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Advice - consecutive 24 hour fasts

Goonergal

Master
Retired Moderator
Messages
13,461
Location
London
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Hi. Looking for a bit of advice. Have been using intermittent fasting to very good effect - both on blood sugar levels and weight loss - for a while. Always skip breakfast and often lunch too.

Have just returned from a short break where I completed 5 consecutive 24 hour fasts (dinner to dinner). Blood sugar levels great - down to 3.8 before dinner last night (first ever reading below 4) but lost NO weight (0.1 kg up from before I went, so essentially the same).

Was guessing nutrients as eating out, but based them on similar foods I eat at home. Details below in case they help with advice:

Day 1

Calories 744; fat 78g (76%), Carbs 13g (6%), protein 47g (18%); exercise 35,650 steps

Day 2

Calories 1,167, fat 126g (81%), carbs 14g (4%), protein 58g (15%), steps 9,283

Day 3

Calories 1,016, fat 86g (77%), carbs 8g (3%), protein 51g (20%), steps 26,930

Day 4

Calories 856, fat 71g (75%), carbs 9g (4%), protein 45g (21%), steps 35,607

Day 5

Calories 854, fat 65g (68%), carbs 8g (4%), protein 60g (28%), steps 7,405

Any thoughts/advice welcome. Thanks!
 
35,000 steps.. wow that's some walking..
What are your usual daily macros? Did you eat a lot less than usual?
 
Do you need to lose more weight, or is your body happy where it is?
 
bulkbiker said:
35,000 steps.. wow that's some walking..
What are your usual daily macros? Did you eat a lot less than usual?
Click to expand...

Hi @bulkbiker

Really enjoy walking and when I'm away - I usually go to cities - I find myself clocking up the miles almost without noticing!

Thanks for the response. Usual daily macros are in a similar range. I use intermittent fasting every week - but not usually so many days in a row (for some reason I am less hungry when on holiday). My usual calorie intake in a day is between 850 - 1,300 so not a huge difference. I never eat breakfast so days where I eat lunch involve more food, but not drastically so.
 
mariavontrapp said:
Do you need to lose more weight, or is your body happy where it is?
Click to expand...

Hi @mariavontrapp and thanks for the reply.

Definitely need to lose more weight. I'm no longer classed as obese, but am firmly in the overweight category and have at least 2 stone to lose - and unfortunately most of the remaining excess weight seems to be on my torso. My legs and arms are comparatively slender (typical apple shape).
 
I think your body is doing what mine does - gets used to whats coming in and adjusts accordingly. Its really annoying, isn't it.

The calories you've been eating aren't far off the Newcastle Diet 800 calorie recommendation except you've been doing all that walking. I know 'starvation' mode is commonly used incorrectly but I do wonder if, with all the walking AND the low calorie intake, that your body is just conserving whatever it can.

If you don't see a weight loss by the end of this week you might want to consider spreading your calories over the day between three meals.

*Big hug coming your way*
 
I was about to suggest that you may not be eating enough.. feasting and fasting go together well and can help with metabolic tuning. After my 800 cal per day week I have had a couple of feast days.. yesterday was quite a lot 2,800 cals
This morning I'm the same weight as yesterday.. still 5 pounds down from the start of the calorie restricted week.
 
I'm finding the body shape thing a bit tricky, your slender arms and legs. When I lost my weight it was the tubby bit and nearly all my leg, arm and chest muscle.... and trying to get the muscle bits back I am finding harder than I had hoped. Like you, I do a lot of walking, 15K steps a day and it's great, though it does not really build up muscle blocks. I've had frozen shoulders, both, and have morning exercises with weights, not heavy closer to yoga, that are slowly helping build up arms, shoulders and chest.... it is slow, but hoping that these may develop for glucose store places... maybe misguided in this thought.
Have you thought about light exercises?
Hj
 
Maybe add some hand or wrist weights to your walking? Might help muscle up your arms a bit. Ditto to body weight squats every so often along your walk - helps with leg/butt muscles.

The body rapidly adjusts to almost any routine, so switching things around might help. Agree with @bulkbiker about the feasting in addition to the fasting. Again, helps break metabolic complacency.
 
Your body looks like it is doing the usual holding on to fat stores as it believes it is under threat. The advice @bulkbiker suggested I think might allow you body to say ok, I am not starving so I can release some weight. You could also try with your walking speeding up and then going at your normal pace intermittently, this is meant to be better than either steady pace, or just high intensity. You might be in the category that needs to mix things up, i.e. maybe halve your walking and do cycling (this still makes me sweat more than anything else). My final 2 pennies are some mild 5 minutes resistance exercises first thing as you get up to kick start your metabolism.

Some are really lucky and just loose and loose, your protocol seems excellent and if anything in advance of the standard. If I remember correctly Professor Taylor would most likely say you don't need the exercise element until after (great you can do it) I hold all of my fat in the tummy area which is around 15%. I am trying to avoid hours of cardio, by doing heavier weights. I know I have to reduce portion size as even now I over do it, for me it is a mind thing as by blood numbers are ok, so mentally I know I have switched off a little. Anyway keep making minor adjustments, it might also be one of the elements in your low calorie food selection (I saw a video where this gent exchanged cheese for avocado and weight loss restarted). If you do slightly change your protocol only make 1 change at a time, so you can track what works.
 

Thanks @Chook

I think you might be right and yes it is annoying! I ate lunch today (Nando's!!) and plan to do so the rest of the week. Usual weighing day is Friday so I'll see what happens then.

Balancing a short enough eating window to address insulin resistance with eating enough of the right foods is very difficult!
 

Hi @hankjam and @Indy51 and thanks for the advice. A new gym is opening up near me (current ones don't open at convenient hours) and I'm signed up to their introductory offer which is at a bargain price for London and with no contract, so nothing to lose. Plan is to use it for some kind of resistance exercise once it opens as I agree that might be helpful.
 

Thanks. That all sounds really sensible. I will eat lunch as well as dinner the rest of this week and see how that goes and then assess what steps to take next. I have a weekend away with some old university pals and we'll be at sporting events so I'll probably be taking in more calories than usual. One of my friends is also low carbing so at least I'll have support to avoid straying into carb city!

I've recently changed the walking a bit - was doing most of it at high intensity but developed shin splints and was advised by a sports injury clinic to ease back, particularly on speed, but alternating between speed and normal pace once its settled down might be a good idea.
 
Hi all

A quick update. Took advice from @bulkbiker @Chook and @Mbaker and ate a bit more the rest of this week. At my regular Friday morning weigh in today I am down 0.8kg so it has worked. Thanks all. For now I will ensure a bit of feasting along side the fasting and will tweak as necessary. In particular need to look at protein intake when eating more than once a day....

@hankjam @Indy51 and @Mbaker will be looking at all the exercise suggestions just as soon as my shin splints settle down. For now just making sure I keep moving.

Thanks again for all the advice.
 
Well done you.. ! brilliant results ... superstar!
 
Great that your body has responded to the changes.
 
would /could/ fasting / low carb be beneficial for a TD1 like me?
 
j@mez said:
would /could/ fasting / low carb be beneficial for a TD1 like me?
Click to expand...
You may be better asking that in the Type 1 area. There are some Type 1's here who follow low carb and have better control because of it. Not sure about fasting.. I wouldn't want to give advice on something outside of my personal experience.
 
i would like ur opinion inspite of..


..don't have to give me though
 
j@mez said:
i would like ur opinion inspite of..


..don't have to give me though
Click to expand...

Hi @j@mez ,

Do by all means start a fasting topic in type1?
It could be deemed as going slightly "off the topic" in diet managed D thread.
 
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