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.

Well done Jiminny, I think Stunt is right when she calls you hard core.
Do you get hungry after a work out usually or not? I don't, exercise tends to dampen my appetite, perhaps because of all the water. I guess it is a case of just seeing how it goes.
Lunch eaten, 17.5 hour fast and I'm enjoying my coffee now.

Reading through this thread I think the reason I struggled with 5:2 diet was because I'd spend the two days focussed on what I couldn't eat/how hungry I felt not on how good I feel combining 18:6 with LCHF.
I'm 8lb down and rarely think about sweet stuff let alone bread and pastries (I couldn't go shopping without having one with a coffee and bringing a couple of pastries home 😊)
It's a revelation to me!

Hello...can I join in please?
I struggle to lose weight. I lost a stone over a year ago and have managed to keep it off but its so hard. I lost the weight with paleo/low carbish/no dairy. It was relatively easy but I do suffer from disordered eating and at times felt resentful and lost focus regarding not being able to eat "normally". I can lose weight by hardly eating at all but thats no way to live. I dont actually eat alot of food but it seems to me that carbs cause me to gain weight or at least not lose any more. I need to get back on this I think as its the only way I can lose weight and inches. Need to view it as a for life thing .

Sorry posted in wrong thread 🤔

Captain being morbidly obese teaches you a lot, one of those things is how to just get on with things Hard core is one word for it, sheer bloody minded are the words DP uses

I spoke to my PT about IF and she reckons I need to try it and see how I get on with the significant understatement of the year increase in my activity levels. She's really keen to get my fat loss moving ASAP so I can start doing more advanced training stuff with her, so anything that might kick start this is a bonus.

I'm going to try and eat before 8pm tonight although I need to do the food shop so it will probably be later than that unfortunately!

I've also got a yoga session at lunch time tomorrow so wont be able to eat until 1:30 anyway and by that time after spin plus yoga I'm going to be ravenous.

See how you go Jiminny. I don't see any reason why you shouldn't combine LCHF and 16:8 with the exercise regime. You should consider having a low carb protein shake after intensive workouts. Just keep eating to your appetite and watch out for feeling shaky. Maybe carry some salted nuts in your gym bag until you have a better idea of how exercise affects you. I would expect you to see a huge improvement very quickly.

Poppy, I tried 5:2 about a year ago and couldn't get anywhere with it. I spent the entire time trying to work out how much food I could stretch my 500 calories to, so I spent an inordinate amount of time either thinking about food or trying to find a way to trick the system. 16:8 is a total breeze in comparison.

I finished dinner by 6 p.m. so I only have to make it to 10 a.m. tomorrow. That should be easy as I have to go to DS2's school assembly at tomorrow so by the time I've been to that and dropped DS3 off at his school then I'll be nearly there.

Jiminny you have been LCing for while now, so should be fat adapted, so that should help with the exercise.
That's good Stunt. I didn't finish dinner until 8pm tonight, so will have a while longer to go.

I usually finish by six and often find I've passed ten without thinking of food. Im amazed at how easy this is being. I certainly don't feel like I'm fasting.

We tend to eat late because my daughter still likes us all to eat together when she gets in from uni and work (just after 8, usually). If she still values it, it's a habit I'm very reluctant to break, because it's a time when a lot of conversation happens. Sounds a bit precious of me when I see it written down, but it's nice to have that time together even though she's grown up, and I'm sure it will end soon enough. And although I tend to do the cooking for it, I'm never the one who clears up after! It does mean though that my eating window is late : 1pm-9pm

Not precious ilove. I love it when my adult children want to spend time with me and prioritise it. My youngest is still at school and comes home starving with clubs later so that's why we eat early.

Today I have discovered that 6:30am spinning class is HARD.

I really struggled with the up hill, standy up bits because my legs wouldnt support my weight for some reason

As the class went on I could stand up for longer at a time so I reckon it will just take some getting used to.

My PT thinks I'm "not a morning person" because I was visibly struggling quite a lot and she seems to think I'd do better with an evening cardio session, so my next spin is Monday at 6:30pm and will be in the evening from now on. Next gym session with her is a hell class on Friday after work and I've got 50 mins of yoga at 12:30 today ..

I hurt everywhere, I'm hungry and if it wasnt from the gym buzz I'd have dived head first into one of the doughnuts currently in the office kitchen [pouty face]

Roll on 12:30 when I can eat!

ilove I think that sounds lovely and hope my adult children will want to eat with me. They don't as children.
Jiminny I've replied on the other thread, but I think you should have some food now and not wait until 12.30.
I'm only at 13 hours here and feeling hungrier than most mornings, but I'm having a black coffee and drinking water, so I think it should abate. If it doesn't, I'll eat at 10am, so I will have at least done a 14 hour fast.

I'm not fasting today. Just feeling a bit out of sorts and tired so decided to have posh sausages wrapped in lettuce :)

Jiminny I've never done a spin class but I expect it takes some practice to get your coordination right. I went out for a bike ride recently after about 5 years of not riding and I found it really tricky to mount, dismount and there's no way I would have been able to stand up on the pedals. Maybe it isn't actually like riding a bike? Don't feel that you have to wait until 12:30 to eat, if you're hungry then eat, equally if you're not hungry then wait. Those of us that have been fasting a little longer have found that we have become more sensitive to our appetites. You may still be in the stage where it's difficult to tell whether you're hungry or not.

I had a hellish evening yesterday. DS4 would not go to sleep, it took DH and I three hours to get him asleep for the night, then DS3 decided to cry and whimper all night (long story behind that). If someone had handed me food I would have fallen on it as if starving; instead I drank loads of water. Before I introduced 16:8 I would have been off to the takeaway for sure, and probably had an alcoholic drink as well. It's amazing what a difference it has made in such a short time. Now I'm much more able to tell whether it's a niggly non-hunger hunger (if that makes sense) or whether I truly need to eat something. DH was eating duck scratchings last night so I had one but genuinely didn't need to eat. Sorry if I'm going on about this but it really is a revelation to me. I always had to fear hunger and do anything to stave it off. My mum and my DH get all panicky when I don't eat breakfast because they know the effect it used to have. DH was known to shove a chocolate biscuit in my mouth when I got particularly out of control!

Found you guys! Did IF on Monday and Tuesday, but woke up actively hungry this morning so had some yoghurt and nuts. Unsurprisingly, I'm now hungry again (at 11am).

Nameless It's no bad thing to eat if you wake up hungry after 2 fast days. See what time you have your last meal tonight and fast after that.

My husband and I shared working and childcare (different jobs though, not a job share). So while we often couldn't always eat together, the 'caring' adult would always eat with the kids, and leave a plated meal for the working adult, so they were always used to at least one of us eating with them. We had a nanny the one day a week which we couldn't cover, and on that night the two of us always ate later together because she'd always fed them. They loved their one day of 'kiddie' food and we got a blissful meal! Win win!

Nameless I agree with Wombat. One key to weight loss success is to change things up every so often. If your body thinks your starving it by denying it breakfast then every so often give it a full English to keep it guessing.

Well after all my "im hungry" moaning this morning, I've just come out of Yoga, sat down to eat my lunch and I dont want it! Appitite completely gone. Gah!! Totally goes to show it was emotional and not real hunger, I chilled right out in yoga, probably got rid of the anxiety I was feeling this morning and now suddenly I'm back to normal! I HATE my brain!!!

Stunt and wombat - I completely agree about mixing things up! I have a colleague who cycles 14 miles a day and often 50 at the weekend. She's been doing a 90 day life diet thing with a coach (she pays) and has lost zero inches. Her coach says it's because she's so adapted to the exercise (I think it's because she cycles slowly so she doesn't get sweaty!)

Dinner by 6 again so I only have to make it to 10 again tomorrow. I haven't seen a much difference on the scales but I feel slimmer around the middle. I have Pilates tonight so I think I'll be in for a bit of DOMS this week too.

I definitely feel like my satiety signal doesn't work. I had what seemed like an adequate dinner but was still hungry for about an hour afterwards.

always had to fear hunger and do anything to stave it off

I feel I have found my tribe here. I'm amazed by how often I had been eating in order to prevent myself from getting hungry, that I have no idea what hunger actually feels like. Woke up with no appetite this morning, expecting to have breakfast. No appetite at all. Drank lots of water and picked up again with a normal meal 24hrs after the last meal. This has really transformed my life.

YES! I had a terrible fear of hunger, because it made me feel so ill - sweaty, clammy, faint, shaky. So I definitely used to eat 'just in case'. So I wouldn't have dreamt of going for a walk, the gym, the pool etc without eating beforehand. Hunger is much less frightening now, because all that happens is I feel hungry - don't get any of the other symptoms.