Intermittent Fasting - Have you done this? And for how long?

[Bob]

When I started strict carnivore, back in May when I broke my ankle, I practiced intermittent fasting with two means a day. This was about a 16/8 or 17/7 interval, eating at noon, and then again between 7 and 8pm. Some mornings I really longed for noon because I was hungry, lol. 

I finally pulled off my first 24 hour fast. It was 25 hours to be exact. The last time I ate was at 3pm yesterday, and I just ate again at 4pm today. I may have had a little help with a steak that I ate which probably should have been tossed in the trash Wednesday night. It started to affect me Thursday but Friday was worse. I didn't eat until 3pm and that was all I had. I didn't have any desire to eat the rest of the day.

I stopped intermittent fasting when I returned to work, but I think I might want to put it back into practice. Either that or keep pulling off 24 hour fasts once a week.

Have you or do you practice intermittent fasting?

[Lou]

Hi Bob,

I've only been on the carnivore diet for 5 or 6 weeks now, but I started intermittent fasting straight away.

Because I was primarily looking for wieght loss (not a lot, around 15 -20 lbs) I only have one meal a day at 5 - 6 pm and eat until I'm comfatably stuffed!

It worked for me as I lost 14lbs in the first 3-4 weeks and now I've plateaued out.

I intended to expand my options (and choice) by continuing with a keto diet when I reached my target weight but I feel so much better these days I've decided to continue with a fairly strict carnivore diet.

[Bob]

Nice. Now that I have finally done a 24 hour fast, I think it's going to be easier to do another one. I am probably going to aim for Friday dinner to Saturday dinner as I think that will work best for me. 

Last week's ordeal with the bad steak, stomachache, and unintentional fast broke my plateau, which I am pleased with. I plateau for weeks at a time, and then drop a few, then plateau again, then drop some more, etc. But while I have been on my plateau I still moved up another notch on my belt, which is pretty sweet  

15 hours ago, Lou said:

I intended to expand my options (and choice) by continuing with a keto diet when I reached my target weight but I feel so much better these days I've decided to continue with a fairly strict carnivore diet.

I feel the same way. Currently, I might "cheat" with a salad or side of vegetables every 2-3 weeks of I go out. When I reach my target weight, I will probably go ketovore and still be very meat-centric.

 

[Ravenfreak]

I never tried fasting before, but I also have a odd schedule so I don't think I could really pinpoint when I shouldn't eat and when I should. I work 10 hour shifts in a factory, so I need to eat to have the energy needed to get my job done. I've heard it has great results though!

[Bob]

On 10/5/2023 at 7:25 PM, Ravenfreak said:

I work 10 hour shifts in a factory, so I need to eat to have the energy needed to get my job done.

Yes, me too. This is completely understandable. I work in construction and whenever my coworker starts eating his lunch I can't help but get hungry too. I can skip breakfast but watching him eat, coupled with our hard work, will do me in, lol. 

On 10/5/2023 at 7:25 PM, Ravenfreak said:

I've heard it has great results though!

Yes it does. Starting at about the 18 hour mark, your body begins autophagy, that is, it starts breaking down it's own cells and tissues for energy. But the body is smart and it goes after damaged tissue, dead cells, fat cells, etc, and keeps your muscles and organs safe. The result is a cleansing/purifying effect. The concept may sound strange today, but this was regular practice in times past.

[Margie]

I haven’t started carnivore but I do intermittent fasting.     I do feel better when I’ve cut out sugars and flours.    In the past I was able to do a 3 1/2 day fast.  I worked 12 hours a day, so get off work go to bed and get up the next day to do it again.    But I had been on keto for a month already.   And being a 911 dispatcher we don’t get scheduled breaks we could eat when ever we want at our desk.  It wasn’t easy.
I do feel better, sleep better, less brain fog and definitely more energy when I don’t have the carbs
   

[ol_hilly]

If I may suggest only shooting for your long fasts on your days off. And you can sorta fool yourself by taking your electrolytes instead of a meal. Or a coffee or tea. Or even a glass of water.

I usually only eat once a day, unless I'm at work. Work thinks I need to eat or I'll starve to death.

[Bob]

Yeah, each time I have done it now has been from Friday dinner to Saturday dinner. Tea and electrolytes and even just water helps. I'm going to try and make this a routine in that same time slot every weekend for a while. 

[Heatman]

I tried a few weeks but seriously, it's not something that I can keep on for a long time. I love food, that's what made so very difficult for me to be successful with intermittent fasting. What I did for myself is to make sure that I eat healthy all the time. 

[Bob]

So for the last couple of weeks, I managed to do my first 24-hour fasts, both of them from Friday's dinner to Saturday's dinner. Well, this weekend I pulled off a 40 hour fast . I came home from work late on Friday and cooked a T-Bone on the grill and ate around 8pm. When it got to be 8pm on Saturday, I really didn't want to eat so late so I decided I would keep it going and if I could go to sleep my 24-hour fast would magically become a 36-hour fast come 8am. I finally made some breakfast at noon, for a total of 40 hours.

Funny that just a few weeks ago, the thought of fasting more than a 16/8 intermittent fasting interval sounded almost impossible to me. Now I am thinking of making this a weekly thing.

[ol_hilly]

Yay! I knew you could do it. When you do it where your 24 hour ends bout the time your sleep cycle starts, 36 is not a problem. then you get to spend at least 16 hours in Autophagy. 

I'm at about 24 hours and may or may not have a meal. OMAD is normal on my days off.

Am glad you conquered a new milestone!

Edited October 16, 2023 by ol_hilly

[Bob]

I should work on OMAD, or at least return to 2MAD. I was doing 2MAD when I was laid up with my broken ankle but returned to 3 meals a day when I went back to work. Maybe it would help with the triglyceride issue too.

[Geezy]

If you count OMAD as intermittent then yes I do. From what I understand OMAD fits the description.
I started doing OMAD when I decided it was silly of me to eat by the clock rather than just eat when I’m hungry. I usually only get hungry once a day.


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[Bob]

2 minutes ago, Geezy said:

If you count OMAD as intermittent then yes I do. From what I understand OMAD fits the description.

Yes, that definitely counts. Intermittent fasting is just a general term of switching between periods of eating and periods of fasting. The most common is daily intermittent fasting, often fasting for 16-18 hours and eating 2 meals within a 6-8 hour window. Another one is 5:2, meaning 5 days a week are normal, and 2 days a week are OMAD. 

Your daily OMAD would fit the description. I imagine if it goes longer, 48, 72, etc, then it's just *fasting*.

[Bob]

On 10/8/2023 at 6:58 PM, Margie said:

I haven’t started carnivore but I do intermittent fasting.     I do feel better when I’ve cut out sugars and flours.    In the past I was able to do a 3 1/2 day fast.  I worked 12 hours a day, so get off work go to bed and get up the next day to do it again.    But I had been on keto for a month already.   And being a 911 dispatcher we don’t get scheduled breaks we could eat when ever we want at our desk.  It wasn’t easy.
I do feel better, sleep better, less brain fog and definitely more energy when I don’t have the carbs

@Margie - when did you post this? I just got the notification today, but the date on your post says October 8th, 11 days ago. 

If you really posted this 11 days ago and I have missed it all this time, I think I might need to call 911 on myself, lol 

[Debashis]

I tried intermittent fasting about a couple of years back to lose some fat. I must say it really worked for me. It took about 1 year though to see make the results visible. It really helps when you want to cut some fat off your body and work on building muscles replacing them.

[Bob]

6 hours ago, Debashis said:

I tried intermittent fasting about a couple of years back to lose some fat. I must say it really worked for me. It took about 1 year though to see make the results visible. It really helps when you want to cut some fat off your body and work on building muscles replacing them.

Sounds like you're a lean fella. 

I was a big fat fella, and have lost 50 pounds in 7-8 months. It's very visible

Now I need to build some muscle.