My intermittent fasting low carb journey

[cvkemp]

I understand what you are saying, but I now realize I still have way too much fat around my waist, (belly). But I have seen way too many doctors, nurse practitioners, and others that should know better that hold the BMI chart as being the absolute law of what humans should weigh. My dad was always lectured about being over weight and even up to his last breath was extremely muscular and didn’t have an ounce of visible fat. I also have a nephew that is the same way, and is being lectured about his weight.
As for me I have at least 20 pounds of fat that I need to lose, but I am doing my best to replace it with some muscle.

[cvkemp]

I never realized just how much snacking I did, even though it was good real food, until I started narrowing my eating window down to as close to 1 hour as I could. Now I just concentrate on one feast of a meal that meets my needs. But I now also pay attention to when my body tells me I need more calories and will once a week or maybe twice a week break my fast a little earlier. I am seeing a fasting times of between 20 and 23 hours now except Sunday which is 18 to 19 hours. My weight is almost stable but I am still seeing measurement improvements in my waist and upper thighs. I am ramping up my hiking mileage and have been helping my church family with moving boxes and furniture for the annual garage sale. A little hard work feels great. All of my work and walking is during my fasting time and my energy levels is great.

[cvkemp]

Still making progress, my weight is 196.4, I can now wear my wrangler cowboy cut jeans and size medium shirts. It feels so good not to have to wear my tent shirts anymore.
What is truly working for me and is so important easy for me to do is what s call Fast5. It means fast 19 hours each day then I have a 5 hour window to feast. I am now eating pretty much everything I want to eat, but I chose to not eat fast food, anything with wheat, and nothing that is highly processed or refined. In other words I just eat real food.

[robintemplin]

You have found your groove. Way to go!

[cvkemp]

My weight is still 196.4. My weight and my mental state has been much more stable since I have stopped worry about the amount of calories or carbs that I consume. I have stabilized on fasting a minimum of 18 hours and a maximum of between 22 to 24 hours a day. Also even with the wider eating windows at times I seem to still be eating about the same amount and within the same amount of time. Sure I may have something after the 18 hour fast then not eat anything else until my wife and I eat dinner. I am now walking or hiking almost daily during the time I am fasting and it really makes me feel energized and my mind is so focused and I notice things I use to not notice.

[cvkemp]

I am reading a great book at this time “The Dietitian’s Dilemma” by Michelle Hurn Registered Dietitian, to say this is eye opening is an understatement. It confirms what I have heard and been told before about how our government came upon the SAD diet, “The Standard American Diet”. It is all about profits for the food industry, the drug industry, and even out medical care system. They aren’t trying to keep us healthy they are wanting our money by keeping us addicted to their junk food, their drugs and keep us coming back to the doctors and hospitals because we are sick, both physically and mentally.

[cvkemp]

I counted calories and everything else for about 12 years on and off, mostly on. It didn’t do a bit of good and it damaged my metabolism. When I started keto I went back to counting carbs and calories for a few months and it was a total stressor, I have since realized that I can listen to my body and do much better without the counting. Since I stopped counting I have lost more inches off my body and lost a few pounds. You see my goal isn’t weight loss it is slimming down. I have discovered that I can slim down with only a minimum amount of weight loss. I fast every day. My fasting period varies depending on the day and my schedule and at times what my body is telling me I need. My short fast is 16 hours my long fast is 24 hours. I eat mostly low carb and high fat with protein. Some days I eat more carbs, other days more protein but every day I ensure I have plenty of fat. My only hard rule is nothing with wheat. So no bread, or desserts with wheat flour. Now I admit I have slipped up and unknowingly had some wheat a couple times when out to eat. For me fruit in moderation doesn’t bother me, potatoes in moderation doesn’t hurt me either. The key is no daily intake of fruit or potatoes and the other key is daily activities, for me it is walking the trails here in the forest that I live in.

[cvkemp]

I have noticed certain carbs that make me itch and I am scratching them from my list of carbs that I eat. Maybe itch isn’t the correct word, maybe they are actually making my skin dry and that is causing the itchy sensation. I am coming to understand that there are things I shouldn’t eat even if I love them.

Also I have a question! I hear people say all the time I love this or that and then complain that they have a certain reaction to the food item and have to take this or that drug to counter act the food they eat, why in the hack do they not just stop eating that item and doubly same themselves misery and money at the same time.
For gosh sake listen to your body and done force something in it that it can’t handle, and ensure it gets the food it can handle and needs to be healthy.

[Shinita]

Yeah I don’t get it either. I am a hedonist so if something is really bad for me and I don’t even totally forget about it (but I can’t if it’s really bad…) than I need a hell of a compulsion to eat it again… Okay, such things happen, some people can eat through actual, current PAIN to get their fix… That’s super weird to me.
And while I do love variety and can miss things, I don’t feel it sooo bad to quit whole food groups if they aren’t good for me. Maybe a little occasionally if they don’t do much bad (I don’t want little bad either but it may worth it once a year when my desire gets bigger or something. tests need to be done anyway, people change :D)… But people are different. Hey, people eat themselves sick and fat even when they suspect they do wrong! People even smoke. Or do drugs known about being extremely harmful… People don’t always do things in a way that makes sense. And food joy and food compulsion can be a really powerful thing. I could talk about that BUT I don’t get actually unwell if I eat something wrong. Except when I eat A TON of sugar but that’s not so easy to do as I can eat better things. I can eat not right but I barely feel anything at all. I am a hedonist so I hate being in pain or harming myself… I don’t know how other people’s mind work. Some starve themselves and that’s very, very sad. Eating disorders are cruel.

[cvkemp]

Now that I am paying attention to my body much more closely, I am noticing certain things that happen, like the itching, the breaking out of my skin and I am thinking about what I was eating the day before or even a couple days before. Then I am experimenting to find the food item or items that caused my issues. Wheat is a big one, rice to a lesser degree, white table sugar is another, but I am still having a few issues I am still trying to sort out.
The other issue I have is digestive issues like really bad gas, I know beans are an issue with me and I haven’t had them in a long time, I also know that certain greens are an issue but it is normal in combination with other food items. And have just figured out that bananas in any form or degree is an issue. So I am slowly weeding out my issues. And becoming more of a meat, fish, and dairy person. I figured out what was causing me to gain weight so badly now I am trying to fix the other issues and my food list keep getting slimmer, at the frustration of my wife.

[Shinita]

A small range of food list helps me, things get simpler… My SO is a high-carber dependent on so many items so when we start to run out, things get more challenging… I do love a bit of challenge and it’s rare anyway but I appreciate when a few items are enough. Or if someone isn’t choosy or dependent at all (super omnivore or something, anything can be replaced) but we aren’t like that. I can get meat, eggs and sour cream locally (not all kind I eat but many kinds), these items are easy to cook too so what could be the problem? And just like you, a little extra doesn’t bother me (usually. I do have times when I attempt pure carnivore. or very very very close, at least). So why the frustration? Does your wife just want you to eat the same food as her? But if it’s not best for your health…?

My SO and I may eat very differently but there is a common ground and we both abandoned many items. It’s nice not to need food from many aisles.