I normally IF daily for 20-22 hours, sometimes 24 hours. I’m lean and very active so I don’t force fasting beyond that point (plus for those here who know my story I avoid long fast because of my history with restriction). I feel good on this schedule because I like to exercise fasted and I don’t have to spend time cooking and eating during the day since I stay busy as a mom and working part time. Then I have a big meal with my kids in the evening and some snacks within that window. I’ve upped my intake of fatty protein lately which seems to help with satiety. But I’ve been finding myself so hungry lately after a good sized meal. Like I want to eat until I’m slightly over full rather than just feeling satisfied. I wonder if this indicates my fasting window is too long and my body is trying to increase hunger signals when I finally eat? I’ve been under stress lately too, going through a divorce, so I wonder if stress levels can add to this increase in hunger. Oftentimes when I’m stressed I lose my appetite but then it ramps up when things calm down briefly. So not sure how to address this, I’m really at my ideal body weight, 130 ish , 5’ 7” and around 18% body fat (I am very active with lots of LBM). I don’t really like eating during the day but I’m also tired of standing in the kitchen for two hours in the evening feeling like I’m still hungry. Ugh…any suggestions?
Increased hunger = IF loss of efficacy
Yes, stress raises the hormone cortisol and cortisol can block access to fat in a similar way to insulin. I’ve listened to Dr Fung talk about cortisol before.
But I have also found that at times OMAD or close to it works and other weeks I’m eating 18:6 or 12:12. Some days I will eat 3 times a day and other days once a day. Depends on my body.
The closer I get to goal and the less body fat I have the more I found I had to supplement with fat during the day. I’ve actually put on some weight due to bad eating habits these past few months and am now enjoying being able to fast without fat supplementation again but know its coming.
I was also very stressed for most of April with work and battled to fast, even 18:6 IF that used to be natural for me.
@allan thank you for sharing that, obviously I’m committed to keto long term and have tried just about every iteration over the years. I still run up against these kind of challenges and it helps to reach out to everyone here and hear about what has worked. I’m wondering about adding something like a bulletproof type drink in the afternoon for some fat, if it will help mitigate the hunger later on. I don’t drink coffee except in the morning but maybe some broth with butter blended up. I know stress increases cortisol so I’m sure that’s playing a factor here. I wonder how many people here have gone from IF and a small feeding window to a longer feeding window successfully?
I don’t ever, ever force a fast (not that you’re doing that, I’m just sharing my experience). I never have questions here about fasting because if I’m not hungry, I don’t eat and I guess that could be called fasting because it’s almost 24 hours sometimes, but I don’t even “go there” with the word (restrictive background as well). Sometimes this “fasting-not-fasting” (lol) happens for days in a row and sometimes I’m hungry for three meals a day. What I do not do is snack. If I"m hungry enough to eat, I eat a meal - big enough to hold me for a long time. Its just that “long” is relative from day to day.
To me it sounds like your body is talking to you, asking for more support through the stressful time and I know the more I go long periods without eating (the more times in a row or even in a week) the hungrier I get. That sounds kinda “duh” but from years of not listening to my body, it’s not that obvious to me and something I have to work at.
I’ve gone 48 hours a couple of times not on purpose and only after I’d really feasted including going overboard on carbs. But I don’t feel hungry during the day which reflects your experience, it’s when I’m home and unwinding and start eating that the hunger kicks in. So do I make myself eat something during the day if I’m not hungry?
Erin
Any reason not to satisfy your hunger signals? I would say if you are hungry, eat some fat, if you’re not hungry during the day, don’t.
Like I would never not eat when I was hungry, I would never eat when I WASNT hungry. Same same 