Questions of IF

(Jennifer Ashley) #1

I typically do IF from 8 the previous night until lunch time the next day just because it works with my schedule. I keep reading that you don’t eat enough calories by doing it this way and I’ve noticed that… I want to eat around 1700 calories a day because that is what my keto calculator suggests but I’ve been eating around 1000-1500.
I have also read that eating too much protein hinders keto and that if you eat all fat it will burn the fat you eat and not the fat you have stored.

  • I feel much better eating keto and maybe I am thinking too much into it but after a couple weeks of doing this and being bloated and gaining weight has me worried.

Any tips would help, I’m just trying to educate myself! :blush:

(Michael ) #2

IF often leads to calorie deficit because it can be difficult to eat enough in a small window, especially with a lot of leafy greens. It’s a lot easier for a beginner to start with an 8 hour window to have more time to eat more. Keto helps a lot because you can take in a ton of calories without filling your stomach. Coming up a little short, take a shot of mct oil…bam…200 calories.

I wouldn’t worry too much about too much protein. Science is still pretty murky, just make sure you get enough. 1 to 1.5 grams per kilo of body weight. Aim for higher than usual if you’re a gym rat

As far as fat you eat being burned first, true. The idea is that you’re keeping insulin down during 18 hours between eating so you’re always in fat burning mode. So, if you are eating 5000 cal of fat a day, you might not lose weight. Not eating enough though can lower metabolism. Eating more will raise metabolism. So being in fat burning mode will keep the fire burning all the time and even with ingestion of maintenance calories, you’re likely to lose weigjt during fast time. It’s a process you have to play with and figure out, but my opinion is that in absence of carbs and with IF, it’s difficult to store fat. Any weight i gain is in my biceps

(Jennifer Ashley) #3

Thank you! I just ordered some MCT oil so I will add that into my diet when I get that! And I do spend a lot of time in the gym, I’ve had to take it easy because I have been getting worn out faster

(Michael ) #4

Cool, you can do coconut oil and probably cheaper. I just like the convenience and concentration of mct in mct oil. It’s a more efficient delivery method for shutting down cravings

(Jennifer Ashley) #5

Yeah, I am always on the go. So carrying a jar of coconut oil and trying to melt it down for my coffee seems like a hassle. I’m going to look into more of the benefits now!

(Tim W) #6

Mike hit the nail on the head, the most important thing about IF (from what I understand) is the long window that you don’t eat, allowing insulin to drop, and allowing the body to access fat stores.

When insulin is high, the body focuses on storing energy as fat. Insulin spikes from the ingestion of food, almost ANY food. So, don’t fixate too much on protein, play with what makes you feel good, some consume as little as possible, some eat as much as possible and they adjust based on how they feel, too much protein makes me wake up at night, your results will vary!

You might have good results with IF no matter what macro ratio you are eating, I had lots of good results from a 20/4 protocol, working out fasting in the AM, eating only later in the day, and eating ANYTHING I wanted, that’s what worked for me though, you have to adapt to your unique situation.

How do you feel with your current caloric intake? If you feel sluggish/irritable/short tempered, it may be that you are not consuming enough calories. If you feel good and have energy to work out/live a full life, then screw the calculators and what random people on the nets say (including me!). The calorie calculators are ROUGH estimates, they simply can’t account for the MANY variables involved in how food is processed/meal size/your gut biology etc.

What matters if how you feel. Keep in mind that many of the physical processes may not manifest themselves rapidly. When you eat asparagus your urine stinks within hours, but, in my experience and opinion, we often react much slower to ingested calories/vitamins/supplements etc. What am I talking about? Ask those who have fasted if they’ve had a bowel movement 3-4 days into a fast, although they are not consuming solid foods, most of us have, that indicates to me, that many of our processes are slower than we think.

What all of that means is that you might consume something today (high protein) and not “feel” it for 24-48 hours so, if you feel good or bad, think back on the last 48 hours, what have you eaten, to find the answer, not JUST the most recent meal. Our bodies don’t work like the internet/social media, you don’t get an instant response to a meal, to a work out, to a supplement, no matter how badly we want it to. (Instant abs with this pill!)

That’s a bit of rambling there, sorry, bottom line, don’t get too fixated, it will raise stress and cortisol, keep track of what you are doing, pay attention to the response, adjust. KCKO!

Good luck!

(Jennifer Ashley) #7

Thank you for all of that! More information the better! I feel like I have become obsessed with this keto thing and I want to do it correctly because there were so many times I thought i was being healthy when I was doing small things that had big impacts. I had stomach issues with everything I ate so my trainer told me to try this, I started researching and saw people losing serious weight with it and not only that I saw that I was feeling better! Less irritable, no stomach problems and it was honestly easier than meal prepping and eating things I didn’t want to eat. I really appreciate your thoughts on not worrying about what other people say to do, I am just afraid of failure this time! :pensive:

#8

You got this! You are in the right place for support. :grinning:

(Tim W) #9

Glad to help in any little way. Just remember, there is no failure here, setbacks for sure but those come and go.