Hey LOM!
I've been IFing for about a week now too. I have been skipping alternating meals at least once a day and doing a 20 hour fast twice a week. I didn't notice any foggy or weak feelings so far. My BGs were below 100 most times except Yesterday when I pigged out and ate 3000 cals in one day!!!!! Even so my BG was below 110 and after a 14 hour fast dropped to 86. I don't know what to offer except push on thru it. If it continues, I would add a little high fat snack and see if that helps. Hopefully someone will pick up on this thread and offer us rookies some advice!
Mike

Hey, Mik. Great. We can be rookies together.

No weakness or fog with you, eh? Hmmmm. I wonder what it is with me, then... could be cycle-related, I suppose. Or it could be my overall improving bg levels. They were pretty high for a while.

Anyway, I plan to tough it out and hope it is just part of the adjustment phase.

And yes, it would be great if some folks with more experience stop by.

Good Morning LadyM,
Well, my trip into IFing has come to a screeching halt. It appears that my good fortune last week was not indicative of good things to come. Since I posted last, I've had both hypos and hypers, 45 point spikes and a 15 point increase in my average BG. I've been absolutely ravenous with hunger and I gained weight. Here I've come to find out that Diabetics on Insulin need to adjust their basal insulin doseage for the IF or the opposite of what's expected will occur. This is what happened at the start of the 2nd week. First I had a hypo. It's been so long since I had one I didn't know what was wrong until I checked my BG. Low! Then I had a 45 point spike in my BG when I ate. The next day I had the highest BG reading in 5 months and it wouldn't drop to normal even when I fasted. Then I became ravenously obsessively hungry continuously. Even though I stayed LC, it threw me off my feeding plan for the last two days. Now, I'll need to figure out basal insulin adjustment in order to pursue any IF. It does appear that a day or two of IF may not cause any problems, but this whole thing has set me back a couple of weeks. Oh well, at least I get to learn more!
Hope you are doing better,
Mike

Mike - that was a real train ride! If you still want to IF maybe you ought to start with a shorter fasting period and see what happens.

I'm sorry you had such a rough week, Mik.

I wish there was better research available on IFing in general, and for insulin users specifically.

Good luck to you.

Hey Folks,
Well, back from the Holiday now and ready to start again. I did find a thread on Dr. Bernstein's forum (http://www.diabetes-book.com/cgi-bi...um=1158447732/0) This thread has 27 pages of diabetics and their experience with IFing. I've read through about 19 pages and so far have realized that IFing may not work for me unless I can learn how to get my basal insulin dosage adjusted to deal with the IF. It appears to be easier for diabetics on bolus insulin as they can adjust for each meal or fast they have. That's just my observation though, it may be tough for them too. I'm going to try and learn as much as I can in the next few days and then see if IFing is at least a short term program at least. I'll keep you posted.
Mike

Oh, good find, Mike. I'm registered now and reading it, too.

Hello All,
Well, I read thru all the IF thread on Dr. B's Forum. This week I finally got my BG back to "normal" levels. I figured out a possible solution to my basal insulin issue and will now inject a third in the evening and two thirds during the day and see how that works. I did a breakfast fast yesterday and had no issues except for being ravenously hungry at dinner again. Even though I stayed within Dr. B's carb count for dinner, I did manage to eat over 1200 cals and consume 56 grams of carbs at one meal! Amazingly enough my postprandial BG was only 12 points higher than pre-meal BG. If I can only figure out the 'eyes bigger than the stomach' thing I may have some success.
Hope you all are doing well,
Mike

I have the "eyes bigger" thing, too.

And I'm also finding that my bgs are leveling out, no matter how much I eat. It is a miracle.

Last night I overate (eggs, cheese, ham, spinach casserole), then ate some nuts and some more cheese *and* had coffee with cream. Despite the gluttony, my PP BG was still only 6.1. Holy moses.

And it has come down a few notches for my average FBG -- this morning down 7.0. 7.0 isn't where I want it, but it is way closer than it was when it was 19.

And I've lost 6.5 lbs. In 15 days.

I'm also getting into the spiritual side of IF - thinking with gratitude about all the food available to me all the time, and how much good healthy food I will be able to eat at 5:00. I think about the millions around the world who don't have a 5:00 meal coming.

I think about the common practice among Buddhist monks to eat only until noon each day, and I concentrate on how much lighter I am, and how I'm consuming less of the world's resources.

So far, this has been a rewarding practice on many levels.

This approach reminds me of the "anti-estrogen diet". The author claims that its best to consume most of our calories at night (6 to 8 pm) to reduce estrogen in our diet (he has a list of no-no's to not eat as well) and to skip eating during the day, or have nothing but eggs, chicken and salad with a little olive oil (all low carb).

I know people who use it, but I get too hungry during the day and eat terrible things at night to make up for it. I could not maintain the diet, low carbing through out the day is better for me, rather than consuming 1000+ calories at night. I will say it was me who failed and not the diet.