I am in hot water

onelonegypsy

I began to do intermittent fasting. It had great benefits for my son who has gotten me into it. There is only one problem. To reap the benefits (healthwise) you have to have nothing until your final meal unless it is water. No calories whatsoever.

Here is the problem ............. I hate cold water. In the morning I need a hot drink. However, I have found nothing that is drinkable unless it has milk or sugar or artificial sweeteners. Since genetically we taste things differently, it has been my misfortune to be in the position that artificial sweeteners taste very bitter and unpleasant. Some are even worse. So nothing with artificial sweeteners.

Surely, there must be something out there other than cold or hot water?????

kimny72

There are varying degrees of proponents of intermittent fasters. Since I believe the primary benefit of IF is appetite suppression (I find the "evidence" of other health benefits personally unconvincing), that's all I was concerned about when I was following it. And I would drink coffee with a little milk, hot or cold tea, water, whatever. I was looking for minimal calories and found none of those started up my appetite.

If you want to adhere strictly and have no calories, and can't drink black tea straight, perhaps a herbal tea, or flavored green tea would do the trick. You could drink either hot or cold.

RodaRose

How about plain tea or coffee? Neither has any calories.

cmriverside

How about hot tea? Some teas are naturally sweet without sugar or calories, like Rooibos tea, or licorice tea.

The "benefit" of Intermittent Fasting is not in the absolute absence of calories. If you want a teaspoon of sugar, have it. There is no "magic" in zero calories...regardless of what people try to tell you.

If you can't do an absolute fast, then don't. It's only beneficial if it helps you stick to your calorie goals. That's its main benefit. Sugar can trigger appetite/hunger, so that can be a problem.

Lots of people find it works for them but just as many don't. Find your own path.

NovusDies

onelonegypsy wrote: »

I began to do intermittent fasting. It had great benefits for my son who has gotten me into it. There is only one problem. To reap the benefits (healthwise) you have to have nothing until your final meal unless it is water. No calories whatsoever.

Here is the problem ............. I hate cold water. In the morning I need a hot drink. However, I have found nothing that is drinkable unless it has milk or sugar or artificial sweeteners. Since genetically we taste things differently, it has been my misfortune to be in the position that artificial sweeteners taste very bitter and unpleasant. Some are even worse. So nothing with artificial sweeteners.

Surely, there must be something out there other than cold or hot water?????

Most of the "health benefits" are currently nothing more that internet tall tales. That is not to say they don't exist it is just to say there is no conclusive evidence of it in humans. If you were going to skip a meal anyway for calorie management that is fine. I certainly wouldn't stress yourself for some unproven benefit because the stress is worse.

Trechechus

I know a good number of people who have a coffee in the morning (with or without creamer) and then fast the rest of the day. These have been both body-builders and just people working on fitness / losing weight.

I've taken to drinking hot water in my coffee mug at work, simply because I find the office freezing, and cannot indefinitely keep refilling my coffee without becoming a jittery mess. It took a bit of getting used to, but it's okay. Also, maybe herbal tea? Maybe put some peppermint or a cinnamon stick in the hot water? Or ice some mint tea?

steveko89

Any time I've dabbled with intermittent fasting I've had positive results despite not following the rules and still having 100 calories of vanilla creamer in my morning coffee. The biggest benefit is how much it helps me with my calorie adherence, though since I'm basically wide-band recomping hitting my protein goal and supplying my body with protein consistently is more important to my goals so I opt not to follow IF at present, it just requires I be more intentional about adhering to my calorie limits. Regardless of how you get there it all comes down to CICO. Do what's most sustainable for you.

Fuzzipeg

I'm wondering how long you are fasting for? Benefits of fasting can be achieved when not only having one meal a day. I'm on thin ice here but I suggest you look into IF for yourself. You may find you can have more than one meal which sounds like an ordeal, using a shorter fasting window. It is said many of the benefits of fasting come about because the digestive system is able to work through all its processes after food is consumed, I read in some medical papers the liver completes its cycle in apx 5 hours. The problem people can have is that they snack most of the time so the digestive system has to go back to the first stage. Thinking as I type, if you were to start with a shorter fasting period building up as you ease into it. I suppose there can be benefits of diving right in. I hope you will take time to read in to IF and other ways of eating which may suite you better. Remember what matters in all this, is you do what is right for you

steveko89

Fuzzipeg wrote: »

I'm wondering how long you are fasting for? Benefits of fasting can be achieved when not only having one meal a day. I'm on thin ice here but I suggest you look into IF for yourself. You may find you can have more than one meal which sounds like an ordeal, using a shorter fasting window. It is said many of the benefits of fasting come about because the digestive system is able to work through all its processes after food is consumed, I read in some medical papers the liver completes its cycle in apx 5 hours. The problem people can have is that they snack most of the time so the digestive system has to go back to the first stage. Thinking as I type, if you were to start with a shorter fasting period building up as you ease into it. I suppose there can be benefits of diving right in. I hope you will take time to read in to IF and other ways of eating which may suite you better. Remember what matters in all this, is you do what is right for you

^^ Also this, I misread "final meal" as "first meal". What OP has described is essentially OMAD (one meal a day), a more vigorous form of IF. The window I used when I've tried IF is what's referred to as a 16:8 protocol where one fasts for 16 hours and eats within 8 hours. For most this is pretty easily achieved by skipping breakfast, having lunch at 12pm and finishing dinner by 8pm.

Trechechus

steveko89 wrote: »

Fuzzipeg wrote: »

I'm wondering how long you are fasting for? Benefits of fasting can be achieved when not only having one meal a day. I'm on thin ice here but I suggest you look into IF for yourself. You may find you can have more than one meal which sounds like an ordeal, using a shorter fasting window. It is said many of the benefits of fasting come about because the digestive system is able to work through all its processes after food is consumed, I read in some medical papers the liver completes its cycle in apx 5 hours. The problem people can have is that they snack most of the time so the digestive system has to go back to the first stage. Thinking as I type, if you were to start with a shorter fasting period building up as you ease into it. I suppose there can be benefits of diving right in. I hope you will take time to read in to IF and other ways of eating which may suite you better. Remember what matters in all this, is you do what is right for you

^^ Also this, I misread "final meal" as "first meal". What OP has described is essentially OMAD (one meal a day), a more vigorous form of IF. The window I used when I've tried IF is what's referred to as a 16:8 protocol where one fasts for 16 hours and eats within 8 hours. For most this is pretty easily achieved by skipping breakfast, having lunch at 12pm and finishing dinner by 8pm.

I third this. When I do IF, I either to 16:8 or two days a week of 24 hour fasting (dinner to dinner) and the rest of the week I eat normally.

breanamock

Yes to all the IF stuff said above, as well as the flavored tea ideas. You could also try hot water (perhaps with a squeeze of lemon or lime). If you really want your morning coffee, you might try stevia. Since it’s an actual (highly refined) plant like sugarcane (though without calories), it doesn’t have the artificial, nasty taste of other 0-cal sweeteners. Doesn’t taste identical to sugar, but doesn’t taste bad.

onelonegypsy

Thank you everyone for all your comments which have been very helpful. smile: