Low Carb Paleo Diet/Intermittent Fasting/Intermittent Diet

[GreatEXPATations]

Anyone interested in/following these? If so, want to compare notes and support each other along the way? There was quite an active Intermittent Diet thread until last month but it's died a death [: (]

Basically, I've been researching around the subject for a while and am very convinced by the principles of low-carbing having read Atkins/Gary Taubes/Briffa/IPD/Dukan etc

I've been on a mainly gluten-free diet for over a year anyway (though hadn't realised how v high-carb rice-cakes and the like were!); I've been doing low carb since Jan initially following the clinically trialled and evidence-based Intermittent Diet
www.genesisuk.org/blog/?p=896
with great success but then fell into the Atkins camp and have been playing around with that.

Does it ever make you binge/ overheat later in the day? Has that effect in me sometimes. I realise the idea is to CUT intake not just squeeze the same into eating window, have read a lot now need to experiment w how best this works for me.
Do you do daily or just every now and then?

Most of my life has been 'fast and feast': that's when I was slim and kept the weight off, even after 2 children. I started eating three meals a day to be a good example to ds, when he had a few feeding issues...the pound/the stones just kept on piling, the carb count kept going up and snaking was rife.

I stall or/and put on weight with cheese but not with chocolate (85% or above), but I do steer away from both if on a boot camp period.

Has anyone tried or has an opinion on Xylitol sweetened chocolate?

Creamtea1, I find I need to exercise on an empty stomach too. Also, if I'm hungry and exercise before I eat, I usually eat less- must be all the water I end up drinking. :)
I've also being telling my mum that breakfast is overrated since I was 5!

GreatEXPATations, yes. Sometimes you inevitably end up binging/overeating but I think that would be a natural Paleo man response. Then again I also find that if I have binged (like yesterday on flaxseed bread), most of the time I'm not hungry at all the day after.

Hi everyone. Well my feasting at w.e gained me 1 kilo .. : ( still fasted 14 hrs overnight, about to weight train ..think this takes time for acclimatization ..
Xylitol choc ok I think- producers seem to claim aid to weightless which
Seems a little far-fetched but certainly v low carb if high Vivian
Content.
Have really enjoyed recent fasting FAQs etc on Marks Daily Apple, making me tend more towards 14-17 hr regular fasts as suit my life better. Interesting to note he "sometimes' thinks women should fast 14hrs to men's 16..wonder why? Hormone levels/ different fat distribution?!

Vivian?! Good old iPhone autocorrect! Hmm ensure you have lots of Vivian.. or even a high-cocoa content!

I'm in, I did dip into the low-carbers thread, but they are a bit hard core (telling me off for eating an apple )

I am following intermittent low-carb, so strict Atkins style two days of the week, and then sensible eating the remainder of the week.

I find I can eat fat (butter, cheese, cream) alongside veggies and protein on the Atkins days and still lose 2-3 lbs.

Welcome, devil! How long have you been following that?

Hi - I started with Weighwatchers just before Xmas, soon got fed up with that, and then started this intermittent low-carb eating about 4 weeks ago. Have lost almost a stone in total (although have just been in Holland for the weekend, so am probably a couple of pounds up) Haven't dared get on the scales yet!

Well done! Even if u have put on a pound or 2 still fab result and as they say it's a way of eating not a diet so can't put yr life on hold IMHO! Briffa's 80/20 rule is my mantra ( tho can be license to overindulge if not careful!)

Think I've lost 5 kilos over at least a year (starting w gluten free diet) of which 3 .5kilos (in past 4months) has been due to low carbing, so quite pleased. Just got the tricky last few lbs to get off and keep off now !

Hello - I've been low carbing for a few weeks now, taking a John Briffa style approach and feel loads better generally. In particular fewer headaches - I used to get a lot of blood sugar related headaches. Not lost much weight though - about 5lbs so far (am 5ft 9 and was 12/12, down to about 12/7). I think I'm probably over-doing it on the nuts, cheese and 85% dark choc (funny how you can get a taste for that). So am quite interested to hear a couple of you saying you're doing alternate Briffa-type days and stricter days. I'd be up for that, I think. Might give it a go.

But not sure whether to alternate Briffa and Atkins or Briffa and Dukan. What are the Dukan principles? I know you can eat cottage cheese but what else?

PS - looking forward to the Vivian chocolate. Where can I buy this lovely delicacy?

Hi expat and everyone else off the low carb thread

This is very interesting. I have read about fasting on low carb boards and fitness boards but have been worried about the starvation mode thing after years of being warned about not skipping meals etc.

I have been doing atkins and am finding it good even though I didn't even lose any weight on bootcamp. The 80/20 approach is also interesting. Atkins et al say its all or nothing and that as soon as you eat something carby you will gain pounds overnight. Well I cheated last night and had milk chocolate and cream cakes (don't tell BIWI). I expected to be out of ketosis and to have gained a few pound this am so wasn't going to weigh myself but decided to see what the damage was. Well I have lost 1lb! So it may well show tomorrow but it certainly hasn't done me any harm today. Yes I am out of ketosis, just, which I expected, but it tasted nice and i just felt i wanted to have it. I don't want to be eating that sort of stuff as cheats regularly because I don't want the cravings to come back but I wonder if a bit of a shake up is what my body needed. I have to admit I had become overly obsessed and in some ways frightened of carbs. I am wondering wether the 80/20 rule with some fasting might be a way of keeping my body guessing and therefore my metabolism running at a reasonable level and also allows for the odd cheat at special occasions etc so I don't feel deprived and like I can't join in.

Sorry for ramble, I will go and read the link now

Hi dotty2,
Glad to hear about your headaches disappearing.
Prof. L Cordain (paleodiet.com) says that dairy products elicit a similar insulin response to bread and I seem to put on weight just by smelling cheese! Nuts and seeds don't seem to have the same effect on me but I do stick to the low carb ones.

vnmum- my lips are sealed but chocolate and cakes.

Hah, yes! wish my lips were sealed to stop me overindulging sometimes!
welcome, dotty and vnmum, good to see more of us!

Fava, you are most fortunate not to put on weight w 85% choc, i've got to like it too much and can't seem to stop at only 2 pieces

Dotty, maybe you & I need some of the choc which Fava has or the Vivian stuff .. I'm still playing around with the alternating thing, it seems to me that Dukan fits slightly less with the Atkins/Briffa WOE tho still focus on low carb. I think the emphasis is on low fat/fat free so i'm guessing low fat dairy in small amounts ok but probably only in later phases. From memory,"attack" is just protein, then alternates protein/veg day with protein days for a while..

Vnmum, like you am all for shaking my body up to trick it into submission some how! I also like Briffa's philosophy of 80/20 as it's so much more realistic - I LOVE food and want ot be able to enjoy all kinds of it just a little, sometimes..He also emphasises that diets DON'T work in the long-term (he seems to be an advocate of Atkins if anything but reading him and Taubes and co is making me think i've got to find something sustainable for me, a balance between low-carb and not sabataging my own efforts all the time then beating myself up for failing.. I realise all this needs to be balanced against the risk of stimulating carb-cravings if i revert too much..

I fasted today by chance really for a full 24 hours..I actually went beyond hunger and was helped by having a v v busy day. Never been that long before and won't make a habit of it but feel it did me no harm, our bodies are adapted to be able to cope for famine circs and so I haven't keeled over! for me this makes up for a very sociable (and enjoyable w/e when i DID overdo it)..As long as i can somehow live/learn to stablise these swings, i should be ok. I don't want to feel i have to fast every week to play catch-up...

I generally only fast if I over indulged and then following Paul Mckenna don't want to eat until I am hungry again. I fast twice a year for religious reasons, 24 hours, no food OR DRINK, nightfall to nightfall. Its harder not drinking as get v bad headache.

I love 85% choc and find it hard to stop at 2 pieces. not having as am in weight loss phase post holiday to lose the 4 lbs I gained , generally have some choc when in weight maintenance phase.

'Stop after two squares' is clearly a typo and should read 'stop after two square bars'
I eat chocolate to stop me eating the nuts and the nuts to stop me eating the chocolate.

Nuts and chocolate together has to be particularly good because all the fat should help absorb the macro-nutrients. < Vivian chocolate recipe,perhaps? >

I like yr reasoning, Fava and the new name

Chocolate smile

Hi all, sorry for taking so long to post back. I find that similar to you guys the success of the fasts depend on how busy I am - sometimes literally have no time. I never eat breakfast at all so I guess do a daily fast! This week have also been trying out protein shakes instead of lunch - today was starving around 6pm and caved in to a biscuit...
Defo agree if exercise on an empty stomach then the hunger seems to go a bit afterwards.
Also weigh myself approx 2-3 times a day, admittedly get a bit obsessive over it all.

creamtea have you tried adding double cream to the shakes to up the fat and satiate you for longer

Nuts, chocolate, cheese - they are my downfall.Too easy to over-indulge. However, managed a no nut day yesterday. So think today will try no cheese and tomorrow no chocolate. We'll see.

Downfall on all above yesterday yet strangely 1/2?kilo down today...fasting again today except for coffee w tiny bit of cream and the smallest of homemade cookies which some bugger put on my saucer in my local cafe

Will fast/ not really eat til whenever today. C how it goes. Am cold so need to fill up on hot drinks .. How's everyone doing?
Oh and was just googling Tim Ferris. He of "4 hour body". He's v off the wall and so commercial but intriguing 5 rules on "slow-carbing"

1. no white carbs (he includes dairy
2. no fruit
3. don't drink calories
4. have same few ingredients w all meals- protein/veg/pulse
5. have 1 day off a week to (over) indulge Anyone tried it/read his stuff?

Just reading mark sissons' Primal Blueprint- v good read, probably all info on his website but my ageing eyes I prefer
book format sometimes.