Intermittent Fasting 2011

[SgtMomArmy]

I had a bad day a couple of days ago. Gained 4lbs over night. Still trying to get back in control. Carbs are low, but haven't been IFing.

[Josyjo]

I had a lovely whoosh at the end of last week, but seem to be up/down the same 1lb this week.... Although, my stomach and leg muscles are still aching from a heavy (and unusual!) workout on Sunday, so wondering if this is stalling me a little?

Sticking around the 1300cals/30 carbs anyway, and hanging in there! Whoosh fairy, I'm ready for you! :-)

[spockjones]

Thank Shiva for IF! For years I failed on diets because you're forced to eat so often. IF and LC breaking--fast are great. Going without food for extended periods was always easy for me but I was taught that eating several small meals was most healthful. Never worked for me. I like breakfast foods but never liked breakfast--even as an infant.

I fast for 24 hours (starting at 1-2p works best for me. Break the fast with 24 hrs of coconut oil mixed with tea or broth (one tablespoon of oil with 8-12oz of tea or broth 3 times a day) and one meal of eggs and steak or other no carb meal. Then 24 hours of LC eating (<25c). Then I repeat the whole thing all over. I've been doing this for a month and I feel great. Even better, I lost 20lbs. It's been very easy. If I feel like I'm totally starving on a no food day, I have a cup of hot broth with a tablespoon of coconut oil. I take prenatal vitamins and extra iron on food days. My stomach can't tolerate vitamins empty. The coconut oil is a natural, gentle laxative and is very filling (TMI alert-- I poo once a day, even on the days I have no food so my weight loos (typo stays) is not attributed to the laxative effect) . The key with the coconut oil for me is the odorless and tasteless kind.

I must qualify this with the fact that I'm extremely insulin resistant and fall out of ketosis easily. My doctor thinks this is fine (the minimal risks of fasting are outweighed by great risks of obesity). My blood values are great and I already have improved thyroid function. I've been in ketosis for 25 days.

Yay, me!

[momtocj7mea]

I am going to give IF a try, I actually did a version of IF a couple years ago and lost an average of 5lbs a week!! But my cals were way too low and I was actually unaware that I was IF. So I am going to give it another shot with some guidance this time and more cals. I had attempted stillman's to break my stall but it made me sick Hoping for some results!!

[JanBhere]

Happy Easter Weekend Everyone! Dont forget the reason for the season.

[iakaren]

DD Softball Tourney today. First game I have made this spring. And eating was not exactly LC. But freezing cold, so blaming the eating on being frozen........

Hopefully tomorrow will be warmer!!!

[JanBhere]

Karen,
Im sure you will do better even if it doesnt get warmer...lol Have a great Easter. . I was bad last night. I ate out of my window. I can tell for sure this morning tooo. My stomach is rumbling for food this early in the AM. Its going to be a tough morning. Im gonna try to hold out til around 2pm tooo. Lord Give me Strength. lol

[iakaren]

Originally Posted by JanBhere

Karen,
Im sure you will do better even if it doesnt get warmer...lol Have a great Easter. . I was bad last night. I ate out of my window. I can tell for sure this morning tooo. My stomach is rumbling for food this early in the AM. Its going to be a tough morning. Im gonna try to hold out til around 2pm tooo. Lord Give me Strength. lol

Thanks.

[LCShadows]

Hi, all! You have my sympathy on the Easter feast thing, Jan. I gave up chocolate for Lent, so holding out and not eating all those delicious little choc bunnies BEFORE Monday was my trick. Then it stormed today and I still never got out to buy choc bunnies. Oh, well.

Karen, if I could figure out how to ship it, I'd send you some of our unseasonably early heat. It would definitely keep you warm for the game.

[minimonkey]

Hi Folks --

Looks like this thread isn't very active, but I thought I'd introduce myself. I am at goal after finishing cycling with homeopathic hcg, and I am now doing a combination of IF and low carb for maintenance and fitness gains. This is only my third day of it, but so far, so good.

Just thought I'd say hi!

[JanBhere]

Mimimonkey,
We have our days that several of us will post, but then again we can go a couple of days w/o it. Welcome, Come in and post all you want the more we post the better our motivation becomes.
I hope everyone is safe and out of harms way tonight. We are in for some storms again tonight into the morning hours. I dont like the night time storms, so I m sure I wont sleep much tonight.

[Dayse1274]

Hello everyone! I'm in the process of reading this thread from front to back and I'm intrigued. I'm seriously considering IF. I'm one of those people who really isn't hungry until I start eating. Then I can't stop . . . . I will graze all day.

I lose weight much slower now on LC than I used to and it's because I now have to watch calories to lose. It's very hard to watch cals and keep them low when you're eating/hungry ALL DAY LONG. I was always "old school" in my thinking that I had to eat breakfast because "it's the most important meal of the day" and revs up your metabolism, but then as mentioned, I'd then start a cycle of continuous hunger.

Sometimes on the weekends I'll be busy running around and will forget to eat breakfast. When I don't eat first thing in the morning, then it's usually around 1 - 2pm when I start getting hungry so I'm thinking of a 5 hr IF window (1:30pm - 6:30pm). This just might be for me.

[centaurea]

Hello all.

New here. Not new to IF, well not by theory anyway. I did it last year and lost weight, then got out of the groove and put it back on. I've tried many "diets" and never had success like with IF, except now with carb/calorie cycling, which seems like just another version of IF anyway. I was unable to budge an ounce doing induction, the Polish high fat diet, fat fasting, regular low-carb (under 50 grams), etc. I am hypothyroid but I think that is getting better now, at least by how I feel (I haven't gotten blood tests again yet though).

I am doing protein only, up to 90 grams on down days. As low fat as possible except fish oil pills (poultry breast, fish, leanest Laura's lean beef only). No carbs except fibrous veggie to 30 grams of fiber. Works out to be 400-500 calories-ish. I discovered that salad is really pretty decent with just vinegar/lemon juice, an egg yolk (if I have to), salt and pepper. Tomorrow will be my first "real" up day. I did have some carbs on Tuesday but not much. I'm doing Tuesday and Friday as "up" days, all other days "down" with Wednesday and Saturday being the lowest. I am allowing slightly more calories on other days, up to 1000 for variation.

So far (on Saturday) I will have been doing this a week and I have been losing around a pound a day. I started at 232 (though I think I was bloated) and I am now 224. I'm so excited and happy! And I'm not particularly cravey, so far. Tomorrow will tell.

[Meek75]

Just thought I'd pop in and say hello to you all. I'll be back to IF once I reach my goal weight. Keep up the good work everyone.

Take care,
Meek

[LCShadows]

minimonkey and centaurea!

Good to hear from you again, Meek. Selfishly, I hope you get to goal soon.

I haven't been online much in the last few months. Lately I just can't seem to make myself want to sit at a computer when I'm not working. But I am going to try to check back in at least once a week. My usual 6-hour IF window has broadened a bit for the summer, which is also pretty typical for me. Otherwise, not a lot of big news to report.

[iakaren]

Originally Posted by LCShadows

minimonkey and centaurea!

Good to hear from you again, Meek. Selfishly, I hope you get to goal soon.

I haven't been online much in the last few months. Lately I just can't seem to make myself want to sit at a computer when I'm not working. But I am going to try to check back in at least once a week. My usual 6-hour IF window has broadened a bit for the summer, which is also pretty typical for me. Otherwise, not a lot of big news to report.

I can ditto this post. Good to see you back!!
I sure need to get the scale going back down

[batlou]

I have been stalled since Oct 2009 and really, really want to drop another 20 pounds. I tried low-fat for 6 weeks in March and gained 10 so after holding at 175 for over a year I gained 10 pounds in 6 weeks trying to eat low-fat. ughh

Long story short, I back on low-carb and feeling better but my weight is now stuck at 185 instead of 175. This is all so frustrating. I was reading about IF on this site which lead me to Dr. Eades blog to read more. Using his method of IF and Low-Carb I started on Monday.

Plan is as follows
Monday - Dinner
Tuesday - Breakfast, Lunch, Snack
Weds - Dinner
Thursday - Breakfast, Lunch, Snack
Fri - Dinner
Saturday - Breakfast, Lunch, Snack, Dinner
Sunday - Breakfast, Lunch, Snack

I am eating more on the weekends because those are typically my long workout days that could include 2-4 hour sessions of running, cycling or both so I am going to need to eat something to fuel. My peak racing season is coming up and I need to drop this weight to help make it more comfortable and hopefully a little faster. Otherwise I can handle the IF days on 1-2 hour sessions without much problem.

Plan to do this for at least 6 weeks and see what happens. Wish me luck

[synger]

I traveled to NEw Orleans last week for a work conference, and fell off the LC and IF wagons HARD.

But it's been remarkably easy to get back into the swing of it this week. And I'm down six of the ten pounds I gained (probably mostly water weight from drinking... our hotel was on Bourbon street).

Yet another reminder that I cannot diet (no matter what plan I use) and drink. I lose all sense of caring, and eat anything not nailed down (and get out the hammer to pry up things that are!).

[batlou]

So yesterday was my first medium run on a fast day. It was outstanding!!! 5.76 Miles at a 9.5 pace and I felt great. When I got home I was ready to eat though. Getting ready to eat my last snack for today and then a short 2-3 mile run with stops on each 1 mile lap to use the fitness stations.

I would be lying if I said I was not hungry during the day yesterday but I never felt starved or deprived. I guess it's something I can get used to and manage for 6 weeks. After that, we'll see...

[LCShadows]

Originally Posted by iakaren

I can ditto this post. Good to see you back!!
I sure need to get the scale going back down

Karen, you want to hear something weird? I had been doing mostly induction-level carbs and an IF window of 6 hours -- and I stalled out for 5 months. I thought about changing to Slow Carb or a different LC plan, but I just rebelled at the idea. So I said fine, I'll just try to stick to meat/fish/eggs/nuts/vegies mostly and try to eat what I'm craving but be reasonable about it. And I'll let my IF window wander to 8 hours, which is what it always wants to do in summer. And you know what? I broke the stall. Weird, huh? I mean, it wasn't a huge loss, but it finally did go down a couple more pounds. So I'm sticking with it to see what happens. My summer plan: intuition-based LC and 8-hour IF. What's to lose?

I'm sure when you're back on IF, Karen, the scale will be friendly again. You are just so busy all the time. It's probably just trying to get your attention.

Batlou, a stall of a year and a half? Wow. You are one patient person. I am really impressed with all your athletic feats. There is a faster who runs while fasting over on the **Make It Fast 2011** board (which has been very slow this year). Her name is Hoops. That blows my mind that you guys can do that. I know that weight lifters do gain phases when they are trying to add muscle and train harder during those, then they do leaning out phases in which they do less lefting and eat less so that they lose fat. Do runners/bikers do any sort of cycling like that?

[iakaren]

Originally Posted by LCShadows

Karen, you want to hear something weird? I had been doing mostly induction-level carbs and an IF window of 6 hours -- and I stalled out for 5 months. I thought about changing to Slow Carb or a different LC plan, but I just rebelled at the idea. So I said fine, I'll just try to stick to meat/fish/eggs/nuts/vegies mostly and try to eat what I'm craving but be reasonable about it. And I'll let my IF window wander to 8 hours, which is what it always wants to do in summer. And you know what? I broke the stall. Weird, huh? I mean, it wasn't a huge loss, but it finally did go down a couple more pounds. So I'm sticking with it to see what happens. My summer plan: intuition-based LC and 8-hour IF. What's to lose?

I'm sure when you're back on IF, Karen, the scale will be friendly again. You are just so busy all the time. It's probably just trying to get your attention.

Batlou, a stall of a year and a half? Wow. You are one patient person. I am really impressed with all your athletic feats. There is a faster who runs while fasting over on the **Make It Fast 2011** board (which has been very slow this year). Her name is Hoops. That blows my mind that you guys can do that. I know that weight lifters do gain phases when they are trying to add muscle and train harder during those, then they do leaning out phases in which they do less lefting and eat less so that they lose fat. Do runners/bikers do any sort of cycling like that?

Glad you got the stall to break.......
My problem is getting busy/stressed and then I fall off my plan. I am seriously going to try and get progress again. Hoping it works..

[oriana]

I follow the Carbohydrate Addicts Diet and eat on meal a day.

[oriana]

I am a runner and I only eat one meal a day but it is according to Carb Addicts Diet. I can eat what I like for that meal as long as it is in an hour. I am a marathon runner so I train from 7-12 miles a day.

[Sandelio]

Testing......can't seem to access some stuff - can I post?

[Meek75]

I'm glad to see this thread is still active. Please keep posting.

[iakaren]

I'm still here

[LCShadows]

Hi, Sandelio. We can hear you. :-)

I always liked the idea of the Carb Addicts Diet, but couldn't get it to work for me. That stopping after one hour thing... Certain things like grains and dairy just seemed to make that impossible when I ate them. Who knows what the future will bring, though?

Lately I've been on a vegetable kick. Make great big stirfries with enough leftovers for a couple days and eat vegies 2-3x a day, as much as a couple cups at a time. No idea why these cravings suddenly struck. They are the oddest cravings I've ever had (for things like purple cabbage or turnips). Pretty much stuck to low-carb vegies, but seem to be really drawn to the colorful stuff.

[iakaren]

Originally Posted by Sandelio

Testing......can't seem to access some stuff - can I post?

your post came thru.

[batlou]

@LCShadows: Thanks, I don't know of any runners or cyclist that do fasting for purposes similar to body builders. They do it more to get cut by dropping not only fat but excess fluid.

Week 2 is almost in the books and I am getting more used to this each day. My only deviation is even during fasting times I am having a recovery snack of some sort immediatly after a workout. These snacks are carefully planned and are critical for cellular repair and recovery. Limited to 200 calories and typically consist of a couple of eggs or a measured serving of almonds.

Having said that, this stall of mine is holding on for dear life but I have upped my workouts, added strength training and I can feel that it's losing it's grip. Still at 183 but clothes are fitting looser and I feel better. In fact I am finding my fasting workouts are more comfortable than my workouts that included a meal within 4 hours prior. Weird.

[LCShadows]

Originally Posted by batlou

Still at 183 but clothes are fitting looser and I feel better. In fact I am finding my fasting workouts are more comfortable than my workouts that included a meal within 4 hours prior. Weird.

That's interesting. I tend to exercise after my window closes each day. (My window tends to run roughly 10A-4P most of the year.) Because I'm not a morning person, I've never felt coordinated enough to exercise in the morning. I wonder if it would be worth a try -- at least for cardio? I wonder if not having to divert energy to digestion is freeing up more energy for your workouts?