Does my intermittent fasting plan make sense?

(Rob) #1

Hi guys,

I’ve been doing well on Keto since September 2017 and I’m about half way to my goal of losing 15 kilos (I’m 73 Kg now, age 48 and 5’5"). I’m fat adapted and can quite comfortably go without food for 23 hours. I do feel I am little stalled at the moment and after reading Jason Fung’s & Jimmy Moore’s Complete Guide To Fasting, I want to go a bit further into fasting to get better Autophagy and get things switched up a little to break the stall.

Based around family and work constraints my proposed plan (at least for a couple of weeks) is outlined below. The green blocks are where I plan to fast, and the yellow/orange blocks are optional times for fasting. The red blocks are fixed as far as eating food are concerned.

Fasting plan
Fasting plan.PNG936×548 7.72 KB

I would find the red marked blocks harder to use for fasting given that they are fixed times when I have to eat with my family. I work away for a lot of the week and so fasting is easier then. My wife is not keen on fasting and feels that it is bad for me (I feel the opposite from what i have learned, but that is a battle for another time), so it’s pretty much something I am doing in isolation. I guess she will figure it out at some point due to all the bone broth I’m making, but hey.

I already supplement with Sodium, K2, B5, D3, Magnesium, Potassium, Zinc and Calcium. I increase Sodium while fasting.

What I would like to you from the more experienced fasting members of the forum is whether the plan makes sense when mixing 18 hour, 24 hour and 36 hour fasting periods rather than say a strict 24 hour or 36 hour intermittent fasting regime as outlined in the book? Are the re-feeding periods too long, or should I be aiming for more fasting periods?

#2

I’m headed in the same direction - significant change ups with at least a 36hour Fast for the autophagy peak.

For myself, i’m Sticking to one meal a day.

Looks good!

(Rob) #3

Started the 24h fast last night.

My stomach was gurgling around 8am, but a bulletproof coffee with Coconut Oil seems to have put that to rest for now.

Bone broth on standby for later in the day.

#4

@MmmBacon

Your schedule seems good for you especially in trying to hold to family dinner. I have been fasting for about 1 1/2 years so not especially experienced but I agree with most of what Jason Fung MD talks about. One thing that rings very true for me: keep mixing it up. Megan Ramos teaches that the body adapts quite well to any schedule and so we need to keep our fasting irregular (intermittent) enough to keep the body “guessing”. Also, Fung MD has expressed that once a person has fasted 36 hours they have gotten through the most difficult day why not keep going? I generally try to extend a 36 hour to 42 or 48 when possible and once a month fast for 91-96 hours.

To be true to yourself keep it unique to you. I have tried to be true to myself while also not letting the fact that I fast be center stage or complicate other people’s lives. I’ve gotten quite good at saying I just am not hungry. In humor: “oh my I’m not very hungry, would it be OK if I don’t force myself to eat?”

(Rob) #5

Thanks for the feedback Elaine.

I’ve only been experimenting with fasting for the last couple of months to help get through stalls. So far its working well and I’m still steadily losing weight, although that weight usually comes off a day or two after doing the fast, so not really instant results. Once I’ve got this couple of planned 36 hour fasts under my belt I will almost certainly be extending to 42 and 48 hours. The hardest part is not buying so much food! Meal planning is essential to me now so that I don’t get a fridge full of stuff I won’t eat, but when it’s only a few meals a week, the planning is easy.

(Rob) #6

14:41 now and stomach growling… salt under the tongue.

(Rob) #7

That did the trick.

Bone broth kept me satisfied since 12:30, so not too bad.

(Rob) #8

17:05 now. Slight headache, some dizziness and cold hands, so breaking the fast now with a couple of handfuls of nuts.

(What The Fast?!) #9

When I get dizzy, I have some saltwater and it fixes it almost immediately. Try measuring out 2-3tsp of salt in the morning and using it throughout the day. I thought I was eating enough salt but once I started doing that, I realized I was still way under the recommended amount.

(Rob) #10

Thanks Andrea.

Given that I was so close to my planned break anyway, I didn’t want to risk it without some moral support.

When I’m fasting I have a 1.5 litre bottle of water with the juice of one lemon which has 2 teaspoons of sea salt in it which I consume during the day. I think I was a little down on my regular intake, so along with the reassurance from your feedback that will give me the nudge to make sure I’m drinking it often enough.

(What The Fast?!) #11

I also mix in potassium salt, if that helps. I know a lot of people swear by Brenda’s keto-aide as well.

(Brian) #12

I am curious about something.

You show, on your “re-feed” days, eating breakfast, lunch, and supper. And if that’s how your body likes it, I have no issue with that.

From listening to my own body, however, I just don’t do so well eating 3 meals a day anymore. If I eat breakfast, I don’t want lunch. If I eat lunch, I don’t want supper. It just doesn’t work so well for me anymore. I don’t get hungry fast enough to want to eat just 3 or 4 hours after I’ve eaten a meal. Even if I only have some coffee with HWC or even a keto muffin for breakfast, I really am not hungry until suppertime is approaching.

I really do think my stomach has shrunken, not just my belly, but my stomach. I really cannot eat as much food as I used to, and at one time, I could pack it away with the best of 'em. A full dinner plate means a FULL stomach. But not just the quantity. The frequency of eating seems to have dropped off, too. For me, I’d have a hard time eating that often. The fast days when you’re eating only one meal a day, would be very comfortable for me, and some really normal days when I’m not really intending any kind of fast, I’m not far from that.

It’s just something I wondered about. I know, every person is different. Don’t take this as critical, more just inquisitive, that’s all. This path is a pretty individual thing and we kinda end up finding our own way. It’s great to hear what others think and have done, their experiences, what has worked for them and not worked so well for them. But ultimately, it’s pretty individual.

Good luck!

(Rob) #13

Yeah, I tried half a teaspoon of lo-salt but found it made the drink taste funny, so now just concentrate on making sure I use it on my leafy greens when sautéing them up, then I’m getting a double helping of potassium - one from the veggies and one from the salt.

(Rob) #14

My body doesn’t really have a preference at the moment as far as I’m aware. I was essentially modelling the 36 hour fast on the 36 hour fasting plan from the book which uses breakfast, lunch and dinner for the day following the fast. I’ll see how it goes… both breakfast and lunch tomorrow are optional items. though the sous vide rib-eye steak for dinner will most definitely not be! :smiley:

I’m only at the start of my fasting journey and when I started Keto I didn’t even really appreciate how useful it would be as a tool for reducing the flab, though I do now! I am kinda disappointed though as I really love the food on Keto, but have stalled a few times if I eat more frequently.

I’d love to get to your point of what seems like a very well adjusted fat adaption. I polished off a large bag of butter fried Kale and 3 chicken thighs last night and as I still wasn’t satiated, so then scoffed 3 edam and salami sandwiches before I’d finally had enough.

Your reply was definitely not taken as critical. We are all pretty much an experiment of n=1 here and it does really help to share experiences especially when starting something new, so thank you.

(Rob) #15

So, feeling good today. Already on the Sole water with lemon and daily BPC to get me started.

(Allie) #16

Way too structured for me, I like to be random and just pay attention to my body. If it works for you though, all good.

(Rob) #17

I find I’m better with something to aim for, but to each their own.

(Rob) #18

Tuesday’s 36 hour fast went well. Starting another 36 hour fast today, which I may extend to a 42/48 hour fast depending upon how I’m feeling at the time.

(Rob) #19

36th hour came and went. Still feeling great, so going to crack on a go for the 48 hour mark :slight_smile:

(Rob) #20

Just to round-off this topic, everything went pretty much accordingly to the plan, and I lost 2lbs last week. :slight_smile: I know it seems slightly anal, but with my work pattern, without some planning I can easily end up with lots of wasted food at the end of a week. I actually did another 24 hour fast on Sunday just because I was busy and wasn’t hungry. I even celebrated my success with a bottle of beer last night and still stayed in Ketosis.

Thanks for the support guys :slight_smile: