July 2018 IF / EF chat ALL WELCOME

(Central Florida Bob ) #161

Just checking in. Still plodding along at easy fasting (alternate day), eating MWFS so only two days in a row Fri/Sat.

The scale is still creeping down, 1-1/2 or 2 less than last week, and I think the lowest I’ve seen on the scale in 15 years. Yesterday was a rough fast day. I slept 6 hours and got up early to take a friend who has no family in town over to the VA hospital 60 miles away. By afternoon I was really dragging.

I have a bit of GI issues - “the runs”, usually on the eating days not the fasting days. Had an episode today, but not Wednesday.

I tested my morning blood sugar a couple of times before I start eating on the eating days, and it’s the lowest I’ve ever had - like 83 and 85. I never got past “pre-diabetes”, but my last labs (while keto), the lab said my FBG was 110.

Fasting is pretty amazing.

#162

I’m so excited at how I’m feeling on this fast! I didn’t quite get the fasting euphoria that some folks get but I feel really good. I was up at 5, fit in a walk and some exercise, then a hot yoga class, had a full work day, then ran out to help a family member, and now it’s late evening and I’m trying to figure out how to wind down enough that I can sleep, because I have lots of energy.
Wrapping up Day 3 now and I’m planning to go for 5. This is fun (also encouraging, since it’s not at all how I felt on the last one, and I’m hoping that this will become more of a norm and that I can do a 3-5 day fast each month).

#163

We’re all different, so fasting is different for everyone… I’d done 24hr fasts before keto for a long while, then after I started keto I did 36hrs, then gradually lengthened it. I was in awe of others doing EF too, but found when I got into the swing of it, the first day seems harder & it get easier. I do get hungry, but generally it gets easier to ignore. But the day I know I’m going to break the fast then I think about food a lot & what I’ll have when I finish! I do have coffee & cream as a crutch sometimes, so some would say not strictly a fast, but whatever works to help you through. Keeping busy as much as possible helps, doing a short HIIT workout or a walk seems to help. I think others listen to lots of podcasts etc. to keep them motivated as well. Don’t be hard on yourself, it takes time to build up to EF.

(icky) #164

Is anyone here doing a fat-fast?

I’ve never done one before but would like to try and am wondering what the “general rules” are for doing a fat-fast “right”?

Thanx :blush:

(Allie) #165

I class it as a fat fast when I have a fatty coffee to start the day then nothing else. No idea if that’s what’s classed as doing it right, but it’s doing it right for me :blush:

#166

I think there is a “fat fast” that’s a very specific protocol that you can probably find online (and there’s at least one current thread on here about it), and it involves a fair amount of fat through the day.

I’m on day 4 of what’s essentially a fat fast, though much I’m taking in much less than the protocol: I have BPC in the mornings and then a spoonful of coconut butter when I take supplements and sometimes again before bed or if I’m feeling weak. It’s working really well for me. I want to get into the habit of a monthly EF, and I’m more interested in fasting being easy and sustainable - especially as I’m starting - than being strict. I would love for the EFs to morph into water fasts at some point, but right now I just want to do them and build experience in coming out of them smoothly.

(icky) #167

I used the search function here on the forum but found mainly more general stuff along the lines of “I am doing a fat fast right now…” but will take another look.

I just tried googling it and came up with these 2 results, but either I’m understanding them wrong or they mean something else?

Sounds like they’re saying “don’t fast - keep eating - just only eat fat”…?

I was actually thinking more “do fast” but have a couple of SMALL amount of fat throughout the day, much as you described @Madeleine

#168

@sugar-addict I think I was remembering this thread (I didn’t really read it, just recall coming across it, so I don’t know what’s in there…).

I’m really happy with the smaller supplementation that I’m doing. Also I definitely have fat to burn but not loads of it (and I suspect that the extra inches on my thighs won’t give up their stores so easily :slight_smile: ) and I think that supplementing with a bit of fat might keep me in a good metabolic place. Or maybe that’s bs, but in any case that thought keeps me buzzing along, so it’s working!

(Shayne) #169

I’m in prep mode for a fat fast this coming week. I picked up the groceries last night and I’ll set up my non dinner meals maybe later today but definitely tomorrow. My accountability thread has my planned menu for the next two weeks if you are interested.

(Jeanne Wagner) #170

I decided Thursday after lunch to do a 3-4 day fast. It’s been a couple months and I have been avoiding it. I get this super distracted feeling when I fast and it’s very tough to concentrate at work. I definitely have to be in a certain mindframe to fast. I still love to eat even if just once a day so it is hard to not eat. I know it is psychological.

Anyway I’m in hour 44, even sat with co-workers yesterday as they ate a lasagna lunch provided by the boss. Some were curious but it got put to rest pretty quick. Others know what I’m doing so they just look at me knowingly. Lacroix really does help.:wink: It’s taken me a good three or four months to get used to it.

(icky) #171

Yeah, as I understand it (from the thread you mentioned too) a fat “fast” is just eating fat… So it’s not “fasting” at all. It’s eating lots of fatty meals, but you get the “no insulin response” effects which are similar to actual “fasting”…

That’s a bit of a confusing label for me!! :thinking:

Isn’t it more like “zero carb”? That you’re eating meals just making sure that there are no carbs in them, cos all you’re eating is fat?

It would make more sense to me to call it a “fat feed” than a “fat fast”…

I guess for me that means that a “fat fast” is NOT what I’m trying to do…

I’m trying to EF, with a couple of tiny portions of butter/ HWC - but minimal so they confound the fast as little as possible…

This is making me wonder now whether there’s 2 totally different “definitions” of “fat fasts” on the forum… :smile: Those doing the official “fat fast” ie. fat feed, and confused souls like us and @Shortstuff who think it is actually about fasting, just with a teensy bit of fat added… ??? :thinking:

(icky) #172

Hey Shayne,

Thanks for that… :blush:

Yeah, that’s what all the other fat-fast “menus” look like that I’ve found on the forum and/ or googling…

The thing I don’t really understand is - when I look at those menus… that looks like what I eat normally, during a normal week of Keto…??

What’s the difference between “eating keto” and “eating fat fast food”?

(I may be missing something really obvious here - so I apologise in advance!!!) :smile:

(Shayne) #173

The difference is that on a fat fast, you’re aiming for 90% fat (by calories) with a limit of 1200 calories.

In eating straight keto, you should generally be eating more calories than that on a daily basis - and having some protein. Fat would normally be somewhere in the 70 - 80% range by calories to allow for protein and some minimal carbs. On my menu, I tracked total carbs, not net (which would obviously be much lower with the fiber in the shiritake noodles and the avocados).

I’m going to do it for two weeks, five days on and two days off, and then see where I am - how I feel, if I’ve lost any weight, etc. If I’m good, I think I’ll do it again.

(Allie) #174

I’ve got a specific fat fast book somewhere…

(icky) #175

Okay, so a fat fast is basically tweaking your macros in favour of fat… :+1:t3:

Which happens to me on some keto days anyway, as I’m not strict about tracking…

So what can we call what @Madeleine and @shortstuff and me are doing then?

It’s obviously not a “fat fast”…

But a “fast with minimal fat”…

(Allie) #176

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@sugar-addict first page of my book about fat fasts

(Allie) #177

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(Shayne) #178

I have that one in both kindle and paperback versions - and I have the second one as well. I love the single serving recipes!

(icky) #179

Yeah, so it’s a “fat feed”, right? :blush:

But you’re fasting with just a fatty coffee and nothing else… and I’m doing basically the same, so what’s that then? :smile:

(Shayne) #180

Yes, pretty much. That’s what I do when I’m truly fasting - I’ll have coffee with some fat or some broth. But I went off the wagon a bit on my vacation and I know that I can’t jump right in to an actual fast from that point.