Am I fasting?

Tony337

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Not being on holiday....
Hi
I often go 24 hours without eating.
If my sugar levels are good then not a morsel passes my lips.
However I drink coffee with milk during said 24 hours.
So am I actually fasting?

I suffer with bad guts, coeliac and Bile Acid Malabsorption, which means sometimes I eat and I have bad guts and other times after the same meal I'm fine.
I have got this off to a fine art and I drive and work and concoct insulin with other medicines to keep me on the straight and narrow.
I mention this as friends and family think I'm mad and can't work out how or why I do it.
I work on a simple theory that if my blood sugars are good then I'm good.

Your thoughts please?

Thank you
Tony
 

mariavontrapp

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Jason Fungs books and youTube talks are a good way to find out more about fasting
 

bulkbiker

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Sounds like you are intermittent fasting.. I did it last week eating once per day.
Do you find it easier to control your blood sugar levels?
Obviously as a Type 2 I do it to keep my sugars low (plus I have lost a shedload of weight)
 

Tony337

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Not being on holiday....
Sounds like you are intermittent fasting.. I did it last week eating once per day.
Do you find it easier to control your blood sugar levels?
Obviously as a Type 2 I do it to keep my sugars low (plus I have lost a shedload of weight)

I do find it easier to control my blood sugar levels and obviously I take less insulin but my motives are to keep my stomach happy and that's the bit people don't understand.
I am the right weight to height and am in good shape.
Thanks
Tony
 
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I assume you are keeping an eye on your weight - if you are currently "the right weight and height and ... in good shape", it is important to maintain this whilst eating less.

As for whether you are fasting, whenever I have to do a fasting blood test or fast for surgery, I am told to drink clear liquids or black tea. So from that perspective, drinking coffee with milk, you are not technically fasting ... although your intake is much lower.

You don't say how much coffee you are drinking ... take care not to become dependent on caffeine to keep the engine going.
 

Tony337

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Not being on holiday....
Thanks
3 Cups in the morning and 1 in the afternoon.

My weight seems stable.

Next Question.....

Long term is this regime healthy?
The three meals a day has been the norm since Adam was a lad so i keep questioning the wisdom of doing what i'm doing.
My sugar levels are good and i do eat if i need to or if i want to so its not like i have a disorder although i do view food as the enemy but only after a bad bout of bad guts....

Tony
 

Robbity

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Personally I think that our three meals a day are probably just a long standing convention - there's no real point in eating if you don't feel hungry is there! And if you think about it, when we had to hunt/scavenge for our food there was absolutely no guarantee that we'd ever get three meals a day. So if you cope better the way you eat now I don't see anything wrong - you know your body best after all... And I wouldn't worry about any correct or technical definitions of fasting either - nd from what I've read on the forum some people have their own personal definitions anyway.

Robbity
PS Now I'm retired I welcome the freedom to eat if and when I fancy! :p
 
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Kristin251

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I don't fast because I can't. I need to eat right when I get up orbs climbs.

However I DO understand the digestion issue. My stomach is no good either but the I have found the foods that work for me and the foods that don't so I stick to the ones that do of course and I eat very small meals throughout the day. Snack size or a few spoonfuls.

There are more foods that don't work for me than so. I don't digest ANY grains, starch, sugar, fruit at all. Veggies need to be chopped small and eaten in very small quantities. NO MILK. I can get away with a small pie a of certain cheeses. No aged like Parmesan and no liquidy like milk, cream, sour cream, cottage cheese.

I have no problem with proteins and fats if not over eaten of course.
4 times a day I eat 1/4 avocado and 1-2 oz protein. Lots of times all on a lettuce wrap. At dinner I have another veg like asparagus but again only about 3 stalks. Sometimes I make more and add some to my other meals. I don't do well with fiber at all.

By eating very small low carb meals my bs is very good and almost as important so is my stomach. I spent too many years with bloating and cramping. Now I just eat my limited menu and all is good MOST of the time. The ticket for me was the snack size meals but more often. I make my ,inch and divide it into two meals.
I think you need to find the foods that work for you and I have to question the milk !!!
I fear by all your fasting you're not getting enough protein and nutrients. I'm not trying to lecture you at all as I went through the same thing many times. Just didn't want to eat because I'd be in pain after. Do you have food that you're ok with MOST of the time?
I see people at restaurants with shedloads of food on their plates and wonder how they eat it all!! A basic restaurant meal could last me more than a full day even if I took off the breads and chips.

I never have a problem with avocado and moderate to small amounts of protein but the rest is a wild card. I know my beg tolerance for the day so if I eat a salad for lunch I don't have it for dinner etc. It took years for me to find my foods.
I am just offering suggestions for foods to think about to try or pass on. And to let you know I feel your pain. Not many people understand the nasty stomach thing.
 

tim2000s

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Long term is this regime healthy?
There's a fair amount of research that points to man having fasted intermittently throughout history, mainly due to lack of food rather than choice, and very little that says that it is bad for you, so I wouldn't have too many concerns about this/.
 
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Kailee56

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LADA
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Are you fasting? Sort of.
The coffee with milk shouldn't do much, if anything, to your blood glucose levels. This is why Dr Jason Fung allows small amounts of cream, not milk, in coffee in his fasting protocol. He says it helps with compliance. So, from a diabetic view, you are probably not requiring insulin to deal with the assumed small amount of milk in your coffee, so yes, you are fasting.
I fast for my blood glucose levels, but also to encourage autophagy. Protein, even in small amounts, will halt this process. For this reason, I drink my coffee black or blend it with straight fats without any protein while fasting? Since coffee encourages autophagy, I do not consider this a break in my fast.
 
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