I am of a mindset that protein isn’t the problem also. I am also of the mindset that the more times during our feeding period of the day that we cause insulin spikes the less likely our bodies are to use its own fat for energy. There are still so many questions that aren’t fully answered. Hopefully one day the whole medical community will wake up to understand the truthful facts about nutrition, obesity, diabetes, and the role of food in the disease progression. I have seen in myself as well as friends and family that the drugs of choice for any disease is as bad and in most cases worse as a so call maintenance or cure. And I am old enough to understand now that most of the issues with obesity and diabetes started with processed high carbohydrate foods.
My intermittent fasting low carb journey
Wish me luck!
I am going cold turkey and see if I can make it by not counting calories or micronutrient and just stick with my rules of no wheat, oats, corn, artificial sweeteners of any kind. I will not eat potatoes or at least keep it to the bare minimum as well as rice. I will be intermittent fasting with only water, and unsweetened tea while fasting. I will be working to hopefully reach a goal of one meal per day or at least to have a small window of time to eat within. My goal window is 5 hours or less. I understand it is going to take time and patience to manage this. I am working to get to the point of eating meals and no snacks. Notice I am not ruling out fresh or flash frozen fruit, but will keep it to very minimal amounts. This is going to be an ongoing learning experience and there will be many modifications along the journey.
Hi Chuck, if your carbs are coming from nourishing whole foods, berries, fruits, vegetables and nuts and you also get plenty protein and saturated fats your WOE looks healthy and balanced to me. I agree with others that your scale not budging is not a plateau if you’re losing fat, noticing the change in your clothes, and slimming down visually. But I can understand the frustration of having to deal with a doctor who does not understand this. I myself have stopped weighing myself. I’m slimming down, my clothes feel fine, I feel and look healthy, and that is all that matters. I am drinking one glass and a half of raw milk everyday, though today I drank two, but I could just keep drinking it and it would not put on an ounce on my body, though it’s too expensive to be drinking such amounts. As I’ve said so many times to people and will probably continue saying it till I’m blue in the face not all carbs are equal. Berries for example are a really good source of nutrients and provide potassium, magnesium, vitamins C and K, fiber and prebiotics, for a healthy gut. I believe everything, every ailment, every condition we struggle with, the problem stems from the gut. My mantra is fix the cut, and the body will begin to heal itself.
Anyway, I think you’re doing great Chuck, and it seems your lowcarb WOE is doing you well.
I changed the title of this post to better reflect my lifestyle path. And I may in the future be just making it my intermittent fasting post, why? Because intermittent fasting is working better for me than keto! But at this time I do believe that intermittent fasting and low carb is my answer to trim the fat off my body. I have taken Gen Stephens and Dr. Jason Fung’s advice and I am making intermittent fasting my way of healthy eating and lifestyle. There are a number of others that also have influenced my decision, most of them are practicing physicians. I am not saying keto is wrong it just isn’t for me. But at this time low carb along with intermittent fasting is turning the wheels for my journey.
I had that idea a few times in my life… But it better for me to combine them 
Low-carb and not keto is a great woe for many, you aren’t the only one to lose fat that way. Even I with my stalling forever body lost a significant amount of fat on low-carb before keto. I was fattier though and stopped at some point but I ate a lot and it turned out carbs interfere so I need to go extreme low. But I loved low-carb while it was the best option for me.
Good luck!
I am doing a clean fast, nothing but water or unsweetened tea or coffees. I have learned that even artificial sweeteners can stall my progress. Within my window of eating I have what I call to meals my smoothie or eggs and bacon with almond milk and protein powder, then nothing until super or dinner whatever people call it. I don’t eat after 6pm and I am not eating before somewhere between noon and 2pm. I no longer do any artificial sweeteners even during my window of eating. I have introduced some fresh fruit to my diet. My never eat is anything with wheat. I plan at some point to reintroduce steel cut oats more than likely this coming winter. I do have small amounts of baked or roasted potatoes. I am planning on reintroducing beans in small quantities. I really believe that it is the fasting that is the most important factor, and I do mean a clean fasting period.
Yesterday I deleted the loseit calorie tracker that I have been using since July of 2011, I don’t want to have it around as a crutch. I have to depend on my body telling me when I am truthfully hungry and when I have eaten enough and my body is satisfied. I am trying to work with a 19 hour fast each day with a 5 hour window to eat in. I will see how that works out and make adjustments once I am able to truly work with the 19:5 fast.
I wear a CGM (Freestyle Libre 3). Fat spikes blood glucose not at all. Protein does generate a SMALL spike, but nothing like what carbs do. If I eat a fairly large meal (an Atkins scramble breakfast), it will spike my blood glucose about 20-30 units. I am pretty much carnivore, so have not eaten a meal with a “large” carb content, but I understand from others that a typical spike can be in range of 100+ blood glucose units.
I am someone that believes in better safe than sorry. I don’t drink coffee, just water and tea unflavored unsweetened. I can tell you even taking my vitamin supplements will make me hungry while I am fasting, the same goes for taking my morning Apple cider vinegar in the mornings. But I could take my BP medication, thank goodness i no longer take it. I am doing a 19:5 fast schedule and today was the first time wasn’t feeling like I needed to eat when my eating window time was there, and in fact I was that hungry when my wife called me to dinner and I opened the window after 23 hours of fasting, ate supper took my supplements, and even had a dessert and closed my window at my normal time. So maybe you can get away with it but I can’t and don’t want to chance it seeing I still have fat to lose.
Hi Chuck, good luck with your new approach! It seems like many people are able to successfully live this type of IF lifestyle.
I too hope to one day be able to eat a moderate amount of healthy carbs with a time-restricted eating approach. I believe I probably still have a lot more insulin resistance to heal before that will work for me. When I first read Gin’s books and listened to her IF Podcast a few years back, I really wanted to do it like her, allowing carb foods in my eating window. The promise of those books is that you can just Delay Don’t Deny your favorite foods. Inevitably I would soon have a lot of trouble sticking to my desired eating windows, even though I was “clean fasting” when not eating. That period did train me to enjoy coffee and tea without sweeteners and I still do that now. It took a long time for me to be able to comfortably fast again recently, but I had to first go keto for a few weeks and eventually I was able to build up my fasting muscle, and now I can comfortably fast for up 72 hours at a time. I’m not going to try to add any substantial amount of carbs again for a long time until I’ve at least reached and stayed at a good weight and A1C goal for a while. Adding carbs back too soon has thrown me off course for many months at a time when I have tried it. And I may just decide to stay away from them for good. But being able to enjoy moderate amounts of potatoes, oats, and rice sounds like a nice goal for sure.
My way of doing this is low carb with intermittent fasting, the genius of her way is that it can work with what every eating style that works for the individual. I will maybe experiment once I get to where I am in maintenance. And I may have special occasions that I will eat somewhat higher higher carbs. Right now my only real no no is wheat.
I don’t think folks here think all carbs are equal, but maybe you are having to say that repeatedly to other folks in your life.
All the best Chuck! Sounds like you have really figured out what is working best for you!
Hi Chuck, how will you intermittent fast? I am sort of doing it already, but moderately, I have my first meal at about 10-11am and stop eating usually after 17:00pm, sometimes 18:00pm. I wouldn’t do any extended fasts, it’s too stressful on my body. I think your WOE sounds wonderfully wholesome and healthy Chuck, with dietary variety.
I am interested about the place of the eating window too, I don’t remember you mentioning it before…? But I can’t remember anything anyway.
Mine is almost unavoidably starts at 3pm, it’s very natural, I always had one of my major meals around that time and I am rarely hungry earlier on workdays. Weekends are more relaxed on various levels.
I made a full 21 hours of fasting yesterday, I felt great. I believe I could have gone for even longer. I had my smoothie then dinner and closed my eating window at my usual time. This morning I also feel great no hunger and my weight was stable within a half a pound. While I am noticing slight trimming of my waist and thighs I am not seeing a corresponding change in weight. Which is just fine with me, I am weighing at the low end of what I weighed my whole military life and I can even fit into my dress uniform. If I can do this at my age others should be able to.