Why am I fasting? (IF, 20-4)

#1

Hello Ketoers!
I have been keto for 16 months now and 4 days ago I thought I’d give IF a try - although I’m not sure why I’m doing it!
Altogether I have lost 36lbs and I’m down to 97lbs in weight (I’m only 5.1” tall). My body fat is down from 24% to 15.7% and I exercise several times a week. I feel in really great shape so my goal is no longer to lose weight or body fat, I feel like I’ve reached my peak. I guess at this point I just want to see what I can do with my body, i.e building muscle and seeing if I can get a little abs.
However, from a health perspective – can anyone advise if it is a good or bad idea for me to IF? I’m on day 4 and I have only been eating between 2.30pm and 6.30pm (20-4).
Just to add, I am 30 year old female.

Many thanks in advance for any advice!

#2

Fasting reduces insulin and when it is chronically elevated it is associated with many negative health consequences, but it also raises Human Growth Hormone (HGH) which drops as we get older after peaking in the 20’s.

Fasting also allows the scavenging of “junk” laying around in our bodies called autophagy.

The only concern seems to be that people may end up restricting total calories too much as a result of fasting intervals, so the latest advice is to feast before and after a fast, which basically means don’t eat too little.

#3

Thank you very much for you advice @BillJay.

I listened to the metabolic rate podcast again last night to learn more about the fast/feast - looking forward to a feast tonight now!

(George Kay) #4

I am on the Amen Ra regiment. Which is 22-2 fast basically one meal a day calorie restricted 1300-1500 cal. No problem what so ever with that. Bare in mind my job requires a lot of walking around and that’s 12 h shifts and an average of 30k + steps a day ( that’s tracked with two different fitness trackers).
However, you do have to supplement with amino acids and multivitamin because you simply can’t get all the necessary nutrition you need from such a small quantity of food. Apart from that no problems what so ever.

I went on this plan because my endurance went sky hi. I don’t get tired at all and before my job was killing me.

Hope that helps

(G. Andrew Duthie) #5

FWIW, fasting is not a requirement of keto. It’s something you can use as an adjunct, whether to break through a plateau, or just to change things up.

It can be tempting, given that lots of folks talk about fasting, to assume you need to do it, but if you’re able to meet your goals with keto alone, you shouldn’t feel obligated.

If you don’t have a goal in mind for fasting, it might be better to wait. Not that it’s a bad thing to fast, but probably easier once you know why you’re doing it.

(Ernest) #6

My IF is totally unplanned. I’m just not hungry.
When I eat…I EAT BIG!
It’s best to experiment than rely on someone’s experiment. We are all different.