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.

It's swings and roundabouts MasterOfOne. The benefits of fasting start at about 14 hours and increase up to 36 hours. After that you don't get additional health benefits although you spend longer in autophagy with high levels of human growth hormone and, of course, the weight loss effects of calorie reduction. There is a school of thought that a yearly week-long fast is an effective way to prevent cancer but it's something that would be next to impossible to prove.

Your normal diet plays an important role as well. If you're eating low carb then you will enter ketosis much more quickly and get the benefits of fasting sooner. If you're eating a standard diet then you have to use up all your liver glycogen stores first which takes 6-8 hours or 2 hours of intense exercise. So a low carb diet allows us to shortcut into fasting. If you're "only" managing 22 hours then you might consider that's the equivalent of a 28-hour fast for someone eating a more typical diet.

In terms of ease of fasting, hunger levels are highest on days 2 and 3 so I prefer five-day fasts because the 4th and 5th days are so much easier. I would love to try a longer fast but I get too bored of not eating. Apparently my life revolves around food! I actually find it easier to fast if I'm shopping or cooking, not harder!

The other difference between shorter and longer fasts is what you eat on your non-fasting days. If you're limiting calories, e.g. to 500 like CrabPuff then shorter fasts up to 36 hours work better. If you're extended fasting then it's important not to restrict calories, to balance fast with feast.

And of course whatever type of fasting you prefer, it's essential to mix it up if you want to see continued results. If you like 24-hour fasts then throw in an occasional 48-hour fast; eat breakfast once in a while if you usually do 16:8; alternate between lunch and dinner if you do OMAD. Our bodies will always pursue homeostasis and therefore no weight loss. We need to keep moving the goalposts so there's no chance for our metabolism to adapt to a lower rate. That's one reason why OMAD works so well for weight maintenance. By keeping our fasting window the same we deliberately cause the situation where our metabolism adapts to our calorie intake and therefore homeostasis acts to keep our weight stable. A secondary reason is that it's very difficult to overeat on OMAD.

That's incredibly helpful @StuntNun

Thank you 😊

Managed 22hrs with relative ease, it was better than the first time I tried it.
I had a 2 hour window to eat before starting to fast again at 6pm. my issue is that after my sleeve surgery, I struggle to eat a lot in those 2 hours and take all my suppliments (i take a lot of meds first thing, but save my vitamins for my eating widow).

This week I have averaged between 20-22hrs, so will relax a little over the weekend.

It is so much easier for me to fast during the working week, because it keeps me preocupied - but once I wake on Sat, immediately I am thinking about lunch and dinner... and wine lol.

Happy nearly friday all :-)

Well I'm checking in as a bit of accountability. Last week I had plateaued which I was expecting. This week I feel like I am getting somewhere again - but weigh in isn't until tomorrow and, if I have plateaued again, I think I may need a bit of a push!

This week has gone well though, another 30 hour then mainly 22hours. I've just been reading your post about moving the eating window around Stuntnun, interesting stuff. I tend to eat the same time during the week because of work so I'm trying to use my off days wisely with a feed day and a longer fast. I'm trying to think how I can fit in alternating my patterns now!

One thing I've noticed is that I drink an awful lot less at weekends so I need to address that!

Well I'm another 1lb down - not huge but also not static so I'm chuffed. In anticipation of a 0 loss I made myself actually look at me last night and it really helped. I can see a difference, I am starting to look slimmer and I can see/feel flabby bits tightening. Hugely long way to go of course but that's ok, so long as it is working overall

How's everyone doing? I feel like my 30 hour fasts are small fry compared to some of your epic adventures! How do the people around you react to longer fasts? I know I would get lots of concern fasting that long (accusations of crash dieting etc) my OH is lively but I don't think he'd wrap his head around this as a woe!

Sorry, my OH is lovely - lively is not a word I would use for him

Well done @Bufferingkisses! Are you exercising as well as dieting? I'm running and doing two yoga classes per week which are helping I think.

Do you only weigh once a week? I weigh daily. Have done (whilst dieting) for years. I'm not desperately bothered by daily fluctuations and I now understand which foods / situations make me gain or lose weight.

Could you get a couple of 1.5 litre bottles to fill at weekends so you can 'see' how much you're drinking more clearly?

Glad your fast went well @MasterOfOne. How long have you had the sleeve?

I had lunch (some belly pork) yesterday expecting to meet a friend for a game of tennis and then run in the evening. The run got cancelled. So we had an early dinner instead.

Today is yoga and yesterday's run but I'm going to try and push through without eating lunch. So that will be 24ish hours.

Exercise break day tomorrow.

Easter holidays will ruin the routine but going forward after that I'm hoping to keep going with low carb (the Harcombe diet but fat meals only), OMAD at least 5 days out of 7 and exercising:

Mon: run
Tue: yoga
Wed: tennis
Thu: run
Fri: yoga
Sat: break
Sun: run

Maybe I should swap the Sat and Sun round so I don't run on consecutive days?

Morning @Bufferingkisses.

I am 16hrs into my 24hr fast, and not going to lie, struggling! I feel quite nauseated and headachy (not sure thats a word tbh) but will power on through.

I agree I like seeing the changes in my body, especially my tummy and thighs which are the worst bits for clinging onto fat!

I genuinely don't know how people manage beyond 20hrs to be honest so this thread is really inspiring. Coming up to the end of week 3 and I never would have thought at the beginning I'd manage anything longer than 16 - 18 hours!

I am also surprised at how easy it was to get into IF, literally no planning, no additional shopping lists and weird and wonderful ingredients. It fits in with my lifestyle so well. The other bonus is coming off a fast, my goodness the food tastes amazing!

I am trying not to weigh daily because I can become a little obsessive about it, but since starting I've lost 2.8kg. I've lost more in 3 weeks than I ever did from Jan - Feb of calorie counting and exercise!

Morning @VenetoResident - it will be 2 years in May. At my highest weight I was 154kgs and in deep denial as to how unhealthy I was. I really struggle to look at pictures of me from that time (not that there were many!)

After surgery the first 50kg came off with very little effort, but getting below 90kgs requires a bit of work, and to get into a healthy BMI I need to lose a further 10 .

Good idea about the water bottles for weekends! During the week it is sat on my desk and I drink without thinking so seeing it is probably a good solution.

I do weigh once a week, I get disheartened easily so I worry daily would lead to me falling off the rails. Also, like master, I have a history of becoming a bit obsessive and I don't want to end up down that rabbit hole again.

I am increasing exercise slowly, I have an issue with my joints that I have to be careful of - being overweight makes it worse so I have to be conscious to increase exercise whilst decreasing weight in a bit of a controlled way. However the yoga I have been doing seems to be paying off already which is great. Ideally I'd like to get back to c25k or shredding but that may be a little further down the line.

Master, I really agree about how easy it is to get started - and I like that my body felt better really quickly even without any weight changes, it helps to feel like you are doing yourself some good!

You have done so well since your sleeve fitting, 10 to go is great news. One thing I have found about going longer is that my hungrier hours are between 16 and 18. Once I pass 18 that hunger falls away and I can happily go several more - particularly if there is sleep happening in those hours!

Veneto, how far do you usually run? Is it an exercise you find comes naturally?

@MasterOfOne

I find 24h strangely easy. Dinner is any time between 6 and 9.15pm depending on activities.

I wake hungry but have a coffee with milk.

The next time I tend to feel hungry is about 4pm. I don't mind too much if I know dinner is cooking. If I know it will be a 9pm dinner a coffee usually sorts me out.

The daily weighing is a routine for me and I record it and forget. I use an app called Happy Scale that evens out the trend. I still eat things that will cause a temporary gain (e.g. gammon) but I don't stress about it. I think otherwise I maybe would limit my eating knowing I was weighing the next day. Or maybe panic that I'd not been to the loo for a while (usually once every 5ish days).

I got from about 14.5 stone to 10.5 without exercise, but I did do 5:2 on top of low carb to get there. This time the exercise seems to be helping. I've lost 11.5kg since early Jan. 2.2kg for a healthy BMI. Hoping to be there by summer. For both of us!!!

@Bufferingkisses no running isn't at all natural. I only started to meet and chat with friends. Initially we walked 4km, had a coffee and walked back. Gradually that changed to running very slowly. 5 min walk, 1 run type of thing. This time I started with the couch to 5k app but then read about JEFFing. My heart rate gets really high so JEFFing is helping to regulate it a bit. My peak was 208 tonight but the average was 183 for 5km. I'm hoping it will come down as I lose weight!

Today's 24h fast is done. Dinner was salmon in butter. No veg which is really naughty.

24 hrs wasn't bad at all tbh. I struggled at 22 but once I had another meeting the time flew by.

Broke my fast with some home made sweet and sour chicken and feel very uncomfortable (but that's mainly the sleeve) so only managed a tiny portion.

And yes - healthy BMI is within reach!

Off to look up JEFFing!

This is a great group if you're on FB:

www.facebook.com/groups/504366983051330/?ref=share

So did 16 hours today - broke my fast with scrambled cheesey eggs, then as a treat had a chocolate brownie with some ice cream. Wow the need for sleep was unreal, felt so so sluggish and exhausted :( clearly too much sugar in one sitting

Buffering 30-hour fasts are definitely not small fry! My family don't seem to mind the fact that I'm fasting but my DH definitely finds it stressful because he doesn't know when I'm going to be finished. Weirdly I think my kids miss me from the dinner table. DH and I don't always eat at the same time as them so I'm surprised they even notice.

I didn't manage my extended fast this month but then I had The Period From Hell TM straight after which probably explains why. Dr Mindy Pelz of Reset Academy reckons you shouldn't do extended fasts in the run up to your period. It did arrive a week early though so I couldn't have planned for that. I'm planning to do my April fast next week (I usually start from the first Monday of the month) so that I can get through it while the DCs are still at school. During the Easter holidays it will be wall-to-wall meal and snack provision and my routine will be shot which will make fasting harder.

Lost my post 😭

@MasterOfOne I'm just the same. Completely uncontrollable sleepiness. But it does mean I've got non-prescription sleeping remedies on hand!!

Good luck for your fast next week @StuntNun. Mine are on holiday already!

24h ish fast today. Belly pork with a FLGV for dinner. Felt ill last night and this morning for eating such a rubbish dinner last night. 4 days since my last BM. Anyone else see a big reduction in toilet visits due to LC / IF?

Yes huge reduction - I used to be daily, now it's roughly every other day! But I feel OK with it!

Finished off my day will pulled pork and a small cup of chai tea...... so aiming for 18 hours tomorrow and back to 20-22 Monday to Friday! Might try 36hrs Thursday night - Sat morning but will wait and see how the week feels!

Hey everyone I just wanted to join the thread. I've been doing 16:8 for a while as it helps keep my IBS in check.

I was wondering about the low carb part as I'm largely veggie. Any other low carb veggies here? Would low carb help me to reduce inflammation in my body further?

Welcome @BigGreen

I am fairly new to IF and have been low carbing for a while. I must admit I haven't paid too much attention as to the low carb veg - i avoid the starchy ones (potato, sweet corn) and stick to pretty much cucumber, cauliflower, broccoli and carrots in my stews and bolognese, oh and mushrooms in my omelettes.

I am sure there are more you can eat, would love to learn more!

How long have you been doing 16:8?

Hi BigGreen cutting carbs will definitely help with your IBS, it's known for it. Mine completely cleared up when I started the Low Carb Bootcamp back in 2013. The latest Low Carb Bootcamp thread is here and the next Bootcamp starts on the 12th April. We usually suggest that vegetarians keep small amounts of nuts, seeds, pulses, tofu etc. in their diet to make sure they're getting enough protein. The Diet Doctor website has a lot of vegetarian recipes. There is also a good low carb vegetarian cookbook by Rose Elliott. There's also a new Ketotarian book that I haven't read but that promises low carb vegan, vegetarian and pescatarian recipes. Apologies if all my links are messed up; my phone can't manage them properly for some reason.

MasterOfOne you need a good variety of vegetables in your diet to get plenty of vitamins and minerals. Diet Doctor have a good infographic showing the best ones.

Oh yay my links all worked!

Really helpful again @StuntNun - reading that yes I probably eat a lot more low carb veg then I realise (onions, peppers , lettuce etc)

Also take extra complete multivitamins and vitamin d and calcium tables daily, because of the sleeve surgery, will be on these for life.

Happy Sunday all! Have lost little over 1kg this week which is incredible. I will probably break a little earlier than planned today, I'd like to stop at 4 - 6pm and aim for 22 hours for tomorrow! Loving IF ❤

Oh thanks so much StuntNun these links are ace! I have to be careful with pulses and onions so replacing rice etc with beans not totally straightforward.

I learned about 16:8 on here MasterOfOne it's been a really crazy year w Covid and homeschool so I've spent long periods off it eating rubbish I'm sad to say. But it helps my IBS so much more than anything else.

BigGreen it might be worth checking out that Ketotarian book in that case, depending on the reviews, as I think it steers away from pulses.