Fast/Feast cycling

fasting
n1
stall
(Siobhan) #1

I’ve heard fast/feast cycling can be helpful for lowering insulin and breaking stalls so I decided to go for it and just do my own n=1 albeit rather sloppily.

My goal will be to try fast/feast cycling (that is salt-water fasts alternated with days of double normal caloric intake) for as long as 1) I need to 2) it shows it isn’t detrimental to my over all progress.
It will be sloppy because I don’t track calories, and never will if I can help it especially for this test as I feel like seeing such high caloric loads would freak me out (even though I sort of am learning better).
Basically! Feast days = eat to full (but not uncomfortably so) twice a day (as opposed to once a day as I was doing before)
Fast days = salt water, and coffee only
I started off with a 24 hour fast to ease in as I haven’t fasted in a while, into 2 days of feasting, and then next fast will be until I feel my metabolism slowing down, then all feasts after this will be 1-3 days chosen via random number generator (no predictable patterns for my body to adapt to).
Just figured I’d make a thread to 1) encourage me to continue and 2) track my progress and 3) just in case anyone was curious 4) make sure I’m not making a terrible mistake here (lol)
Won’t be super scientific but I hope to see some interesting results

Why we stall
Fat loss on CICO?
Personal n=1 idea
Hullo From Sunny Brighton, UK
Long term keto, gaining weight
(Stephanie Hanson) #2

Go for it!!!

(eat more) #3

i’m glad you did…i’m definitely interested!

(Jeff) #4

Looking forward to seeing how this goes. I’ve done a one-day feast, next-day fast a couple of times in recent weeks. I made a little headway! Couple of pounds.

(carl) #5

I can tell you, this is really working for me after a week of cycling. Here’s my data so far:

Before I started, I was eating keto to satiety and slowly gaining weight. I was eating a lot at night, eating lots of macadamias, and drinking wine (prolly too much) at night, also.

My first day of a 3-day fast started with keto coffee (lots of coconut oil and a pinch of cayenne). I don’t measure or count calories, either. Mid-day I had a mug of bone broth with a Tbsp of butter melted in it. At night I went right for salt-water with a dash of Chipotle chili pepper powder. I use morton lite-salt so I can get some Potassium.

On the second and third days of the fast I only drank black coffee and my hot salt-water concoction.

At the end of the fast my fingers were getting cold. I had lost 7 pounds.

I broke the fast with a handful of nuts and then a big meal after about 30 minutes. I feasted for 3 days eating 2 meals a day in a 6 hour window. I actually overate a couple times. I had plenty of butter and macadamias. Lots of fat. I mean lots. I was poaching burgers in butter, eating ribeyes, fried fish (with keto crumbs) and an entire jar of tartar sauce. Still, I didn’t gain an ounce in the 3 days I feasted.

Yesterday was my first day back to fasting. I started the day with keto coffee again, and my salt-water concoction with 1 tbsp of butter, and a couple more of those without the butter afterword. This morning I had lost another 3 pounds.

So, that’s 10 pounds in 7 days, the most weight I’ve ever lost in a week. Ever. Also, last night my blood sugar was the lowest I’ve ever recorded it: 66

The first day of fasting is challenging, even the second time. Last night I was dreaming of fast food. But, I got over it, and it’s smooth sailing again here on day 2.

This pattern is really working for me, and I plan to continue on this path until it stops working.

Good luck, and keep us posted of your progress!

Thanks!

Feast and Famine - Defined and in practice? Looking for origins
(Siobhan) #6

Sounds like what I intend to do. I’ll basically eat what I usually have for dinner for lunch AND dinner, thereby doubling my food load.
For lunch it was leftover Swedish meatballs in cream sauce that had plenty of beef fat added, a whole avocado, some pepperonis and 2 fat bombs.
I want to mostly keep carbs the same and protein the same but double the amount of food so I’ll probably eat a very carb light and protein moderate dinner with a ton of fat added somehow.
Not sure if I’ll continue feasting tomorrow or just go straight into a fast. We’ll see…
Either way I’ll be bringing butter for my coffee tomorrow!

On another note, I unfortunately can’t eat in a narrow window just because of how my work schedule is set up, but I’ll try to eat dinner as early as I can
It feels almost sinful to eat this decadantly but I feel good, not bloated or overly full like I would have if I’d eaten a ton of carbs. I also have a general sense of well being, which is reassuring.
Yesterday I did a 24 hour dinner to dinner fast, and feasted on that ending dinner. So by tonights dinner I’ll have been feasting for 3 meals

(Jeff Davis) #7

I’m about 38 hours into a fast that I plan to have go 62 or 63 hours. After that, I really like the idea of feasting/fasting cycles, and I really like your idea of using a random number generator.

I’ll be following this thread with interest to see how things go!

#8

Yep, this Feast/Fast/Feast cycling seems to be working better for me rather than planning specific fasts only to find that I was too hungry or tired to continue.

Now, I’m listening to my body and started a 60-hour fast yesterday after about 3 days of eating when I suddenly felt like the idea of my next meal was not very appealing.

(betsy.rome) #9

Following! I’ve just done 1 week of daily 16:8, after struggling with carb creep and weight creep for months. Haven’t weighed yet but clothes are fitting better. Might try @carl 's method & add some longer fasts once I’m used to it and less hungry.

Question for T2D IF’ers and fasters - if you take Metformin, when do you take it? I just switched to the extended release version, 750 mg taken 2 x d. Wondering if I should wait till my 2pm mini-meal to take my first dose or if I can just take it with my fatty coffee in the am.

(carl) #10

I actually started my next feast cycle this afternoon - a day early this time. It just felt right.

(James storie) #11

I’ve been toying with this idea as well, I’m so close to my goal and I don’t want to get stuck before I reach it! I will be paying attention!

(Siobhan) #12

Now, I’m listening to my body and started a 60-hour fast yesterday after about 3 days of eating when I suddenly felt like the idea of my next meal was not very appealing

I’m finding the same. So far it seems as if my body REALLY appreciates this fast/feast cycling because the signals it’s sending to my brain are very clear! Before I started I thought, “How will I know what to eat? How will I know when to end the feast period?” Well, the thought of dinner (a really really fatty, somewhat low protein dinner) sounded REALLY appealing. But when I thought about eating tomorrow… it seems unappealing. I suppose I will listen to my body and start the fast tomorrow.

On another note, the thought of protein for dinner was really putting me off, but as soon as I started thinking about mayo, HWC, fat bombs… yup. So that’s what I had.
I may or may not have added a cup of cream to my herbal tea.
Calories today: Probably over 3000? Lunch was roughly 1300 (I got curious and calculated), and dinner (decided to eat at 4 PM instead of my usual 6-7 PM) was… a lot.
On an interesting note I was going to make Tuna Melts but we had NO TUNA!!! So I made a melty cheese dip with pizza spices and ate it with a few pepperonis.

How I feel: Good! It feels like a carefully contained energy and the way my thoughts are going (what I want to eat, how I feel about various foods), it seems as though I’m craving stuff that would be beneficial right before a fast, as if thinking about fasting or the act of feasting has my body prepping for it. Anyone else experience this? It could also just be that I met my protein requirement over lunch and the only thing left that sounds appealing is fat.

#13

I’ve only recently started listening to my body this way, but that seems to be the trend for me, too.

(Siobhan) #14

Usually I only eat 1 meal a day, so I’ve never really had the opportunity to think “What will I have for dinner?” after having already eaten. That may be a contributing factor, and also means I’m just hearing these signals now. Either way, glad I’m not alone!

(Siobhan) #15

Despite eating 5000 calories (estimated but should be pretty close) over 3 meals (dinner, lunch, dinner) as of this morning I have not gained even a SINGLE pound. According to the calorie amounts I should have gained at least a pound if not more, but I’m exactly where I was at the beginning of the feast cycle. CICO can suck it.

I’m now in the fast portion of my experiment (these two phases will be repeated multiple times however). I am 20 hours in and feel… normal. No adrenaline but could be because most of that was sleeping. I haven’t done anything past 24 hours in a while but I hope to aim for 48-72 hours or until my fingers get cold - whichever comes first

(Jorge L) #16

Go for it!!!

I’m launching a similar effort, so I’m curious to see how you progress…

(Jennifer) #17

@siobhan, I love hearing about your experiment!

I have been doing something similar. I have been a doing 4-5 day fast every week, then feasting over the weekend and then fasting again. I will continue till my cycle then I’ll feast through the hormonal cravings and start up again on the other side. Mine are water/tea/salt only and I am taking my supplements twice a day.

I feel the same about fasting. It just feels right, my body is like hey, this is great let’s burn some fat!!! I feel like exercising and the fat is just melting off.

(Siobhan) #18

End of fast day 1 (27 hours into fast):
178 lbs (beginning of feast as well as this morning) -> 176
This being day 1, most of that is probably water. 175 is my lowest so far so I’m not getting excited about this until I see it dip below that (I’m a cynical person by nature).
I’m not at all hungry, still feel warm, mood is still good, and energy is normal. So I’ll continue into tomorrow. I don’t believe I felt this solid and good the first time I did an over 24 hour fast so that’s a good sign.
I’m also reading The Obesity Code while fasting - lol!

Forging on strong into day 2!

(Siobhan) #19

My fingers are starting to get icy cold, I’ll see if I can hold out until the 48 hours mark in 3 hours, but if not no big deal.
Still not hungry, interestingly.
Also started tipping more and more towards 175 (my lowest) and am at about 175.5 at this point. Maybe with the next fast cycle I’ll go below it.

#20

Good job, @siobhan.