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.

Aiming for a gentle 20hrs today. I am really inspired by you all doing 24hrs + and hope to manage that in the not too distant future!

Good luck @poorbuthappy - you've got this!

I know how you feel @poorbuthappy

Sorry for the delay, Friday hurray.
@StuntNun thank you for your comments. I looked up the aftereffects online and as you said, it seems to be very common, so definitely a phew from that perspective and I loved the 80/20 anectode. Not sure what my % is yet, but I do definitely feel hungrier the next day...
@venusandmars you raise a good point. I guess I approached to this as a 100% low carb until I am at my target weight, then realised having a free day helps. But yes I do feel guilty hence my original question. Maybe should look at it from a more relaxed perspective and not stress after an occasional plate of pasta or pizza...

@Betbloom - When I have a meal with carbs (usually one meal, not a carb day) I try to keep away from refined flour, processed food. So I might have some beans in a chilli, or add some lentils to a soup, or a small new potato. I wouldn't have pasta or pizza or bread. I also have less fat if I'm having carb. The combination of fat AND carb is what causes me to put on weight. A pizza base with loads of cheese, salami, olives is a disaster for me.

The challenge with a plate of pasta is that you're going to take a long time to get back into a fat burning mode.

I also think we have to be very careful about how we interpret an 80/20 approach. Manageable if it's 1-2 days per month, not manageable if it's 80% of every day!

That's what I do too Venusandmars. So I might have something like chilli con carne with a small amount of rice but I'm probably never going to have a Big Mac and fries. I have to eat low carb because I'm insulin resistant but no-one's going to convince me that e.g. carrots or chickpeas are unhealthy because they're slightly higher in carbs than what is optimal for weight loss. Indeed, if you use an Atkins or IIFYM (If It Fits Your Macros) approach then many of the foods we avoid on Bootcamp are fine so long as your total carbohydrate intake for the day is within your macro allowance. The beauty of the Low Carb Bootcamp is that we're free of having to weigh foods and count calories because it's set up to emphasise the lowest carb foods. But when you get to weight maintenance there are opportunities to re-introduce foods. I think 80/20 is way too much though and most people would end up regaining weight if they did that.

Morning.

Can I ask what is considered low carb? I track my meals on MFP and try to stay below 60-70gms of carbs a day?

I don't often eat flour, rice or pasta so majority if these carbs are sugar, veg and crackers

MasterOfOne in general low carb is probably anything below 100g per day. A typical diet would be 250g or even higher. A lot of us in this group are following the Mumsnet Low Carb Bootcamp which doesn't track carbs but would come in at around 20-50g per day unless you were particularly trying to keep carbs very low.

Thanks- very helpful! I'll take a look for some meal inspiration

There are loads of great recipes on the dedicated recipe threads. My new favourite is cheeseburger pie which is divine and can be eaten hot or cold. I had it cold with salad and coleslaw for my packed lunches all last week.

Oops I probably shouldn't have posted a food photo on a fasting thread! Sorry!

Haha that cheeseburger dish looks unreal! And yes really made me salivate

I've reported my post to get the photo deleted!

LOL! is the recipe on the bootcamp threads too for the cheeseburger pies?? i also spied a recipe for cheese muffins that i ahve to test out too

It's on the meat recipes thread and I've added a screenshot. The cheese muffins are very good as well; I make them regularly. They're calorific though due to the almond content. Each one is about 250 calories, more if you put butter on them. They're lovely halved and grilled until they start to brown.

Thanks so much @StuntNun - have all the ingredients to try out soon!!

Hi all x
I try to keep low carb most days. I occasionally have a wholemeal wrap possibly once a week and then on a Sunday will have some roast potatoes with my dinner, does this sound ok
I find that if I have white carbs like rice I am starving the next day.

@venusandmars thank you for your experience. probably that's why I do feel hungrier the day after :D trouble is we r an Italian household, and the family genuinely feel sad without pasta! It's the first time I'm trying this. Will come back to report. Lost 2 in 3 weeks, goal is to lose about 8 kgs now. If I hit a plateu I'll ditch the once a week pasta or pizza.

Can I join you?

I've low carbed on and off for 7 years.

The first time I lost 5 stone. Since then I've gained and lost but have never gotten back to the original low.

I restarted in January and have lost 10.5kg so far. I'm aiming to lose another 3.1kg to get to the heaviest end of a healthy BMI.

This time I've found fasting really easy and have fallen into the habit of OMAD. So I fast between 22-26h depending on what time I eat dinner. I do drink coffee with milk in between though but I'm going to make a real effort to alternate coffee with fruit teas and fizzy water and Twinings infusions.

I am doing a 5 to 10K running programme by JEFFing (interval running). I started with C25K about a month ago but have switched to this programme and prefer it.

I've not done any longer fasts. But I have noticed that if I run at night (run at 6.30pm, home at 9pm after my DS's sports training) that I lose my appetite so I think I could stretch to 36h. However eating breakfast makes me picky all day. And eating lunch (since starting OMAD) sends me into some sort of food coma. Anyone else get this? Dinner doesn't have the same effect but it's the same sort of food. 🤔

Morning @VenetoResident

I am fairly new to the whole thing - this is the start of week 3. I mostly low carb and try to do 20:4. I attempted 22hrs last week and really struggled.

I have lost 2.5kgs so far and need to lose abother 10 ish to get into the top end of healthy BMI, but I am at my pre chrismas weight, and the lightest I have ever been in the last 10 years or so.

I am really struggling with the energy to exercise, feeling pretty weak in the morning, so will move it around to see what is most comfortable, maybe before I break my fast?

I would love to get into running, but it looks really hard lol.

I do find once i break my fast i tend to feel a little sluggish and tired, depending what i break my fast with. I ususally break with eggs and cheese and maybe some cucumber for crunch :-)

@VenetoResident hello, I've been managing 36 hrs recently but yes definitely feel like I eat more on the days when I eat breakfast. I should try pushing through to lunch.

If you don't mind me asking what caused you to regain? Did you slowly reintroduce carbs or go all in? I've lost almost 5st and I'm worried it'll be too easy to fall off the wagon.

Also your running app sounds interesting. I might be after inspo when I finish C25K in a few weeks

In Sept 2013 I was 97kg. I got down to 65kg by Aug 2014 and stayed below 70kg for a year.

Then I was less careful with low carbing. Too many days off plan.

We moved overseas in 2018. Two miserable kids = terrible diet. I gained 10kg and peaked at 85kg. So still 12kg less than my max.

In 2019 I started being more careful and joined a running group (we started by walking 5 miles three times a week and progressed to running it).

By Apr 20 I was back down to 70kg, just in time for lockdown and another move. Miserable kids. Poor diet. No running.

I restarted this January at 80kg.

So for me the kids being miserable and big changes along with not being careful enough of the time.

But even off plan I've always had weeks and months of trying again and losing a bit of weight so I've never put all of it back on.

I usually start by having an evening a week off. That turns into a day. Then a weekend. Then a holiday. And suddenly I'm off plan!

The running app is good and I'm on a FB group that's helpful as well. I prefer it to C25K. You can start from 0 with this app too. It's called Easy 10K. Only on iPhones though.

No fast today. Too much went wrong. Very  Two belly pork strips helped calm me down. There's always tomorrow. Finally 10 stone something though (10.97 stone but it's still a 10!).

@MasterOfOne - I exercise just before dinner (break in fast). Mornings I feel hungry but a coffee sorts that usually.

Running isn't hard. The only thing that is is starting. Download an app and trust it. The programme I use starts with running for 10 seconds and walking for 30 seconds if that's where you need to start. You could do that couldn't you?

Thank you,thats really interesting. I think keeping the weight off must be the real challenge. I've learnt don't have an evening off and don't let the kids become miserable (my 14yo DS is perpetually miserable unfortunately).
I think I'm going to rely on fasting to help me maintain.
I am on android unfortunately so no Easy 10k for me. There must be something similar in the Play store though.
Well done on smashing 10st! I'm a couple of lbs behind you, haven't weighed so little in 10 years

Welcome to the thread Veneto. Eating breakfast does that to me as well; I end up extra hungry and snacking constantly.

Oneborn I've been doing weight maintenance since 2013 and to be honest my diet is largely similar to Bootcamp. I'm more relaxed about e.g. the meat content of sausages, or the occasional higher carb food but generally it's the same: fatty meats, fish, full fat dairy and lots of veggies.

You are right - I have no issues walking, but have a real mental block around running....

Completely fell off the wagon last night, but today is going well with 20hrs. I find the weekends too easy to slip, but every day is a new day!