Fast/Feast cycling

fasting
n1
stall
(Siobhan) #151

I’m just saying he was right. Once I gave my body enough time to feast and recover from the previous fast I could EF again!
And I’m at a NEW LOW - 174 (previous low was 175) lbs AND a new fasting record AND I’m continuing… hopefully to 72 hours
YAY!

(Roxanne) #152

Just listened to this podcast episode and immediately searched for the corresponding thread - this is exciting stuff!

#153

OK…not great results. Added four pounds during the feasting cycle. I’m convinced it’s eating late, since I am eating as I should.

I am a huge movie buff, and on the weekends I stay up till the wee hours snacking and watching old movies.

So…the movies stay, but now the late, late, late snacking goes.

Began the latest fast today at 6PM. Length as yet undetermined. The experiment continues.

(Siobhan) #154

I would agree that late night snacking can cause issues. I try to make sure my last meal is about 4 hours before I go to sleep, if not more.

Good luck on your continued experiment!

#155

Yeah…I figured if I stuck with strictly keto I could get away with it. Not sure as yet if it’s actually the issue or not, but I guess I will know soon.

(Naomi Brewster) #156

I have only just joined this forum - been listening to the dudes for a while now. I had never heard of feast/fast cycle. I actually did it naturally. I was IF every day and one week I thought, I can’t face it. So I had breakfast (about 10am) and lunch (about 3-4pm) every day and ate what I felt like - I thought I was eating too much but my body seemed to like it and I had more energy than when just IF’ing. The previous two weeks before my feast week I lost .8kg and .9kg which was still ok. But the week of feasting I lost 3kg!!! I didn’t understand it at all. It was great to log into this forum and see that there is science behind it and I finally listened to the dude’s interview with Megan which was great. Anyway, I’ll be following your progress and experience with interest.

Extended Day Fasting For People Already at Lean Target Bodyweight
#157

Yeah, even eating keto causes insulin to be released and insulin suppresses the HGH pulse normally occurring at night, so eating too close to bedtime can interfere with it and disrupt normal hormonal cycles.

Good luck on the new fasting window and let us know how it goes. :smiley:[quote=“siobhan, post:154, topic:10098”]
I would agree that late night snacking can cause issues. I try to make sure my last meal is about 4 hours before I go to sleep, if not more.
[/quote]

I seem to naturally not be hungry in the evening and like @siobhan says, I find that at least 4 hours, or more is better for me. Since insulin suppresses HGH, if someone is IR, their insulin levels remain higher after a meal, so 4 hours or more should increase the probability that insulin will revert to baseline.

#158

Thanks for the info guys…stopped eating at 6pm last night. I did have a BPC though. Wondering if that has to go too (ugh)? No gain on the scale, so I’m happy with that.

#159

Fat has minimal effects on insulin, so it should be okay. On those days when I’m experiencing “fat hunger” in the evening, I use something that is nearly 100% fat.

#160

Can you give me a few examples of what you eat? I’d appreciate it!

#161

Mayo (Primal Kitchen Avocado Mayo), sour cream, butter, coconut oil, MCT oil, individually and different combinations have been when I’ve been drawn to eat at those times.

(eschor) #162

hey carl. blessings that this is working for you…wondering if i am misinterpreting…doesn’t this sound like the essense of the bio-hack to effect lipid blood readings?? will you get some bloodwork done(nmr–lipid profile)? and share what effect this feast/fast has on your numbers? talk about adventures.

(Siobhan) #163

I should probably also update this to say that I am not doing random days of feasting - I found that once I started there were clear signs given when to start fasting again e.g. the next meal not sounding very good, and I am not ending a fast when my metabolism slows down but either when I get too bored or when it “feels right”. Good results so far, and my stall has definitely been broken!

(Jessica) #164

That’s great! This is where I’m trying to get to. I’m still struggling to read my hunger signals. But I’m only keto for 4 months, so I don’t expect that to suddenly happen. It’s a process, right?

Now, feasting lasted for 4 days. I tried to limit my eating window, and also only have 2 meals a day, as you suggested. I couldn’t avoid a little grazing at the weekend, because we stayed at home. That’s a bad habit I definitely need to work on.
That being said, I only gained 1 pound! That’s totally ok, since I already know, that I’ll loose 2 pounds a day when fasting.

Also, I like how fasting makes life easier. I don’t have to prepare breakfast (-> more sleep), generally don’t have to cook and clean afterwards. No more worrying about what to cook.
I didn’t realize how awesome this is, before experiencing it.

For now, I really like fast/feast cycling. I think this helps me to reach my goal without obsessing over food. Because of that, I feel like this is going to be a sustainable solution for me.

So many great (and patient) people on here. Thank you for sharing! Otherwise I’d still be calorie counting.

#165

Don’t focus too much on the scale either now you have dropped calories @JesS90. Non scale victories (NSV) are also important and motivational e.g. I love having the extra energy to go for longer walks without worrying about food.

(Jessica) #166

:grin::grin: definitely… it’s a process.
As I’m still experimenting, I like to check the scale, just to see if something is working or not. But the number on the scale won’t have as much of an impact as it did before. When I did weight watchers my whole day was ruined when the scale didn’t move. Nowadays I’m a lot more relaxed about that.

(Wendy Van Horn) #167

Thank you all for this conversation! It’s very motivating.

I have been regularly including 24 hour fasts once or twice a week for the past several months and am really pleased with the results. And now I feel like it’s time to up the ante. I finished dinner last night around 8pm and am now aiming for a 48 hour fast before I eat again.

I am feeling a bit nervous about going past 24 hours without eating, but I also know that confronting this “fear” is part of the journey. The collective experience shared on this forum is both inspiring and supportive and makes me feel that I can totally do this. Thank you for sharing!

(I am a Dog (Dog's eat until they burst!)) #168

Go! Go! Go!

#169

I’ve been weighing myself everyday now, not because I am focusing on the scales, but because I needed to kind of immunise myself against them. When I was weighing weekly or less, I would spend the last couple of days before weigh-in in a state of anxiety “will there be a change???” followed by complete deflation (and potentially getting off the rails) if they had gone in the wrong direction. Now it’s like: it’s up-it’s down-it’s down-it’s up… meh. I’m just watching the ebb and flow of my body as it changes and trusting that my body has it’s reasons for holding-losing-gaining as it needs to.

#170

Good luck extended fasters! I started with the Zornfast which I have now extended out to 133 hours. My intention is to go a week, I’m so close now, I think it will be easy to trek on. But I’m looking forward to the feast bit. Making plans.