Intermittent fasting: 14/10-16/8, 5:2, 24-hr fast, 20-hr fast

[AloeSvea]

My October HBA1c reading was 40. '40 again', said my diabetes nurse. So this was a big relief.

Took me 5 months to get my BG back to the post Low-calorie-diet (D-ND) low, and after my one-month on the road holiday blood glucose-debacle.

So, low-carb Way Of Eating (WOE, lol - nice to have a chuckle over an acronym), combined with periodic non-food fasting, where I write a few days off a month to keep working on clearing out the liver and the fat cells for best diabetic functioning! And, see what happens, over time.

Currently liking the H.I.T. regime - running for one minute three times a week. (Gee - I can feel those muscles on the front part of my thighs!) And bench pressing. Some ab exercises. And walking, as baseline exercise. So going for muscle rather than lean-ness.

https://www.fast-exercises.com

Happy to forget about targeting weight loss, at bmi at the upper end of normal, and the waist height ratio at upper end of 'OK'.

http://www.health-calc.com/body-composition/waist-to-height-ratio

Proceed for another 6 months, and see how it goes.

 

[Larissima]

Great news, well done! So fasting worked for you exactly the same as ND, at least HbA1c-wise.

 

[AloeSvea]

Great news, well done! So fasting worked for you exactly the same as ND, at least HbA1c-wise.

Many thanks!

Exactly the same? Hmmm - I guess I wouldn't put it that way - but in terms of actual results - yeah. You're right.

For me - I would never dream of going low-cal again, due to the extended misery. When I started the D-ND, I had been kind of hoping to be like Richard Whats-his-name, but I couldn't starve to that extent without going bonkers. (My diabetes nurse wouldn't have been happy either.) He lost a lot of weight in a very short period of time. But I have a hunger-prone constitution so that kind of semi-starvation 'liver reboot' is not for me, it seems.

But yeah.

I think the ND, in such a limited period, does have the capacity to make a dramatic impact on one's HBA1c. For me it was from 49 to 40. But I am one of the one's who, for whatever reason, does not maintain the post ND weight. I am right back to my pre-ND weight. Which is fine with me.

But sometimes dramatic is not necessary or wanted for general well-being! Is how I see it.

But how else to know? Sometimes you just have to try these things out.

 

[AloeSvea]

Or, as you said, Larissima, in the Fung versus Taylor thread - you can figure it out beforehand whether something is for you or not!

Absolutely.

 

[Mafat]

Hi Everyone.......

I need your help.I am in IF 24 HOUR CYCLE WITH LCHF Diet & my A1C is 6.1 mg/dL ( mmol/L) but still struggling with Dawn Phenomenon & my FBG in morning varies between 8 & 9.8 mg/dL ( mmol/L) . My dinner time is 6 PM. & do not eat anything after 6.30 PM. The BG before bed time is under 6 mg/dL ( mmol/L. Let me have your thoughts & suggestions.

TYPE 2 Since 1996-Mostly controlled with Diet & Exercise & Since last two years my doctor put me on Metformin 1000 MG three time a day & I refused to take beyond 500 MG once a day & that too before dinner.

Thanks.

MF

 

[myers1231]

When ever I hear term fast I automatically gets hungry!!!

 

[Roytaylorjasonfunglover]

Hi Everyone.......

I need your help.I am in IF 24 HOUR CYCLE WITH LCHF Diet & my A1C is 6.1 mg/dL ( mmol/L) but still struggling with Dawn Phenomenon & my FBG in morning varies between 8 & 9.8 mg/dL ( mmol/L) . My dinner time is 6 PM. & do not eat anything after 6.30 PM. The BG before bed time is under 6 mg/dL ( mmol/L. Let me have your thoughts & suggestions.

TYPE 2 Since 1996-Mostly controlled with Diet & Exercise & Since last two years my doctor put me on Metformin 1000 MG three time a day & I refused to take beyond 500 MG once a day & that too before dinner.

Thanks.

MF

A sympthom of diabetes type 2 is uncontrolled release of glucose from the liver, in nondiabetics this is perfectly regulated in type 2-s it is not. As you steadily lose weight this dawn phenomen is going to improve, but until that happens there is not much you can do. You could eat a meal right after you wake up of course, but the important thing for now is weightloss. Jason Fung always states that the dawn phenomen just shows that you have healing to do.

 

[AloeSvea]

Hi Everyone.......

I need your help.I am in IF 24 HOUR CYCLE WITH LCHF Diet & my A1C is 6.1 mg/dL ( mmol/L) but still struggling with Dawn Phenomenon & my FBG in morning varies between 8 & 9.8 mg/dL ( mmol/L) . My dinner time is 6 PM. & do not eat anything after 6.30 PM. The BG before bed time is under 6 mg/dL ( mmol/L. Let me have your thoughts & suggestions.

TYPE 2 Since 1996-Mostly controlled with Diet & Exercise & Since last two years my doctor put me on Metformin 1000 MG three time a day & I refused to take beyond 500 MG once a day & that too before dinner.

Thanks.

MF

Hi Mafat, and welcome to the forum! And I am very pleased to see someone use this thread for practical issues and questions to do with IFing.

Do you mean the 24-hour cycle where you confine your eating to a, say, 8-hour period within that 24 hours? Or, do you mean where you don't eat for 24 hours at all, in a period of days, say five or seven days?

And great that you are LCHF-ing! Go LCHF!

Yes - it does seem the fat-on-the-liver theory as Roytaylorjasonfunlover says, is an explanation of the DP/higher FBGs.

Herr Svea is always telling me to be patient! (I find patience difficult.) But, you could see IFing as a way to get gradual depletion of liver-fat, and therefore gradual rebooting of the liver/retraining of the liver/healthier liver function (ie less glucocse release from the liver.) Give yourself time! In other words.

If, and we have to say this - if the fat on the liver theory (Roy Taylor) and the insulin resistance theory (Jason Fung) IS actually - true. It makes enormous sense, and many of us are operating our treatments on the basis those theories make sense, but I guess we do have to put the careful 'if' in, for every kind of treatment. 'If' for IF.

But we do have on our side, the fact that the liver is a wonderfully regenerative part of the body. I was moaning about my shot liver to my mother recently, and she said that she had something or rather wrong with her liver when she was my age, and she was able to get her liver working properly again. (No, I have NO idea what it was, and she has forgotten, bless her.) (And she now has mildly elevated blood glucose levels in her 80s, bless her even more!)

About the metformin - my understanding is if you use it to help control higher FBGs (I have thought about this A LOT since diagnosis) - which I understand as it apparently turns off the 'switch' that releases the glucose from the liver as part of the DP, to put it simply, then you should be taking it at night? ie have a LCHF snack and take the metformin just before bed. (The snack is to diminish the stomach problems that can come from taking metformin.) But of course - enquire further from the metformin takers in the forum, and your doctor, absolutely. But this is how I would use metformin if I was taking it.

Also, I have recently gone wild with talking about vitamin B12. It seems if you are taking metformin, and for us as T2 diabetics (to help prevent/with existing neuropathy etc) - it is especially important ,maybe , to get your existent levels tested, and to take a supplement, to make up for what the wonderful Suzy Cohen calls the 'drug mugging effect'. And of course - the all-important Vitamin D, is Cohen's particular thing. (Suzy Cohen is a pharmacist and health writer who wrote 'Diabetes without Drugs' and I heard her on a 'Reverse Diabetes' webinar. I find her very impressive.) Saying that - I have not had my Vit B12 tested before spraying the stuff under my tongue recently. I figured my bod can handle it. (And I have neuropathy in my feet.) (I am vitamin D deficient.)

Anyway. Tell me more about your 24-hour-cycle?

 

[Mafat]

Aloe Svea-

Thanks so much for your detailed & in-depth response.Thanks. My 24 hour Fasting Cycle starts at 6 PM & ends next day 6 PM. I am doing this five days in a week at a stretch & during Saturday & Sunday I do 18 hour fasting. My 24 hours of fasting ends on Friday 6 PM & statrs 18 hours of fasting at 6.30 PM to 2 PM on Saturday & and after dinner at 6.PM my second round of 18 hours fasting cycle starts and end on Sunday at 6.30 PM.During fasting I only dring black tea & plain water. I started fasting aggressively on June 1st 2015 along with LCHF & exercise for one to one & half hour in total during the day. As a result I have been able to cut off my doses medicine 60 % & A1C is improving every three months. The pain in both the feet has disappeared & blurred vision is a matter of past.I have lost 15 Pounds Since June 1st.

As regards to my multi vitamin & supplements I do take Vitamin D - 4000 Units-Vitamin E-500 MG-Vitamin C-500 MG -Folic Acid 5 MG & IRON 300 mg. My latest blood report indicates all the levels are normal including cholesterol & lipids.

According to my ongoing experiences with Metformin ...I have noticed that I need to eat enough while I choose to take 250 MG of Meformin otherwise it causes lots & lot of gastric trouble. You have cautiously suggested to take Meformin along with LCHF snack & my question is...If I have taken 500MG of Metformin at 6PM & wondering if the lasting effect is eight hours as it has bio-availability period is 8 Hours....why still my morning FSG is higher. I guess you have very correctly said to be patient & I have to be.

I strongly believe that along with LCHF when I added Fasting...it started giving amazing results.Wish I had known this before.

Thanks once again for your response & guidance.

 

[AloeSvea]

Aloe Svea-

Thanks so much for your detailed & in-depth response.Thanks. My 24 hour Fasting Cycle starts at 6 PM & ends next day 6 PM. I am doing this five days in a week at a stretch & during Saturday & Sunday I do 18 hour fasting. My 24 hours of fasting ends on Friday 6 PM & statrs 18 hours of fasting at 6.30 PM to 2 PM on Saturday & and after dinner at 6.PM my second round of 18 hours fasting cycle starts and end on Sunday at 6.30 PM.During fasting I only dring black tea & plain water. I started fasting aggressively on June 1st 2015 along with LCHF & exercise for one to one & half hour in total during the day. As a result I have been able to cut off my doses medicine 60 % & A1C is improving every three months. The pain in both the feet has disappeared & blurred vision is a matter of past.I have lost 15 Pounds Since June 1st.

As regards to my multi vitamin & supplements I do take Vitamin D - 4000 Units-Vitamin E-500 MG-Vitamin C-500 MG -Folic Acid 5 MG & IRON 300 mg. My latest blood report indicates all the levels are normal including cholesterol & lipids.

According to my ongoing experiences with Metformin ...I have noticed that I need to eat enough while I choose to take 250 MG of Meformin otherwise it causes lots & lot of gastric trouble. You have cautiously suggested to take Meformin along with LCHF snack & my question is...If I have taken 500MG of Metformin at 6PM & wondering if the lasting effect is eight hours as it has bio-availability period is 8 Hours....why still my morning FSG is higher. I guess you have very correctly said to be patient & I have to be.

I strongly believe that along with LCHF when I added Fasting...it started giving amazing results.Wish I had known this before.

Thanks once again for your response & guidance.

Hi Mafat - you will be the LCHF and metformin expert here! . I merely read and note what you folk say, just in case I use it in the future.

Great to read about the big positive effect of IFing on complications - neuropathy, and retinopathy reduction.

Very interesting to read your fasting routine. I must admit - I am a bit confused though. Are you saying you don't eat at all for five days? And then IF in the weekend? And you have been doing this since June? Is this what you meant? Or, you are eating low-cal five days of the week, in a particular time period, and change the routine in the weekend? Sorry about my not being able to understand...

 

[Mafat]

Aloe Svea

Thanks for your encouraging words. Let me be clear about my fasting routine.I fast five days in a week & every day I eat LCHF at 6.PM and on weekends I am on 18 Hours of fasting meaning I skip breakfast.I intend to do for another few months till I am free from any medications. Let us see.

 

[Mafat]

Everyone-

I came across very interesting discussion on Fasting -Please visit following link. I am also reproducing one of the member's detailed explanation on his experience with LCHF & IF.

http://www.diabeticconnect.com/diab...on-fung-and-fasting-to-beat-diabetes-opinions

ArizonaCactus 5 months ago


Hello All. I am new here. Just saw this thread topic and thought that I might join in, since I follow Dr. Fung. I was diagnosed in mid-December with T2 (a1c 9.0), high blood pressure, heightened cholesterol. My family history includes both parents, all 4 grandparents, all aunts, uncles, cousins who have had T2. I was overweight. After researching what I could do to manage the T2, I decided that LCHF was the way to go, along with taking Metformin 500 mg per day. I eat under 40 grams of carbs per day. I now engage in Intermittent Fasting 2X per week.
My results have been spectacular. I have lost 35 pounds since January, and am still losing, although I have deliberately slowed the weight gain by adding more protein to my diet. I have shed both the cholesterol medication and the blood pressure medication— no need for either any longer. I feel great— more clarity of mind and lots of energy. I am more motivated now TO exercise. I have mounted my bike on a resistance trainer frame indoors because I just had hip replacement surgery 6 weeks ago, and am going to have the 2nd hip surgery in a few days. Plus, I live in Arizona where the temperature today will be 112 degrees.
Dr. Fung says in his Intensive Dietary Management Blog that he "reverses" diabetes type 2 via fasting regimens with his patients. I know that what he actually can do is to help patients get into remission so that they can and do shed their diabetes medications. That is what I am now ready to do. My BG numbers are great: nearly always under 90 first thing in the morning, and between 70 and 85 for the rest of the day. I DO test a lot, although I now trust my judgement more, and test far less than the 7X per day that I did while I was learning how various foods affect my BG level.
I would urge anyone/everyone here to google Dr. Jason Fung- Intensive Dietary Management Blog and read all of the blog entries, plus the comments from readers. This is well worth considering. He evidently provides several choices to his patients regarding the fasting regimens. My preference, after trying several different ways and testing, testing, testing… is to fast from after dinner one day until dinnertime the following day (I DO have coffee with heavy cream every morning and this does not have a negative effect). I started by eliminating breakfast each day, and then made lunchtime later and later, before finally fasting for 24 hours two times per week. I do get hungry by mid- to late-afternoon, but easily distract myself. I do not overeat when dinnertime rolls around, although I DO eat a bit more. My BG numbers are terrific on the following day, and gradually, they have come way down. I will cut my Metformin dose in half once I have healed somewhat from the upcoming hip surgery, and can walk well again.
On a LCHF diet: green leafy veggies, green beans, NO root vegetables. A little fruit on some days: 1/2 small apple or pear, or 1/2 cup berries. Healthy fat (which does NOT prevent weight loss or raise cholesterol!!): olive oil, coconut oil, avocado, ground flax seed, nuts (NOT peanuts— which are legumes), sunflower and pumpkin seeds, fatty wild-caught fish. Moderate protein: lean meat (100% grass fed so that I am not eating animal products that were stuffed full of corn and hormones in the final 6 weeks of their lives), eggs, tofu (soy) occasionally,
and the nuts are, of course, protein-rich. I also eat almond butter (YUMMY!) I eat low-carb tortillas (about 6 grams of NET carbs each) as a substitute for bread). These are easy to put in a baggie and pop into my purse for lunch/dinner when I go out. I also eat plenty of fiber: unpeeled/uncooked apple and pear have this, ground flax seed has plenty. I do use supplements sometimes to get enough. I also eat kimchi and 100% grass-fed full-fat Greek yogurt. I eat butter and I use heavy cream. I do not eat ANY grain, as whole wheat flour, brown rice, quinoa, oats are just less bad and not healthful. Neither do I eat beans of any type. I DO eat dark chocolate, as long as it is 75% or greater and has no sugar/sugar substitute. I DO use Stevia, although I am careful to make sure its the real deal and doesn't have substitute sugar added. I do NOT use any sugar substitutes. Most contain sugar in some sneaky form, plus lots of chemicals. I sometimes miss my previous favorite foods, and do indulge myself with a few bites, but I do not have cheat meals or cheat days. I find this dietary style manageable and I am never hungry. A handful of nuts provides plenty of satiety.
On this dietary regimen, there is absolutely no need to count calories. I did the Math. There is no way anyone can put out the same or greater number of calories than one takes in. Calories are merely a measurement of heat— not a great way to think about food. Besides, as Dr. Fung points out, 100 calories worth of broccoli and 100 calories worth of cookies are NOT equal in terms of nutrition.
I was TERRIFIED when I was diagnosed. I am still quite terrified, but realize that that is a very good thing because it keeps me mindful of the fact that I have adopted a lifestyle, and not a diet for losing weight, after which I can return to my old way of eating.


Read more at http://www.diabeticconnect.com/diab...to-beat-diabetes-opinions#91QESHcdeFz7BXtf.99

SNR #18: Dr. Jason Fung ~ Blood sugar, fasting & why we've got it wrong


Episode #18 - In this episode we discuss: How blood sugar is regulated when everything is working as it should What exactly blood sugar dis-regulation is: diabetes, pre-diabetes, insulin resistance Why type 2 diabetes is NOT a disease of blood sugar What's causing insulin resistance How intermittent fasting can actually be a good idea for diabetics Why diabetes may actually be curable Whether ketogenic or low-carb diets are necessary for diabetics The types of carbohydrates that should be prioritized

LISTEN THE ENTIRE PODCAST-DR.JASON FUNG-

http://podbay.fm/show/857888327/e/1406613600?autostart=1

 

[AloeSvea]

Aloe Svea

Thanks for your encouraging words. Let me be clear about my fasting routine.I fast five days in a week & every day I eat LCHF at 6.PM and on weekends I am on 18 Hours of fasting meaning I skip breakfast.I intend to do for another few months till I am free from any medications. Let us see.

Thanks Mafat. Five days a week you eat once a day (dinner), LCHF Way Of Eating, and in the weekend you eat twice a day (lunch and dinner) in a six hour period, ditto on the LCHF. (Hope I got that right this time?)

It's very inspiring. And very impressive that you can keep up that regime! - as it is a good one - and seems very effective in its simplicity, indeed.

I tried the eating once a day for a couple of days this week, two days in a row, as a way of dealing with some Halloween weekend/party carbohydrate excess, and it worked well with bringing my FBG and post-meal BG down to a healthy level. (I discovered that the two days in a row work better for me in regard to bringing down the BG, better than the 5:2 where the two days IFing are not consecutive.) For me the meal I choose is breakfast - or more correctly a big brunch. This past week my IF days were full-on days, and I went to bed early with a good book (like - really early!) as an effective way of dealing with a food-less evening.

It was much easier than I normally find it - as I was out of my normal routine, I believe, as I was travelling. And away from my own kitchen. I had no trouble with energy, which was a welcome outcome. Towards the end of the second day I did have to escape the Polish police (or really - I just thought I had to!), and I almost asked a bossy museum guard to step outside. But you know - my blood glucose levels were good! . Herr Svea is chuckling, and I am wondering if I should have a button for such days that says, "I intermittent fast as a way of dealing with diabetes - treat me with caution" (and it could help spread the word of IF as a diabetes treatment method!)

 

[Larissima]

I hope it's OK to relate here my recent experiences with intermittent fasting.

For the last month or so, as part of my LCHF way of eating, I have added (subtracted?) a 4:3 regime, in which for 3 non-consecutive days per week I only eat one meal of roughly 500 kcals. The meal is a late lunch/early tea (around 3 pm), and that way I have a clear 18 hours fast, from the previous night, and another 18 hrs until the next day's breakfast. This regime has yielded good results in terms of both FBG and weight loss. I find it easy to follow, even though I have (used to have?) issues with overeating. It certainly helps that I have stopped buying cheese and cream, so have eliminated that particular snacking temptation (which was my downfall from many a LC diet in the past) from the house. (I don't avoid dairy completely, and will occasionally eat some good cheese - looking forward to our Christmas in France especially for that reason!)

In fact, I find it so easy to follow 4:3 (similar to Michael Moseley's 5:2) that I decided to try fasting for a whole day. I did that on Friday, and had loads of water, black coffee and green tea throughout, plus a large mug of chicken stock (from a cube - 40 kcals) around the time I usually eat my fast-day meal. So, a 36-hour fast, no food from Thu dinner until the breakfast on Saturday. My lowest FBG on Sat morning - 5.0 - and it was easy to do! So easy, in fact, that I've decided to do it every week. Maybe twice...

One thing I noticed was that I was waking up a lot on Saturday morning - I kept falling back asleep immediately, as it was the weekend and I was still tired, but I wonder if that had anything to do with the hormonal responses triggered by fasting. I was not waking up from hunger - very, very surprisingly! But it's probably because I still have enough stored fat to feed myself for months on end... Also, because I'm eating LCHF and am already in ketosis.

So, yes, a very positive experience in itself, with great results, and an after-feeling of almost euphoria. What's not to love about IF?

 

[AloeSvea]

All good! Really pleased you relate your recent experiences with IF. I'm particularly keen that we get it out there (here! There! Everywhere!).

I found broth to be great too, during a few day fast, and want to fast again soon, as in - tomorrow! for a few days, so will get a vege or bone broth going asap. Or, a stock cube if I can find a decent brand... Thanks for the reminder! (You, and Volek and Phinney reminding us to make sure we get enough salt on the low carb/ketogenic diet...) (Just read The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living, as you can see by pic .) (I can see why many diabetics recommend it - lots of stuff in there for us lot.)

A 5.0 FBG is very good indeed Larissima. Happy liver! Happy pancreas! (Happy us.)

I can get affected on liquid only/no food fasts too, with sleeplessness. I am still suffering from jetlag at the moment - feeling very wide awake at 3 am, and wanting to curl up in bed and sleep at 3 pm (there was a 12 hour time shift). So I am hoping my poor body won't get too confused if I do the non-food thing on it to boot! Hormones and digestion wise. But I guess my pancreas will appreciate the rest.

I also thought this was a good time to do a periodic fast, as I have hurt one of my legs in two places, so I can't reinstate my H.I.T. regime as I had wanted (I can't exercise or move much on no-food fasts, or LCDs or...well, without a lot of food! Just my metabolism.) So I may as well lie around and read and write, and sit outside in the sun from time to time. And not eat food while waiting for my poor leg to heal. (Banging and bruising, nothing muscle-wise. I am lucky that part of my metabolism is I get over muscle pain pretty quickly.) (I think this must be true of anyone who bench presses - otherwise sore muscles would drive you nuts?)

And fasting will be good to clear my system of the carb-fest-glucose I had onboard the plane. And the couple of pieces of gluten-free bread I had when I was too travel-weary to bake my own low-carb loaves. (That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!)

 

[Larissima]

All good! Really pleased you relate your recent experiences with IF. I'm particularly keen that we get it out there (here! There! Everywhere!).

I found broth to be great too, during a few day fast, and want to fast again soon, as in - tomorrow! for a few days, so will get a vege or bone broth going asap. Or, a stock cube if I can find a decent brand... Thanks for the reminder! (You, and Volek and Phinney reminding us to make sure we get enough salt on the low carb/ketogenic diet...) (Just read The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living, as you can see by pic .) (I can see why many diabetics recommend it - lots of stuff in there for us lot.)

A 5.0 FBG is very good indeed Larissima. Happy liver! Happy pancreas! (Happy us.)

I can get affected on liquid only/no food fasts too, with sleeplessness. I am still suffering from jetlag at the moment - feeling very wide awake at 3 am, and wanting to curl up in bed and sleep at 3 pm (there was a 12 hour time shift). So I am hoping my poor body won't get too confused if I do the non-food thing on it to boot! Hormones and digestion wise. But I guess my pancreas will appreciate the rest.

I also thought this was a good time to do a periodic fast, as I have hurt one of my legs in two places, so I can't reinstate my H.I.T. regime as I had wanted (I can't exercise or move much on no-food fasts, or LCDs or...well, without a lot of food! Just my metabolism.) So I may as well lie around and read and write, and sit outside in the sun from time to time. And not eat food while waiting for my poor leg to heal. (Banging and bruising, nothing muscle-wise. I am lucky that part of my metabolism is I get over muscle pain pretty quickly.) (I think this must be true of anyone who bench presses - otherwise sore muscles would drive you nuts?)

And fasting will be good to clear my system of the carb-fest-glucose I had onboard the plane. And the couple of pieces of gluten-free bread I had when I was too travel-weary to bake my own low-carb loaves. (That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!)

Hope your leg heals soon!

 

[AloeSvea]

Thanks Larissima! It's getting better already - so I'm looking forward to a big walk or two in the weekend, and will reinstate my rather pathetic but well-meaning 'runs' next week. (Alas, I remember what running actually felt like! As a youth. And my current 1-min 'runs' are nothing like that. No feeling like a gazelle in my 50s ;-).)

Stopped eating lunchtime yesterday. I have my most-common somewhere-in-the-6s FBG on rising. I hope to see some evidence of early ketosis via ketostix tonight. (I know it's not the best, but I am, er, not able to fork out for a ketosis meter.) I may not see a new colour on the stick until tomorrow night! (I may not see it at all!) Got my stocks/bouillion lined up on the bench for if I feel nauseous or weak. And lots of herb teas. (Black tea and coffee in the mornings because I am an addict!)

But my moving hemispheres via 26 hours sitting in planes and the physical and emotional stress of moving may have mucked around with my bodily fluid levels, as I have had big weight fluctuations in the past few weeks (5kg! Up and down btwn 70 and 75kg, and 1 cm each around the hips and waist). I am inclined to take Volek and Phinney's advice (The Art and Science of Low-Carbohydrate Living), and ignore the scales, and maybe even the tape measure (which I trust more, re height to waist ratio for liver fat, which I like to keep an eye on). Their argument is there is quite a lot of ordinary normal fluid fluctuations, and one can get bogged down in scale readings.

I hope my beta cells will feel rested! My pancreas on a little holiday. And my liver - that poor damned organ. Soon it won't be pumping out any extra glucose I don't need because it doesn't have enough in easy-storage to do so? At least for a couple of days. (Is that how it works? Did I understand gluconeogenesis properly? Have I even spelt it right? :-/.) Oh well - who cares - I know it's good for my poor beleaguered over-worked hormones and organs and therefore blood sugar level.

 

[Larissima]

Good luck, @AloeSvea ! I hope your fast is going/went well!

Regarding stock/bouillon, I don't think you need to wait until you feel weak or headachy (my symptom), but drink it as a preventative. I even sometimes crunch a couple of grains of sea salt on a fast day - need to keep up those electrolytes!

 

[AloeSvea]

Yes! you are quite right Larissima. I see in the Volek and Phinney, re low-carbing, they strongly recommend upping your salt intake due to metabolic changes. I have already done that in my diet naturally, as it were (adding sea salt to macadamias - yum). And NoCarbs also mentioned the bouillon on fast days for the salt, and you too - great advice I am following I promise. Many thanks. I will see if it prevents the faint I had the last few days fast.

I haven't gotten it together to have my own homemade broths and stocks yet - Herr Svea and I are working up to that one. Ditto on homemade tonic drinks - which I am very much looking forward to. And here I am dreaming of food and drink I can make for a diabetic-friendly life. Boy am I way into 2 1/2 days fasting! (Day 3 begins at lunch.)

Checked a ketostix last night - and still a very pale colour, so that was disappointing. I can hope for some pink tonight perhaps!

But what feels ridiculous - 'lost' a cm off my hips and waist in a day. (You can see why I use the word ridiculous.) Goes to show how much my sudden significant weight gain post-long-airplane rides transglobally was actually water retention, (I had even changed my tracking figures for hips and waist in my little tracking book - almost weeping mind!). I am very pleased for my liver and my pancreas's sake. (Fat around the middle representing fat on the organs that significantly affects insulin sensitivity as in lowering it, says Doc Fung and Prof Taylor.)

Attaching a pic of my current friends of this wee fast. The stock, as in our discussion. (Bought, but with the best ingredients we could find.) And glucamannan (konjac root), to prevent that foe of fasting - constipation. I had some with my morning water and tea yesterday. It is supposed to promote a feeling of fullness too, and I do think it does. Surprisingly! It does have a carb content (as does the stock) so I am not doing a true Dr Fuhrman type of water only fast. But this way I can prevent some common fasting problems.

Energy level - first morning of fast good. Energy level in afternoon - back to the sofa. This morning - will be able to do phone-chores, but not planning anything in the afternoon. Big challenge - not being a b****! (I was a little tetchy to poor Mr Svea last night, I am ashamed to say, but he expects it during fasts.) Next big challenge - having my daughter over for lunch,and watching Mr Svea and her eating. . But watching them is nice though, of course! .

**** FBG this morning. More ridiculous - 7.0 - argh! My liver, pumping out glucose.
And yesterday consistent mid 6s.

I still find a few day fast every now and again easier to enact than weekly low-calorie fasting days. The challenges are the same - just a matter of intensity. I think for me, it is bascially 'in for a penny, in for a pound'. And I can organise my life (or lack of, when fasting, practically), easier in blocks, rather than more regular events.

 

[AloeSvea]

Yes - ketone stick was a definite pink in that evening, as predicted, at the end of 2 1/2 days no-food fasting. Tick.

No nasty constipation (some added fibre supplement works for me) - tick.

Only one teeny tiny spell of dizziness in the evening when the fast was broken, but no collapsing on kitchen floors (the stock - I had three or four cups of it) - tick.

No-food fast lasted 3 full days (Wednesday after lunch to Saturday late afternoon). I was planning to break the fast for a brunch, but found I woke up on a ketogenic high, with lots of energy, like in the IF/LCHF cartoons! So I rode that wave, and had coffees out instead, and it worked just fine. I socialised, I walked, I shopped, I even had a difficult family event, and broke the fast with a paleo mexican salad out in the late afternoon. Day 1 first evening was hard, Day 2 evening even harder, and on Mr Svea and I don't much enjoy being ahhh, a bit snappy, Day 4 - all good.

BGs? I have had a hick-up with blood glucose meters. I changed from my Roche Accu-chek (care of the Swedes) over to Care-Sens N (care of the Kiwis) (I am included in both of those subsets!), with only one Accu-chek test strip left. The Care Sens reading did not look right, so I checked against a reading with my last Accu-chek test strip, and it was out by a whole 1.1 point. I believed the Accu-chek reading, as it is consistent with past during and post-fast readings. And I have had bad experiences with a Care Sens before, which were compared inaccurately with HBA1cs, and in a diabetes clinic. The long and short of it is - I don't have accurate BG readings anymore, I don't think. . (I'll enter or start a comparing meters thread anon...)

But if I use the Accu-chek reading, and align the Care sens readings with that (as I said, I have been through this before) - I get

Thurs Day 2 FBG (no food after lunch the day before, Wed) - 6.6
Fri Day 3 FBG - 6.0
Sat Day 4 FBG - 5.0 (low levels of ketones re ketostix)
Sun Day 5 (the morning after breaking fast the late afternoon on day before)
FBG - 5.4 (trace levels of ketones re ketostix)
Sun post meal BG - 6.6

Goodie.

Reminds exactly how important self monitoring blood glucose levels IS when doing experiments and self-checks.