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What Are You Tips For Avoiding Muscle Loss During Fasting?

AllieRainbow

Well-Known Member
Messages
207
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
I am currently eating (LCHF) to my meter to lower my blood sugars, which means generally having fasts of between 18 and 25+ hours. I am considering one meal a day (OMAD) as a longterm strategy for BG control as I found found it easy to do and less complicated than eating twice a day, which is what I was doing before. I have had really good results so far - see my post about this experiment https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/type-2-fasting-experiment-to-lower-bg.149942/

My concern about fasting over a longer period of time is muscle loss. What experience have you got of fasting over more than 24 hour periods, and how did you protect yourself against muscle loss?

I have ordered some body composition scales so I can see where I am now and what effect my current diet is having over time.

I mentioned fasting to my doctor and he warned against doing it too much as I could lose muscle. I am currently doing 3-4 hours of exercise a day, and have definitely seen my muscle mass increase over the last few weeks - looking at my body measurements using a tape measure I am smaller than I was at the same weight 4 years ago, which indicates more muscle tissue present.

I am also looking at optimum levels of protein in my diet - I think around 100g per day may be OK, but I am learning as I go, and I may need to increase or decrease this to get better results. I am female, 51 (how did that happen?), and weigh 116.1 kilos at the moment. (Added - I am 5 foot 9).

Any advice would be great.
 
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I think you should get Jason Fung’s Complete Guide to Fasting and you won’t worry too much about muscle loss. Just make sure you get ample protein when you do eat.
 
I like OMAD. Means I can have one epic meal each day instead of smaller ones that often leave me wanting more. I’m eating 65-70g protein a day (about half plant based) so I wonder if I need more. But that’s what the low carb and keto macro calculators pretty unanimously suggest, so I’m sticking with it for now.

How tall are you? I’m 5’11” and around 84kg - but if I could lose some muscle specifically from my thighs (thanks mum for the genetics...) I’d be delighted!
 

@Mel dCP I am 5' 9" and very tubby around the middle with skinny arms and legs. When I was fatter I looked like a kidney bean on a stick.

Love your hair btw - I usually have mine that colour but the turquoise underneath is winning the battle - time to get out the dye bottle and the plastic gloves again!
 
AllieRainbow said:
I am 5' 9" and very tubby around the middle with skinny arms and legs. When I was fatter I looked like a kidney bean on a stick.
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I look quite slim when I’m standing up. But when I sit down it all flomps out and I turn into Jabba the Hutt
 
bulkbiker said:
I think you should get Jason Fung’s Complete Guide to Fasting and you won’t worry too much about muscle loss. Just make sure you get ample protein when you do eat.
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@bulkbiker I have got the Jason Fung fasting book - not read far enough in yet - that will be a job for today while exercising with my little pedal exerciser.
 
Mel dCP said:
I look quite slim when I’m standing up. But when I sit down it all flomps out and I turn into Jabba the Hutt
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I know the feeling - I always look much fatter sitting down. I am adding flomp to my vocabulary right now! Quite appropriate as much of my middle section is the consistency of a Flump. Most people are very surprised when they find out what I weigh as it is usually concealed under a baggy top, and the legs are very slim. Looking at my body sideways I can see I am really not supposed to be fat.

I still think in my head I am 9 and a half stone like I was when I was younger. Great for self-image, but not so good for monitoring weight gain if you are not on the ball. Getting mirrored wardrobes was a massive reality check.
 
If you are willing to go to the gym, get the "Body by Science" book.

See And
For the risks and benefits of long term fasting. Personally as you are getting great results from 23hr fasts, I see no good reason form you to do longer fasts at present.
 
Mel dCP said:
I look quite slim when I’m standing up. But when I sit down it all flomps out and I turn into Jabba the Hutt
Click to expand...

I almost clicked 'agree' to that but realised that may seem like an insult!

What I mean is, "me too"!
 
AllieRainbow said:
@bulkbiker I have got the Jason Fung fasting book - not read far enough in yet - that will be a job for today while exercising with my little pedal exerciser.
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Jason Fung s book is reassuring re muscle loss however I recently heard Stepen Phinney (see lectures on ketogenic diet on You Tube) who has done 18+ years research in this area that fasting more than 48 hours will cause some muscle loss so it may be wise to do a restricted eating window or 5:2 in combination with resistance training. That said if you do become someone who trains their body to use more fat than sugar (by eating low carb when not fasting) then the muscle wastage will be minimised and as a weight loss method both fasting and low carb diets trump daily calorie restriction for weight loss and reversal of type 2.
 

I think I am happy with sticking to the current plan which is OMAD provided the blood sugar comes down low enough - today, however it has been nearly 28 hours and counting, so sometimes it may approach up to 36 hours if the BG doesn't come down quickly enough.
 
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Phinney I'm afraid has a phobia about fasting and has never really studied it in people who have a few extra pounds.. remember his expertise is in training keto athletes. Jason Fung IMHO has far more experience of fasting in Type 2's who are a little oversize and metabolically deranged so would go with him over Phinney any day.
 
One thing that is very different between what Jason Fung is doing and the resaech that shows mussel lose - brone broth. It is very possible that the little protein it contains along with a good mix of electrolyte makes a big difference.

Everyone agrees there is no issues with fasts of 36hr or less other then keeping the intake of normal salt high enough. Some of the best results are from poeple with limited money, who due to eating fewer meals, can afford to increase their total protein intake.
 
Wow, how do you do 3 - 4 hours exercise a day??
I struggle to do 3000 steps + a day sometimes, I thought as I lost weight my energy would increase ( less weight to carry around), but haven’t noticed a significant improvement.
What exercise do you do? Thanks
 
I am pretty active - I cycle and try to move about a lot as I have been very sedentary for a long time after doing very active jobs when I was younger. As a result of this and getting TB in my thirties, I put on a lot of weight - I currently weigh around double what I weighed when I was younger. I fit in half hour chunks of exercise regularly as I am sat down at the computer a lot and don't want it to affect my health more than it already has. I feel a lot better when I do plenty of exercise, and find that I have more energy. I have stayed the same weight for the last 3 months after blood pressure medication side effects made me very fatigued, and I am working my way back to my previous levels of activity. I am currently only doing 30-60 minutes a day, which is not enough to make me lively I am afraid. I am building it up slowly now. The weight should start coming off again soon.
 
Oh ok thanks
Getting your fitness back after a period of being sedentary is real hard but you are doing really well, and you’ve kept the weight off, brilliant
 
Petaluk said:
Oh ok thanks
Getting your fitness back after a period of being sedentary is real hard but you are doing really well, and you’ve kept the weight off, brilliant
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I actually lost around 30 pounds before the blood pressure medication messed everything up. I am aiming to start losing weight again soon, once I have got into a better routine.
 
bulkbiker said:
I think you should get Jason Fung’s Complete Guide to Fasting and you won’t worry too much about muscle loss. Just make sure you get ample protein when you do eat.
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I just purchased this book yesterday and literally cannot wait for it to get here tonight! I've been doing IF for about 2 months now and haven't lost any muscle mass but more knowledge is better, plus he's from the same city as me!
 
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