Adding IF to my plan
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I read an article that mentions an 'insulin response' to sweeteners even if there isn't an impact to blood glucose.
Baby steps. One day I'll work up to a water only fast, until then I'll do as few of the 'aids' as I can.2 -
Ya, I think fake sugars are ok if you tolerate them well. They may cause an insulin response, but so can stomach stretching itself (like, from drinking plain water) ... we need more good human trials to really know for sure. If artificial sweetners help you through the fasting period, whether it's diet soda or Mio drops or whatever, I think that's an okay thing. If you find you still have cravings for food even after some weeks under your chosen IF protocol, then maybe try cutting back on the AS.6
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This podcast addresses the artificial sweetener issue, it names stevia but the research he talks about includes the others as well. It is just stevia is the darling of cooks who have to have sweetened treats.
https://www.ketovangelist.com/episode-114-dr-bruce-fife-makes-the-case-against-stevia/
Steph_Maks, In one of his talks, can't remember which one, there are so many I have heard now. Fung mentions it is okay to squeeze lemon or lime into your water, or even a sprig of mint. This really helps if you get bored with plain water. You can also do teas made from herbs or spices like ginger to mix up the flavoring a bit. Fung is big on cinnamon, so a stick of it in water might be worth a try?2 -
Aren't we all doing some form of IF, anyway? We eat dinner abiut 5:30 here because we have small children, then I don't get a chance to eat breakfast till about 11am the next day. Never considered it fasting. I have to take the eldest to school, the next one to kindy (preschool), then the baby and I go for a walk so she can have a nap, and I work from home selling lego so that has to get done before I eat.2
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getfitchelle wrote: »Aren't we all doing some form of IF, anyway? We eat dinner abiut 5:30 here because we have small children, then I don't get a chance to eat breakfast till about 11am the next day. Never considered it fasting. I have to take the eldest to school, the next one to kindy (preschool), then the baby and I go for a walk so she can have a nap, and I work from home selling lego so that has to get done before I eat.
I fast between meals, but really don't IF at all because I eat early and late due to liking to eat at home and my schedule -- 6, 12, and 9-10, usually, which means I fast as long between lunch and dinner (often more) as between dinner and breakfast. I do think this is weird, though! ;-)
For me I think the benefit of IF would be not thinking about food for a period of time, just taking it off the table, which is similar to my benefit from not snacking.
I have considered trying it, but lunch is really the meal I care about least, it would be sad to me to skip breakfast or dinner although I don't think very hard once I got in the habit.
I've been intrigued by protocols like ADF and 5:2, but can't seem to get myself to actually do them.0 -
I'm doing okay with my 14/10 plan, although no dramatic changes have occurred yet.
I'm a frequent visitor on Pinterest. If you go there yourself, you'll already know that the ideas you find there are the good, the dubious and the truly awful. In the latter category, while reading about IF I came across a novel notion: a seven day water fast. Yes, a full week of absolutely nothing but H2O. It's a pretty good bet that any regimen is a bad idea if inflicting it on someone else would result in criminal charges.0 -
@mandycat223 In the LCHF fasting community there are plenty of folks who derive great benefits from water only fasts of various durations.1
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mandycat223 wrote: »I'm doing okay with my 14/10 plan, although no dramatic changes have occurred yet.
I'm a frequent visitor on Pinterest. If you go there yourself, you'll already know that the ideas you find there are the good, the dubious and the truly awful. In the latter category, while reading about IF I came across a novel notion: a seven day water fast. Yes, a full week of absolutely nothing but H2O. It's a pretty good bet that any regimen is a bad idea if inflicting it on someone else would result in criminal charges.LizinLowell wrote: »@mandycat223 In the LCHF fasting community there are plenty of folks who derive great benefits from water only fasts of various durations.
Yes, quite a few years ago, I did a 9-day water-only fast. It felt a little uncomfortable because then, I didn't know about sodium, electrolytes and maintaining minerals, so the headaches lasted a bit longer than they would today. But it did me no harm.
We can actually comfortably tolerate an abstinence from food for around 2 weeks. With American/European dietary habits being what the are today, that's probably extended now!
Water? In our Western, '1st World' environment, going without water for more than 2 days will seriously affect our whole system and cut down the function of vital organs. Effects are felt after only 6 hours, much fewer in hot weather.... There are sectors of the human race who have adapted, according to availability....But don't for one instant assume they're not suffering...
Going without breathing for longer than 4 minutes can result in brain damage or even death.
So keep breathing, and drink.
That's MY advice!
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Interesting article on fasting:
http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/49462/title/Running-on-Empty/1 -
I've been struggling with eating at a deficit lately. I would eat 5-6 small meals, totaling 1550 calories. And it worked in the beginning because I was not used to eating so often. But as I got accustomed to the schedule, I started getting hungry. My small meals did not satisfy me and I would end up binging once or twice a week. I decided to try IF 16:8 today and surprisingly... it's not as bad as I thought it would be. Had black coffee and didn't eat until 1:30. Had a decent sized meal for lunch. Got home and had another large meal. And had another very filling extra peanut buttery protein shake. I'm happy how I'm not left feeling restricted. I will try this eating schedule for this week and see if it's something I can stick with.6
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LolaDeeDaisy23 wrote: »I will try this eating schedule for this week and see if it's something I can stick with.
I'd try to give it at least 3 weeks before you decide.
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LizinLowell wrote: »I do IF variously 16:8, 18:6, 20:4. I mix it up to keep my body guessing. [...] I plan to do longer fasts in the future (48-72 hours) to boost my metabolism & promote autophagy.[...]
This is me too. My usual IF is 16:8 however on days I'm not super hungry, it ends up being 20:4 or 18:6. It varies from day to day but is usually one of these three. I completed my first 24 hr fast a couple of days ago, and will be doing that once every week or so, slowly increasing the fasting time from 24 to 36 hrs, 48 hrs, etc.
I absolutely love IF, I feel like it has really balanced my body and retrained me on how to listed to hunger signals, thirst signals, etc... which were really messed up from a lifetime of eating by the clock.
When I was younger I avoided certain ceremonies and spiritual retreats if they required fasting, because I felt I just couldn't do it. I was glucose-fueled and there was no way I was willing to experience low blood sugar symptoms voluntarily, even for a spiritual experience. I am so happy to be fat-adapted now, going long periods of time without eating is no longer scary to me - bring on the ceremonies and retreats! I would be super open to that now
Also, the concept of autophagy fascinates me, and since I have a lot of weight to lose, excess skin is a concern. IF is worth a shot. It would be a huge plus to not have hanging skin once all this weight is gone!3