May 2018 IF/EF chat - all welcome

(Liz ) #221

OMG YES TO ALL OF THIS!! LOL, so so accurate.

(Liz ) #222

For me fasting is never “easy” per se. But it’s not awful. It’s a challenge that’s achievable sometimes and sometimes not. The best thing about fasting is you can end one any time by having something to eat. I started out doing intermittent fasting, skipping breakfast, pushing lunch later. Then one day I went 24 hours, it felt wild! I was giddy. It was fine. I was fat adapted and my body had plenty of energy it could access. After that I pushed it to two days, then I went three, and now I’ve done 4 days a few times. Every fast has its own character. I think it does get easier as you do them. For me the first day is fine, the second day is harder, and days 3 and 4 are back to fine. I struggle most from 6-10 PM with wanting to eat. Is it actual hunger? Not really, but it’s an emptiness in my gut that wants filled. But it’s not an overwhelming feeling. One day I was super stressed and I knew I wasn’t going to make it past 24 hours fasted so I had dinner! It was delicious. Back at it next week, no big deal.

So, TL:DR Fasting is easier when fat adapted, it gets easier the more times you do it, each fast is unique, stress will mess it up, yes you think about food but it’s not awful, if you feel bad, you eat and that’s that.

#223

This is where I am. I have a historic aversion to being hungry (my parents were dedicated food pushers - being hungry was to be entirely avoided). So I am easing myself into this. I believe myself to be fat adapted. I began by pushing breakfast back later each day. I started waiting till 10. When that was easy, I skipped it.

My latest step is to skip eating before playing tennis in the morning, and having a meal at noon or one. (On some level I must have thought I would pass out if I played without eating first.) Then the other day, we played at 10:30 and food didn’t come till even later. And it was not that big a deal. I had always been afraid of not eating before playing. This morning the game is at 9, and no big deal.

So next attempt will be OMAD. But I’m not sure when. It will happen when it happens. I still have to overcome the psychological, deeply ingrained idea of not eating. “Don’t take my food away!”

I’m finding that, surprisingly, after eating in the evenings or before bed for decades, I can avoid eating at night. This is a big one.

Little steps for big feet. :tipping_hand_woman:t3:

(Trish) #224

The longest I’ve done is 6 days. I have a grumble tummy but it only lasts for maybe 10 minutes then it’s fine. I think about food a lot and look up recipes but it doesn’t bother me in the least but I think I’m pretty immune seeing as how I work in a donut shop and that doesn’t both me either. :slight_smile:

(Shayne) #225

You know, there are a few times I’ve heard people say that hour 18 is the worst, so if you can be sleeping then, do it. OMG, last night I hit hour 18 at “dinner time” and it was hard to stay the course, but I did it. I’m in hour 35 now and I’m sweaty and wired - like I NEED to go for a walk and work some of it off. Of course it’s going to be nearly 90 F outside here today so the sweating is not going to stop… LOL. Planning to fast till tomorrow evening and that will put me in the 66 ish hour range, I think.

(Candy Lind) #226

Only during fasting?? Lucky you! :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

(Candy Lind) #227

When I use my immersion blender, I never have a problem with separation. I am really bad about nursing my coffee along for hours (which I know I need to stop doing. I’ll work on that when I’m back on the truck. Drink it and get it overwith!) and it’s as good 4 hours later as it was when I started. I use a double-wall mug that keeps it hot that long, so heat-stability might be a factor. I’ve always figured if it got cooler than I like to drink it, I would dump some ice in it and simulate a Starbucks Frappacino (the only thing I ever drank from Sbux that I liked). Never got that far. You’ll like this - my hubby says I put so much :poop: in my coffee, I need a Hazmat placard!

(Candy Lind) #228

IMPORTANT TO NOTE! PLEASE KEEP THIS IN MIND IN ALL FASTING THREADS:

I am guilty of this (SORRY!), especially when I’m not fasting but in a thread for support purposes - and I know we have several pretty new folks in the May thread - so I’m going to reiterate this:

If you mention actual FOOD in your post (like roast beef, cauli-rice, bacon, coffee with cream) that you need to use the “blur spoiler” on that text. Some people have a really hard time just reading about food, so we help them as much as we can by not mentioning, or by blurring stuff that might cause them to stop fasting before they really wanted to.

You can search on “blur spoiler” if you don’t know how to do it. Instructions are in the how-to section.

(Victoria Mc Coy) #229

@ava_ad0re, fasting definitely gets easier once you are fat adapted. And as I learned from Dr. Jason Fung, hunger passes; it doesn’t continue to intensify. That little fact helped me enormously. Dr Fung’s Complete Guide to Fasting is a great primer for incorporating fasting into your routine, if you haven’t read it yet.

@OldDoug is right too - we have to learn how NOT to structure our days around meals, and make some rather big shifts mentally to make fasting easier as well.

Physically, I find that taking salt when feelings of hunger hit also helps me a lot. And water. Lots of water to help your body process the healthy actions that are a part of fasting.

I know the experience is different for everyone based on where we are in our journey and what state our metabolic health is in, but there’s a lot of wisdom and practical experience on this forum to tap in to. Good luck and happy fasting!

(Candy Lind) #230

[quote=“OldDoug, post:219, topic:39529”]
You indeed do think about food. :wink: The thinking is usually the deal, too - unless one is really lean, with not much in the way of fat reserves, then the body isn’t going to be clamoring too hard for food. All our inner compulsions, cravings, vulnerabilities and rationalizations are in play.[/quote]

I can’t give this 10 likes? RATS. :purple_heart: :orange_heart: :blue_heart: :hearts: :heartpulse: :green_heart: :heart: :heartbeat: :revolving_hearts: :two_hearts: :sparkling_heart: :kissing_heart:

TOTALLY AWESOME POST that I am going to bookmark and read EVERY DAY when I am fasting!

(Lisa F) #231

Lol…I guess the obsession only really bothers me when I’m fasting!!!

(Candy Lind) #232

You’re lucky it doesn’t bother you! I just posted about this, but BLUR FOOD, PLEASE.

(Victoria Mc Coy) #233

Here’s a happy distraction from my fasting (@63 hours and going strong). And how much easier was getting up and down on the floor for “tummy time” thanks to the 25 lbs I’ve lost since January & the absence of inflammation and joint pain? A lot #NSV! So grateful for the Keto WOE and fasting science which is giving me a chance to win back my health and energy. :heart:

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(Doug) #234

It makes sense to me, Shayne - by 18 hours the stomach and small intestine are going to be empty, almost always, and the body is starting to draw down glycogen stores - I would think blood sugar would be declining at this time and “hunger” being more insistent. If we’re on a normal “daylight” schedule, and used to eating several times a day, 18 hours is also roughly the time from an evening meal through the sleep period, past breakfast time to around the middle of the day, perhaps the second meal. If the body is not used to fasting, then it’s saying, “HEY - we passed over breakfast but let’s not miss too many meals here…”

(KCKO, KCFO 🥥) #235

Agree with OldDoug totally.

To me fasting is very much a mind game, but I listen to my body and if don’t feel well, I refeed and just start another fast.

When I start seeing the scale move upwards, that is a signal for me to fast. I listen to both signals.

#236

I have to admit, my energy started off INCREDIBLE for awhile, but has tapered off back to somewhat normal, maybe slightly better than when I was glucose burning. Has anyone else experienced that? Also, my digestion lately has been quite unpleasant, so im trying to figure that out. We’ll see how the no dairy experiment is going. Overall I’m really compelled by the science, so I’m not moving on from it any time soon.

(Liz ) #237

Hmmm, I would start an elimination diet and add things back until you find the culprit.

#238

Yes I think that’s what I’ll do- how does one go about an elimination diet? Just stick to meats and eggs and fats?

(Liz ) #239

I’ve never done one! But search it, I know folks here have done them.

(Teresa (turtle)) #240

On hour 88 now, and just a bit over 2 hours until I go home from my desk job and gear up to do my one night on 3rd shift - fasted.

EDIT here to mention that I don’t think that I have added correctly 'cause my hours don’t jive…anyway, been fasting since Monday evening between 9 and 10 pm EST.