Alternate Day Fasting turned ZC...back to fasting

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(What The Fast?!) #41

A note about hunger…on the days that I’m fully fasting, the hunger pangs aren’t as bad because mentally I can say - look, you’re not eating today, that’s all there is to it. However, on the days in between, like today, where I know I’m going to eat soon, I’m non-stop ravenous. I’m trying to stick to only two meals a day on feeding days, but I’m about to gnaw my arm off!

I think it’s part mental struggle and partly…I’m just hungry! After a few weeks of ADF, I’ll probably try 72 hours fasts weekly instead of ADF, I feel that day 2 is the toughest anyway, so doing 36-42 hours 3 times seems almost more difficult than one longer fast each week.

(Crow T. Robot) #42

If you are hungry on your feast days, you should eat. I think you are undoing some of the long-term good you are hoping for if you restrict then. If you are keeping to just two meals (which is fine) try bigger meals. I suspect years of restriction are still having an influence on you.

(What The Fast?!) #43

Thanks Chris - I’m tracking though and definitely eating sufficient calories/macros on my feast days. I’m deep in ketosis (4.0 this morning), so I shouldn’t be feeling hungry - it feels like my body isn’t accessing my fat stores for some reason, which is ALSO odd because my fasting insulin is super low. I dunno, maybe it’s just mental.

Edit: also, Megan Ramos talks about riding the hunger waves. I’m trying to learn what’s real hunger and what’s a mental challenge, you know?

(Crow T. Robot) #44

Sure, that’s an important aspect of all this as well. Sounds like you know what you are doing. Keep us posted – it’s very interesting!

#45

If that was meant for me, yes I’ve had very good results. I’m doing it for weight loss and general health. I broke a six-month stall doing ADF. I only do about 20 to 24 hours on my fasting days and then eat dinner.

I’ve lost nine pounds in six weeks doing this three days a week. Until this week, I had at least two fatty drinks a day (BPC and broth with cream in it). Now I’m doing just tea and plain broth, but I wonder if that has something to do with that foggy feeling yesterday.

(What The Fast?!) #46

@gatita Out of curiosity, how much do you eat on your ADF days compared to a regular day of eating? Is it significantly less or about the same, just in a shorter window?

#47

I’ve mostly stopped tracking, but I believe it’s about the same as a regular day. I usually eat two meals a day, so the two fatty drinks pretty much make up for one of those meals. Then I have some cheese or macadamias before dinner. Dinner always includes a meat or fish course, veg with butter, sometimes a keto naan, always two glasses of wine and often a keto dessert or cocktails. Or both.

So it’s pretty much a feast ;). I don’t get crazy stuffed, mainly am happy with smaller portions than I would have pre-keto and I can enjoy some of everything!

Also, it’s worth noting that although I lost a few pounds on my first IF back in April or May, when I started this three-day-a-week thing June 1, I didn’t lose anything the first couple of weeks. It’s mainly in the last two weeks that weight has come off steadily.

(What The Fast?!) #48

@gatita Awesome, thanks for that! I’m finding that I want to eat everything on my feast days, trying to find balance.

(What The Fast?!) #49

Arrrgghhhh!!!
Woke up to the scale at 151.0 this morning! I know the scale isn’t everything but come ON!
Ketones are high, going for a bike ride.

#50

Keep your eyes on the bigger picture. I once did a four day fast and added several pounds!

(What The Fast?!) #51

@avocadosrule REALLY?!? Tell me more.

(Sonia A.) #52

After reading everything here and your other post, I think that your metabolism is damaged after all the dieting you did over the years.

Maybe you should eat more on your feasting days. Even if you think it’s mental hunger, your body is signaling that it needs more fuel. It probably means that your production of leptin has increased. It happens when your metabolism slows down. And it doesn’t help that you exercise a lot.

As the dudes say all the time, eat when you’re hungry and stop when you’re full. After a while, you’ll see that your ravenous appetite on your feasting days will decrease.

I hope it helps and that results will rapidly come.

(What The Fast?!) #53

Thanks. I’ve actually had my RMR tested too. My metabolism is about 10% under normal. The lady said that she’s seeen MUCH worse than that! My daily burn is around 1350 if I sit at a desk all day.

I eat like 1700-1900 calories on my feast days, so I don’t think it’s that. But, I’m actually thinking I’m going to try Zero carb. I think a big problem for me may be digestión issues and/or malabsorption. Eating makes me bloated almost immediately after I eat, and I think vegetables are the culprit. I’ll do ZC for a few days and report back!

Off to hot yoga!

#54

I weighed myself on day 1 and after a 4 day fast I added several pounds. It makes no sense at some level but I think that the body does its own thing (because of a million different reasons) and weight is one limited measurement.

(Sonia A.) #55

Good luck. I’ll be joining you next week. I’m stalled too and alternate-day fasting is the only type of fasting that I didn’t try. I hope that we’ll blast that plateau. Until then, KCKO :blush:.

(What The Fast?!) #56

So I have to say…ADF isn’t going great for me so far, but that’s okay. I don’t feel great when I fast like people talk about. I also think that I’d prefer a 72 hour fast to 3 42 hour fasts because the first day or so is the hardest, so like…I’m just putting myself through the worst part of it 3x/week! Since my performance on bike has been very poor in a fasted state, I’m not sure how much longer I’ll do ADF.

However…I did decide to give Zero Carb a try. I had my first ZC day yesterday, coming off a 36 hour fast, and so far so good.
I had bacon/eggs for breakfast (I was super hungry and didn’t want to wait til lunch to eat).
I had ground beef, bacon, and an egg for lunch.
I had fajita style steak for dinner.
Then, when I got home around 11:30PM, I realized I had left a steak out to thaw, so I ended up having to cook it at midnight so it didn’t go back. I had a few bites of that as well.

Today, I woke up to 1.5lb loss - I’m sure that’s just water, but it’s worth noting.

(KCKO, KCFO) #57

Did you use Richard’s calculator about why some people have more difficulties fasting?

Some people just do better on fat fasts than water fasts. You might find you are one of them?

Good luck on sorting it all out.

#58

Thanks for the update, that’s useful for me in deciding next steps. I think I’ll go right to Zorn Fast and see how that goes.

(What The Fast?!) #59

Yep - I have 1417 cals available from stored fat, so I shouldn’t have an issue.

(What The Fast?!) #60

ALSO of note:
I forgot to add that I had a glass of wine and half a vodka soda last (work dinner thing).
As I mentioned, I had a couple bites of that super fatty ribeye late last night (while my b/f was eating Halo Top mind you).
I tested my ketones and BG out of curiosity last night - my BG was normal and my ketones were at .05 - which is low for me, considering I’d just come out of a fast. I thought - cool, no worries.

Today, after I had breakfast (yes, I was hungry for breakfast!) of 6oz ground beef, 4 slices of bacon, and 1 cup of bone broth, I tested my BG and ketones again (a couple hours after). I was already back up to 2.2 ketones and BG was 79.

Here’s why I’m so fascinated by this - usually, I can only get my ketones high by extended fasts and/or depleting glycogen with a 15 mile+ bike ride. It’s all SO interesting. DATA DATA DATA!!!

All I know is, so far so good with zero carb.