Lesser of two evils?!?

#1

After reading many posts discouraging snacking, I am wondering which is worse, snacking even when you’re not hungry to avoid IF before fat adapted OR starting IF before fat adapted to avoid snacking?!? My work schedule at least 3 days per week (5-11pm) has me eating first meal about 9 am and last meal at 4:45 pm, so it is creating a sort of 16:8 IF that can’t be avoided unless I were to eat at 11pm when I am not hungry (I am 5 weeks in and pretty sure I am not fat adapted - low energy and negligible weight loss still).

(Charlotte) #2

Then IF imo. I myself naturally settled into a 16/8 before I was totally adapted. You don’t want to eat when you’re not hungry and if that means you’re settling into a 16/8, then so be it. You don’t want to get into the habit of snacking just to avoid an IF. That’s worse. Just make sure you’re eating enough cals during your feeding window and keep carbs low.

#3

Thank you so much for your reply, I was starting to stress out about messing up early on! I will go ahead with my IF on work nights :blush:

(Charlotte) #4

It’ll be okay. No need to stress. You want to minimalize insulin spikes through out the day, so thats why snacking is discouraged… especially when you’re not hungry. Overall its not life or death either way, but its a good time to develop good “keto habits” early on. :slight_smile:

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #5

If you are eating to satiety, and aren’t hungry for a good long while, then don’t worry about it. Don’t eat again until you are hungry. The advice you read was intended to calm down enthusiastic people who are eager to overstress their bodies without understanding what they are doing or why they are doing it.

The point of a ketogenic diet is to keep serum insulin as low as possible for as much of the day as possible. Since snacks tend to cause insulin to be secreted, it is wise to avoid them. Intermittent fasting—i.e., not eating betweem supper one evening and the first meal of the next day—is perfectly normal, and something the body well understands. It used to be recognized that the time between the last meal of one day until the first meal of the next day was a fast; it’s why eating the first meal of the day is called breaking one’s fast—“break-fast,” get it? :grin:

If you aren’t hungry until noon, don’t eat until noon. If you get hungry earlier, eat earlier. Your body evolved hunger and satiety hormones for a reason, and it spent 2,000,000 years refining how they work. So it’s probably a good idea to pay attention to them. :grin:

(Empress of the Unexpected) #6

One year on keto I am usually okay with two meals a day. But sometimes I need to snack. I know eating less is the key, but we are human. So if we need to eat all day, I do!! Everyone is different on keto. I am still hungry most days.

#7

Thank you so much for your replies, I have decided to consciously do my best to squash stress this week and just really pay attention to my body and what it is telling me in regards to hunger, I am super grateful that this WOE doesn’t have me feeling famished all the time and when I do get hungry and eat, I don’t feel awful afterwards :smiley: