5:2 or other fasting. anyone fasting today?

[Chook]

Anyone else fasting today? Or fasts on a regular basis? I haven't yet found a thread for regular fasters but if I've missed it then I apologise in advance.

I more or less fast using the 5:2 method except that sometimes it's just once a week and occasionally three times a week. Depends on which days I work as I can't fast while working. The rest of the time I keep to very low carb and skip breakfast most days.

 

[bulkbiker]

Hi Chook
I skip breakfast every day and am currently liquid only fasting 3 days a week (mon wed and fri) then eating low carb high fat for the other 4 days. I managed to get my HbA1c down from 70 in October last year to 45 in Dec last year and will find out next week the results of the most recent one. The improvement then was by LCHF but I though I'd try some Jason Fung type fasting to see if it helped.

 

[swarnag]

I am trying to do 16:8 fasting from the beginning of last week. But some times its 10:10 or 14:10. Very rarely go on for about 18 Hrs.
During the fasting time I take coffee and tea with cream. Some time broth from dissolved stock cube.
What do you drink during fasting?
I have about 17 Kg of weight to loose. I am on LCHF. But since mid January my weight has plateaued., My Blood sugars are most of the time below 8 unless When I cheat.

 

[Brunneria]

I have coffee cream for breakfast 5-6 days a week, and eat between 12 and 7pm. No weight loss recently (long plateau) but my goodness I like the numbers. Unless I eat something carby, and then I get my just desserts, don't I?

 

[Chook]

Hi @bulkbiker - well done on those impressive numbers!! When you say Jason Fung type fasting, do you mean fasting for several days at a time? I've not been brave enough to do that yet although I've got some time off at the end of February and am thinking about a 2 or possibly 3 day fast then.

Hi @swarnag - I do a mixture of fasts. On work days I don't eat until 1pm and then have lunch and dinner. I do try to stop eating after dinner but sometimes I'll have a little something for supper when I get home from work (I work from 3pm to 10pm). On my days off I'll fast for 23 hours - dinner to dinner - and I just drink black coffee, Tetley redbush tea or plain water. I like the idea of the stock cube though! Just recently I've been having times when I'm VERY cold in the mid afternoon on fast days and I think a stock cube drink might help with that.

Hi @Brunneria - I've given up having coffee 'n' cream for breakfast because the cream wasn't stopping the DP (which was the reason for having it). I did initially lose a lot of weight due to the fasts (and low carbing) but since Christmas the same pound keeps coming and going. I carry on with the fasts because I like the numbers but I also like the positive feeling it gives me.

 

[britishpub]

Today was meant to be my usual Fasting day, but I had to go to work much earlier than usual, and a low FBG at 4;30 made my mind up for me. I probably won't be home tonight until 8:30 so fasting is probably not a good idea.

I'll have another go tomorrow, and then maybe Friday as well.

 

[Larissima]

I'm surprised to see this thread in the low calorie diets forum, as I certainly don't feel like I'm on a reduced calorie diet!

I've been fasting on a regular basis for something like 3-4 months now, in addition to eating LCHF at all times. I'm convinced that being in ketosis / fat adapted makes it easy to fast (for me), as in the past when I first tried 5:2 but was eating lots of carbs, I could not cope with the hunger and cravings.

I fast completely (no food) on Mon and Fri, which makes two 36-hour fasts per week. In addition, I have a moderate eating day on Weds, when I have just one meal at tea time. Over the holidays, when this wasn't convenient, I ate every day but skipped breakfast (16:8 type of fasting) and still shed 2 kgs in 3 weeks. Bear in mind that I have a lot of excess fat still to get rid of!

This pattern works great for me and my OH, whose BMI is now around 22 (but he was at 27 at his highest weight, whilst I reached 40!) - he eats at work on the days I don't cook and still has reduced intake twice weekly. My FBG has lowered by about 1 mmol/L, and the excess weight is falling off. Obviously, there's still a way to go, but this seems to be the path for me!

 

[msmi1970]

For me personally, IF + LCHF + a little exercise gave phenomenal results. For the first time in more than a year, my LDL came down to 7. I was eating one high fat/high calorie meal in the evening after exercise. As I noted in another thread, my blood sugars went as low as 3.1 and I felt fine.

Then, 3 weeks ago, my father had some serious medical issues & I completely lost it. Normally, when I binge on LCHF, it's restricted to nuts, cheese & diabetic chocolate. Absolutely no carbs. This time I went off the rails completely. I'm talking a loaf of bread a day, 4-8 bars of chocolates per day, ice cream,cakes, biscuits, sweets, rice, potatoes etc. Every time I tried to recover, my dad would get worse and I would go off again.

He is now recuperating in hospital, thankfully and I am determined to get back on the horse.

During this period, I have put on 20lbs. I did not bother to check my sugar levels regularly. The few times I did my sugars were in the 7+ range which was shocking. First day, back on IF, my BS pre-meal was 6. Second day and my BS was 4.8.

Over the last 15+ years, my random BS has always been in the 20-30 range. I literally never had a single hypo as I would ravage coke and mars bars in particular. To have it in the 7 range and back to 4.8 after the ridiculous amount of carbohydrates I consumed leaves me well and truly gobsmacked. I am really determined to get back to where I was 3 weeks ago. wish me luck.

 

[brettsza]

After I finished my ND I started 16:8 IF, its coming to an year now and have had fabulous result. No weight gain which is the biggest problem post ND. I did gain a few kilos in the beginning, but that was about it. I do HIIT along with 16:8 and low carb moderate fat.

 

[Lamont D]

There is a thread about fasting on the RH forum.
I do the intermittent fasting, this is really helpful to me.

 

[bulkbiker]

Hi @bulkbiker - well done on those impressive numbers!! When you say Jason Fung type fasting, do you mean fasting for several days at a time? I've not been brave enough to do that yet although I've got some time off at the end of February and am thinking about a 2 or possibly 3 day fast then.

Hi @swarnag - I do a mixture of fasts. On work days I don't eat until 1pm and then have lunch and dinner. I do try to stop eating after dinner but sometimes I'll have a little something for supper when I get home from work (I work from 3pm to 10pm). On my days off I'll fast for 23 hours - dinner to dinner - and I just drink black coffee, Tetley redbush tea or plain water. I like the idea of the stock cube though! Just recently I've been having times when I'm VERY cold in the mid afternoon on fast days and I think a stock cube drink might help with that.

Hi @Brunneria - I've given up having coffee 'n' cream for breakfast because the cream wasn't stopping the DP (which was the reason for having it). I did initially lose a lot of weight due to the fasts (and low carbing) but since Christmas the same pound keeps coming and going. I carry on with the fasts because I like the numbers but I also like the positive feeling it gives me.

Hi Chook
Yes I was thinking of trying a week or two. however today thought I'd try a 2 day fast after yesterday and feeling really hungry.. maybe its because I hadn't intended not to eat today and was going to take mother out to lunch.. but because she's not feeling so good decided not to eat instead..Still might try a longer one depending on how the rest of today goes.. bloods not looking especially amazing either. Will keep you informed.
Mark

 

[bulkbiker]

I'm surprised to see this thread in the low calorie diets forum, as I certainly don't feel like I'm on a reduced calorie diet!

I've been fasting on a regular basis for something like 3-4 months now, in addition to eating LCHF at all times. I'm convinced that being in ketosis / fat adapted makes it easy to fast (for me), as in the past when I first tried 5:2 but was eating lots of carbs, I could not cope with the hunger and cravings.

I fast completely (no food) on Mon and Fri, which makes two 36-hour fasts per week. In addition, I have a moderate eating day on Weds, when I have just one meal at tea time. Over the holidays, when this wasn't convenient, I ate every day but skipped breakfast (16:8 type of fasting) and still shed 2 kgs in 3 weeks. Bear in mind that I have a lot of excess fat still to get rid of!

This pattern works great for me and my OH, whose BMI is now around 22 (but he was at 27 at his highest weight, whilst I reached 40!) - he eats at work on the days I don't cook and still has reduced intake twice weekly. My FBG has lowered by about 1 mmol/L, and the excess weight is falling off. Obviously, there's still a way to go, but this seems to be the path for me!

Well done on those numbers.. keep it up!
Mark

 

[Chook]

Today was meant to be my usual Fasting day, but I had to go to work much earlier than usual, and a low FBG at 4;30 made my mind up for me. I probably won't be home tonight until 8:30 so fasting is probably not a good idea.

I'll have another go tomorrow, and then maybe Friday as well.

Good call. I don't fast unless I'm able to have complete control of when and how I eat so I never do it on a work day. I know some people prefer it like that because it takes their mind off the hunger pangs but I'm always worried about a potential hypo.

 

[Chook]

I'm surprised to see this thread in the low calorie diets forum, as I certainly don't feel like I'm on a reduced calorie diet!

I didn't know where else to put it. It doesn't really come under any of the existing forum categories so I chose low calorie diets as that is what it seems nearest to. I'm happy to have it moved if it should belong somewhere else though.

I also struggled with 5:2 when I was eating carbs, I was constantly hungry too and very, very hot. Cutting out carbs has definitely cooled me down and I very rarely feel hungry whether on a fast day or not.

Your plan sounds great. How do those 36 hour fasts fit in to the rest of your life - do you worry about having hypos?

 

[Chook]

For me personally, IF + LCHF + a little exercise gave phenomenal results. For the first time in more than a year, my LDL came down to 7. I was eating one high fat/high calorie meal in the evening after exercise. As I noted in another thread, my blood sugars went as low as 3.1 and I felt fine.

Then, 3 weeks ago, my father had some serious medical issues & I completely lost it. Normally, when I binge on LCHF, it's restricted to nuts, cheese & diabetic chocolate. Absolutely no carbs. This time I went off the rails completely. I'm talking a loaf of bread a day, 4-8 bars of chocolates per day, ice cream,cakes, biscuits, sweets, rice, potatoes etc. Every time I tried to recover, my dad would get worse and I would go off again.

He is now recuperating in hospital, thankfully and I am determined to get back on the horse.

During this period, I have put on 20lbs. I did not bother to check my sugar levels regularly. The few times I did my sugars were in the 7+ range which was shocking. First day, back on IF, my BS pre-meal was 6. Second day and my BS was 4.8.

Over the last 15+ years, my random BS has always been in the 20-30 range. I literally never had a single hypo as I would ravage coke and mars bars in particular. To have it in the 7 range and back to 4.8 after the ridiculous amount of carbohydrates I consumed leaves me well and truly gobsmacked. I am really determined to get back to where I was 3 weeks ago. wish me luck.

Getting back to such good numbers so quickly is great! Maybe, just maybe, previous the fasting and LCHF enabled your pancreas to start dealing with increased carbs better now.

I hope your father is feeling a lot better. You have done really well to get back to IF so quickly.

 

[Chook]

After I finished my ND I started 16:8 IF, its coming to an year now and have had fabulous result. No weight gain which is the biggest problem post ND. I did gain a few kilos in the beginning, but that was about it. I do HIIT along with 16:8 and low carb moderate fat.

Brilliant! I've always wondered how people manage after ND. How much did you lose doing ND - and how did it affect your BG? I know in the past (years ago) when I've done ultra low calorie diets that I've put it all back on and quite a bit extra - but that was in the days when my meals were based on carbs.

 

[Chook]

There is a thread about fasting on the RH forum.
I do the intermittent fasting, this is really helpful to me.

Woops - I thought I might be treading on toes. I didn't think to look in the RH forum. Sorry!

 

[Chook]

Hi Chook
Yes I was thinking of trying a week or two. however today thought I'd try a 2 day fast after yesterday and feeling really hungry.. maybe its because I hadn't intended not to eat today and was going to take mother out to lunch.. but because she's not feeling so good decided not to eat instead..Still might try a longer one depending on how the rest of today goes.. bloods not looking especially amazing either. Will keep you informed.
Mark

I hope your Mum is okay.

Did you do a two day fast? I'm really interested in finding out how people cope on those second and third days as (I have read somewhere) the hunger pangs disappear on day 3.

Yes, my BG isn't looking too great at the moment either. Its high-ish (for me) at the start of the day but okay by bed time. I'm putting mine down to a very bad back so I haven't been able to do my usual daily walk and none of my normal rushing around at work. I'm experimenting with eating pickled / fermented vegetables today to naturally lower BG.

 

[britishpub]

Wasn't feeling it this morning either, tummy was rumbling so I had some breakfast.

Tomorrow for certain

 

[Larissima]

Did you do a two day fast? I'm really interested in finding out how people cope on those second and third days as (I have read somewhere) the hunger pangs disappear on day 3.

I think @AloeSvea would have something to say on the topic of hunger disappearing (or not!). She has a thread reporting her intermittent fasting, I think on the Weight Loss board, and she does longer fast periods.

I don't know where this thread would be best placed anyway, but have a read of Jason Fung's blog on the difference between low calorie diets and fasting: https://intensivedietarymanagement.com/caloric-reduction-vs-fasting-part-9/ I found it very encouraging, as calorie reduction never really worked for me in the past.

Regarding my BG levels, I am lucky that I never really experienced a hypo, and I have so much stored fat still to melt for energy that I don't think I'll be having that problem any time soon. Of course, being on strict LCHF plays its part. I feel fine on fast days, and didn't even think of checking my BG except morning and before bed, as every day.