Combining fasting with low carb 1

[StuntNun]

This thread is for people who want to combine fasting with a low carbohydrate way of eating such as Low Carb Bootcamp, keto, paleo or primal.

Disclaimer – I am not a health professional – I am relying on my own reading and experience. If you have a relevant health condition then consult your doctor before introducing fasting. For example, people with diabetes or high blood pressure often require medication adjustments if they cut carbs or start fasting. In many conditions, medications must be taken with food which may dictate one or more regular meals per day. If you have had an eating disorder, or tend to be obsessive or controlling about food, then fasting may not be appropriate for you. I’m happy to chat about any of these issues but this thread is not a substitute for professional medical advice.

Why fast?

1. To lose weight
2. For the health benefits (e.g. reducing insulin resistance, triggering cellular repair, lowering inflammation, reducing blood pressure)
3. All of the above!

Types of fasting

1. Intermittent fasting (for example 16:8)
2. Fasting mimicking diet (such as 5:2)
3. Extended fasting (over 24 hours)

I will describe each of these over the next three posts. Most people start out with, or working towards, either 16:8 or 5:2. Before we get started, my top fasting tip is to make sure you have plenty of calorie-free drinks: water, black coffee or tea, green tea or herbal teas. You may need to drink more than usual because you aren’t getting any water from food during your fasting window.

@StuntNun how frequently do you think 36 hours fasts are needed to get the benefits of autophagy?

Thanks for the advice! I have a really bad sweet tooth and find myself craving sugary foods a lot. It is a real addiction for me. I think you're right about the sweeteners. It's just I don't think I have the will power at the moment to give up the one last sweet thing left in my diet: tea and coffee. I will reassess in a month or two and see if I can manage it then.

Today I have been sssooo hungry. Really struggling and I don't know why. Making myself a curry to go on some cauliflower.

Well that didn't go to plan! Had time to spare this morning, so I made the cheese muffins from the bootcamp thread (or from this thread?). Bloody delicious. 24 hour fast will be tomorrow instead

Hmmm oregano you say...?!

In that case Chilli the sweeteners are going to be driving your sweet tooth. Especially if they are damaging your gut health which will make cravings worse. I'd say give yourself a couple of weeks to establish low carbing then set a plan to cut out sweeteners. Do you use a granulated one where you can reduce to three quarters then half then a quarter before stopping entirely? Honestly the cutting down is the hardest bit and once you've cut them out it's a matter of days before you won't miss them any more. I cut out sugar in my tea one Lent years ago and I can't even imagine drinking sweetened tea any more. The other advantage of cutting out sweet things entirely is that other foods become more tasty. You won't believe how sweet a grape is once your taste buds adjust. They taste as sugary as sweets to me now.

Some views here on various items that do or don't break a fast, & why.

I'm currently drinking fizzy water with some live ACV & a little bit of freshly pressed ginger juice (I used my garlic press). Much better than in plain water. I usually drink it in juice but that's obviously out at the moment. I have awful tummyache this morning & some diluted ACV sometimes helps.

It took me about 2 years to gradually cut out sugar in my coffee. The idea of sweet coffee seems weird to me now. I do drink it with cream though, when I'm not fasting. Tiny sprinkle of cinnamon or vanilla powder is nice when I am.

You're right stuntnun. It probably does reward the cravings. I will try and phase it out next month.

The other thing question that is really bothering me is, is it possible to have too much protein?

I was looking up protein amounts for keto diet and it worked out that I should be limiting my protein to about 70g in a day. When I translated that to real food I realised it really wasn't very much at all. I'm trying my best to stick to it but honestly it is making me really hungry. I'm doing 16:8 as well. I eat 2 meals a day but today I am really feeling it. I thought it would be better to keep carbs under the limit of 20g for weight loss and eat more meat and veg if really feeling hungry. So today I couldn't manage holding off until 12pm to eat and had breakfast at 9am.

Chilli you only need to restrict protein if you're following a ketogenic diet for health reasons such as to control epilepsy. Some, but not all, people with diabetes need to be more careful with high protein intakes to minimise the effect on their blood glucose. Otherwise I would say eat as much as you like. It's the most satiating macronutrient so it will keep you fuller for fewer calories.

I cut out sugar in tea/coffee on a holiday visiting family in Iceland. Every visit to a home included 4 or 5 types of cake. It was considered rude not to have a piece of each, and a second slice of at least one favourite.

Over a 2 week holiday I completely stopped my desire for sugar in a drink, and developed a pretty strong aversion to cake!

21 hrs 45 mins fasting, feeling great and have no intention of breaking fast before 12pm tomorrow, as long as I still feel ok

We ended up having dinner later than usual today so it will only be a 23-hour fast to dinner tomorrow as I have to fit it in between Beavers 5-6 and Cubs 6.30-8 p.m.

My first week of 16:8 low carbing and I've lost 1.5kg - thanks to everyone who posts on this thread with all the great advice :)

27 hours in and I haven't been starving yet!! I was wondering if people have issues getting to, and staying, asleep when fasting? I feel tired but I'm scared I'll keep waking up with hunger pangs

How are you feeling this morning ZiggZagg?

Feeling great!! Had a good sleep, just getting ready for work!! Have my lunch packed, nothing too big just tuna mayo with salad

Thanks for the link, @AnExcellentWalker. I'm going to try 36-40h, from dinner last night until breakfast tomorrow morning. I have been having a small oxo cube drink and a coffee with butter to help me through 24h fasts before, but will make sure I use no more than 1tsp of butter if I feel like I need it.

I'm 11 hours into what will probably end up being a 40 hour fast

Since I'm used to doing 16:8, this bit is easy

I'm going to try to go through from dinner last night to tomorrow too. I just hope I don't struggle with a headache and jippy tum like I did last week

Good morning, how nice to find this thread.

I'm currently doing the FAST800 and intermittent fasting 16:8.

It's so encouraging to see rapid weight loss. I attached a picture of my weight loss graph.

I hope you're all doing well and I wish you a good start to the new week :)

I'm "treating" myself to a mug of hot water with a slice of semi-squeezed out lime (used some of the juice in my lamb chops with lime and Pernod ouzo last night)

Living the high life

Hi Al, I have been lurking!

I do 16:8 but thinking about mixing it up. Very daunted by the ideas of a much longer fast though. If I just basically didn't worry too much about the times but tried to go from dinner to dinner once a week would that actually offer any health benefits? I am struggling with shifting the last stubborn pounds (ranting away on the bootcamp page!) but primarily thinking about health rather than weight. Would it actually make any difference compared to 16:8 everyday?

Hi all - can I join? I’ve had success in the past with low carb and 16:8, but for the past couple of months i seem to have been in full on “hibernate and eat cake” mode. I started back on couch to 5k this weekend, and will try and add in some HIIT too (I like fitness blender workouts but didn’t do any in hibernation mode).

First day low carbing today:
Breakfast: black coffee
Lunch: ham, brie, avocado, chicken
Dinner: planning a sort of aubergine pizza thing, ie slices of aubergine topped with a bit of sun dried tomato paste, herbs, cheese and maybe some peppers and a bit more ham.
Lots of water.

I should start fasting about 7-ish and go through as late as poss tomorrow, although I expect it will take a couple of days to feel less hungry.

Just joining after a bit of lurking. Low carb has worked really well for me in the past and 5:2 has also worked well. I prefer the way I feel on Low Carb but the flexibility of 5:2 makes me a better guest not that that is an issue at the moment

So I like the idea of a combination - I did a 24 hour fast last Wednesday and a 36 hour fast on Friday. I found them both easier than trying to eke out 500 calories over 2 meals.

So today I’m aiming for 22 hours as finished eating at 9.15 last night (well, my wine anyway) and then if I’m not starving then I’ll roll it forward and turn it into a 36 hour one. If I AM starving, I’ll keep it under 500 cals.

My scales veer wildly on weight as I can’t find a bit of floor that gives a consistent answer so I have motivational jeans. Three pairs! One that is just muffin top, and 2 I can’t get up over my hips!

Well if anyone comes to this thread suffering the loud gurgling I did find a way to control it a bit - basically I usually drink water consistently however I found that waiting until my stomach was threatening to start then glugging down a good amount seemed to stave it off. Possibly not the healthiest solution but meant I didn't have an irritated judge scowling at me!

I've not been so good on the low carb the last few days and my weight loss has stalled a bit so back on it from tomorrow (well tonight after tea) going for a standard 16/8 low carb to start and see where we are from there. I've been putting together some healthy break fast options as I find eating poorly (or with higher carbs) at night makes the next day harder. I think I need to concentrate on quality rather than calories for now. We shall see!

Welcome to all the lurkers and newbies!