General Diet Plans and Questions General diet questions, support for various diet plans other than those listed below.

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Old 03-24-2012, 11:02 AM   #16  
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Hi IFers!

I dabbled in IFing earlier this year, but got off track when life got stressful. I want to get back on the wagon!

I don't follow a standard IF schedule. It's just too hard for me because of various social commitments. Mostly, on days when Hubby is at work, I just fast from dinner the night before (usually eat late, like 11pm) until a late lunch the next day (1pm). So that's basically a 14 hour fast. If I don't have lunch plans that day, I may try to push my first meal back to 3pm or so, depending on how hungry I am. And I don't do this daily: when hubby is home, I eat with him, but I reduce portion sizes.

I don't exactly eat low-carb, but I do restrict grains (only eat rice) and sugar (virtually none). I don't find it affects my IFing. In face, a lot of paleo/primal types include IFing as part of their plan.
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Old 03-24-2012, 12:11 PM   #17  
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Thanks for the info, Italiannie! I may just give it a shot this week and see how it goes.
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Old 03-24-2012, 01:45 PM   #18  
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Hi all -- glad to have found the new thread

No loss this week *grumble grumble* (same number as last week) but I am 100% confident it's just water fluctuaction because I was on point all week. I still count calories to keep myself honest so I don't binge when I break my fast and I averaged about 1700 a day this week -- which for someone of my size still nets a loss. So, yeah, next week I'm looking for a ~~whoosh~~.

Saturdays are my day to indulge a bit so after a nice long morning walk with the family and 2 hours at the pool (we live down south where it's hot) I broke my fast at 16 hours instead of the usual 20 with some smoked almonds and a small sandwich. Ordering out for dinner and then fast-5 all week.

Someone asked about carbs, I know I tend to feel a lot better when I am mindful of carbs but I'm not strictly on "low-carb". I am also a volume eater, so I find that I feel much more satisfied being able to eat a TON of mashed cauliflower rather than one small measly portion of potations know what I mean? In that respect, lower carbs help me too.

Sorry I didn't address anyone personally this time but I'm reading everyone's posts
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Old 03-24-2012, 03:19 PM   #19  
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Lin43 -

1) Beneficial for what? The health benefits of IFing are not well established in humans so exactly what time frame is needed to experience said potential benefits is unknown. For restricting calories - you're skipping breakfast so in that sense yes it is beneficial.

2) Martin of Leangains says 50 calories or less is not breaking the fast but I don't believe he has any true scientific basis for this and instead it is based on his many years of experience with himself and clients. You're well under that so probably not a big deal. I have a splash of milk and splenda in my coffee ... I try to keep it under 25 calories.

3) The more intense the exercise the more important it is to replenish your body for a number of physiological reasons but this is also goal dependant. If you're doing light to moderate cardio I wouldn't worry about it. If you're doing intense lifting than I would suggest eating something within an hour of working out. Of course if you're only working out for health benefits and not for body recomp than why are you lifting so heavy or exercising so intensely? If you're doing intense exercise you might be better off with a couple 24 hour fasts a week and structuring those fasts on days you're not working out.

4) This is highly variable to you. As I'm sure you know calories dictate fat loss or gain. Carbs have different effects on different people based primarily on their insulin sensativity. Some feel energized by carbs while others feel lethargic. Some are not satisfied without carbs while in others carbs ignites the hunger monster inside. The dose makes a large difference as well. This is a long winded way of saying you'll have to experiment a bit with different amounts of carbs in your diet.
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Old 03-24-2012, 03:29 PM   #20  
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Here is a big reason I like IFing.

I was going to a club in San Francisco last night to see a couple cover bands (Depeche and Erasure) perform and I knew I would be drinking.

I fasted for 22 hours and then had a 4 egg shrimp and cheese omlette with fresh salsa and an apple. Aproximate calories was 550.

I'm a big guy but after a long fast it doesn't take much to feel tipsy so over the course of the evening I had 3 beers and was feeling quite nice. I like heavier beers so this was another 550 calories or so.

After there was a donut shop open late with the most heavenly smelling fresh cooked donuts so I had two one of which was probably double sized so another 850 calories or so.

My maintinence calories are around 2800. So I had a very enjoyable evening and still managed to lose a little fat in the process.

The flexibility of IFing is quite incredible as a means to control calories.
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Old 03-24-2012, 06:01 PM   #21  
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JohnP View Post
Lin43 - . . .
3) The more intense the exercise the more important it is to replenish your body for a number of physiological reasons but this is also goal dependant. If you're doing light to moderate cardio I wouldn't worry about it. If you're doing intense lifting than I would suggest eating something within an hour of working out. Of course if you're only working out for health benefits and not for body recomp than why are you lifting so heavy or exercising so intensely? If you're doing intense exercise you might be better off with a couple 24 hour fasts a week and structuring those fasts on days you're not working out.
Thank you for the info, John. You're one of my inspirations for thinking about this because, from your past posts, I believe you've beeing IFing for a while now, right? As for the exercise, I never lift heavy (mainly because I find straight-out ST boring), but twice a week or so I take a circuit-training type fitness class. The rest is cardio. I generally do two hours of day of something. About three times a week, that two hours is comprised of moderate walking on my treadmill (3mph, 4 elevation); I have a tread-desk & lots of computer work, so this two hours flies by. Once a week, I take an intense spin class; on that day, I just do the spin class (so just one hour).

I'm not sure if that's considered "intense" or not.


BTW, thanks for also sharing your night-out experience. I wish I had the willpower to fast for 22 hours! I honestly don't think I could do it, though. Also, ---and forgive me if this is an annoying, typical beginner question---but is there danger of somehow slowing down your metabolism with fasts that long? I ask because a couple of years ago when I was investigating fasting, I was looking at Fast-5, and someone asked the doctor who came up with it about slowing metabolism, and he admitted that it may slow down the metabolism slightly (based on testing on mice). (Btw, his take on this was "so what?"). It seems like you've done a lot of research on this (based on some posts I've read of yours in the past), so I'm wondering if you know anything about that.

Last edited by lin43; 03-24-2012 at 06:03 PM.
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Old 03-24-2012, 06:47 PM   #22  
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I think you would be surprised how easy it is to fast that long after you've been doing it for a while. The body can adapt to a lot of short term stresses. For years if I didn't eat by 10:00 AM I was ready to eat my arm off. Now I don't get hungry until around noon.

As for metabolism I suggest you check out this page.

10 fasting myths
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Old 03-24-2012, 09:43 PM   #23  
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Good evening IFers

John - You are an inspiration to me as well and I personally thank you for sharing with us. I especially thank you for sharing with us the benefits of IFing.

lin - I fast 16 hrs most days and have done 19 hrs. I drink one cup of coffee each morning with 1 T of fat free 1/2 and 1/2 which is 10 calories and I use Stevia. I used to use Splenda but I checked my blood sugar and found that the Splenda raises my fasting blood sugar and the Stevia does not. Therefore I am able to still check my FBS just before I break my fast and get an accurate reading which has been normal now for about a week.

I did gain a few lbs in the beginning when I first started IF, but the weight is coming off nicely now. However, I have cut back some on the carbs starting today and plan to try my hand at the Fast-5 this next week beginning tomorrow.
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Old 03-25-2012, 10:12 PM   #24  
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pattygirl63 View Post
I did gain a few lbs in the beginning when I first started IF, but the weight is coming off nicely now. However, I have cut back some on the carbs starting today and plan to try my hand at the Fast-5 this next week beginning tomorrow.
Thanks for the info. What about starting IF made you gain? Were you / Are you counting calories along w/ IF?

Last edited by lin43; 03-25-2012 at 10:13 PM.
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Old 03-26-2012, 11:59 AM   #25  
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Hello guys and gals. Hope that everyone had a great weekend!

I was busy with working on our house. I was so happy Saturday morning after my fast. I was down 2.5 lbs, then I gained .9 lbs. by Sunday morning. So I am hoping my fast today gets me back to the 2.5 lb loss. I would be very happy with that.

John - thanks for the link on the fasting myths. I found that very interesting.

Welcome lin43 and banananutmuffin.

Hope everyone has a great day!
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Old 03-26-2012, 12:24 PM   #26  
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I am on my 3rd day of IF. I love it! I used to eat this way when I was younger and after my 2nd child everyone told me I was anorexic and that I was not eating healthy. I must eat breakfast etc. That's when I really started to have an eating disorder. I was skinny all my life and ate the way I wanted to and now I am 50 lbs overweight and can't stop eating. I found out about IF and I was like hey that's the way I ate when I never had a problem with weight! I know this works for me so I am going back and will never listen again to the nay sayers.

Today is my 3rd day. I am slowly moving my window to 4-9. I started at 12 pm. It has been a little hard when I get closer to the window of eating but other then that it has been awesome! I have also been eating tons of veggies. I know if I don't then I get constapated and I don't want that. It's funny when I ate all day I couldn't get enough veggies in. Now that I have been fasting I have gotten more in then ever and I don't crave chocolate and sweet stuff ALL day long. Really awesome!
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Old 03-26-2012, 12:59 PM   #27  
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Hello Everybody, thank you for all your support!

Welcome banananutmuffin, lin43 and Melzy!

So I had a great weekend, didnt worry too much about being strict with IF since I know my schedule can be all over the place, esp. cause we went out of town..but I ended up doing a 17hr fast and a 20hr fast and it was easy..love it!!

Today for my official weigh in, my scale said 142 (2lb down from last week)!!!
I am so excited!!

I hope everyone elses weight loss is going great
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Old 03-26-2012, 01:06 PM   #28  
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Esmi - Awesome job on the 2 lbs loss!!!

Welcome Melzy!
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Old 03-26-2012, 01:24 PM   #29  
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Esmi - Well done!

Melzy - Welcome!

wvuchick - Down 2.5 is great! Two steps forward, one step back is often the IF experience. You're heading in the right direction. Congratulations.

Have a great IF day, everyone!
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Old 03-26-2012, 01:42 PM   #30  
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Thank you for the welcomes and great job for both Esmi and wvuchick!
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