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Intermittent Fasting- Which Method Reaps The Best Results And Why?

shelley262 said:
@Debandez you are doing so well and I really feel you should take a deep breath and take time out from making decisions about fasting or not. I don’t think there’s a holy grail that works for everyone. We also all struggle at times at working out what’s best for ourselves. I have very high cholesterol and there is so much stuff out thereto get my head round eg some on here - backed up by research say cholesterol is not implicated in heart probs unlike medics who give me a talk about my very high risk. So what decision did I make? The middle road for me seems the most attractive to me personally I’m a carer for an adult autistic son and can’t take risks with my health real or imagined. I’ve already worked on reducing my cholesterol from 13 to 10.8 and am hoping to get my ldl a little lower whilst maintaining my high HDL and low triglycerides. So I’m still doing lCHF but with mainly healthy fats ( ie the ones that are universally agreed to be healthy olive oil, advocados nuts etc) I’m reducing diary and meat fats - note not cutting out but taking a moderate route. Suppose what I’m saying is if you are overwhelmed by too much info and don’t know what route to take do similar to me take time out, read lots and then review what you want to achieve and that hopefully will help. Meanwhile a big hug it’s not an easy road lots of twists and turns but you’ve done so well remember that.
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I think you need a big hug too! You have a lot on your own plate yet still take time to help others. You are doing amazingly well on your own journey and well done in getting your cholestrol down. You have spoken wise words and it's just what I needed to hear. My poor hubby is upset seeing me upset and is now frantically on you tube trying to help me find the holy grail haha which has quite amused me. Im smiling again.
 
@Debandez just want to echo what the others have said. You’ve done amazingly well in a short space of time. I think the key is to understand the management options available so that should the need arise, you have different things to try. In the meantime if what you’re doing is working - and it sounds like it is - I’d just stick to that and tweak as you go along.

I would also encourage you to offer support to others - just speaking from your own personal experience is fine: it gives others options to consider.
 
Fasting seems to have become very popular recently on this forum and in the media. The recently diagnosed should note that it is just something to consider rather than being mandatory for diabetes control or weight loss. Personally I like to keep to 3 meals a day. Firstly I like food, it is one of the great pleasures of life and I look forward to my meals, secondly I eat with the family which is sociable and most importantly I have achieved sufficient blood glucose control and weight loss with a low carb diet to make it unnecessary. If you like fasting all well and good, if you have tried other solutions and failed why not give fasting a try but don't feel it is obligatory.
 
Terrytiddy said:
Hi @Debandez last trip to doctors for HbAic came back at 82, Bg 16.6 and weight 157Kg.
I started LCHF on 30th April this year. I did 18/6 fasting, no food from 20.00 till 14.00 next day, with only black tea, coffee, water and vitamin water as needed. I found fasting for this long easy as I don't have much of an appetite in a morning. I aimed for less than 15-20% carbs. First few days felt a bit funny with extra trips to the loo, this soon settled and now things are great. I have also given up alcohol.
I got weighed on 30th May and was 148.6kg 8.4kg off. Bg 7.0, nurse was very surprised but pleased.
I have since dropped my carbs even more to less than 10gms per day, again I find this easy as I live alone so there are no temptations!!
Bg coming down nicely currently running at 5.0 (that's average over 7 days)
I find LCHF very easy and have to say have real food and have not been hungry at all.
Hope this helps, any more info you need drop me a line. Good luck with what ever path you take. :)
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You have done brilliantly. Well done. Can I ask for an example of what you would eat during a typical day. Less than 10g carbs is impressive. I only calculate roughly in my head but I think I average less than 50g.
 
shelley262 said:
Hi @Debandez I’ve found that since I arrived at bmi of 20 I find it very hard to fast. Having said that I do always stop eating by 7pm and rarely eat before 10am and only take water and black tea during those times seems to be working re maintenance I also just eat three small meals. However I fasted a lot alongside LCHF to get my bgs down including one month 23/1 with one meal a day and only clear fluids for that month to get weight and bgs down and then did that one or two days a week until I reached my goal weight and hbaca1. I can see that Fasting is good for you but personally I just don’t have the body fat or need any more. Note that Dr feung works with overweight or obese individuals on his programme. Know you’ve lost a lot of weight did you want to reduce your weight or bgs anymore or are you looking at fasting for autophagy reasons? Know that @Goonergal does still do OMAD on regular basis but has a low BMI. As lots of people say it is individual both reasons for fasting and what works for you too. Sure you’ll get lots of ideas about what works or dosent work for others.
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Thank you. I've had a good night sleep. 6 hrs 45 minutes according to my fitbit :-) and I'm feeling good. My mini meltdown is behind me. Onwards and upwards. I have slept on it and with everyone's input I've decided to stick to what is working for me and not do IF at the moment. I do quite often skip breakfast anyway. Always have tbh. I'm not going to dwell on it. I am focusing on just how far I've come. Still on the journey. Meeting some very lovely people on the way. My diagnosis was a blessing in disguise in more ways than one.
 
bulkbiker said:
You could always check out the Fasting section of the forum! :)
But as for me I intermittent fast every day (no breakfast) sometimes I only eat one meal a day OMAD and then crazily sometimes we do extended fasts (up to 7 days). I credit the IF with bringing down my HbA1c fast and helping witht he first bout of weight loss along with Keto eating. I have been on a weight loss plateau for about a year now (at a higher weight than I want to be although my body seems happy here) so can now only get that down by extended fasting BUT the pounds usually come back slowly over the following few weeks. However on the extended fasts I get my lowest blood sugars and highest ketone levels.
So I guess this rather long tome is about - what do you want to achieve by fasting?
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I will have a look at that section. I haven't come across it up to now tbh. I have slept on it and decided to keep it in mind for the future. I don't want to risk losing more weight as I'm more than happy at where I am. My HBA1C is good now and hoping to be even lower at my next appointment. Yours has to be the best I've seen so far and i can see you have been extremely focused in reaching that figure. You look great as you are looking at your photo but it's obviously your goal to be a bit lighter. Thank you for your help as always.
 
britishpub said:
I do a 21:3 most days, probably a 22:2 in reality.

It makes me feel good, but other than that I can’t put my finger on what benefits it’s given me.

My improvements in HbA1c and weight lost occurred prior to starting IF.
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Wow! I've just seen your signature. Your hba1c levels since diagnosis are impressive! I don't think I've ever seen such a swift drop from diagnosis to 6 months review. How did you do that? I presume it was by ultra low carb diet. Obviously no IF at that time. Well done. And thank you for your help. I've decided to just keep on with LCHF fttb. I dont wabt to riskk losing any more weight at present. But I am bearing this way of eating in mind for the future. Thank you.
 
Mr_Pot said:
Fasting seems to have become very popular recently on this forum and in the media. The recently diagnosed should note that it is just something to consider rather than being mandatory for diabetes control or weight loss. Personally I like to keep to 3 meals a day. Firstly I like food, it is one of the great pleasures of life and I look forward to my meals, secondly I eat with the family which is sociable and most importantly I have achieved sufficient blood glucose control and weight loss with a low carb diet to make it unnecessary. If you like fasting all well and good, if you have tried other solutions and failed why not give fasting a try but don't feel it is obligatory.
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I've slept on it and feel so much better today. I'm happy where I am in my journey. I may consider IF in the future. I love my food too. But funnily enough don't miss all the rubbish I used to eat! Although once in a while I would still like to be able to have exactly the amount of chocolate I want to consume. Last night would be a prime example of one of those occasions haha.
 
britishpub said:
I do a 21:3 most days, probably a 22:2 in reality.

It makes me feel good, but other than that I can’t put my finger on what benefits it’s given me.

My improvements in HbA1c and weight lost occurred prior to starting IF.
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Wow! I've just seen your signature. Your hba1c levels since diagnosis are impressive! I don't think I've ever seen such a swift drop from diagnosis to 6 months review. How did you do that? I presume it was by ultra low carb diet. Obviously no IF at that time. Well done. And thank you for your help. I've decided to just keep on with LCHF fttb. I dont wabt to riskk losing any more weight at present. But I am bearing this way of eating in mind for the future. Thank you.
 
Goonergal said:
@Debandez just want to echo what the others have said. You’ve done amazingly well in a short space of time. I think the key is to understand the management options available so that should the need arise, you have different things to try. In the meantime if what you’re doing is working - and it sounds like it is - I’d just stick to that and tweak as you go along.

I would also encourage you to offer support to others - just speaking from your own personal experience is fine: it gives others options to consider.
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Thats exactly what I've decided to do after sleeping on it. Stick to what I'm doing. I might contemplate IF in the future. I will also give my ten penneth worth to newbies :-)
 
ringi said:
What you do, that fits in with your life, so you keep doing it.

Up to 36hr fasting is clearly safe, with the only issues being getting enough salt when you do eat, and drugs. I think it is best to start with very low carb, then restricted hours eating, then consider only having one meal most days.
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Ive slept on it and decided to keep doing what im doing at the mo. IF may be introduced at some point. Thank you for your help.
 
What a difference a day makes. Firstly I wake up to Trump and Kim seemingly enjoying an almost 20 second handshake. I nearly spat out my crunchy nut cornflakes. If the first bit didn't capture your attention the second bit will have! Of course I'm joking but scrambled eggs didn't have the same impact! Feeling better today (Without the aid of copious amounts of chocolat!). I know which direction I'm heading on this epic journey. No IF at the mo. Gonna keep on doing what im doing. For the time being at least. Thank you all so much for helping my through my first and hopefully last mini meltdown. Have a good day.
 
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Debandez said:
What a difference a day makes. Firstly I wake up to Trump and Kim seemingly enjoying an almost 20 second handshake. I nearly spat out my crunchy nut cornflakes. If the first bit didn't capture your attention the second bit will have! Of course I'm joking but scrambled eggs didn't have the same impact! Feeling better today (Without the aid of copious amounts of chocolat!). I know which direction I'm heading on this epic journey. No IF at the mo. Gonna keep on doing what im doing. For the time being at least. Thank you all so much for helping my through my first and hopefully last mini meltdown. Have a good day.
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I’m trying to mark your post winner but it’s not playing ball! When you first posted yesterday I started to think maybe it’s something I should try too. However after several comments, all very valid, I decided I couldn’t do it, it would make me miserable. I’m very much with @Mr_Pot on this, I love my food including the social aspects of eating with family and friends and I have good control, so why put myself through it. It doesn’t seem to guarantee weight loss which is the main thing I have left to achieve, and I’m still losing, albeit very slowly. Thank you for this post @Debandez, it has confirmed my own conclusion about fasting, for now!

Edit, the database has allowed me to apply ‘winner’ to your post now!
 
Debandez said:
What a difference a day makes. Firstly I wake up to Trump and Kim seemingly enjoying an almost 20 second handshake. I nearly spat out my crunchy nut cornflakes. If the first bit didn't capture your attention the second bit will have! Of course I'm joking but scrambled eggs didn't have the same impact! Feeling better today (Without the aid of copious amounts of chocolat!). I know which direction I'm heading in this epic journey. No IF at the mo. Gonna keep on doing what im doing. For the time being at least. Thank you all so much for helping my through my first and hopefully last mini meltdown. Have a good day.
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Rachox said:
I’m trying to mark your post winner but it’s not playing ball! When you first posted yesterday I started to think maybe it’s something I should try too. However after several comments, all very valid, I decided I couldn’t do it, it would make me miserable. I’m very much with @Mr_Pot on this, I love my food including the social aspects of eating with family and friends and I have good control, so why put myself through it. It doesn’t seem to guarantee weight loss which is the main thing I have left to achieve, and I’m still losing, albeit very slowly. Thank you for this post @Debandez, it has confirmed my own conclusion about fasting, for now!

Edit, the database has allowed me to apply ‘winner’ to your post now!
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Right back at you Rachel x
 
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