I need advice/reassurance please?

(Kiri Graves) #1

Hey all,
I’m sorry to do this to you all but I need guidance and advice here.

Working on the Keto lifestyle since 1/3/17. I’ve been trying to do 16:8 fasting since a daily smaller fast seems to work well with my life. And, with my eating disorder history, it doesn’t mess with my head like full fasts seem to (right now).
My general feeding schedule is as follows:
11am Start w/BPC and vitamins (regular coffee first thing after waking up or else we’re all in trouble)
1pm Lunch
4pm Snack
6pm Dinner
7pm cut off
However, if I’m running it throws me off so I have to either eat before I run (that can suck) or just not eat and make up the calories at some other date/time. Running/working out has to be in the PM due to scheduling. This is a non-negotiable. On average, I get 5% carbs, 76% fat and 19% protein.

Okay so I here’s where I’m getting so confused/frustrated. Is anything less than 16 hours worthless? I know from reading posts here it’s fine for most women/people to fast but if I back it off to 14:10 on run days am I not going to get any benefits? If I really mess up the 16 hour window by 15 minutes and I really losing all that work? Also, I’m not messing things up by doing this daily am I? (I like habit)

Yes, there are some days where I only do the two meals or maybe one but I kindof like splitting food up a bit. Mentally I get a weird satisfaction from it and since there’s nothing wrong with it, well, I do it. I also know that fasted running is awesome no worries. :wink: I’d just like to be able to adjust things if I have the room to. Any advice here is appreciated since the brain hurts trying to go this on my own. :wink:

Thanks for listening!

(Carpe salata!) #2

Firstly, yay for your keto since March.

So, keto is pretty individual. What is your body fat %? Do you need the 4pm snack? You could just try to mix it up… have a big lunch and miss dinner on run days. That will give you an occasional longer fast. You have to feel your way, but try things and see what works. Also, daily macros aren’t fixed, be guided by satiety.

#3

I have heard the minimum window is 12 hours to give your body a chance to rest and reprieve from food and insulin. I am a fan of fewer bigger meals and I try to limit snacks as much as possible, sometimes it works, sometimes it does not. I have also heard from the Megan Ramos interview that switching things is good. So your body is not saying, ok 1 pm, lets eat, whether you are hungry or not. Eating differently on running days is a good idea and I would relax and do what you can

(Tim W) #4

What is your primary goal/purpose for using the keto diet?

If you are focusing on fat/weight loss, then working out fasted is GREAT for that purpose. How to work out in a fasted state if you can’t move your runs to the AM? I don’t see how, unless you start eating earlier (your body will get used to it, IMHO after about a week the body “learns” new eating schedules/habits) and stop eating earlier, and then work out in the evening and “fast” until the next day.

In my experience, the longer you can fast after exercise, the better the result (more weight lost). Or, splitting the fasted time, say half before the exercise and half after the exercise still works, say you stop eating at 1400, work out at 2000, then eat the next morning at 0800, you can really play with the process but don’t fixate on total hours/get too worked up about it, especially if you’ve had eating disorders.

Bottom line, what’s best for you is what works for you, less than 16 hours fasted isn’t worthless, you’ll still likely see improvements in insulin response. In addition, missing the window by 15 minutes, do you think your body is going to toss out red flags and not perform the same based on a 15 minute difference in time of consumption? Your focusing too hard on the details, our bodies are not that “specific”. As others have said, pay attention to your bodies signals and adjust, getting too wrapped up in 15 minute intervals will raise cortisol and lead to freak-out modes, not conducive to your reaching your goals.

TLDR: KCKO!

Good luck!

(Ernest) #5

You need to relax. You’re stressing over details.
There’s no need to “make up calories”. That would be force feeding.
Fast naturally.

Keep calm and Keto on

(Brian) #6

I’m curious about the eating times. If I’ve eaten a meal at 1:00pm, I wouldn’t want a snack at 4:00pm. I’d feel like I had just eaten. And if I had eaten a snack at 4:00pm, I would definitely not feel like eating a meal at 6:00pm.

I know it’s not the same for everyone, but to my way of thinking, that would seem more like grazing during that 8 hour window and I’m not sure you wouldn’t be likely to find an elevated insulin level during pretty much that whole time. (I know, it’s not as high as if you were eating a lot of carbs, but it makes a difference.)

The way it was explained to me, I should start out by eating three solid meals a day with no snacking. Then, as I was able to, move to two meals a day with no snacking. And then at that point, if I wanted to do the intermittent fasting, I could go to one meal a day. The idea was that I would be conditioning my body to go longer periods without food. Snacks seem counter-productive.

That’s just my take, I’m sure other more experienced people will chime in. I could be totally wrong, it’s just what comes to mind.

Best of luck!

(Ernest) #7

I went cold turkey, straight to 2 big meals a day. Now I do one meal a day Mon - Fri. Weekends I go with the flow but rarely eat more than 2 meals.

(Kiri Graves) #8

Weight loss is a goal but not THE goal if that makes sense? The inflammation and healing have been my focus for the past three months. I like the idea of splitting up the fasting differently, I’ll have to play with it. Thanks for the suggestion! This was exactly the advice I was looking for so I’m grateful.

(Kiri Graves) #9

It’s really hard to explain if you’ve never dealt w/the messed up brain of an eating disorder but it’s more of a freak out control that I’m working on. I’ve been told snacks are fine so I’m going with it for now since it helps to keep me from, well, over thinking it all. :wink: One step at a time. I understand and appreciate where you’re coming from though.

(Tim W) #10

Welcome!

Good luck in your journey. Just remember to be patient, these things take time (years, multiple years even).