Introducing intermittent fasting

[StuntNun]

This thread is for Bootcampers that are interested in introducing intermittent fasting. There are a myriad of health benefits from fasting and it is particularly useful for anyone who is likely to be insulin resistant (diabetes, prediabetes, PCOS). It can also be useful for reducing overall calorie intake if you are hoping to lose weight more quickly, you are in an extended stall, or are close to your goal weight and weight loss has slowed.

If you're like me and you've never skipped a meal in your life then fasting may sound daunting but it really isn't difficult. It only takes a matter of days to get used to the feeling of hunger rising and then passing again. If you already miss meals or find yourself not feeling hungry at breakfast time then it will be even easier to introduce intermittent fasting, you're just formalising something that is already happening.

You should wait until you are at least two weeks into Bootcamp to start fasting and some people may need to wait for longer. Once you are fully adapted to burning fat your hunger levels rise more slowly and you have access to your fat reserves to get you through a longer fasting period without much hunger.

The method that combines best with low carb is intermittent fasting 16:8 where you have a minimum of three 16-hour fasts per week. This is usually by missing breakfast so if you have finish dinner at 7 p.m. then you don't eat again until at least 11 a.m. the next day. You can also miss dinner and fast from lunch to breakfast instead but most people find that less convenient; it depends on your lifestyle.

The easiest way to introduce fasting is to give it a try. Make a note of what time you finish eating and see when you get hungry the next day. If you're naturally getting hungry after 12 hours then aim for 12.5 or 13 hours for your first fast and build up to 16 hours gradually. It's fine to have a cup of tea or coffee (with milk not cream) during your fast period. At your usual breakfast time you will probably feel hungry. Have a hot drink and/or a big glass of water and usually the hunger will subside and then rise again later in the day. You don't need to fast every day to get the health benefits so if you're particularly hungry one day then just have breakfast and aim to fast the next day instead.

I'm wondering whether eating later in the evening can impact the dawn phenomenon which is where blood glucose starts to rise from around 5 a.m. triggering an insulin release. That would lower blood glucose causing hunger.

My car broke down today (dead battery, nothing serious) so my morning has been spent dealing with that. That makes my fast length over 18 hours so far. I don't feel hungry but I do feel slightly faint. I'm finally getting lunch now.

I've wondered about that, stunt, given I have a fairly late eating window, but I'm not finding it hard to fast till lunchtime and beyond, with only a vaguely peckish feeling around 8.30, so I'm not sure.

Today I've done 17.5 hours, and we are not just waiting in a bar for Tapas :). We've just asked for a chef selection so I'm hoping most of it will be suitable for me. By the time it comes, probably 18 hours, I guess.

Have been up since 6 so I could do my 5K circuit before it got too hot, and then spent most of the morning in the pool.

DH made ribs late last night and there was a bit of sugar on them so it will be interesting to see the effects on my hunger levels today. 16 hours would be 2:30 p.m. so I'll play it by ear.

Ate late last night and hungry early today so no fast today. Actually I'm still hungry. I'll have a drink and see.

I've had a cup of tea, a cup of coffee and loads of water and I'm still feeling a bit hungry but I'll see how I go. I am worried that the other day I didn't get hungry per se but did feel a bit lightheaded when I was over 16 hours. It makes me wonder how much I can trust my appetite or whether it's been too damaged by years of having to clean my plate as a child and by eating preventatively to stave off hunger. I know they say it takes ten minutes before you can tell whether you're full or not but for me it's more like half an hour. The other day I had dinner and I was still hungry. I fancied strawberries and cream for dessert so I nipped off to the shop to buy them but by the time I got back I wasn't hungry any more. And then of course I ate them anyway having gone out specially. My kids are really good at stopping when they're full, no matter whether it's their favourite food they won't take another bite. How do I get that ability back?

How do I get that ability back?

When you work it out, Stuntnun please let us all know.

Since I lost the desperate urge to overeat, I haven't really felt any actual hunger. If i start considering things to eat before the window for fasting is up, its usually when I have not drunk any water or herbal tea

Just occasionally I get an idea that it would be fun to eat . If i go longer than about 24hrs without food, as soon as i even look in the 'fridge, I find myself picking up say a handful of olives eating them on the spot.

Finally I assume that the "signal" is there but that I'm conditioned to ignore it, the same as I was conditioned to eat under certain circumstances. It was actually pretty easy to break that conditioning. I suspect the answer lies in mindful eating exercises. Unfortunately meal times are chaotic for me but I will look into it to see what might help.

I just caved and had a couple of boiled eggs with butter. I think I could have managed a longer fast but hey ho, it's the journey that's important not any one step.

I felt a bit out of sorts this morning. Just vaguely unsatisfied and kept finding myself standing in front of the open fridge door. I'm wondering if it was linked with getting upset and anxious about a vastly overdue invoice that a client hasn't paid, and after months of outright lying to me, I realised today they will probably never pay. A high 4 figure sum, so not insignificant, and I stupidly, stupidly delivered the work before payment because I trusted them. I'd fretted about it all night, so was tired and grumpy today. And my default was to rummage in the fridge for comfort. Anyway, gave myself a firm talking to, told myself I could absolutely eat a proper meal if I was hungry, but no picking. So I think even though I didn't fast that it was probably a win, because I had eggs benedict (with spinach rather than toast!) and didn't pick at chocolate, biscuits, bread etc etc. But it still felt like comfort eating rather than true hunger.

Oh cherry that's awful well done in the good food choice

Cherries that sounds so stressful.

Oh well, lesson learned, I guess. I've always tried in business to see the best in people, and my business is very much one built on relationships, so I have to accept my part in it, I guess. I took a stupid risk because I'd work with this person before, and trusted them. They live in a different EU country, so small claims won't even work. Nasty dent in this year's bottom line though. And as mentioned above, I feel stupid and gullible. Anyway, back on track, 16 hour fast today.

Not really managed to fast this weekend but have been on top of my snacking a lot more. Pleased with that. Learning to listen to my body a lot more and just take time, sometimes all it needs is to wait 15 mins and a distraction comes up then you forget all about wanting to eat.

I didn't manage to fast over the weekend between cinema trips, Legoland etc. so I'm back on it today. I have had a cup of tea, a pint of water, a cup of bone broth and I'm about to start work on a mug of coffee. It's definitely easier to get the water in when I'm fasting! I haven't lost any weight this Bootcamp but I'm a lot slimmer on my upper abdomen; DH says it's really obvious. It does show just how useless the scales can be when you're losing fat.

Interesting point about your water consumption, Stuntnun being easier when fasting. I aim to reach my water 'targets' as early in the day as possible, to minimise the number of times I need to eliminate when I am sleeping.

If I ever have that 'oh, i could just eat xxx', it's usually a sign that i haven't drunk very much, so my first response now is to drink another litre and the feeling invariably goes away. Im slowly learning that 'hunger' feels very different to the 'ohh, i could eat xxx'. Hunger is much less specific and comes and goes according to how busy I am. V v interesting...

Weirdness this morning, I wanted to wait till 8.30 at least as that would be a 12 hour fast. Did feel hungry ish so got out my boiled eggs and butter, and just couldn't eat them. They turned my stomach. I had a couple of strips of halloumi out of my lunch and that was that. I need to have a tub of Marigold at work as that may have done just as well. Just thinking about lunch now, tummy rumbling but not feeling urgent.

Quite excited about this, actually. It's a totally new experience!

i haven't lost any weight this Bootcamp but I'm a lot slimmer on my upper abdomen; DH says it's really obvious. It was really obvious from the photos you posted too Stuntnun.

Hunger is much less specific and comes and goes according to how busy I am. yes this, definitely.

I'm currently not fasting two or three days a week sometimes on those days I'm going fourteen hours though, and sometimes on my fast days going over twenty, just listening to my hunger prompts.

This morning ds, early breakfast, had two boiled eggs, opened the second and decided he was full. I decided I was hungry and said I'd have it. By the time I got back to it DH had cleared up and binned it. Second lot of breakfasts, two children each wanted two fried eggs, once cooked second child had changed his mind so I sat down to two fried eggs. Had just started when had to jump up and see to third child. By the time I returned DH had cleared up and thrown it away. Eventually had last nights leftover chicken wings

I fell off the wagon yesterday after a day of wrangling the amazing non-sleeping toddler. Two packets of Doritos and two chocolate biscuits! I think I fell back into the trap of self-harming with food. Then DH had a rubbish day after a telling off from his boss because they had a minor explosion in the lab last week so he was in a bad state too. We ended up getting a Chinese takeaway and splitting a bottle of wine. It was all relatively low carb food but there would have been carbs/sugar in the sauces. So back on it today and I'll just fast until I get hungry rather than aiming for any specific time.

I think I might have accidentally done this a few times without realising it!

I usually eat my main evening meal fairly early - about 6pm and don't eat again until about 10.30 the following morning.
Although I have been having things like cream with coffee in between

Thanks, for this thread Stunt. I might give it a go and do it properly - without the creamy coffees.

Is it best to do it intermittently? or is it best to do it for 3 days in a row?
Or doesn't it matter? Thanks.

Style to get the benefits you need three or more fasts per week but it doesn't matter which days you choose.

I managed 14 hours in the end but I have been starving all day. No more carbs for me!

Hope you are feeling better now, Stunt. I didn't fast today. I'd planned to, but I just felt a bit crap and edgy. Everyone else had gone cycling, but my hip was bothering me and I couldn't settle and just got hungrier. In the end I had coffee with cream and a handful of nuts in the garden. Had tuna salad for lunch, and going out for dinner in a bit. What bothered me though, like the other day, was that it had the feel of comfort eating, even though the actual food consumed was fine.

Oh, I recognise your it had the feel of comfort eating, even though the actual food consumed was fine.

I'm telling myself that just noticing that it is happening, is a giant step forward for me. Next step is to notice it and not go along with it. I find that a lot easier to do if I am busy, doing enjoyable things....feel as if I need to exercise the muscle that controls my behaviour in response to this type of feeling.

Stunt Thanks. I will give it a go.

I don't know why, but I thought this thread was started today, on the 5/07.
I've only just realized it's been going a month already! I got the month wrong
Shows how observant I am It will teach me to read dates in the future.

I fasted yesterday, today we were up at 6am to do a walk we've wanted to do all holiday, but it kept defeating us (me!) in the heat. We did it today and got back to the villa about 830 and I felt properly healthily hungry so had scrambled eggs. I think I'm doing about 5 fasts per week. It's funny though now aim noticing the difference between eating because I'm hungry (today), and eating for different non-hunger reasons (Wednesday). Same quality and similar quantities of good consumed, but very different eating triggers.