Dairy causes me to get zits. I think that explains itself.

Well, there is an article on my home page on the relationship between caloric restriction and longevity. They say that caloric restriction enhances glucagon ( hmmm, where have I heard that word before?) which stabilizes insulin and glucose. I will post the link.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/lifespan_gene_dc


Today I ate differently and still managed to eat 3 meals instead of four. I ate breakfast at the old 6:30 AM. Then I ate lunch at 12:30. I ate dinner nearly 6 hours later without the feeling of urgency. I would like to be able to eat one ample meal a day.

I was just reading an article a hypoglycemic person wrote about IF or warrior style fasting improving her hypoglycemia. I really should get back on that band wagon!

I finally did a full 24hrs...actually 26hrs. Didn't start out to, but went out the other night and just hadn't eaten since 5pm, so when I got home around 11pm I thought I'd see how I felt in the morning and, if all felt well, I'd shoot for a 24hr fasting period. All felt well, no hunger, and I went 'til 7pm just bc it was most convenient to eat then. And I got full quickly too. I think ketosis is contributing to this, big time!

About working out in a fasted state - anyone experience nausea or lightheadedness? I have tried and experienced both during a weight lifting session. I lift heavy as possible and do mainly compound, free weight exercises. This is pretty much what's keeping me from doing alternate day 24hrs - my gym schedule! Is it something you adapt to, or work up to?

I've given up IFing for now. The week I did 3 18 hr fasts I gained a pound. I just don't think I'm ready for it.

My experience so far with IFing is only weight loss. I have lost a lot of fat. ..2 lbs. per week for 3-4 weeks now, and I look lean and muscular, so it's been a very positive experience for me.

I think the trick, in my case, is that I've been very strict with my fasting, as the one day I snacked on a few pieces of chocolate, I could feel that I had gained a little subcutaneous fat on my abdomen, and although I still looked thin, I could tell, so I haven't indulged during any more of my 24 hour fasts. I've also eaten as much protein as I could stomach (with plenty of fat of course), which was still limited, because I stopped eating it when my body had registered enough. I didn't limit carbs too much, since I was only eating 1 large meal at dinner every day, so I'd have some berries or pineapple or strawberries..whatever tasted good but wasn't wheat or anything. And I ate a lot of liver..I dunno why, but it just tasted much more flavorful and good than the ground beef I cooked..I suppose my body has become really sensitive to what it needs and wants in my diet.

Now, I started experiencing a little bit of muscle loss and was afraid I wasn't getting enough calories, and now that my body has burned off the majority of its excess fat (though there's still a small amount left that I wouldn't mind losing and will probably come off eventually), I'm alternating days that I fast. Like today, I ate breakfast, and I'll eat diner, and tomorrow I'll fast until dinner and repeat the process if need be. Or if I start to gain some fat back, I'll fast two 24 hour days in a row, and eat two meals (breakfast and dinner) the third day, and go with that.

Everybody's different, and there's no generic way to lose fat. As for me, I've found intermittent fasting to be a godsend. I can't believe it took me 10 months to figure out that I was eating too much of the right things.

You're right. Everyone's different. I've found that I lose the most weight when I eat three modest meals a day (paleo/low carb, of course) plus a small protein snack in mid afternoon. I plan to try IFing again, I just don't know when and if it will be for weightloss or for some other reason (I think fasting is great for detoxing and giving your GI system a break).

Anyhoo, I'm glad it's working for you. That alone tells me that there is a benefit, even if I don't receive said benefit at this point in my weightloss efforts.

Sorry you weren't able to stick with it for a realistic time Proteus. Maybe one day you will be ready to accept that constant IF is an integral part of a Paleo dietary approach. Until then I hope you'll continue to stick with the other aspects of this style of eating and at least reap the already rich rewards therein.

I just read an experience someone had with IF helping their fasting hypoglycemia, so it might be worthwhile for me to try again.

Now, I don't know much about hypoglycemia.. is it basically the blood glucose levels, and does it make a person more sensitive to glucose?

IMO, I'm really sensitive to glucose and eating something that's really high in carbs, even in small amounts, such as a couple kumquats, a bit of erythritol chocolate, or even a handful of french fries will ruin my glucose levels, resulting in a horrible headache for the entire next day. I'm not sure if this is hypoglycemia or not..

Hypoglycemia is very low blood sugar. There's also reactive hypoglycemia (which is what most people are talking about when hypoglycemia is mentioned) where blood sugar rises and crashes quickly after eating too much sugar (carbs).

I'm hypoglycemic. I get shaky and feel faint if I haven't eaten for a while.

Hmm, I do as well. Mostly a lightheaded feeling with corresponding weakness. I've found IFing very difficult to contend with because my job requires such constant attention for 8-12 hours during weekdays. I was reading Adventures in Diet - By Vilhjalmur Stefansson (link from another thread) and I found it interesting that the Inuit were mostly eating 3 times per day - perhaps we are of this tribe?

I think the reactive hypoglycemia usually happens a few hours after eating. It might not really be low low sugar but the plunge from high blood sugar to less high makes you feel that way.

The way I found out about my hypoglycemia is with a glucose monitor. Sometimes I felt very sleepy. That was my only clue. I have had the reactive sort of hypoglycemia before and I know what it feels like. But low carb pretty well cured me of that. But this was hypoglycemia during a fast like the first couple of hour in the morning. I measured my blood sugar and it was in the 50's. 60 is considered the bottom of normal.

Anyway, I eat a bit and feel fine.

OK, but my question was does intermittent fasting cause a person to become hypoglycemic, and is this an unhealthy thing?

Sometimes I feel tired when I haven't eating anything all day, and sometimes not.

Weight loss from intermittent fasting is supposedly due to excess cortisol in the system speeding up the using of muscle and fat for energy (but it isn't a healthy hormone and it inhibits the growth hormone). I can't see how that would be healthy (unless we're talking about slowing the metastasis of cancer or slowing the process of calcification of cartilage in certain individuals who possess a disease that turns all their cartilage to bone by puberty, resulting in death).. I mean, inhibiting the growth hormone might be good for slowing aging, but is excess cortisol a safe thing? Doesn't it tax the body?

Maybe there's a relationship between cortisol and fasting glucose.

I wish you luck on figuring all this out!