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.

Fasted today. Think I did yesterday, I'm loosing track a bit. I do that too; comfort eating with the allowed food when I'm a bit pressured or whatever. Mostly I'm trying to be hunger led though

Is anyone still doing IF? I am more or less i think. So busy that I'm not keeping track as well and the last couple of days no appetite at all

I want to flummoxed but didn't manage it this weekend. DD2 has had awful nights this week and I am noticeably ravenous in the morning after 4-5 hours od broken sleep. Also not eating evening meal till late which I find makes it harder, I can hold on till 11 say but not till 1? It's all in my head I know!

But I am trying very hard not to snack, and I am certainly reducing portion size. I have also made a strong effort not to get certain binge trigger foods like chocolate or double cream.

I'm starting again over the next couple of days. I had about a week off as I was getting terribly hungry (not just in the morning, but throughout the day). When I looked at my diet, I realised I'd allowed a fair bit of low-fat creep to happen over the holidays. I was still diligently doing low carb, but my fat intake had taken a fair nose dive. So I'm doing a week of hard core bootcamp (including three meals a day) to get me back on track.

I'm still fasting when I can. I'm under a lot of stress at the moment which can make eating well tricky. I found I was getting hungry this morning at 10 and decided I would just have breakfast then realised I had dinner at 6ish last night so it already was 16 hours!

I'm persevering, too. Had a couple of days of eating only once, and found it remarkably easy, but then I was in a bit of a tizz at work. All sorted now, the first thing I noticed when it was over (barr the shouting) was my stomach relaxing and then my mind popping up with the thought 'ok, now then, what shall we eat now'.

Today, Ive had breakfast and lunch so far, stuck with LCHF without thinking about it. Offloaded the potatoes on my plate to a friend who speaks highly of HCLF and complains about portion sized, perfect companion. We shall see how I feel, fasting til tomorrow. I'm happy to eat, or not, these days, its lovely.

Oh a good place to be Finally

ilove I was just reading your comments about low fat creep on the other thread as well, that's really interesting. Also I'm just having a bit of a revelation. People talk about being brainwashed by the fat is bad message and I gaily read these posts thinking well BIWI keeps telling us it's not bad, we should have got that by now while simultaneously thinking but it doesn't apply to me anyway because I know I eat too much fat. That is such a convoluted mind set I'm not even sure it makes sense.

I've done that Stunt.

Oldbooks lack of sleep/change of routine definitely makes the whole thing harder.

It makes perfect sense, Very. I suspect my unconscious thinking goes 'fat is good for other people. But since I have a lot of fat on my body, it's not good got me. So if I can cut fat out, while still eating LC, then that's best for me'. And every time I take my eye off the HF ball, my behaviour starts to reflect that thought process. With every meal at the moment, I'm making myself assess the fat content and increase it. And it's quite painful and frightening.

So throughout the entire BC, I've never 'cheated' once. No alcohol. Not even a 'taste' of anything off limits. Absolutely no fruit etc etc. LC bit is nailed. But I suspect I cheat a lot with HF. 'Oh, I could have less oil'. 'It's a non-stick pan, it doesn't need butter' 'my plate is full of veg, I don't need to add anymore'. Etc etc etc. But because it's deprivation cheating rather than indulgence cheating, I often don't see it.

Yes I get that. Doesn't feel like cheating, feels like "being good".

I just had some raspberries and cream, it was lovely and completely allowed and I hadn't over eaten my first course but still felt guilty and it was about the cream not the raspberries.

I'm trying to fast today but yesterday involved 3/4 of a bottle of wine after some extremely challenging behaviour from DS1 and DS4 so I'm not quite sure what effect that will have on fasting. Is alcohol equivalent to evening snacking? If so then I might be too hungry to fast until the afternoon. I will sneak a mini chocolate bar into my bag and see how I go. I finally got to Aldi and got some Moser Roth chocolate. It's packaged in 25g bars which is a genius idea for low carb.

I made it to 1 p.m. so I did manage a fast after all. DS4 is firmly entrenched in the terrible twos so today is more of the same stress! I have to drive DS2 to Scouts tonight so I won't be able to self-medicate with wine again (which is probably a good thing.)

I've been successfully doing 16:8 for most of the last two weeks - although I do have at least 2-3 cups of coffee with milk each morning. I keep trying to tell myself to have it black, but I just don't like it as much. And I'm not a great fan of cream in coffee either!

I've found it much easier than I thought - but then I remembered that when I was younger (slimmer!) I never used to eat breakfast. It was a habit then.

I have also realised, though, that my lunchtime portions have increased. I think there's a subconscious thing going on here - 'well, you haven't had breakfast so you can have a bigger lunch' - which I need to knock on the head.

I found that as well BIWI whereas in fact you might even need less for lunch than usual. I've had less to eat all day so far than I used to routinely have for breakfast!

DH just offered me a full English breakfast. Get thee behind me! Now I just have to get through the delicious cooking smells while sipping bone broth.

Where is everybody?

I woke up starving hungry this morning but after my morning cup of tea I wasn't hungry any more. That's the first time I've experienced the "thirst as hunger" sensation so clearly. I thought I had done well on my water yesterday but it was really hot so I must have been dehydrated after all.

I am so hungry but desperate to hold out till at least 11 which would make it 14 hours. Hoping that introducing IF more strictly for the last 2 weeks of BC will help me get a metabolism boost. I would love to be at the lower end of 15 stone by my holiday at end August

Well done for swerving the Sunday fry up "Stunt Didn't do a sixteen hour fast this morning. Had two fried eggs about 9 00. I think I might have gone fifteen hours though. Our meal times are a little erratic at the moment and I keep forgetting to take note, so never sure when my fast is up. I'm determined to do well these last two weeks though so will be trying to fast every day as well Oldbooks*

Oh total bold fail.

I was going to say I hadn't fasted today because I had breakfast, then realised that as I hadn't eaten last night, I was actually at about 15 hours (and actually nearer 20 if I didn't count the five quid pack of almonds from the minibar!)

I have made it to 11! DD2 having a huge meltdown has helped distract me right, if I just do the washing up, hang out the laundry and tidy up all these toys that will kill some more time and I can make it to 12 then that will be 15 hours

Well look it's gone 12 ... Quiche in oven so that will be another half hour...