“Overeating” during a feeding window

(Erin Macfarland ) #1

If you do a daily IF of say, 20 hours, and have a 4 hour “feeding window,” and you “overeat” keto foods (i.e. eat lots of extra fat) will this lead to weight gain? This would be contrasted with eating the same amount and type of food over the course of a day rather than in a few hours. So, say you “need” 2000 calories a day (I am not advocating CICO, just using it as a frame of reference), and you ate 3000 calories but it was in a short timeframe and then you went back to fasting, would this still lead to weight gain? So, my question is if you’re going to “overeat” (keto foods of course) would doing so in a short period of time (so as to mitigate insulin response) prevent weight gain from the “extra” calories?

(Rob) #2

You know better than to expect any answer than ‘it depends’. :grin:

Jason wittrock ate 3500 calories of fat per day for 21 days (vs. 1500 usually) and had no fat gain or muscle loss (slight gain). It seems likely he just pooped out the excess fat since his body didn’t need it.
You are much closer to his physicality than I am so you may have similar experiences from overfeeding fat.

If you are not insulin sensitive then there is more likelihood that the higher level of insulin you do produce anyway will store some of the excess fat if it is above your fat store/burn threshold. Since this appears different for individuals it is hard to know until you try.

(Erin Macfarland ) #3

I know “extra” energy can also be burned off as heat too. I’m just wondering if you are going to go to town and pig out if doing so in a short feeding window would help mitigate the extra fat you eat?

#4

Anecdotes point either way. Some people’s metabolism rises to meet the extra calories, other people find consuming more than their target slows progress. Would be an interesting thing to hear your results. How often are you overfeeding and the better q why do you feel you are having to break your target/goal? Sounds to me like a way of giving myself an “out” by justifying it. I’ve been there. Best to set a hard limit and stick to it. Water water water

(Erin Macfarland ) #5

I am asking more out of curiosity than anything. I don’t have a “goal” as I am now a healthy weight after recovering from anorexia. I was very underweight for several years while on keto so I don’t hold myself to a strict approach and I am metabolically healthy. I eat what and however much I want on keto, but these kinds of questions are interesting to me. Sometimes I fast for 14 hours in a day, sometimes 22. I don’t limit my food intake. And I do drink lots of water. I agree that it depends partly on the person’s body body composition, activity level and insulin sensitivity. But I also wonder how various fasting regimes affect how the body utilizes food from energy.

(Rob) #6

I’m not sure it’s the window as much as the base level of insulin. I’m sure a smaller window is better but it might be pointless without insulin sensitivity.

Have a go and let us know.

#7

It’s all very interesting to me as well… Seems the body can sometimes behave in unexpected ways. I’m pretty sure the best way to know is self experimentation. Know your limits. Test yourself. Sounds like you are in the right headspace, being aware of your food choices and wanting to understand the impact of them is imo more than half the battle. Especially compared to the majority of the population who make food choices subconsciously and out of habit. Good luck, let us know if you discover anything!

(Liz ) #8

I mean, I do think the timing is key. I’m 20-30 pounds from goal & stalled for 2 1/2 months currently. While I haven’t eaten 1000 calories over, maybe I’ve gone 500, it doesn’t seem to matter how many calories I eat (beautiful Keto macros) in my short feeding window, I am not gaining weight, I’m not losing either. I assume this is my metabolism ramping up to use the extra incoming energy while my basal insulin level is still too high to release my body fat. But who knows?? Fasting regularly to try to drive insulin down. Trying to eat enough calories to keep metabolism up. Whee!

#9

It’s all random I think. I’ve ate a ton of (keto friendly) foods in one day and my weight was down a couple pounds the next day. There’s also been days where I ate far less and my weight was up by a pound or two the next day. I don’t get it.

(Erin Macfarland ) #10

Ha! Totally!

(Ken) #11

Very unlikely.

(Erin Macfarland ) #12

What do you mean @240lbfatloss? I was identifying with the randomness of body weight fluctuations, have you had that happen before?

(Ken) #13

Follow my reasoning.

You have to be glycogen recompensated to gain fat. Plus secrete insulin. Overeating lipolytically will not create either situation, the minor insulin secretion caused by protein intake won’t do it. Overeating fat will just cause excess calories being converted to ketones and excreted via urine. Overeating protein may result in limited gluconeogenesis, but if not chronic, the glucose produced will stay in the digestive system for immediate use, rather than be converted to glycogen. Under none of these situations do I see any significant potential to regain body fat. It’s also one of the aspects that makes maintenance so easy. It’s actually very difficult to regain fat when following a fat based pattern.