Could we PLEASE stop telling people that fasting is the solution to everything?

(Pete A) #142

I am “fasted” for 4-5 hours between, and 15 overnight and as a life long snacker, feel fasted :grinning:

(Bob M) #143

Why on earth would you talk to a doctor about this? I had a doctor’s appointment not too long ago where they counseled me on avoiding saturated fat. “How’s your saturated fat intake?”, they asked. I said, “Great!”

How many doctors know about and believe in keto? How many believe in intermittent or long term fasting? I’ve had to change doctors so many times because I can’t find a doctor who believes in low carb, and the one I did left. She gave me the number to another doctor she knows is low carb, and I’ve made an appointment, but she’s over an hour’s drive from where I work. And’s she is one of the very few low carb doctors I can find in my entire STATE. Now try to find one that also thinks fasting is a good idea.

I am not trying to convince people that fasting is the “solution” to everything, but for some of us, it’s better than keto or low carb. It’s also much easier to do. Didn’t eat? Check.

Eat? What’s your omega 6 to omega 3 ratio? What’s your protein intake? OMG! How many carbs are in that? Eating out? What did they cook that meat in? High PUFA oil? How many calories are you eating? Should you eat fiber or not eat fiber? Do you care about it? What about protiotics? Prebiotics?

(8 year Ketogenic Veteran) #144

I love you for this. This explains it and sums it up for many.
I had such a fantastic week. Monday through Friday? I didn’t eat.
At all.
120 hours.
Euphoria, yes.
Clear thinking? Yes.
Energy? Yes.
Guaranteed burning visceral fat as a former type 2? Yes.
Dexa scans to confirm? Yes.
I love it. I love fasting. Hell I teach therapeutic fasting for a living now. But if you don’t like it? You don’t have to do it. Is it part of being on a ketogenic diet? No, not at all. We’re all adults here. If you don’t want to fast? Don’t.
Simple.
:slight_smile:

(Janelle) #145

What do you suppose causes the euphoria? I personally have been a proud fuddy duddy my whole life. I’m a happy person and suffer from none of the depression that often plagued my mom growing up. I refuse any drug that changes my mental state (with the exception of a single glass of wine or whatever a couple of times a year). Yep, I’m that person so the euphoria thing isn’t even attractive to me.

#146

Agree with your post, except for this part. A ketogenic diet is any way of eating/not eating that results in a state of ketosis. It is not defined by carb level, because that varies by individual. If can eat 75g of carbs a day and be in ketosis, that’s a ketogenic diet. If I can follow an IF protocol and be in ketosis, that’s a ketogenic diet.

A ketogenic diet doesn’t even need to be LC. There is a member of my family who can eat 150g of carbs and still be in ketosis. He’s a young, lean, male, endurance athlete who’s (obviously) metabolically healthy.

(Jenny) #147

a young male endurance athlete is probably an exception, yes. *

*theres always an exception ppl

#148

He’s not an exception, he’s just at the far end of the spectrum. Someone who has had diabetes for 40 years is probably at the opposite end of the spectrum. Folks like me (50-75g carb tolerance) are somewhere in the middle of the spectrum. That is why a ketogenic diet cannot be defined by carb level.

(Running from stupidity) #149

He’s an outlier, rather than an exception.

But for newbies, which this thread is talking (partly) about, 20g carbs is an effective and virtually guaranteed tool for inducing ketosis.

(8 year Ketogenic Veteran) #150

any diet that is 150 grams of carbohydrate or less IS low carb, FYI :wink:

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #151

Haven’t you been to your first ritual yet? That’s when they teach all the cool stuff. You’ll like the secret handshake—it’s a lot of fun.

But just remember, don’t tell anyone about the mothership! :grin:

Just had to fix that for you. :grinning:

(Empress of the Unexpected) #152

Who is to say ribeye is not better than bacon?

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #153

And they say keto is unsustainable . . . :rofl:

Fasting macros: 0% carb, 0% protein, 0% fat. :+1:

If Brenda, who is Miss Ketogenic Fasting herself, says it’s okay not to fast, then case closed! :smile:

(Lisa ) #154

I have a friend who wants to start keto to lose weight, but wants to jump straight into intermittent fasting. I told him he was setting himself up to fail - focus on just doing keto and then look at IF later, and EF waaaaay later.

(Lisa ) #155

ATTENTION: DOCTOR WHO DOES KETO HERE.
I RECOMMEND IT TO EVERYONE.
(Had to announce we aren’t all idiots)

(Empress of the Unexpected) #156

Thank you. Some of us have stomach issues. We aren’t quite ready for any type of fasting. Like all-day stomach aches?

(Lisa ) #157

I have GI issues from botched surgery, so I know what you mean!
Have you seen your doctor about your stomach ache?

(Running from stupidity) #158

:+1:

My doc here in Melbourne is also from NZ, and is thrilled with our keto weight loss, bloods, etc. I’m a big fan of NZ docs, but I suspect you already knew that :slight_smile:

#159

You could be right. But then again, I think it also depends on the type of IF being spoken of. Because I myself, had been doing this for many, many years before learning of this WOL/WOE. But also know it was not good for me eating a SAD diet. - Many days I would only eat once, and sometimes twice. So when I started eating LCHF, and learned that this way of eating was actually helpful, I can’t tell you how happy I was! I know for me, I didn’t have to change much to switch over, but this irregular eating pattern seems to be a lot more beneficial with Keto. But was just mentioning this in case they were like me. If they are used to eating 3 or more meals regularly, then I would agree that they should let it happen naturally and over time. But putting that longer time between meals can be quite beneficial indeed, and for me, this was quite easy and welcomed.

So, I’m not disagreeing with you, but just saying that if by IF they are speaking of maybe just not eating a morning meal, that I don’t think would be too much of an issue, especially if they didn’t usually do or like this anyway. But I do agree that trying to jump right in running, is not a good thing. And my personal opinion is when it comes to IF/EF, it should come naturally and not forced or rushed. … I only base this on my experience, since this is how I myself did it. - 6 weeks in, I simply wasn’t hungry and skipped a day and 1/2, and then shortly later did a few (3-day fast) and didn’t find them to be a problem at all. (Again, there were many times I also skipped a day or two before going Keto, so this wasn’t something totally foreign to me either.) But when my wife and son both went Keto, this was the same advice I gave them as well. And it’s pretty much worked out that way for them both now too. :slight_smile: And my wife also before Keto had the habit of OMAD occasionally, or simply not eating that day. So she didn’t have any issues starting fasting either. But think she was around a couple months in before she actually planned to try one, and did so quite easily. :slight_smile:

But like this thread has shown, we are all definitely different. And that just going Keto itself is most helpful. Fasting is just simply an additional tool that for some, can be beneficial.

(Jane) #160

Re: setting yourself up to fail… I have seen some on here do just that and some I feel were sincere but misguided, and some did it on purpose.

Instead of just admitting they weren’t willing to give up their addiction to carbs they go to the other extreme and set up a scenario they know they can’t adhere to, give it a go and then (thank the carb gods) go back to their addiction … satisfied they really did try keto (as they stuff another doughnut in their mouth and their inflammation rises).

#161

Withholding food will make anyone lose weight. Its the further damage to the metabolism that I worry about. Perhaps it would also be a good idea to quit calling KETO a diet. Diets are temporary with weight gain just around the corner. This is a way of life. Quit, and you get fat and unhealthy again.