New to keto and intermittent fasting

(JMarie 2769cedbf6aca43a0b51) #1

I started Keto and first fast 3 days ago. Did 23 hr fast then ate yesterday 2 keto meals. Fasting again since last night. This is hard but I’m determined.
Woke up (after not sleeping too well last few days) tired, nauseous, even some dizziness esp after bm. I was sweating and had to lie down for a few minutes til it passed. Took magnesium and potassium and a little salt and water since I am still fasting. I have eaten poorly for long time so I guess it’s going to be tough. My back has been hurting most of the night. Any suggestions would be welcomed.

(Chuck) #2

I intermittent fast everyday between 16 and 22 hours but mostly between 16-19 hours. I never eat after 6pm or before 10am. I have been doing keto/low carb since last September have lost just over 33 pounds, but most of all almost 12 inches off my belly. I keep my total carbs less than 50, and I keep my calories within a deficit so I can lose weight hopefully. It is winter here so my normal activity level is much lower than normal. I also should say I am male and 75 years old.

(Robin) #3

I personally wouldn’t introduce any fasting (intermittent or extended) until you are fully adapted to eating keto for a few months. One thing at at time and it can all come more naturally. That’s been my experience anyway. Best of luck!

(Chuck) #4

I actually was fasting before I started keto.

(Robin) #5

That makes sense too, Chuck. I just wouldn’t jump into both at the same time.

(Joey) #6

Not uncommon. But perhaps best for some folks to stop fasting during their transition from diesel to jet fuel.

Put differently, to get your body adapted to a new kind of fuel, it needs to be provided with that new kind of fuel.

#7

Starting keto was a big enough change for me, it would be not sustainable with some force-feeding… I am a natural IFer and obviously continued it on keto. I was so hungry anyway (if I didn’t eat my usual amount of food, at least), a bigger eating window probably would have made it worse… I usually can’t handle big eating windows well. Anyway, I for one really should avoid eating late if I know what is good to me…

If someone already does IF, it’s best not to touch that I suppose, the fewer big changes, the better! Unless if the one in question feels the need to do it, of course.

Yep. One should eat enough but what does it have to do with IF…? Not everyone eats at a deficit on IF (but many people wants a deficit on keto for fat-loss anyway and many can afford it as they have the extra fat for it. but maybe the body doesn’t always think so, mine surely didn’t, I was hungry with any deficit so I ate more).

(Joey) #8

Fasting = not eating. Seems like “eating enough” and “fasting” have a lot to do with each other :wink:

#9

Nope, we talk about IF. You have not eating phases even if you have 8 meals a day…

I can overeat on IF just fine…
As IF involves eating EVERY DAY. Why does it matter that it’s in a smaller eating window? We are humans, not shrews. Not eating for 16+ hours is no problem.

(Joey) #10

Perhaps we should refer to this as IE (Intermittent Eating) :wink:

#11

IF has both fasting and eating. Just like non-IF. It’s about the same, we just have a smaller eating window on IF and that may bring certain differences.
But IF alone doesn’t say anything about our food consumption. IDK why people act like it means we don’t eat a lot… Some people can’t or won’t, sure, others do.
Mere IF practically guarantees overeating in my case (not all the time, there are various factors, phases but usually), I need a tinier window than 6-8 hours.
Once I met someone who massively overate on OMAD and not in a bigger window, that was interesting :slight_smile:

(Chuck) #12

I wouldn’t be hard at all to overeat after being on a fast. I log everything and normally either the evening before or the morning of while I am still in my intermediate fasting period I plan my food for the day. For me I have a hard time eating everything I should eat. That comes from years of eating less and exercising more. But slowly over this last 5 months I have greatly improved my metabolism. When in my fasting period I will only drink water or unsweetened tea. I end my fast with 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar in 8 ounces of water. Then I eat what I have planned for the day. I am careful about my nutrition and calories and about keeping my total carbs below 50 per day. I am not bothered by net carbs like so many others. I find that when I come off the fast I am still not hungry, but I know I should eat. For me it is working out well, for others maybe not. We are all different individuals that have to experiment to find what works, and also be aware that are bodies adjust and change as we do this and we have to be willing to make adjustments to our behavior to make it work. I also don’t advise having a weight loss goal, and like I was advised to stop stressing over the scales. My body has changed and is changing a lot with very little weight loss or exercise.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #13

Well, you certainly don’t want to undereat! As Jason Fung advises, when we fast, don’t eat, when we eat, feast!

The question is whether, if you eat low carbohydrate meals after fasting, you will gain fat or not. There have been studies involving ketogenic diets, where one of the participants has eaten a lot more food than the others and still lost the same amount of fat.

The British nutrition activist, Sam Feltham, tried a 5000-calorie ketogenic diet for 28 days, to see what would happen, and he gained about a kilo, I think it was. It turned out, when he had a DEXA scan done at the end of the trial, that he had gained a couple of kilos of muscle and shed about a kilo of fat (all the more amazing, because he had very little body fat to begin with). I am making up the numbers, but the gist is accurate: he shed fat to around half the weight of the muscle he gained. On the 5000-calorie standard-diet trial, he gained about 7 kilos, all fat. You can look up the precise numbers on his Web site.

So in this context, you can see why I always wonder if our fears of overeating on keto are actually warranted.

(Chuck) #14

There isn’t any way at this time in my life that I could eat that much. I do well to eat the 1700 to 1900 calories that I manage to now. At the time I started keto I could barely manage to eat 1200 to 1500 calories a day. And like I have said I am losing weight and inches while eating more. Hopefully as the weather warms and I am much more active I will be able to eat more while improving my health with hiking the trails and enjoying the fresh air and sunshine.

#15

People gain fat on keto, sometimes quickly (I don’t say they don’t do it by eating too fatty instead of following their body signs but they do it)… But it’s not about gaining fat, I personally have a hard time to gain any even with a lot of sugar.
It’s about losing fat :wink: But even more importantly, avoid overeating. It’s very, very, very important for me. Especially overeating protein, I will work hard to avoid that when I resume tracking (I take a break so I have not the foggiest idea about my macros. well, maybe a very foggy one).

I ate 2000-4000 before keto (I could stay close to 2000 on low-carb! 4000 was on my wild off days I admit :slight_smile: thankfully. 2500 was normal occasionally) and I ate 2000-3000 kcal on keto (usually 2000, the 3000 one was fattier than usual)… Then 1500-4000 on carnivore - but my average went down a bit :wink: But I have phases. Sometimes it’s 3000 kcal nearly every day…
I badly need OMAD. It has so many benefits for me… And it’s so hard to do not on high-carb… :frowning: Carbs and determination makes it trivial but definitely not ideal - or safe. I don’t focus and carbs bring multiple meals. I try to do extrem low-carb for good reasons. It just did bad to my fasting abilities but I think I know what to do now…

That’s great :slight_smile: Fresh air, sunshine, exercise, good nutrition… Very, very good combo. I aim for a healthy long life and I need these all for it :wink:

(JMarie 2769cedbf6aca43a0b51) #16

You are all such a wonderful bunch to provide feedback so quickly. How grateful I am for your kindness. I probably did do too much in the first week by starting keto (1400 cal) and intermittent fasting. On top of that I started kettlebell class 2 times a week! Definitely enough food as it’s hard to eat all that since my neglected body was mostly given many carbs and way too much sugar for years. Enough of that junk!
Even though this is a rough start, I’m going to keep going. It’s just wonderful to come join a group where peeps are generous, helpful and seeking to improve their health. Yay!