Fasting is getting harder

(Carolus Holman) #1

Since dropping to within 15 pounds of my goal, I have a really hard time going more than 24 hours fasting. I am hungrier than I have been in months. Is this normal? I still have at least 25 pounds of lard on me!

(What The Fast?!) #2

According to Richardā€™s calculator, you can derive 31 calories a day from each pound of stored fat. 25 x 31 = 775 calories. Sounds like itā€™s time to move to IF or to do some fat supplementation.

(Carolus Holman) #3

That seems about right. That would put me at about 2400 Cals a day. Which is about what I need. I may switch to 18/6 but shoveling 1500 Calā€™s in a few hours is tough.

(Rob) #4

It sounds pretty normal. IIRC you have lost so much so quickly that it is hard to tell what a normal response should be.

You could be at a natural set point based on your level of insulin resistance (like Carl, Richard and many others have reached) but you are also somewhat ā€˜luckyā€™ that you didnā€™t majorly hit other set points before? With a lot less to lose you would expect to be hungrier and less able to fast BUT you are not so lean as to struggle like some of the really lean ketoers here.

I donā€™t know how long you were overweight/metabolically unhealthy but that probably has an impact on the trajectory of your path back to optimum health.

(Carolus Holman) #5

I dropped close to 70lbs since 10/2017. I am down about 10 since the new year. So close to my goal, I will KCKO, but feeling hungry on keto is new and saying no to carbs is tough! :grinning:

(Rob) #6

Exactly - these are stellar results compared to almost everyone here (as your photos prove). It seems very natural that you have reached an entirely new phase of your keto journey. There are loads of people here on this phase that you can learn from, including the 2KDs themselves. EF, OMAD, more fat, different exercise regimes etc. are all on the table.

Be happy that it has happened so much quicker than for most :grin: (jealous)

(What The Fast?!) #7

Disagree. :rofl:

(Allie) #8

Yes normal, maybe try fat fasting instead?

(Allan L) #9

Same thing is happening to me. Iā€™m about 15 lbs from goal and really battle with fasting now.

I now fat fast rather. This keeps insulin down and feeds that missing energy.

#10

Me too. 10 or so lbs within goal and having a really hard time fasting. Very cold and miserable. And I binge when I break my fast too.

(Alan Williamson) #11

OMAD works pretty good. I make sure I eat a lot of fat when I eat.

(Nicole Sawchuk) #12

Experiencing the same thing here for the last few months. It seems so weird as I still appear to have enough stores to handle it and my blood glucose levels are not to my goal levels (which might be subjective as I want them below 4.8 consistently). I do supplement with tablespoons of coconut oil on difficult fasting days where I just donā€™t have time to eat a proper meal and donā€™t want to buy carbage. The last month it feels like I am hungrier more and more. Naturally I started eating more and now the weight is creeping up. The advice I get is eat more fat (wait you are eating too much fat if you are gaining), add more protein (wait donā€™t add too much protein if you are gaining)ā€¦but I figure with tweaking and hopefully lots of patience, I will figure it out and so will you! So yes - KCKO

#13

Thatā€™s exactly me (minus the diabetes, which I did not have). My weight is creeping up, and I am getting conflicting advice. I could always fast and push through the feeling cold and the hunger, but I am worried that I will destroy my metabolism with me being at a close to normal weight.

(Mark Rhodes) #14

I have been looking for that podcast. itā€™s difficult to find because itā€™s in the banter and not listed. You wouldnā€™t happen to know what episode, would you Rob? I think i am at that point as well. I have 13lbs I am focused on according to my Dexascan which would get me to 10%BF. My HOMA-IR is elevated at 2.2. My last fasting insulin is 9.8, almost double what I would like.

I am IFing as well for the last week and it does seem to be an improvement in energy and how I feel but waaaay too soon to verify.

Any help would be appreciated!

(Carolus Holman) #15

Update. I have just completed my 3rd 72 hour fast since my original post. It is definitely harder, and while it isnā€™t a strict fast because of BPC and broth, I find myself gaining many of the benefits. It is harder with less weight to help out the calories burned. I am closing in on my goal, within 10 lbs, and fasting definitely keeps you focused. I expect I will have lost about 5 pounds then will gain back 3. Took a lifetime to gain the weight, will take a while to lose it.

#16

Not anywhere near goal weight but I did start fasting in March and by November I really did not want to fast any more. Not sure why. I am on my first fast in a long time, planning on a short one and am enjoying it. I still have at least 40 lbs or more to lose so not sure why it is such a problem.

There were some fasts where I feasted the night before, especially on fat. This seemed to help and made it easier so that I barely noticed the first day. Try overdoing the fat the night before the fast, it may help

(347310c402a476c3008e) #17

My story too, but I am having a breakthrough, now! I was stuck at 195 lbs for a year (down from 221). Now 188 and moving, goal is 180, height is 6ā€™ 1" ā€¦ I am now having easier Intermittent fasts (18/6) by using just a pinch of free-form amino acids. Which I hijacked the concept for, from the excellent ā€œThe Craving Cureā€ by Julia Ross. I pour out the powder from the pill capsule into water and take sips, hold in mouth for max sub-lingual absorption, then swallow (taste is great, which is a good sign), as Julia recommends. The result for me is total bliss and no hunger for 4 hoursTryptophan%20GABA%20Glysine%20Glutamine
Tryptophan, GABA, Glutamine, and I add Glysine also. Soon will use bulk sources for all, instead of opening capsules. This is protein so there may be a tiny slow down in autophagy, but in such a minuscule amount (less than 1 gram of each) that maybe not, or only momentary? Juliaā€™s program is for 6 weeks to retrain the brain to not search in all the wrong ā€œfoodsā€ for oneā€™s missing nutrients. I am a nutrient sensing beast, and I need to replenish stores of the essentials ā€¦ I was shown the science, in the book, yo. Hunger is ā€œbeing hangry.ā€ I think, in my case, the ā€œHanger Codeā€ is revealed to be some deficiency in essential nutrients: easily and affordably supplemented.

(traci simpson) #18

What would you eat on a fat fast? please donā€™t say sticks of butter.

#19

How did the supplements that you list work

Seems interesting