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.

I'm with you @Bestbees

I'm a little disheartened with 2lb off this week (at one stage the scales said double that). I have to remember I don't have much more to lose, my bmi is 23, and the occasional bites of the kids carby food are not my friend

I'm trying to fast today, far too many carbs last week! Maybe just until tea time

I was going to do it today, but decided to eat about an hour ago.

Totally with the mantra, if I'm not feeling it that's fine.

I'll do evening meal tonight to tomorrow.
Another 1lb off this week which I'm happy with as I'm in the slow and steady camp. 13lb since October bootcamp which for me is a win as I'm still shocked I didn't put it all back on over Christmas.
Hope we all have a good day.

Two pounds off in a week seems pretty good Oneborn. I have a blanket rule of not touching my kids' food as it's just too tempting.

@Oneborneverydecade I think 2lb is great! Especially with your bmi. I am very please with one lb and my bmi is 24/5.

I'd like to join this thread, please.

I started doing 16:8 last year and had great success. I'm not sure how much I lost, as I didn't weigh then, but based on clothing sizes it must have been at least a stone.

I slipped a bit over Christmas and then into winter (it was cold and miserable...), so I want to make an effort now.

I bought a set of scales as, although I don't normally like to weigh, I'm having trouble with will power at the moment, and I find scales quite motivating. I have about 10kg to lose.

I'm aiming to go lowish carb (maybe a meal or two with bread, rice or pasta per week), following the Mediterranean diet. 800 cals twice a week and I'm going to try a 24 hour fast once a week too. I find 16:8 quite easy so I'm going to challenge myself to extend the fasting period at least twice a week.

I do like to eat about three heaped tablespoons of uncooked, rolled oat flakes with nuts, seeds and full fat Greek yogurt every day, because oats are supposed to be good for inflammation (I suspect I have RA), cholesterol etc. Would that be considered too much carb? That's all I have for lunch, and I'm only having vegetables and protein for my evening meal. I sometimes have an orange, some raspberries or a piece of celery with peanut butter as a snack as well, plus a square or two of 70% chocolate after dinner.

Does this sound low enough carb? I'm not particularly interested in keto, as I'm a foodie and don't want to cut out any food groups entirely.

That said, I am slightly worried about insulin resistance, as I've had PCOS for years (though some of the symptoms seem to have disappeared in the last year or two). I've ordered some glucose test strips to see what's going on with my insulin levels.

Welcome YesItsAPeacock

I think you'll find that most if not all of us are Foodies on here  buuut the Rules of Boot Camp are quite strict, especially in the first 2 weeks and even then, until Maintenance, no bread, rice or potatoes (and even then, only occasionally: depends on the individual's carb tolerance, both physically and psychologically)

Have a read of the Rules and some of the resources explaining the thinking around them and see if you think that this is for you You'll find them in the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness in the opening post of the thread.

I've lost 3.5 stone on this Way of Eating and although I've fluctuated upwards c1.5 stone on occasions, usually due to emotional eating, I've never gone back to my heaviest. I have another stone, ideally, to go, but at nearly 60, I'm comfortable with where I am now which might explain why I'm stalling at this weight

Welcome Peacock. As far as I know, oats aren't specifically good for inflammation, it's more because they're a source of fibre. I would make sure you've minimised your consumption of vegetable oils because they can be extremely pro-inflammatory. I stick to saturated fats (animal fats, coconut oil and palm oil), monounsaturated fats (olive oil, avocado oil and nut oils), and fat from fish.

...and as evidence of Foodiness, tomorrow night dh and I are having a virtual meal with friends around the corner, where we are sharing what needs to be cooked and delivering it in advance.

We're starting with an amuse-bouche of Prawn, smoked bacon, herb and cream cheese pâté, going on to a starter of Soupe à Julienne Darblay: juliennes of turnip, carrots, Savoy cabbage and finely diced leeks, cooked briefly in veg stock and then finished off with plenty of butter (I'm omitting the finely diced potato); Entrée of Lamb cutlets with a sumac herb crust, served with fondant celeriac, carrot mousse and green bean bundles. There's a calorific ice cream with raspberries marinaded in raspberry liqueur, but I'll concentrate on the cheese board

...sorry @YesItsAPeacock - I got confused as to which thread I was on. I thought I was still on a Boot Camp thread

Let's just say I will be fasting for a while after tomorrow night

Thanks everyone.

Yes I am careful not to use vegetable oil at all. Only extra virgin olive oil, butter, lard, rendered chicken fat and coconut oil.

I live in Portugal so it's wall to wall extra virgin olive oil here, very cheap. In fact I'm hoping to make some myself eventually - I've been pruning some old olive trees on our smallholding in the hope that they start fruiting well again.

Maybe it's cholesterol I'm thinking of with the oats. My husband's was quite high last year and I think we started eating them for that.

I did have a copy of 8 Week BSD but I must have lent it to someone as I can't find it now (I'm a bugger for doing that). Anyway, I read it so many times I think I've got the principles down, and I can look up anything I need a refresher on.

@prettybird that dinner sounds marvellous. I'm very encouraged to read that you're nearly 60. I turn 40 later this year and I've been worrying that if I don't shift this excess weight now it'll get harder and harder.

We had our dinner early this evening as I'm going to attempt my first 24 hour fast. I'm not going to push myself too hard though, as a few years ago I tried 5:2 and found that I was getting horrendous low moods on the 500 cal days. Sitting at my desk at work weeping for no reason. Maybe after a year of IF my body will cope better with the longer fast this time. We'll see.

A small holding in Portugal sounds like the dream right now @YesItsAPeacock

I just did Jillian M and then wk 2 run 1 of C25K after fasting for 26 hrs. If you'd told me that either of those things were possible a month or so ago I'd have laughed. I also spent 3hrs cleaning my kitchen cupboards whilst DD napped - I don't know myself ha

@YesItsAPeacock I think that what you are describing overall sounds like it's pretty high on carbs.

You are already having oats every day - that would be possibly 20g of carb before you add in nuts and seeds (and some nuts are carbier than others - compare cashews at 26g of carb per 100g with brazil nuts at 4g per 100g) and sunflower seeds have 11g carb per 100g... You can see how it might all add up!

Ideally, you should be getting most of your carbs from vegetables - leafy green ones and cruciferous ones in particular, plus small amounts of all the other rainbow colours - tomatoes, squash, black olives, aubergine, carrot, peppers... plus maybe a few berries, blueberries, raspberries etc.

Then if you add in bread or rice or pasta a couple of times at week, plus the occasional orange and chocolate every day, it's not low carb at all. I know it's not desperately high carb compared to a burger, bun and chips, but still... And what about pulses? Were you planning on including them?

On a lower carb diet you have to be meticulous about reading the labels. As an example, I sometimes have lindt 90% cocoa chocolate, one square (which feels sufficient for something so dark and rich) which is 1.4g carb. The same lindt 70% cocoa chocolate ahs more sugars and is 3.4g carb per square. Plus because it's sweeter and milkier and less bitter you can easily eat 2 squares: 6.8g carb

I find that I can lose weight (if that's what you're trying to do) on either a very low fat diet with carbs (but I feel hungry, tired and I know it's not sustainable), or I can have low carb and use fat and protein (healthy ones) to stop me feeling hungry. What 100% does NOT work for me is a combination of a moderate level of carbs (even very healthy ones) plus a moderate level of fats (even very healthy ones) plus a moderate level of proteins.... you know what's coming next!

I do eat carbs on some days (lentils, beans etc) put less than once a week in general.

And I agree, your life in Portugal sounds amazing...

Very jealous of your olive oil Portuguese life too!

I lasted 24hours, but then ate dinner. I had hoped to do longer but I got so so cold and shakey/light limbed, like how your arms feel weak in the morning? Might be best just sticking to 3x omad and koko.

Also, because I hadn't planned to eat I didn't eat so well (almond and cheese muffin, ham, avo, cheese, yog and keto granola). Probably would have been better to have planned and had a proper meal.

Can I join in?

I've been reading with interest, thank you so much for all of the really informative posts.

My weight has been creeping up since my last baby 18 months ago. I've got PCOS, had gestational diabetes and am getting far too close to prediabetic levels so I suspect insulin resistance is a problem. In the past, the only thing that has worked is a VLCD plus a lot of exercise, so I think 16:8 with low carb is worth a try.

However, I'm still breastfeeding said 18mo! Has anyone any experience of 16:8 and feeding a toddler? He feeds 2-3 times a day and I've read plenty of articles that say it should be fine.

I'm planning to start with a few days of 16:8 with fairly normal family meals, then introduce low carbing once I've got used to missing breakfast. Does that seem sensible?

Really intrigued by the extended fasting, it's not for me just now but maybe in the future.

Hmm, this carb stuff is very complicated! Ideally I want to keep things simple and focus more on healthy, Mediterranean diet and small portions.

I'm pretty sure I have Rheumatoid Arthritis and my husband has MS, so the anti-inflammatory, focussing on health outcomes is probably most important overall. The possible RA symptoms I was getting last year completely disappeared once I started IF and taking turmeric and highish dose vitamin C, which is why I haven't had it investigated yet. If the symptoms return I'll go to the doctor.

However, I do have 10kg to lose and am concerned about insulin resistance.

I think what I'll do is wait for the glucose test strips to arrive and investigate my blood sugars for a few days. If it looks like my numbers are too high I'll have to go all-in on low carb I suppose.

Fast day attempt number 2 (from 7pm last night)
I think I'm due period as well (who actually knows, I'm perimenopausal and on 50 odd day cycles...) so am feeling very bloated.
Anyone else today?

How's your fast going Poorbuthappy? I'm school all day for the next couple of weeks so I'm not going to try to fast until I can plan my days a bit more carefully. I'm used to working from home which makes fasting easier in once sense because you can eat whenever you like, but harder in another sense because you can eat whenever you like!

Peacock the glucose testing won't necessarily give you any information about insulin resistance as in the early stages your blood glucose won't become elevated. That's why gestational diabetes is diagnosed with a glucose tolerance test rather than a simple blood glucose test. Your best bet might be to test before eating, then immediately after eating, then one or two hours later to see how quickly your blood glucose is returning to normal.

Welcome, Stroan. Combining low carb and fasting is a great way to reduce insulin resistance. I would think 16:8 should be fine if your DC is only breastfeeding 2-3 times a day. I'd say give it a try and see how your supply keeps up. Personally I would introduce low carb first and then start 16:8 as it's so much easier to fast when you're already low carb. Also going low carb can make you feel bad for a couple of days while you're going through carb flu and fasting might make this more difficult. Also, when people first go low carb I recommend three meals a day plus snacks at first to help your body switch over to fat burning.

24 hours is still a good fast Bestbees. Give yourself a few days and you can always try for a longer fast another time. In my experience some fasts are much easier than others.

Hi all did an unintentional 24hr fast today. Went past the start of my usual eating window so thought i would.carry on till my evening meal. Just kept myself busy for the last couple of hrs and had a bath. Had my dinner and felt really full up aswell. Feel a bit achy now not sure if this is related!!

I am going to try a 36 hour fast from dinner tonight to breakfast Friday. Hoping for some autophagy improvements in loose skin.

Good luck with you fast Jollyholibobs.

Having had a blow-out virtual meal with friends last night (shared the cooking, delivered it in advance to our respective households) and a lot of wine I'm having a slow start to the day (although I have managed to do L2 of the Shred ) and am planning on a 38 hour fast (ie until we go over to my dad's for lunch tomorrow).

Water, water, water added advantage of helping with the dehydration

Well I managed a 24 hour fast yesterday without any trouble at all, so that's good. Have done 18 hours today before breaking my fast.

@StuntNun when you say do a glucose test immediately after a meal, do you mean within a couple of minutes?

@prettybird how is your fast going? I started what I plan to be 36 hrs last night after dinner so am now the easy first third through. Have a busy afternoon work wise and plan to knit this evening to keep hands and mind busy.