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.

So glad you got the bike sorted Stunt.

I only did fifteen hours today as I snacked last night.

I've just eaten, but didn't clock exactly when I had dinner last night, was later because of the heat. But def 15-16 hours. Going to spend the afternoon gardening to get things into shape before we go on holiday. It's tourist/day tripper hell beyond our front gate, so happy to stay put and potter.

I was hungry when I woke up this morning because I had too many carbs yesterday (panna cotta isn't low carb but it's nearly low carb!) so I had breakfast but I haven't needed lunch, I'm quite happy to wait for dinner. Fasting is teaching me to get back in touch with my hunger levels. If someone had made lunch for me then I would have eaten it out of habit and to make sure I didn't run the risk of being hungry later in the day. Skipping lunch doesn't give you all the benefits of fasting for 14 hours or more but it will reduce my calorie intake over the day.

Stunt my eldest is about 6' now and towers over me, much to my delight. Even DS2 is 3-4" taller than me! So glad I've got a few years before DS3 catches me up. Glad you've got the bike sorted anyway.
So, not fasted today as I wasn't going to give the chance of a hotel fry up pass me by. So, bacon, scrambled egg, sausage and mushroom for breakfast with two particularly nice creamy coffees.
Didn't have anything else until the salad I've just had as I have been full all day. Stunt I agree with Fasting is teaching me to get back in touch with my hunger levels. It really has been a revelation. I feel almost as evangelical as I do about LCing.
Not eating now until tomorrow, 10.30am will take me to 16 hours, but I'll hopefully go longer.

Wanted to eat last night, not because I was hungry, but just because.
I didn't though, so now at 14 hours and feeling good. I'm starting to enjoy my morning black coffee almost as much as I used to enjoy the creamy ones.

Hey :)

Just hopped over from the other thread, I fancy giving 16:8 a go but I've already had my coconut coffee this morning, so I'll do my first fast tomorrow as long as my PT doesnt object, I'll ask her tonight.

Would you suggest just doing this 3 days a week to begin with or doesnt it matter? All it means for me is not having my creamy coffee until late afternoon instead of for breakfast, but I can still have a black coffee in the fast period right?

Jiminny I'm following you.
Black coffee is fine - I'm having mine right now.
You don't have to decide how many days to do, although a minimum of three is good. just see how you feel in the morning and whether you are hungry (if so, eat) or not (so don't eat). If you go though the thread, you'll see that some days we'll do a 20 hour fast, but other days only 14-15 hours or not at all.

CaptainBraandPants aaah ok, so it's about listening to hunger signals. This is something I struggle with even now. I've spent so long on low fat diets, hunger is normal to me so eating before Im ravenous and feeling faint feels like im stuffing my face and brings on food guilt. I don't get than bitey, ravenous hunger ever anymore because of LCHF so now I'm trying to learn what "a bit peckish" feels like and eat when i feel like that.

That probably makes no sense to anyone outside my brain, sorry!

I have a long drive this afternoon, really need to eat before I leave, and we had dinner fairly late last night, it was so hot. So I will probably JUST manage to get to 16 hours before I head off. But I'm full of vim this morning, have been up since 6, only had black tea and feeling pretty good.

That probably makes no sense to anyone outside my brain, sorry! makes sense that me

It was so hot yesterday and we were out and about that I didn't eat till 4 00, actually did about 22 hours I think.

Around 8 30 was hungry and feeling very torn about snacking. Till I realised that just because I normally have lunch and dinner and 12 and 5 00 (ish) it doesn't mean that i can't change it to 4 00 and 8 30 if that's what suits my hunger signals. So I ate a small meal. (And that probably makes no sense to anyone outside my brain)

Jiminny three days per week is the minimum but you can fast every day if you like. I find that some mornings I'm just hungrier, it probably depends on how I ate the day before. If I have too many carbs one day then I don't have any chance of fasting the next day. As a rule of thumb you can have up to 50 calories during your fast so a black coffee or a white coffee is fine but a creamy coffee would be too many calories. Since you're already well established with eating low carb you won't find it hard to introduce intermittent fasting. Make a note of when you finish eating today and aim for 16 hours before you have breakfast/lunch. Anything over 14 hours counts as a fast. You may feel hungry around your normal breakfast time. Have a big drink of water and a caffeinated drink and the hunger will subside again very quickly. Some people have bone broth or Bovril or hot stock. You shouldn't need to eat that much more than usual when you break your fast so don't feel that you have to have a breakfast and a lunch combined.

Jiminny you may find that IF improves your recognition of your hunger and thirst signals. It has with me.
Fasted for almost 19 hours in the end today.

Just managed my sixteen hour fast today. I wasn't sure I was going to make it then the last forty five minutes I was distracted and didn't give it a thought.

Hello Jiminny and Very that made perfect sense to me, too

Pre LCHF, I was so used to eating incase I got hungry, as well as feeling ravenous a lot and eating everything in sight (and everything hidden away too.) that hunger had v v little to do with what and when I ate. Having stepped off that particular rollercoaster, I am very happy to keep off grain based carbs now.

We are on holiday now, so I am keen for us to eat together, which leaves less flexibility around mealtimes.. We tend to have breakfast around 11am and an evening meal eating by 7pm, so 9:15 which seems to be working out fine. I brought an emergency bar of 90% Lindt which i haven't even taken out of my suitcase.

So interesting how much of my eating has previously been driven by anything but actual hunger.

Am probably overdosing on tomatoes but they are sooo delicious here. Shall see what the scales see when I get home. My shorts are getting baggy but that might be them stretching rather than me shrinking.

Glad to catch up with the news that Stuntnun's DC new adult size bike is on its way. Feel for anyone teased and bullied at school....

I had a bit of a picky day yesterday so eating breakfast definitely makes me hungrier through the day. My insulin sensitivity must be rubbish. I'm not going to aim for any particular time today, just see how I go.

Well done Very
Finally that's great that you have managed to incorporate it into your holiday, I'm very impressed.
Stunt yes, i'm definitely hungrier if I have breakfast.

So, fasted since 7.15pm yesterday, will probably do a 17-18 hour fast. This feels very natural, it is just what I do now.
When I compare it to when I tried 5:2 when I was calorie counting, I am amazed at the difference. that was so hard and made me miserable. HFLC just makes this so easy.

Thank you Captain (wondering should i be saying aye aye?)

Breakfast delayed til noon today, we 'thought' we knew what time the taverna next door opens for business but it turns out that this is Greece, rather than Switzerland.... i was ready for breakfast 17hrs after supper but could easily have managed longer. An omelette with tomatoes, feta and green pepper.

I'm feeling more confident about my digestion...we shall see. Had an espresso, just in case. Mentioned casually to DH that a coffee related stop back at the studio would be sensible before setting out befor setting off again and we both laughed out loud at the memory of how much less relaxed we were with each other the last time we were in Crete (first holiday together, 26years ago) when neither of us would have contemplated even mentioning bowels at breakfast.

Hey,

I'm 15.5 hours into my first fast (ate at 20:30 last night) and I was hungry about an hour ago... now I'm not . I had back coffee at 9 and I'm 1.5 litres of water down, but other than that I haven't had anything.

The thought of eating my lunch (antipasti and salad today) is making me feel a bit ill. I think it's the heat that's generally killing my apitite at the moment. I NEED to eat it though, otherwise I'll be starving later int he day and wont have time to munch.

How would you handle this?

Finally having been with DH for 26 years as well, I know exactly what you mean.
Jiminny eat your lunch. Or at least start it. If you get full and don't want to finish it, then that's fine. You could always finish it later as you are in your eating window now.
I'm going to have mine soon, about 17.5 hour fast. Then have a creamy coffee, yum.

Jim you should start to feel hungry again soon. If not it's up to you whether you eat or keep fasting. In general I recommend having at least two meals a day to make sure you're getting adequate micronutrients but you may find that even with a late lunch you still want something to eat in the evening.

Stunt I read it that if Jiminny doesn't eat now, then she won't be able to eat for several hours (I assume work getting in the way?). Do you think for someone just starting IF that it would be better to eat slightly early, rather than going too long and risking making bad choices because of hunger?
Now I'm an old hand at doing IF, since I have done it for about a week and a half I would feel more confident about waiting longer.

Thanks guys, I'm going to make my lunch and stick it back in the fridge if I can't finish! Will probably find once I start eating it I'll start feeling hungry.

Finally well done with holidaying and low carbing at the same time. It sounds so worth it.

I've just eaten after an eighteen and a half hour fast. It was easy but I was ready for lunch which was delicious. I also remembered my ACV which I've been forgetting the last few days do I drank it like wine alongside my lunch. It was weirdly satisfying.

Well done all.

Captain in general I think that you're right, it would be better to stick to a 16-hour-ish fast on the first day. In this particular instance Jiminny has already said that she doesn't have much appetite and she's pretty hardcore, I reckon she could make it till later if she wants to. The other factor is that after that workout yesterday her metabolism is probably sky high so she'll get an even bigger benefit from a long fast.

I managed my lunch :) started eating and decided I was hungry as suspected, although didn't put avocado on it as planned but added extra olive oil to up the calories instead

That 16 hour fast wasn't as bad as I thought, went quickly really!

I have spin class at 6:30am tomorrow, will be interesting to see how that goes and whether I can last until lunch without a re-fill!