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.

Pilates isn't ideal for YouTube because you need someone to correct your position until you know what you're doing. But Yoga With Adriene on YouTube is brilliant for beginners. I've been following her hamstring flexibility video for a few months and it's made a huge difference. She has a couple of 30-day challenges that you can follow along with.

Oh excellent, thank you, I'll give it a look

I've found my newly less fat tummy is newly more wobbly - which makes sense but I definitely need to address these issues as they arise!

1st 11lb to go - my wedding is in 4 months so fingers crossed!

Hello!

Can I join you all? I am very new to the work of IF. Have completed 1 week of between 18:6 and 20:4 and have lost 2.3kg in that week alone.

I had gastric sleeve surgery 2 years ago and have always struggled to loose the last 15kgs (I lost 50kg after surgery) and also have an auto immune condition.

This year my goal has been to focus on my health, not weight loss, so have really ramped up the exercise and been doing yoga with Adriene as well (have a little crush on her!)

Just wanted to say hello :)

@StuntNun

I'm doing a short fast today. I had some (Mother's Day gift) cheese yesterday evening so it will only be about 21 hours until dinner which will be a pork chop with lots of veggies. I've bought Cavalo Nero in the hope of topping up my iron. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to cook it? DH used a garlic-heavy recipe last time we had it and it was inedible.

I don't count calories as I took up weight training at the end of December so I'm not trying to lose fat at the moment while I'm hopefully building muscle. I'm a real hardgainer and I'm dealing with old injuries so progress has been painfully slow but I'm told it takes 12 weeks before you really see the benefits.

I find cavalo nero is much nicer if you pour boiling water over it before you cook it so it gets less tough - I usually then just stir-fry it in lots of salted butter :)

Thanks for the tip, Ceiba.

Welcome Master. The last bit of weight is always much harder I think.

Buffering it takes a few months more for the skin and tissue to shrink back into shape. You can definitely improve things with exercise. I did the 30-Day Shred when I lost weight and it toned my arms and legs up beautifully.

Thanks

I am 18hrs into a 20hr fast and looking to exercise now. Normally I do my exercise after I have woken up but since I have started IF I have really struggled to find the energy to exercise. I feel a lot more fatigued than usual.... does that ever improve? And does it really matter what time I exercise if I want to ensure its using fat for fuel?

Thanks 😊

The LIFE fasting app suggests by 18 hours you've switched to fat burning mode (heavy ketosis). I use that thought to keep me going when I'm struggling to do my C25K

@bufferingkisses 6lbs thats an amazing result for a week. Can i ask what kind of things do you eat for dinner. I love knowing what others who are doing IF eat as i find myself eating very samey dinners!!
Xx

Thanks @Oneborneverydecade it's only because I am not working today that I can work out this late... Will have to see if I can wait until 18hrs at any other point in the week!

@PeacheyPeach
Will break my fast with cheesy scrambled eggs and 1 slice of toast. Then dinner will be a smal portion of keto cauliflower cheese and bolognese (no pasta)
My treat is a small bag of jelly sweets

@bufferingkisses sounds yummy 😁

Argh. My first day back doing fasting, after a couple of days on normal carbs (bad idea, not doing that again) & then several days on low carb but 2 meals a day. So, so hungry. Massively looking forward to my tea. Having salmon with lime & coriander cauli rice, & a cinnamon chaffle afterwards.

@Bufferingkisses - hope it was helpful. I have to be careful what I do or don't eat as I'm already on a fairly restricted diet due to multiple food intolerances due to IBS & severe migraines. Obviously you should figure out what works out the best for you. I am really used to taking note of what foods affect me positively or negatively.

My SLC hot cross buns arrived and bang went my planned 38 hr fast. I did just over 21.5 hrs instead. I'm kidding myself that's intuitive fasting.

@Bufferingkisses I'm doing the beginners shred atm, I'm so unfit I thought I'd crash and burn if I tried the regular one

@MasterOfOne 50kg! Has it changed your life? Will you have to be careful about what you eat forever?

@Oneborneverydecade completely and utterly changed my life for the better. I am an emotionally eater, and food was my comfort blanket. I thought I was ok, but looking back, I could hardly walk, exercise, tired ALL THE TIME and felt I was missing out on life.

Now I can walk for miles,exercise and yoga easily and feel fantastic, no need to sleep the weekend away and no pain!

Only regret was waiting so long to get help.

On the plus side, because I don't feel hungry all the time, jumping straight in at 18hr fasts wasn't a problem.

Yes have to be careful as I can regain weight. I can eat anything (just much smaller portions) and I find it much easier to eat crisps and chocolate than lean proteins ( they sit very heavy in my tummy) but every meal is a choice and I am responsible for everything I put in my body. Its hard, but I try to eat well 80% of the time

MasterOfOne there shouldn't be any issues exercising at 18 hours so long as you're fat adapted. Could it be psychological?

Very possibly @StuntNun lol maybe I am just don't want to do it - I genuinely do not enjoy cardio but it's a necessary evil right??

God no MasterOfOne there's no need to do cardio exercise unless you particularly enjoy it. I do weight training for strength, Pilates for flexibility, and a small amount of HIIT for cardiovascular fitness.

That made me lol @StuntNun. I really enjoy yoga and walking but I always thought we needed to get our heart rate up? Honestly could cry when I drag myself onto the exercise bike

There are other ways to get your heart rate up though. Circuit training like the Jillian Michaels style where you do 3 minutes of strength 2 minutes of cardio, 1 minute of abs. Kettlebells are good fun. Weight training can be aerobic if done right. If you want to use the exercise bike then go for HIIT style where you vary your speed or resistance for maximum effort interspersed with recovery. You can get the equivalent benefit to steady-state cycling in a much shorter time.

@oneborneverydecade beginners shred sounds like my thing!

@peacheypeach I've been doing foods I love that my family don't so lots of things like tuna steak in spices with salad, feta, salsa & avocado. Things they would never eat that I miss as I said up thread I was struggling to get enough calories in so nuts after to snack on has helped that, I've chosen lower carb ones to try and not get too carb heavy as I really notice it the next day if I go too far.

FFS. Following a conversation with my neurologist today, she recommended I increase one of my supplements, it’s £30 ish for 4 months supply. My prescription medication depletes a shitload of vitamins & she recommended I should also be taking a serious multivitamin & mineral to combat that too. Looked online & apparently other people on this drug are being told the same thing. I’ve been on it 15 years, no wonder I’m having joint issues & have thinning hair. FML.

Eek that's expensive Walker. If you can afford it then I would say you can't put a price on health. Is it even worth trying it for a short while to see how much difference it makes? I need to supplement with magnesium and every time I run out the difference to my health is obvious within a few weeks as my symptoms return quickly.

I take magnesium too @StuntNun but I get the cheap magnesium oxide, it's only about £2 for 3 months worth from Savers. Made me really windy for about the first year of taking it but it eventually got better. It's so much cheaper than magnesium citrate & it works just as well. I used to take some others but they were unaffordable considering how much benefit I got.

I had this for my tea tonight. It's one of my favourites, has been for years TBH. I usually add some five spice, & I leave out the sugar, but I do use a carrot or a bit of chopped pepper to give it a bit of variety. Or beansprouts, broccoli, chinese leaf etc, it's easy to adapt. It's good with minced beef, turkey or pork.

Thank you @StuntNun I don't know why I was forcing myself to do something that made me so miserable!
I am going to stick with working out first thing as I much prefer to get it out of the way before work, so tried to really push myself on the exercise bike for 20 mins (as opposed to steady cycling for 40-60 minutes) then 20 mins yoga.

This morning really struggling with a vicious headache.... I know i need more water but should I be adding salt to it? That seems a little weird to me.

@AnExcellentWalker that dish looks delicious! Will def be trying it out.

See if a pinch of salt and squeeze of lemon juice in your water helps your headache. If it does then electrolytes were the issue. You should feel better almost straight away.