Intermittent fasting, not for me!
 

I know some, perhaps many have success with intermittent fasting but I don't think it has helped me one bit. I love success stories of how people are successful in reducing and maintaining that reduction. Fasting seems to play a fair part in that.

I suppose having a previous history of binge eating should have been a red flag before I tried it. But if you don't try you don't know.

I have just totally lost my ability to control or enjoy eating. Getting too hungry is for me a recipe for disaster.

Just started a few days ago with 3 reasonable size meals and 2 snacks, all foods that would probably make me semi lowcarb. Getting on so much better. Am also trying to eat slower and more mindfully which is helping as well.

I guess it just goes to show, one size doesn't fit all.

Exactly! One size does not fit all. What works for one person does not necessarily apply to others. It may work for the majority - but majority does not mean all.

I like that you have experimented and found what works for you.

The fasting guides and books has always warned people who have /had eating disorders not to fast. No one pregnant, breastfeeding, not an adult, with certain health conditions, on medications and a few other situations are also advised not to fast. I have followed Dr Westman's advice to eat when hungry, but when eating VLC that might be only once a day. The definition of IF is all over the map now, but merely to get away from constant grazing and snacking, the "stoke your metabolism myth" has benefits for reversing insulin resistance.

I was just watching Dr Steve Phinney on U-tube. Toward the end of his lecture, he was asked about IF

His response - he wasn't a fan mostly because there is no research base

and what research there is, is on people who were starved in concentrations camps, re-fed and died from overfeeding.

He does discuss his rationale

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qk0U006YZ2w

Attaining a level of ketosis is required to use IF. Its easy to skip meals when Im not hungry. But I cant do that if Im not in ketosis.

Bottom line. If u are hungry a lot, ketosis is not at work.

I have followed dr phinney and like that he is a rational thinking person.

I followed that rational for a year, As I carefully looked into fasting. Spent many hours reading the most reluable information.

So.....On the otherhand, dr fung presents enough evidence that I tried one day fasts. Very doable. Its normal to eat a little more the next meal. I found the key is to stick to the keto rules.

Lack of reaseach doesnt mean the process is wrong. Even my dogs get one day a week without food. Such that my Rotties lived very long lives, even with a family history of cancer and early deaths. I realize the dogs dont have unrestricted access to the refridge...... but for me sticking to a keto level diet is what worked.

As for fasting, Perhaps its worth another look, starting with further reseach. ...

Here is a talk by Dr Phinney on the metabolic effects of fasting based upon existing/published research studies.

The take-away is to be very careful with fasting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1r8ffLDFcE

Edited to add:

Since I have had personal experience with starvation and re-feeding, this talk resonated with me.

I jumped over here from another thread because the IF idea caught my attention. I've almost felt "guilty" for not adding intermittent fasting to my keto adherence. Losing weight at my age is slow going, and I keep thinking that IF will "speed things up" in a good way.

But I just don't like fasting, IF or otherwise. It doesn't fit into my life. It makes me grumpy. Or self-righteous. Or some other unpleasant attitude. Comparatively speaking, "non-IF guilt" is probably something I can live with. :lol:

I did take a look at Dr. Phinney's YouTube. He did a good thing describing at least four categories people might subscribe to as "fasting." However, since his talk was focused on multi-day, no-calories-consumed fasting and its effects, I didn't watch the whole thing. That's never going to be me!

Worth repeating.

I would never be able to fast if I weren't in deep ketosis. I haven't been hungry for a very, very long time. IF (The original Fung Protocol, before the first book) helped me break a 6-year plateau. IF for me included as much bone broth as I felt needed.

Since that initial IF (2015) I've used Time Restricted Eating (TRE).

I'm an aged female and success is different for me than for many here on this forum. My aim is optimal health and mobility and maintaining my weight loss.

We are all different in our needs and have to experiment to find the best way forward toward our individual goals.

IF is not working for me. In fact, maintaining low carb coupled woth IF - I have gained 1 1/2 pounds that refuse to come off

Go figure

I'll never try it.

For me, when I fast, my body goes into the starvation mode and slows my metabolism down.

In the past I found that fasting makes me gain weight.

I eat one meal a day and 4 to 5 light snakes. Total calorie intake is around 16k, total cabs usually fewer than five, never more than 20 and at least twice as much fat as protein.

One size definitely does not fit all.

But if it works for you, more power to you.

Bob

A different experience for me.

I took up fasting when I was in the typical English carbs with everything and then cakes, scones etc for snacks, way of eating. Was it hard? Oh yes! Was it harder than going from that to Atkins induction? I don't know as I never did that.

What I found, after a few months of just gritting my teeth and doing it, was that it was far easier to control what I ate during my feeding window. So out went most of the junk, our went a lot of the "good carbs" and up went my consumption of meat, fish, eggs cheese and green veg.

On some days my intake could be identical to that of a very low carber who just happens to have only one meal that day. But I arrived there from the opposite direction.

Where do you get those snakes, Bob-a-rama? I'd go for fasting first. :lol:

Thanks for the grin ;)

You haven't lived until you've snacked on snakes - tastes like chicken (actually chicken tastes like snake).

Typos can be so amusing. I come by the typos honestly -- I even have Type-O blood ;)

BTW, I'm OK with snakes. I have a 6' Coachwhip snake living under my house and a few Black Racers in the yard. I had a Coral Snake come in the front door one day, but we swept it back out with a broom. It was never aggressive, but not the kind of thing you want in the house.

Unfortunately we have something much more dangerous than snakes in our yard. - - - An animal that kills more humans per year than any other animal, including other humans - - - The most deadly animal on earth - - - The one that should strike the most fear in our hearts - - - An animal that seeks you out as prey by the carbon dioxide you exhale - - - the mosquito.

You've got a higher risk of dying from a mosquito bite than a snake or even a terrorist.

That puts things in perspective for me.

Bob