Fasting not going well

(Kellie) #1

I’m mad. I thought it would be okay to have coffee with cream during fasting - Iv been trying to fast this week to switch things up to get out of a platue. appatently if you have anything at all with calories during the non eating period then you aren’t actually fasting . Great so Iv waisted like 4 days thinking in good but I’m not. Start tomorrow with the water only I guess :rage: I really want to break this platue I still have like 30 more pounds to loose

(Ellie) #2

Kellie - don’t beat yourself up! Fasting with a bit of cream in coffee isn’t a disaster at all if you are only fasting for weight loss. It depends on how much cream and how many times throughout the day of course, but really not terrible and certainly not time wasted. There are various people who fast with a bit of cream in coffee.
If you are fasting for cancer reducing benefits or autophargy then than might be a different thing, but from your post it looks like you are just trying to crack a plateau.
Have you weighed since you started fasting?
I tend to gain back about half of what I lose on a fast once I start eating - not surprising as my digestive system is filling back up, but it is still a downward trend.

(Kellie) #3

I started Friday and my weight Friday was 162.4 but Sunday - today it’s been 160.4

(Ellie) #4

and how much cream daily would you say? It may not be a good idea to go straight into a water fast after 4 days of having cream in coffee (mini fat fast?) Maybe a few days of eating normally and then going into a true fat fast would be best. Everything on this WOE is a learning curve.

(the cheater) #5

It’s not entirely your fault (well, maybe a little :wink: ) - there’s a lot of conflicitng info on this site. At this very moment, a few threads from here on the main page, someone just gave a person advice that it’s okay to consume MCT oil and exogenous ketones on a fast (what?!?). So trust your gut - fasting is NOT EATING lol - don’t get talked into thinking a few hundred calories of fat here and there maintain the fast lol. That said, I am an advocate of electrolytes while fasting. Lots of salt helps me and I continue taking my morning multivitamin and mag. Good luck! KCKO.

(Kellie) #6

2 tablespoons - 100 calories - 2 g carbs and 10 g fat

#7

I agree. Also I IF with coffee and cream often. Yes I’ve been in a thread where its been said that’s not true fasting. Thats fine - I don’t care about a label. Also I’m new to fasting and it’s a good way to practice. I would love to do an true extended fasting once and a while but I’m not going to frett over it.

And from my very simplistic understanding, if you are not adding protein or carbs you are probably still getting some autophargy benefits so it’s not a waste at all.

(bulkbiker) #8

Nothing mad about that. I have coffee with cream when I fast about 4 mugs a day with a tablespoon of cream in every one.
There are absolutely no “rules” about fasting so you can’t ever “do it wrong”.
You may possibly not get quite the results you were expecting but that could be the case with water only fasting too. Nothing is a certainty when human bodies are concerned.

(Brian) #9

Kellie, I would say it’s going better than you’re giving yourself credit for.

You lost 2 pounds in 4 days.

It sounds like you’ve been learning about some of the differences between fasting and calorie restriction, something Dr. Fung talks a good bit about. And that’s good.

I seriously doubt that in just a few days of having some cream and coffee that you’ve done any damage to your BMR.

Does the coffee & cream really help you to fast? Have you done just a plain water fast before? The reason I ask is that I find it easier to just have water than to try to have even a tiny little bit of something. But that’s just me.

Have you already tried the OMAD, alternate day fasting, 36 hour water fasts, that kind of thing already?

(Kellie) #10

I’m 3 months into keto lost 24 pounds this is my first time trying fasting. I find it difficult because I am a snacker. I haven’t tried just water but I am addicted to coffee so cutting out coffee is going to be a big challenge for me but I’m going to try just water tomorrow .

(Kellie) #11

Also I’m not familiar with a whole lot of different types of fasting - in trying to do something simple at first like the 16/8 one

(LeeAnn Brooks) #12

Well, look, I wouldn’t do anything over 20 calories and consider it fasting, but I also wouldn’t think of this as a failure. Think of it as a stepping stone.
Like I do TMAD most days, but then I throw in a OMAD every so often and I’ve done 2 EF’s.

I could look at those OMAD’s as a failure at EFing, or I could view it as a bridge to get me to EF.

If you need the cream to get you to the next step, don’t beat yourself up over it. So maybe next time you do it with 1 tablespoon instead of two. And then you do it with plain coffee the next time.

Look at how far you’ve come, not what you’ve missed. You’re doing great.

(Brian) #13

Awesome! Sounds like a success story to me. :slight_smile:

(the cheater) #14

There’s nothing wrong with choosing to have some coffee and cream during the day; however, as far as your body’s chemical processes and hormone/insulin responses are concerned, when you consume calories, you break your fast - so this notion that you can’t do fasting “wrong” is both correct but also incorrect. It is wrong in that it’s not fasting when you consume, say, four cups of coffee with cream, but it’s correct in that there’s no police that will arrest you for doing so: you’re an adult, you get to make your own choices :smiley: - The only point of clarification should be to not call it a fast if you’re going to be consuming calories. It’s totally cool if you’re feelin’ a “no solid food day” or something, which is awesome and can feel amazing, but it’s not technically “fasting.”

Sorry, I don’t mean to split hairs, but I don’t feel like it’s beyond reason to draw the line of fasting at consuming calories or not. Again; there’s nothing wrong with however you choose to do your keto (unless it’s not working) but it’s probably best to not confuse terminology even further. Cheers, y’all!

(bulkbiker) #15

So if I decide that fasting for me is not consuming any solids… then where does that leave us?

(Nicole Sawchuk) #16

You are seeing results so I think you are on the right path and stick with coffee and cream. I’ve been doing this for over a 1.5 years. It took some time to wean out BPC on fasting. Than it took time to not have broth. With that said, even on my recent 42 hour fast, I had bone broth on the first day to help me get thru it. Sometimes I touch nothing and lose nothing. Other times, I have broth and some coconut oil and lose weight!

(LeeAnn Brooks) #17

I ageee with @decreebass. There are all liquid diets out there but they aren’t fasts. One could do Slim Fast all day long, and depending on how many one drank, they could even increase typical calorie levels. It simply isn’t a fast.

I don’t care so much when someone says they are doing a “bacon fast” or what not, but there should be an understanding that it simply means they are only consuming that food. It doesn’t mean they are actually fasting.

Though when you think about it, it’s really a backwards way of saying that. A fast means an abstanance of something, so saying “I’m on an egg fast” or whatever should mean one is avoiding that food, at least from a linguistic standpoint.

But I digress. I can say I’m doing a Twinkie fast but I think everyone would understand it isn’t actually a fast.

Same should be true for any other “fast” that isn’t a true fast. You can call it that if you want to, but when you consume anything more than some incidental calories, you are no longer fasting.

(the cheater) #18

I mean, you can call a dog a cat, and nobody can arrest you for that, but that doesn’t change the animal’s species :smiley:

(bulkbiker) #19

Except that if you look at the dictionary definition of the word “fast” then it is usually described as abstaining from food and or drink. So I feel completely ok using it to describe when I abstain from food. I’ve checked a few definitions and calories are not mentioned anywhere. I guess we just need to provide context when we use the word.

(Charlotte) #20

All that means is that you’ve been doing a fat fast rather than a full fast. Plenty of us (including me) do it that way. I have iced coffee with heavy cream and mct oil every morning and don’t eat anything else until the afternoon, and I’ve been steadily losing weight. It’s just one approach of many, not something to stress or be hard on yourself over.