I've been at moderate low carb (~100 grams/day) and losing ~1 lb/week. In the last 2 weeks, I've done 3 fasts each lasting ~40 hours. My rate of weight loss has increased to 1.5 lb/week. I intend to keep this up the rest of the month and re-evaluate.

I'm posting just because I haven't done a ton of IF intentionally.... although I have done it without setting out to do so. What has been great for me is that it is teaching me to not eat if I'm not hungry. As a habitual eater (stress, emotions, boredom, etc) I find breaking that pattern is HUGE for me. So basically I have begun intermittent fasting about 5 days a week without a "plan" or an "I'm now going to do this". And it works.

One of the wonderful things about IF is that it prepares you for the times when you sit down to a meal you're invited in or find yourself at a restaurant where there are NO lo-carb options. Simply saying "I'm good, thanks", and eating nothing is the best option, and because my hunger is under control it is no big deal. For me this is a really big deal, because I'm working on strategy / mindset for Lo-Carb eating LONG term.

I'm sure being more intentional in the process is great, but for now staying clearly Keto is planning enough for me. Later, I'll do some more experimenting.

shrinkinmama27 wrote: »

Thanks for the responses everyone! Today is my first day IF. Typically I'm not really hungry until lunch anyways, but I eat something because I think that I HAVE to. Well today, I'm starving! LOL! Must be my brain playing games!

I had that same problem in the beginning, I think it was all mental, you get very accustomed to a schedule any changes can be tricky at first, I don't have that hunger feeling anymore

I've lost the hunger PAIN/PANG. I can cruise past the 16 hour window no problem, but I make sure to stay hydrated with green tea or water or soda water. I started LCHF 50 days ago, and IF I'm a haphazard way last week in June. Most days I am consistent with IF even if I jump into a bag of movie Popcorn. I can't parse which method is the ticket, but using them together I am on a steady downward trend even though I've had some bad days.
Most important for sticking with something is to actually enjoy it. Give it a go for a week or two, and assess.
I like feeling real hunger sometimes now. And il love the feeling I get as I cruise past 16 hours to 18 and more some days. I am learning to think before I eat!!

...now if I could just learn to think before I speak...

CoinOperatedKitten wrote: »

So I am relatively new here and I don't know anything about this IF...I think it means intermittent fasting? Can one of you explain the basics or tell me if there is another thread explaining it?

Ya, IF=intermittent fasting. The basics are, eat the same amount of food but in less time. This can be on a daily scale or a weekly scale.
So, a example day scale is 16:8 (don't eat for 16 hours, eat your meals during an 8 hour period) or "Fast5" (aka 19:5) ... Warrior Diet *kinda* is 23:1 but in the original book he had people eating fruit and juice during the day which isn't really fasting.
Weekly scale would be Brad Pilon's Eat-Stop-Eat which has 1 or 2 24h periods of not eating in a week. Dr. Jason Fung does 24- 36h fasts a couple times a week for diabetes treatment. "Up day, Down Day" or ADF (Alternate Day Fasting) has you alternate between maintenance calories and ultra low calories (~500/day) ...

There are several potential benefits to IF (longevity benefits similar to caloric restriction, better nutrient partitioning, etc.) but there's not a lot of good long term human studies.
People often find by sticking to an IF schedule they are able to maintain a caloric deficit without as much willpower as when they're trying to eat smaller meals all week long.

I generally don't eat until 2-3pm so it works pretty well for me

EbonyDahlia wrote: »

.. on weekdays I will have a coffee with 1tblspn butter and 1 tblspn of coconut oil in the morning .... and I can easily wait til lunchtime to eat. On the weekends though I will have bacon and eggs kinda late morning with my OH, but then we often wont eat until dinner time.

This is exactly what i was doing for a good while up until the start of this week. Gotta love BPC but im undecided whether i actually see any weight-loss improvements over consuming the same amount of solid food for breakfast. It sure is tasty and convenient though and enables you to keep your calories fairly low over the course of breakfast/lunchtime, so im keeping BPC in my arsenal i think.

I decided to go for water fasts, starting as of yesterday, (well, maybe technically its not actually a water fast, b/c i have black coffee with no sweetener, unsweetened fruit tea & zero soda whilst fasting - but hopefully its still a viable fast, though?). I found the water fast easier and more enjoyable (yes enjoyable! - i couldnt believe it either!) than a BP Fast, due to more satiation, more energy & much better mood. And the results on the scale were most favorable with the water fast,

I did try water fasting again today, so 2 days consecutive. Im not doing that again, and going by my single experience i wouldnt recommend it either ! Well at least not aiming for 18+hrs both days. I managed 19 hours fast today (22.5 hrs yesterday), but this time i was hungry the whole time and it actually ended up making me sick, plus i couldnt exercise as planned either, so not as successful as yesterday. I think its probably best to aim for alternate days IFing, max, now. Today wasnt fun at all.

itsbakertime wrote: »

Ive never tried this intentionally. Does it positively impact metabolism/weight loss? The concept is interesting. I'd be afraid that I'd over eat because I was hungry though.

Its similar to exercise. Some people exercise and burn 1,000 calories. After the exercise, they are more hungry than normal and hopefully they won't eat more than they just burned off. Fasting will make you hungrier, your body is designed that way to keep you from dying/starving. So the plan is to NOT eat more, and burn the fat during the fasting portion.

I water fast and skip a day of eating. Besides all the other multitude of benefits you get from fasting, I try to take in less carbs after my fast. But sometimes I blow it and eat too much afterwards. Same dynamic as exercising and eating too much afterwards...

I hope this helps,
Dan the Man from Michigan
Keto / IF / Sedentary
92 pounds down, 32 to go.

My Blog: Intermittent Water Fasting & Keto
Blog #9 Fasting, Diabetic ~ Glucose/Sugar Levels

CoconuttyMummy wrote: »

@DittoDan - Do you always feel hungrier after your water fasts? Often? Sometimes? Rarely? Im just wondering whether this extra hunger is a given, or if you can reasonably expect to bank a few unused calories post-fast, on occasion. As it is, i wonder if you actually eat more calories on average when you fast, due to the increased hunger the following day? But then, does an increase in metabolism essentially take care of that?

Sooo many questions about fasting!

I need to make a blog about my experiences. I just have to find the time.

Yes, I am hungry, but the level of hunger is only slightly more than normal. In other words, I am less hungry than when I was a carboholic after 4 hours of not eating carbs. When I was a carboholic, I physically would salivate at the sight, smell or even talking about food. Not anymore, and not after a fast. Actually, if I keep busy doing things, I can extend my fast. I don't know about metabolism, I don't know how I would test that and anything I surmised would just be pure conjecture. There are too many variables in my life. Not hardly one day is the same with me. You give me a metabolism meter and I'll check myself...

I hope this helps,
Dan the Man from Michigan
Keto / IF / Sedentary
92 pounds down, 32 to go.

Haha, good point Dan

I still have this fear that if I don't take food to work I will be starving by 10:30 and I'll never make it til 12:30 when I get home. But that's carb eater thinking and I'm gradually getting over it. 3 of the last 5 days I've bought no food to work, just my coffee with butter and coconut oil and I've been fine when I get home. Even doing a few things like let the dog out, feed the fish, put on a load of washing before I have food.

My experience has been great so far. I typically eat 2 meals per day, breakfast and supper, but joined the July challenge so wanted to try some longer fasts while keto. I have been having BPC for breakfast and not eating daily until supper. 23 hr fast daily last work week, with extended fasts on the weekend, and I feel great. Just finished a 66 hr fast. My weight is down this week too.

I'm a natural faster... I've never really eaten breakfast and I don't have my lunch until around 2pm, so I'm generally fasting for about 16 hours without even thinking about it. I find having an 8 hour feeding window to be a really easy and effective way for me to moderate my caloric intake. Eating high-carb (especially early in the day) used to leave me ravenous! But with LCHF my hunger is much less, thereby making IF much more sustainable... so in that way I think the two are very complimentary.

I realize this was an older thread revived but I just stumbled on it. I just started 16-8 fasting this past Saturday. (this is day 6). I am mildly hungry skipping breakfast but really no more so than drinking BPC with protein powder and I'm saving about 350 calories to use later. My energy is fine especially considering i'm not sleeping well. My calories are down but unfortunately so is my protein. I eat at lunch and dinner and get full before I get enough protein in.
I'll weigh on Monday to see if it makes any difference that way.

Since I've started VLCHF (<70 net carbs a day) 3 weeks ago, I have quite worrying about when I eat. since I'm losing more weight and my net calories are lower than before when I was doing 15:9. I do occasionally skip breakfast though.