starving. It’s a MEANS for me to cut down on food intake. 
• My priority is still on a 85% whole foods, unprocessed diet. 15% sin and indulgence, because hey, I’m the sugar bunny.
• At the end of the day, to successfully lower your body fat percentage… you need to CONSUME LESS THAN YOU BURN.
• DIET > REST > EXERCISE
• yes… you CAN eat for HEALTH and to LOSE FATS. 85/15 rule. 

Now… on to my personal strategies :)

1. How long did you fast for on your Intermittent Fasting Program?

Anywhere from 12hours to 20hours. It’s been highlighted that the optimum fasting period for IF programmes is 14hours for Females due to our physiological responses to fasting. 

However, listen to your own body. If you feel extremely unwell, then stop the fast. Breaking the fast earlier won’t derail your progresses, at all. Although fasting experts do promote the minimum of 12hours for optimal fat oxidation. 

2. How often did you train?

2-3 times a week/45mins-1hour per session

During the last 10 weeks, I went through wisdom surgeries, hospital trips and bouts of high fevers, bad knee problems and pneumonia scares. This is when I truly learnt to practice my #1 philosophy that HEALTH should always be your number one priority.

If you’re sick… REST. Unless it’s a low intensity walk just to reboot your system. When you’re ill, your immunity system needs all the efforts of your organs to recover. Don’t be unwise to think that you should pride your physique or strength over being healthy again. If you’ve sustained an injury… REST. People may gawk and give you an imaginary badge of honor for being a ‘hero’, but consider this - training SMART, and not just HARD, will ensure that you’d be training just as well over the age of 80. 

3. What was your training session like?

My routine during cut season: AJ’s training  

Strong, heavy barbell-focussed workouts. No cardio, not because cardio’s bad, but because I was working through a knee boo-boo. :) 

4. Did you fast for the entire 10 weeks? Or did you alternate days?

I fasted every single day. The fasting periods are always kept flexible due to my hectic schedule, so if I’ve to break my fast, I will. I won’t fuss over it. :)

5. Did you train fasted?

YES. YES. and YES. I love training fasted (I ingest BCAA’s before/during), but note that it’s NOT for everyone. Some individuals, even after trying to get accustomed to fasted training for a week or so, are just not comfortable with it.

Should you stress over it? No.

If you can’t do fasted trainings, take a protein shake, or eat before working out. WHEN you eat should always be secondary to what you actually eat.

6. What supplements did you take?

I started with this stack.

But I stopped taking Jack3d and Scivation X-tend after the first month, simply because I don’t want to start relying on stimulants especially when I was taking medications at the same time. 

7. Are supplements necessary?

Nope. The only vitamin I can think of that you may get the most benefit of is Vitamin D, if you reside in a really cold region and sun exposure is limited. You pee out most of the vitamins you take - so I’m sorry, whole foods should still triumph the bulk of your diet. 

Remember the 85/15 rule :)

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Thanks for all the questions, and I’m sorry I had to address alot of repeat queries at one shot! Hope this helps, and let me know if I can help clarify more doubts! <3