If keto people are fasting so frequently, how is that any different from a starvation diet?

fasting
(Monique Lee) #42

Sometimes I alter the 16 hours! If I eat a late dinner, I just fast until 12pm/1pm.

If we’re going to make this our lifestyle, we’ve got to be flexible about it! Best of luck.

(Patricia) #43

Well, it depends on what kind of mood I’m in. I tend to eat whatever grabs me at the time. After decades of cooking, I’m kind of tired of it, so I don’t put a lot of effort into meal preparation. It also doesn’t help that my husband doesn’t eat low carb. He should, but he doesn’t. The protein thing is tricky, because “they” say that people over 65 should eat more protein, because we lose muscle mass as we age. On the other hand, I’m scare of eating too much protein and getting out of ketosis.

(Patricia) #44

Yes, I also use butter on veggies. I’ll try the avocado. thanks.

(Patricia) #45

thanks for the info. It may take more for me since I’m older, though

(Patricia) #46

Thanks so much! I will definitely try that.

(Patricia) #47

Wow, thanks, that was interesting.

(Susan) #48

You are welcome, I didn’t want you to feel like everyone is saying you have to fast at all, everyone is different and has their own way of doing Keto =). I just am trying to do these things for myself, personally =).

(Patricia) #49

Hey, I appreciate everyone’s comments. It has given me a lot to think about and try. I’m so glad I discovered this forum.

(Leigh Thomas) #50

Maybe you could consider going carnivore and seeing helps address your issues…

(KCKO, KCFO 🥥) #51

If you are not getting enough fats on your eating days, you will feel more hunger. If you are eating 3 meals a day and hungry, examine your fats and protein levels. Keep the carbs as low as possible they trigger the cravings. The idea is feasting and fasting, not just fasting. Go to the free blog area at https://idmprogram.com/blog/ They are also currently offering a 12 week free program.

The only reason this worked for me was I finally stopped being so bloody hungry ALL THE TIME.
Intermittent fasting and some 36-42 hr. fasts is what got off the last stubborn lbs. and keeps them off.

Big congrats on your current weight loss, well done.

(Ellenor Bjornsdottir) #52

Scaring of protein for ketosis is irrational. Yes, it may put you out of ketosis, but if that’s what it takes to get enough protein, then that is what that takes.

(Dirty Lazy Keto'er, Sucralose freak ;)) #53

I’ll tell you how it’s night and day different for me…
Plain and simply, I’m not starving ! I’ve never ate a diet that made me feel so satiated !
I even did hard core Paleo from 10 years ago to 4 1/2 years ago, where I was eating 4000-5500 cals a day, and I was constantly starved ! Worst part of my fitness flip for those 5 years !
Never would I imagine that I could eat just two meals a day and commonly go 16 hrs without eating anything, and be okay with it !
Unbelievable for a self described food hog like myself !

(Parker the crazy crone lady) #54

I just came back from my DEXA scan, and found I’ve lost another 5 pounds. I eat so much sometimes, and yet! Losing weight! Sometimes going without meals and sometimes not. Just depends on if I’m hungry.

(Full Metal KETO AF) #55

I just don’t believe this is true. You’re not referring to excess protein being turned into glucose I hope. Because that is faulty information. Protein converting to glucose (gluconeogenesis) is need driven not automatic.

(Susan) #56

Congrats Parker, that is awesome!

#57

For me it is a lot healthier than diabetes type 2 and a deranged metabolism.
Keto does not help me lose an ounce of weight but it heals my metabolism by dropping my insulin levels.
I fast because I have to, if I don’t want to take drugs and probably have a leg amputated as my mother did. I have a hereditary tendency to extreme insulin resistance and there is no treatment for it, other than keto.
I would not fast for beauty or weight loss if I wasnt unhealthy enough to need to. It’s not a lifestyle choice or optional extra for me, it is a choice for life, as opposed to an awful death.
I did a great deal of reading before making that choice and tried every single other alternative.
Nothing else worked for me except keto to drop my insulin and fasting to drop my weight.
I can live with that. My alternatives aren’t numerous.

If you have a choice and don’t need to do it, that is fantastic. Lots of people have healthy metabolisms without keto and without fasting. I think it is important to get good advice and get informed with/by professionals who understand what you’re doing, have access to your tests and can interpret them.

I saw a keto orthopaedic surgeon today. No way I could figure out what I need in terms of his specialty, without his expertise and brain to advise me on my options. I rely heavily on people who know a lot more than I do, including via their books.

(Polly) #58

I don’t think that eating even less often is going to make me less hungry.

As so many others have already said there is no obligation to fast when being keto. However, those who are fat adapted find that fasting is entirely possible without feeling miserable or doing some kind of penance.

From the menus you have posted, it looks to me as though you may simply not be eating enough. This means that although your food choices are generally low carb your underlying weight loss regime is still one of caloric restriction.

You have done really well in losing 55lb, so congratulations! Don’t become disheartened now.

If fasting is not for you, and it sounds as though it may not be then don’t follow up my suggestion of reading Dr Jason Fung’s books.

You may find that the Harcombe Diet is a better “home” for you. Dr Zoe Harcombe has written a number of books and has an online club with members across the world. Her plan is a managed carb regime although many of the Harcombe Diet followers are also mainly Low Carb eaters.

Check out the Harcombe Diet club here:
http://www.theharcombedietclub.com

or one of Zoe Harcombe’s books from Amazon here:

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #59

This is a sign that you are not eating enough food. As long as you are keeping your carbohydrate intake low enough (we recommend an upper limit of 20 g/day, in order to be certain that it’s low enough), your body will adapt your metabolic rate to the condtions you give it. Restrict calories, and it will reduce energy expenditure to compensate, and hang on to the fat store as a reserve. Overeat, and it will ramp up the energy expenditure and will even waste energy (up to a point, of course, and past that point, the excess will be saved as fat for a rainy day). Eat to satisfy your hunger, and your body will respond by adjusting your hunger so that you give it enough, but not too much. In that process, if there is excess stored fat that can be used, the body will use it.

The point is not to eat to a pre-determined calorie target, but to eat when hungry, stop eating when no longer hungry, and not eat until hungry again. Eating to satiety assures the body of sufficient energy and lets the built-in mechanisms deal with fat stores, etc.

The difference between fasting and calorie-cutting is that process of adapting energy expenditure to match input. When we cut calories the body assumes it’s a famine, and cuts back to keep us going. Fasting, however, means we’ve run out of food and have to go hunt another mammoth, or whatever, so the body merely switches from one fuel source—outside food—to another—fat reserves—keeping the metabolic rate unchanged. You will notice that when people here fast, they fast, but when they are eating, they feast.

That’s it, in a nutshell.

(KetoQ) #60

If you thought you may have had an eating disorder in the past, you may want to rethink fasting. You may have a complicated relationship with food.

Rather than incorporate fasting, perhaps focus on eating low carb and keto friendly foods to satiety. There are lots of delicious and filling options.

You don’t have to fast to be successful on this. In fact, I’m coming round to the conclusion that fasting may hold some people back.

Good luck.

(Mame) #61

this! :point_up_2: this is why I fast to heal my hyperinsulemia. And for autophagy.

One can be in ketosis but not be fat-adapted. I think that fat adaptation for some is like a switch and it gets 'turned on ’ in a few weeks of strict keto. But I think for some, or at least me, it is a continuum and can take months. All these years of low carb and a year of strict keto and my body it still grudges burning fat. If you find it hard to skip even one meal then maybe you aren’t actually fat-adapted? Your body is screaming for the quick energy. or…

One thing fasting also helped me realized is that 98% of my hunger is head/emotional hunger. I eat to celebrate, to comfort, to muffle negative feelings, for boredom, for restlessness, for habit.
Perhaps working on the mental part would be of help?

Or maybe not :slightly_smiling_face: Congratulations on the all the great progress you have made.