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.

purplebagladylovesgin that's amazing that you've reversed your diabetes. That's a strong motivation to keep going!

@StuntNun re the health benefits of eating less meat, half of it is for environmental reasons but I find that if I plan half our meals without meat, I naturally tend to eat a lot more veg, especially raw veg and salads, roasted veg with spices and so on. It also forces me to be a bit more creative, try new things and research recipes (which I love doing!). Often, with meat based dishes, I tend to stick to things I make a lot and find I eat fewer vegetables as the meat is the star of the show!!

I've just downloaded a book from the library called Bosh! Healthy Vegan which is interesting as they talk a bit about vegan junk food and how it can be just as unhealthy as eating meat based junk food. I do enjoy lots of meat based dishes and don't think that fat and protein from meat are 'bad foods' 😊

@StuntNun @Fagey @catwithflowers
Thank you all. Although for the first time in my life I feel I don't deserve praise for losing weight. It was so easy, minimal effort. I'd been 60lbs overweight for decades. Once I'd stabilised my blood sugars my hunger fell away.

My key thing is almonds. I eat 1/4 of a cup of ground almonds as a muffin or cake (made with sweetener) each day. This does amazing things to stabilise blood sugar and it actively reduces my next day readings. It's also satiating so my cake or muffin will fill me up until my evening meal.

It shouldn't work as nuts are high in fat. But it does. My whole diet is rich in healthy fats, nuts and above ground vegetables and all meats and fish.

Michael Mosley is the only one I know in the UK who has touched on this way of eating. Fasting is so important for depleting the fat stored around organs. This is the dangerous fat we carry.

The good news is it's completely reversible with proper fasting methods.

@purplebagladylovesgin Could you share your almond muffin recipe please? Sounds really interesting. I have a couple of bags of ground almonds in the cupboard 😊

Low carb Muffins

1 cup ground almonds
1 tbsp (30g) very cold solid fat such as butter or plant butter.
Three medium eggs chilled.
1 generous tsp baking powder

At this stage it can changed to be sweet muffins by adding in 2 tablespoons of sweetener with 1tsp vanilla extract

Or cheese muffins (my favourite)
60g or a large handful of cold grated mature cheddar and some Chopped chives.

Pre heat oven to 180. Prepare muffin tin with paper cups.
The next bit needs to be done swiftly so things don’t get to room temperature, it’s the shock of the oven that makes them rise well.

If you have a food processor, blitz the almond flour with the butter briefly until just mixed. Otherwise grate the butter into the almonds. Add all other ingredients and blitz until just mixed. Spoon into cases. This should do 4, but the cheese mix often makes 5 smaller ones.

It’s about 14 mins in the oven but might need a little longer.

They are best eaten cold as they don’t come out of the wrappers easily when warm. I have my sweet ones with butter and sugar free jam, and the cheese ones with cheese slices and pickles.

Hi all
Love the sound of the muffins recipe @purplebagladylovesgin do you have this as your first meal of the day?
I'm following 16:8 and trying to keep to low carb. I occasionally will have a wholemeal wrap or roll and on a Sunday will have a few potatoes with my roast .
I tend to eat around 3-3.30 and then I have my last bit of food up to about 9.30. This helps me as if I eat earlier i feel hungry at bed time and i will want to snack!
Just wondered what your low carb go to meal was. I'm looking for some inspiration!!

@PeacheyPeach
I tend to eat with the family and adapt it all slightly for me and my husband.

I eat twice a day plus a snack with coffee.

First meal is around 1.30pm as I always try to do 18/6 and is either a muffin, kippers or eggs, and I also use the Hovis lower carb bread as it's around 9 carbs a slice. Which is just on my limit although not strictly keto. Burgen is similar values but bigger slices so more carbs per slice.

Last night I had home made Swedish meatballs cooked in rich tomato sauce. I served mine on a pile of Savoy cabbage that was well cooked and dried slightly so not watery. I grated cheese over it.

The night before we had home made kebabs, I have mine with salad, pickles and home made white cabbage coleslaw with minimal carrot, (watch out for cheaper Mayo it's full of sugar).

Roast in the week. I make keto Yorkshire puddings (1.5 carbs) and enjoy a bit of stuffing with the meats. I don't eat any vegetables that grow below ground with exception of onion as that doesn't spike me. Lots of gravy and green veg.

Cooked breakfast for dinner goes down well, I have eggs, bacon, oven baked garlic mushrooms with sausages and grilled tomatoes.

I do curry a lot and make mine with a tin of coconut milk as it's base, with curry powder, garam masala, grated ginger and garlic some tomato purée and lots of veg.
I serve mine on microwaved cauliflower rice. And I'll make a keto Nann bread.

I found that the lactose free milk tastes great in tea and coffee and it's half the carbs. I also use cream in my coffee but sparingly.

If you aren't diabetic a lower carb potato is new potato, these roast up really nicely.

I made macaroons as I've just discovered how to make keto 'condensed milk' and 75% cocoa chocolate (1.5 carbs each)

I've not had much joy with ice cream as yet, but still working on it. But we had much delight in discovering that the home made Christmas cake without the icing didn't spike us either although I'm not sure why. I also managed to make good keto biscotti. I really like to feel I have something with my evening drink to put me on until the following afternoon.

I'm happy to share recipes.

Hold the phone @purplebagladylovesgin keto Yorkshire puddings? What is this witchcraft? Tell me more!

@purplebagladylovesgin Thank you! They sounds delicious, especially the cheese ones! I'll give them a go tomorrow afternoon 😊

Two interesting pieces I have been reading:

One was about changing patterns of eating in the last 50 years. 50 years ago, lunch (or midday dinner) was the large meal of the day. Always 2 courses, sometimes 3. Tea (or supper) was early at about 5pm, and was light - some eggs, or steamed fish. Then NOTHING until the morning, when the morning food would break-the-fast. And because in general we weren't commuting for 2 hours, the time between breakfast finishing and work starting might be 15 minutes.

These days (or in normal working / commuting times), 'breakfast' might be at 6.30am, then something grabbed as a snack at 8.45am. Lunch around 1 (and maybe something to eat / drink mid morning and mid afternoon). Dinner (however healthy that might be) well after 7pm, maybe even as late as 9pm, once the children have gone to bed. Or an attempt at family dinner at 6.30pm, probably followed by TV, wine, snacks until 11pm.

In all of that there is no fasting time, not even half a fasting time (if you're looking at fasting as 16 hours). Suddenly the word break-fast becomes redundant.

That's really interesting VenusandMars.

The second thing I read - and this is in elation to 'mixing it up' with fasting regimes / eating habits.

A study of 50 obese men, split them into two groups. One group had a calorie reduced diet for 16 weeks followed by 16 weeks of a 'maintenance level diet. The other groups alternated every 2 weeks - 2 weeks calorie reduced, 2 weeks maintenance.

The group who alternated lost 'significantly' more weight overall (sorry couldn't find the source data), but also lost a higher percentage fat. The researchers concluding that there was less 'compensatory metabolic response' which can occur when the body adjusts to any kind of calorific restriction.

The researchers were keen to point out that the experiment was only with men, and only with people who were obese, so would not discuss whether the principles were the same for slightly overweight women.

But an interesting concept all the same...

in RELATION to mixing it up, not elation it's really not that exciting

@StuntNun

I'll look up the recipe. It took a few attempts experimenting, they don't taste exactly the same but are delicious with thick gravy.

[quote purplebagladylovesgin]@StuntNun

I'll look up the recipe. It took a few attempts experimenting, they don't taste exactly the same but are delicious with thick gravy. [/quote]
Wow they look good! I didn't know lib carb yorkshires even existed!

*low carb

Low carb Yorkshire's

Very interested in the almond muffins too. I love ground almonds. Also the existence of sugar free jam hadn't occurred to me.

I'm going to try the cheesy muffins today too.

I made a mini frangipane cakes using ground almonds recently and they were barely edible. But I do have almond flour too

How are you recording blood sugar spikes @purplebagladylovesgin?

Here's my 6 month progress pic. I'd like to be rid of my tummy but I'm not hopeful. My DH once lost about 5st and he has lose skin (and strangely way more stretch marks than me). Can anyone recommend a body weight plan for toning the tummy?

Oneborneverydecade I like the 30-Day Shred for all over body toning. One way to help the appearance of the mum tum is to improve your abdominal musculature. It won't get rid of any excess fat you have in that area but it can make your tummy look better. My DH swears by an Apple app called Abs Workout - Daily Fitness which has customisable workouts for the abdominal area.

Thanks @StuntNun I have an irrational fear of Jillian Michaels after watching The Biggest Loser, but I'll be brave. And check out the app too

Pmsl Oneborneverydecade there are loads of other bodyweight workouts out there. Although I do think I better when I'm swearing at Jillian after she tells me "don't phone it in" or "that's fear leaving the body" one too many times.

@purplebagladylovesgin

Love the sound of those muffins! Can you give me an idea of how many grams a cup of ground almonds would be?

TIA

@BIWI I've just weighed mine, it's exactly 100g.

@Oneborneverydecade I use a blood glucose monitor with strips.

If you need to know what might spike you you test just before you eat it, then again two hours later.

If the second reading is the same or near the first then you haven't spiked your blood sugar.

It's all to do with how your body makes, stores, releases, and utilises insulin.

I've gradually mapped what spikes me over the last 9 months or so.