Author Topic: Intermittent Fasting For Fun and Badassity  (Read 45775 times)

Erica/NWEdible

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Intermittent Fasting For Fun and Badassity
« on: June 30, 2015, 12:36:39 PM »
There was a recent side conversation in The Goblinchief's journal about intermittent fasting.

Turns out a few of us either practice IF, or are curious about the hows and whys of intermittent fasting. I'm starting this thread so interesting people can post their IF goals, throw down a new IF challenge, or share resources and health data related to short and medium term fasting.

Not Sure About Intermittent Fasting?

The basic concept is that various health and fitness markers improve after a short time (16-48 hours) without food, and that eating in a way that allows for periodic times without food can help with blood glucose control, cellular repair, lifespan extension, weight management and a bunch of other things depending on whose research and interpretation you believe.

The most common style of IF is probably an “eating window” of 1 to 8 hours per 24 hour window. What this looks like practically is something like this (this is a 4 hour “eating window” and a 20 hour “fasting window”.)



More Resources


My Personal Goals

I’ve been IF’ing on and off for about 8 years. I just like taking “breaks” from things in general - we routinely do things like No Spend, No Eating Out, No Booze, etc. type challenges just to reset hedonic adaptation and keep us appropriately grateful for the volcano of good fortune that is our life.

When it comes to IF, I find that, after a period of adaptation, a 4-6 hour eating window works very well for me. My longest ever fast was 36 hours, but I’d like to work up to 48 - 72 hours at least once simply as an exercise in willpower. So I’m hoping this thread will help me both stay more consistent about regular intermittent fasting within a 24-hour window, and also give me the kick in the ass needed to extend my longest fasting time.

I'm carrying about 15 extra pounds right now, too. So, while IF doesn't necessarily mean weight loss, I'm not gonna complain if it helps me drop that weight and get back to a more comfortable weight for me.

I’d love to hear from other IF’ers on the forum!

TL;DR
If you skip meals for fun, fitness, profit, health, badassity, faith or whatever - please join in!

2Birds1Stone

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Re: Intermittent Fasting For Fun and Badassity
« Reply #1 on: June 30, 2015, 12:42:46 PM »
I'll join starting tomorrow.


CowboyAndIndian

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Re: Intermittent Fasting For Fun and Badassity
« Reply #2 on: June 30, 2015, 01:05:44 PM »
Don't know if this is true IF...

I eat dinner at 6pm and do not eat till noon next day, when it is just a salad.

I do this three days a week.

mm1970

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Re: Intermittent Fasting For Fun and Badassity
« Reply #3 on: June 30, 2015, 01:29:24 PM »
I've read a lot about this, but have found that I don't respond well to it, the few times I've tried it.

I also read recently that IF often has negative impacts on women's health, mostly related to hormones.

Thegoblinchief

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Re: Intermittent Fasting For Fun and Badassity
« Reply #4 on: June 30, 2015, 02:03:53 PM »
As Erica noted in the links, I just started experimenting with it, based on older threads I don't feel like trying to dig up, but I know at least one was an older section of CheddarStacker's journal.

I'll be curious to follow the thread and see what evidence pro/con people find, and of course people's individual reactions.

Bob W

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Re: Intermittent Fasting For Fun and Badassity
« Reply #5 on: June 30, 2015, 02:55:33 PM »
I gained weight skipping breakfast.   New data would suggest a big breakfast as your main meal and stop eating at 3 or 5.

4alpacas

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Re: Intermittent Fasting For Fun and Badassity
« Reply #6 on: June 30, 2015, 03:05:39 PM »
I'm interested in how women handle IF.  I failed hard.  I couldn't complete my workouts, and I was shaky the whole time.  IF appeals to me, but I don't think it's a great fit. 

I gained weight skipping breakfast.   New data would suggest a big breakfast as your main meal and stop eating at 3 or 5.
Eh.  Depends on the person.  A big breakfast or a breakfast with a ton of carbs kills my diet for the rest of the day.  I'm hungry and grouchy for the entire day.  I like to start my day with a small protein snack after working out (usually two hard-boiled egg whites).  An hour or so later, I eat a protein rich breakfast with a piece of fruit. 

Dinner is usually my main meal unless I have an evening workout.  I don't get hungry until a few hours after working out, and I'm usually in bed/asleep.

Erica/NWEdible

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Re: Intermittent Fasting For Fun and Badassity
« Reply #7 on: June 30, 2015, 03:19:40 PM »
I'll join starting tomorrow.
Right on. Can't wait to hear how it goes for you.

Don't know if this is true IF...
I eat dinner at 6pm and do not eat till noon next day, when it is just a salad.
I do this three days a week.
That's 18 hours - definitely within the bounds of what most would consider IF, for sure. The only time I've raised an eyebrow is when people talk about "10 hour overnight intermittent fasts," which is just sleeping in as far as I'm concerned. The general thought IIRC is that anything over 14-16 hours confers some of the benefits of fasting.

I've read a lot about this, but have found that I don't respond well to it, the few times I've tried it.
I also read recently that IF often has negative impacts on women's health, mostly related to hormones.
I think this is one of those things where "n=1". I feel better with at least periodic "resets," don't really get hungry, maintain energy, etc. and haven't personally had issues of hormonal dysregulation. But I have friends who start to feel ill from hypoglycemia if breakfast is an hour late, so I'm sure IF would be like torture to them. Like everything on the fringes of dietary acceptance, this is definitely a YMMV technique. I think the best thing I read about IF in general is that it's not supposed to hurt or make you feel like crap. If it does (beyond a reasonable adaptation period) it's probably best to eat on a more conventional schedule.

As Erica noted in the links, I just started experimenting with it, based on older threads I don't feel like trying to dig up, but I know at least one was an older section of CheddarStacker's journal.
I'll be curious to follow the thread and see what evidence pro/con people find, and of course people's individual reactions.
Curious to hear your experiences too! Thanks for inspiring the thread!

I gained weight skipping breakfast.   New data would suggest a big breakfast as your main meal and stop eating at 3 or 5.
I haven't seen anything compelling that suggests that the timeframe of fasting makes much of a difference. In other words, a 16 hour fast that starts in the afternoon and is broken with an AM breakfast should be the same as a 16 hour fast that starts after an evening dinner and runs through to the next afternoon. For me personally, it's just far more comfortable to make a big dinner the main meal. If you've seen info that suggests the timing of a fast does impact overall results, etc. I'd love to read it!

I'm interested in how women handle IF.  I failed hard.  I couldn't complete my workouts, and I was shaky the whole time.  IF appeals to me, but I don't think it's a great fit. 
I'm interested to see if this is a common theme among the ladies who've tried IF. Out of curiousity, were you calorie restricting along with IF, or eating at maintenance calories while just shuffling around the eating window? I have a theory that it's just harder for woman (physiologically or culturally, I don't know) to pound down maintenance calories in a shortened timeframe.
« Last Edit: June 30, 2015, 03:47:26 PM by Erica/NWEdible »

4alpacas

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Re: Intermittent Fasting For Fun and Badassity
« Reply #8 on: June 30, 2015, 03:45:46 PM »
I'm interested in how women handle IF.  I failed hard.  I couldn't complete my workouts, and I was shaky the whole time.  IF appeals to me, but I don't think it's a great fit. 
I'm interested to see if this is a common theme among the ladies who've tried IF. Out of curiousity, were you calorie restricting along with IF, or eating at maintenance calories while just shuffling around the eating window? I have a theory that it's just harder for woman (physiologically or culturally, I don't know) to pound down maintenance calories in a shortened timeframe.
I was trying to maintain my current calorie intake, but I probably didn't do a great job hitting the magic number.  I eat a lot of fruit and vegetables, and I drink a lot of liquids (tea and water).  It's hard to get a ton of calories in my system in a short period of time unless I default to eating sweets (I have NO limit to the amount of sugar I can eat). 

IF appeals to me because I would love to streamline my evening routine.  I spend a lot of time packing my breakfast, lunch and snacks.  I sit at a desk all day, so I feel like IF would be a good fit. 

I also had problems sleeping if I scheduled my eating window was too far away from bedtime. 

Erica/NWEdible

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Re: Intermittent Fasting For Fun and Badassity
« Reply #9 on: June 30, 2015, 04:00:42 PM »
I was trying to maintain my current calorie intake, but I probably didn't do a great job hitting the magic number.  I eat a lot of fruit and vegetables, and I drink a lot of liquids (tea and water).  It's hard to get a ton of calories in my system in a short period of time unless I default to eating sweets (I have NO limit to the amount of sugar I can eat). 

IF appeals to me because I would love to streamline my evening routine.  I spend a lot of time packing my breakfast, lunch and snacks.  I sit at a desk all day, so I feel like IF would be a good fit. 

I also had problems sleeping if I scheduled my eating window was too far away from bedtime.
That makes sense - it sounds like you're a grazer and do well with higher carb foods? I think that metabolism type in general, regardless of gender, finds IF really hard.

I tend to do better with heavier, fattier foods plus lots of veg and fruit but pretty limited sugar. If I graze a ton, I just end up eating like 5000 calories of cheese and liver pate and peanut butter and bread. No bueno. :) I do really like the convenience aspect of IF - I'm pretty much good with a cup of coffee until at least 1 or 2 pm when I'm adapted to it. But I'm not doing much HIIT or weight training right now either - lots of LISS which is easy while fasted. When my training was far more intense, I was always hungry for lunch IIRC.

Thegoblinchief

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Re: Intermittent Fasting For Fun and Badassity
« Reply #10 on: June 30, 2015, 04:13:09 PM »
4alpacas  - Another potential resource to look into is "The Warrior Diet". Jacob at ERE was on it for a while, maybe still is? He seemed to think it was an ideal system for a physically fit but desk jockeying type of person.

IIRC he writes about it at some length in the book, but here's a blog post about it:

http://earlyretirementextreme.com/how-we-eat.html

4alpacas

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Re: Intermittent Fasting For Fun and Badassity
« Reply #11 on: June 30, 2015, 04:24:28 PM »
I was trying to maintain my current calorie intake, but I probably didn't do a great job hitting the magic number.  I eat a lot of fruit and vegetables, and I drink a lot of liquids (tea and water).  It's hard to get a ton of calories in my system in a short period of time unless I default to eating sweets (I have NO limit to the amount of sugar I can eat). 

IF appeals to me because I would love to streamline my evening routine.  I spend a lot of time packing my breakfast, lunch and snacks.  I sit at a desk all day, so I feel like IF would be a good fit. 

I also had problems sleeping if I scheduled my eating window was too far away from bedtime.
That makes sense - it sounds like you're a grazer and do well with higher carb foods? I think that metabolism type in general, regardless of gender, finds IF really hard.
I do love to snack! However, I'm a stress eater.  I don't do well snacking on processed carbs, and I eat a lot of sweets when I'm stressed.  My weight is up, so I'm trying to find a happy medium. 

I tend to do better with heavier, fattier foods plus lots of veg and fruit but pretty limited sugar. If I graze a ton, I just end up eating like 5000 calories of cheese and liver pate and peanut butter and bread. No bueno. :)
I'm satiated quickly with fats, specifically cheese.  But I could eat a loaf of good bread or several candy bars.

I do really like the convenience aspect of IF - I'm pretty much good with a cup of coffee until at least 1 or 2 pm when I'm adapted to it. But I'm not doing much HIIT or weight training right now either - lots of LISS which is easy while fasted. When my training was far more intense, I was always hungry for lunch IIRC.
My workouts aren't intense.  I'm not training for anything.  I'm not doing HIIT or heavy lifting. 

4alpacas  - Another potential resource to look into is "The Warrior Diet". Jacob at ERE was on it for a while, maybe still is? He seemed to think it was an ideal system for a physically fit but desk jockeying type of person.

IIRC he writes about it at some length in the book, but here's a blog post about it:

http://earlyretirementextreme.com/how-we-eat.html
Thanks!  I'll look into it.

kpd905

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Re: Intermittent Fasting For Fun and Badassity
« Reply #12 on: June 30, 2015, 07:28:30 PM »
I might look into doing this and eating from 12-8 everyday.  But I don't want to lose weight.  Kind of hard to find articles talking about a lot of the health benefits other than weight loss. 

Erica/NWEdible

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Re: Intermittent Fasting For Fun and Badassity
« Reply #13 on: June 30, 2015, 07:45:57 PM »
I might look into doing this and eating from 12-8 everyday.  But I don't want to lose weight.  Kind of hard to find articles talking about a lot of the health benefits other than weight loss.
Yeah, the pop science crowd focuses on weight loss, but I actually get more excited about increased autophagy (basically the body cleaning up it's own internal messes) and glucose control. If you want to geek out, here's a search result for intermittent fasting and autophagy and here's search results for intermittent fasting and glucose control, both on google scholar.

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Re: Intermittent Fasting For Fun and Badassity
« Reply #14 on: June 30, 2015, 09:04:04 PM »
Checking in.

I've been IFing since January. I drink water & black coffee till lunch, which usually microwaved veg or fruit. I eat a largeish dinner. Combined with ADF (500cals/day Monday, Wed, Fri and 1200-1800 cals the other days of the week), I lost 15lbs in 3 months. However, an overseas work trip combined with stress eating threw me off completely. I'm working to get back to where I was diet-wise and fitness-wise

Regarding the effects on women and exercising.. I think I hit a wall at my lowest weight (113lbs, at 5'3"), and stopped exercising. This time around I'm going to make sure I keep up my exercise, even if it means being less strict diet-wise.

Right now I'm working on correcting my snacking habit. Incorporating lots of vegetables is helping. I'm also doing more LISS - heart rate training, and would like to work in weights once I have that down.

MEJG

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Re: Intermittent Fasting For Fun and Badassity
« Reply #15 on: July 01, 2015, 06:15:28 AM »
I love IF and need to get back to it.

If you're a bit of a nerd and enjoy lectures the video series by Dr. Jason Fung is great https://intensivedietarymanagement.com/category/lectures/the-aetiology-of-obesity-lecture-series/. Actually most of his whole website is awesome.

My husband loses weight pretty effortlessly with ADF style IF.  He's pretty cranky for about 3 days and needs to keep his water intake up but then he levels out and sees no major side effects other than dropping weight.

In spring 2013 I used ADF with 36 hour fasts, sometimes with just water and black coffee, sometimes with a 300 calorie meal at night, and fasting at least 3 days a week to lose about 20 pounds.  I felt great and it seemed to be the perfect lifestyle for me.  I slipped off the band wagon, gained some of it back and last year went back to it.  This time I tried 48-72 hour fasts on occasion.  I found that with 72 hour fasts at the 36 hour mark I was no longer hungry at all but at about 60 hours I started really feeling ravenous and sometimes got diarrhoea at the very end of the fast.  I also had some wonky period lengths (long and short) when I did more than one 72 hour fast in a month's time.  So while it felt good- probably not great for my hormones.

I would love if I could fast for 4-5 days once a month and gain all the ADF/IF benefits, but my body says it isn't good for me.

We stopped IF this year after adopting a little girl, she has some food issues and eating meals together and modelling appropriate eating has been really important.   And I've gained a BUNCH of weight.  I'm certain this has been from 3 meals, 3 snacks for the kids, increasing simple carbs and focusing on weight gain for her.  I haven't been trying to eat more, but I have.

I'll get back to ADF once we're home from vacation the second week in July.  I think at this point we can pretty safely get back to ADF with a light 300c meal in the evening while the kids eat more at dinner.  I will have to monitor our little girl to make sure she doesn't start cutting back too- but I think she'll be ok now. 

Might through in some 48 hour fasts, since I didn't see any issues with my hunger levels or hormones with that length.

Great gauntlet!  thanks!


CowboyAndIndian

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Re: Intermittent Fasting For Fun and Badassity
« Reply #16 on: July 01, 2015, 06:43:08 AM »
... I drink water & black coffee till lunch, ...

Oops, I drink my coffee with milk.

Will that negate the effect of IF?
« Last Edit: July 01, 2015, 07:57:37 AM by CowboyAndIndian »

Erica/NWEdible

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Re: Intermittent Fasting For Fun and Badassity
« Reply #17 on: July 01, 2015, 07:41:27 AM »
Oops, I drink my coffee with milk.

That that negate the effect of IF?
It depends on how much milk, probably. Something like a latte or mocha where the coffee drink is mostly milk definitely counts as fed. Some IF advocates believe that something up to 50 calories doesn't really "register" with the body and so is ok. I think if that's true, the composition of those 50 calories is probably key - 50 calories of fat (5.5 grams fat) has almost no impact on insulin, for example, while 50 calories of sugar (12.5 gms of sugar) might trigger enough of an insulin release in sensitive people that the body interprets that spike as "fed".

One of the benefits of IF is stretching out the time period between insulin spikes. Keeping insulin low tends to suppress hunger and make fasting easier for folks.  If a splash of milk in your AM coffee doesn't trigger the feeling that you are quite hungry within an hour or two, it's probably fine. If you consistently find that you are dealing with a lot of hunger after your coffee, you might want to cut back on how much milk you add, look at going with black coffee or (and this is really going against traditional dietary advice) switch to heavy cream or even something like bulletproof coffee.

I love IF and need to get back to it.

If you're a bit of a nerd and enjoy lectures the video series by Dr. Jason Fung is great https://intensivedietarymanagement.com/category/lectures/the-aetiology-of-obesity-lecture-series/. Actually most of his whole website is awesome.
Thanks for the suggestion. I definitely self-identify as nerd, I'll take a look!

I found that with 72 hour fasts at the 36 hour mark I was no longer hungry at all but at about 60 hours I started really feeling ravenous and sometimes got diarrhoea at the very end of the fast.  I also had some wonky period lengths (long and short) when I did more than one 72 hour fast in a month's time.  So while it felt good- probably not great for my hormones. I would love if I could fast for 4-5 days once a month and gain all the ADF/IF benefits, but my body says it isn't good for me.

That's very interesting to hear your experiences with the more intermediate-term fasting. To me a 4 or 5 day fast is definitely getting into the "long term" fasting stage. It's not as extreme as a 20 day water fast, but there's something about approaching a week without food that seems like it might be counter-productive to health. This is just a gut feeling - I would have to go dig through pubmed to see if it has any basis in real science.

We stopped IF this year after adopting a little girl, she has some food issues and eating meals together and modelling appropriate eating has been really important.   And I've gained a BUNCH of weight.  I'm certain this has been from 3 meals, 3 snacks for the kids, increasing simple carbs and focusing on weight gain for her.  I haven't been trying to eat more, but I have..[snip]..Great gauntlet!  thanks!

Congrats on your adoption! I understand prioritizing your kids dietary needs and gaining weight because of it. I remember when my son was young he basically fell off the weight charts, going from 50%ile to sub 10%ile over about 6 months when he learned to to walk. We had a constant diet of fettuccine alfredo and chocolate ice cream to try to put a few pounds back on him, and that combined with the sleep deprivation packed the pounds on me. In any event, I commend you for being sensitive to the needs of your daughter, both physically and psychologically. Truthfully, that's more important than a few extra pounds.

Thank you for joining in! Good luck!

Bob W

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Re: Intermittent Fasting For Fun and Badassity
« Reply #18 on: July 01, 2015, 09:13:00 AM »
For carboholics new data suggests that putting bread at end of meal instead of beginning results in 30% lower blood sugar spike.

dcheesi

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Re: Intermittent Fasting For Fun and Badassity
« Reply #19 on: July 01, 2015, 09:34:53 AM »
Just be careful not to gorge yourself all at once, as some research suggests that excessive eating (gorging) after fasting can negate the benefits of said fasting (example: http://www.jnutbio.com/article/S0955-2863%2815%2900055-8/abstract ).

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Re: Intermittent Fasting For Fun and Badassity
« Reply #20 on: July 01, 2015, 09:35:36 AM »
For carboholics new data suggests that putting bread at end of meal instead of beginning results in 30% lower blood sugar spike.
Do you have a link to the paper? 

MEJG,  I can't imagine a multiday fast.  I've done so poorly with 20 hours that I can't imagine multiple days.  How do you find the energy to workout?

MEJG

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Re: Intermittent Fasting For Fun and Badassity
« Reply #21 on: July 01, 2015, 10:51:46 AM »

MEJG,  I can't imagine a multiday fast.  I've done so poorly with 20 hours that I can't imagine multiple days.  How do you find the energy to workout?

I didn't start with multi day :) I started after being really comfortable with 24 hour fasts.  I feel GOOD fasting, once I'm into a rhythm, which helps a lot.  Fasting does help regulate your blood sugar when done appropriately so I would say that the longer you are on an IF type lifestyle the more able you'd be able to handle longer time frames.  BUT I've not read any real research on that.  Desugaring certainly helped my fasting.

The second thing is that I've not been great at working out :)  If I were exercising regularly- something else I need to start doing - I would probably be leaning towards fasting on NON work out days and/or endurance cardio days and NOT fasting on lifting days.  There is some interesting work on low heart rate training for running working at moving your body into burning fat for fuel more effectively that uses HR monitoring, and working out fasted.  But that is way outside my realm of physical activity and real knowledge at this point in time.

Yep- gotta get back to this, and start exercising.  Found out last week that I have a breast cancer gene so I've gotta do what I can lifestyle wise to reduce my risk.

Erica/NWEdible

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Re: Intermittent Fasting For Fun and Badassity
« Reply #22 on: July 01, 2015, 11:04:52 AM »
Found out last week that I have a breast cancer gene so I've gotta do what I can lifestyle wise to reduce my risk.
Wow. That's sobering, isn't it? Good for you being proactive.

For carboholics new data suggests that putting bread at end of meal instead of beginning results in 30% lower blood sugar spike.
Makes complete sense logically. IIRC, white bread especially is basically the same as white sugar once in your body. I think they spike blood sugar basically identically. But if you were to eat bread at the end of the meal, when you've already had slower-digesting foods like protein, fiber and fat, you'd "dilute" that blood sugar response.

Just be careful not to gorge yourself all at once, as some research suggests that excessive eating (gorging) after fasting can negate the benefits of said fasting (example: http://www.jnutbio.com/article/S0955-2863%2815%2900055-8/abstract ).
That makes sense, too. Thanks for the link!

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Re: Intermittent Fasting For Fun and Badassity
« Reply #23 on: July 01, 2015, 11:50:58 AM »
I've been doing IF, 10-hr feeding window from 9am to 7pm, almost everyday for the last 9-10 months (except when I was on vacation/cruise this May).  I tried an 8-hr feeding window (11am to 7pm) and can't make it; I was too hungry by 11am and ended eating more. 

I did lose weight (22%) and currently on maintenance level with BMI of 20.  I can't attribute the weight loss to just IF though since I also totally revamped my diet to more fruit and vegetable (previously high on meat, fat and sugar).

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Re: Intermittent Fasting For Fun and Badassity
« Reply #24 on: July 01, 2015, 12:13:31 PM »
...10-hr feeding window from 9am to 7pm, ...

How is 7pm to 9am a "fast". That just looks like a normal day to me - breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And that's perfectly ok, I'm not criticizing that schedule, but I don't understand how it's a fast.

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Re: Intermittent Fasting For Fun and Badassity
« Reply #25 on: July 01, 2015, 12:28:53 PM »
I'm interested in how women handle IF.  I failed hard.  I couldn't complete my workouts, and I was shaky the whole time.  IF appeals to me, but I don't think it's a great fit. 

Here's an article about IF and women that you might find interesting.  A few other sites (Mark's Daily Apple, Bulletproof Exec) reference it as well.

http://paleoforwomen.com/shattering-the-myth-of-fasting-for-women-a-review-of-female-specific-responses-to-fasting-in-the-literature/


4alpacas

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Re: Intermittent Fasting For Fun and Badassity
« Reply #26 on: July 01, 2015, 12:52:33 PM »
I'm interested in how women handle IF.  I failed hard.  I couldn't complete my workouts, and I was shaky the whole time.  IF appeals to me, but I don't think it's a great fit. 

Here's an article about IF and women that you might find interesting.  A few other sites (Mark's Daily Apple, Bulletproof Exec) reference it as well.

http://paleoforwomen.com/shattering-the-myth-of-fasting-for-women-a-review-of-female-specific-responses-to-fasting-in-the-literature/
Thanks.  That's a good post about the issues with the research on fasting.

Erica/NWEdible

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Re: Intermittent Fasting For Fun and Badassity
« Reply #27 on: July 01, 2015, 01:24:53 PM »
Does anyone have any suggestions for how to approach preparing food for others or being around lots of food while fasting? When I'm IF'ing and just writing or doing desk stuff I'm rarely compelled to get up and find food, but if it's there I find it ending up in my mouth.

Today is a good example. I spent most of the morning in my garden, and without really thinking about it ate a big handful of snap peas as I was pulling the spent pea vines, and another handful of blackberries as I was walking by because they were there and ripe. I ate two sauteed duck livers earlier in the day for the same reason. They were there and totally fresh and perfect. Typically when I'm in the garden I graze. A tomato here, a carrot there, a handful of raspberries later....that kind of stuff. This is all very healthy food so I'm not worried about what I'm eating or whatever, I just bring this up as a challenge I face in maintaining a fast.

Relatedly, I find it challenging being the primary cook of the family and needing to feed my kids 3 times a day (although really it seems like 30 times a day sometimes). All that interaction with food just increases the possibility that I'll mindlessly shove a hunk of cheese or some fruit or whatever in my mouth.

step_away

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Re: Intermittent Fasting For Fun and Badassity
« Reply #28 on: July 01, 2015, 03:47:52 PM »
How is 7pm to 9am a "fast". That just looks like a normal day to me - breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And that's perfectly ok, I'm not criticizing that schedule, but I don't understand how it's a fast.

As Erica indicated 14-16 hours fast confers some benefits of fasting.  There are different type of IFs.  I'm following the Leangain method - Fast for 14 (women) to 16 (men) hours each day - which supposed to be better for women than the alternate day fasting.  In any case, the 10-hr feeding period is shorter than what I'm used to (6:30am breakfast ending with 8pm dinner).   

http://dailyburn.com/life/health/intermittent-fasting-methods/
« Last Edit: July 01, 2015, 04:15:32 PM by step_away »

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Re: Intermittent Fasting For Fun and Badassity
« Reply #29 on: July 01, 2015, 08:43:49 PM »
I'm in.

I've been doing this loosely since January. First meal after midday (or 1pm depending on lunch break), then no food after 8pm.
I try to eat dinner shortly after finishing work, so can usually be done by 7pm, so depending on the day it is a 16-18hr fast each day.
I found it really easy to switch to this diet, and unless I am bored, I don't get hungry till late afternoon.

Holidays, and social occasions is what ruins me, as I don't want to be 'that guy' who won't eat.

I'll be keen to follow this thread, and hopefully derive some motivation to stick to the script more often.

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Re: Intermittent Fasting For Fun and Badassity
« Reply #30 on: July 02, 2015, 02:56:53 PM »
First meal after midday (or 1pm depending on lunch break), then no food after 8pm.
I try to eat dinner shortly after finishing work, so can usually be done by 7pm, so depending on the day it is a 16-18hr fast each day.

Holidays, and social occasions is what ruins me, as I don't want to be 'that guy' who won't eat.
I'm the same - both in terms of the comfort of a ~6 hr fast and in terms of not wanting to be "that gal." So many social interactions rotate around food. Many IF advocates like a "flexible fasting approach" and I think, long term, this is the the easiest way to go. Stretch out fasting periods as your day allows, down to even periodic full day fasts if you are comfortable, but don't worry if you end up eating 3-squares on a vacation or something.

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Re: Intermittent Fasting For Fun and Badassity
« Reply #31 on: July 02, 2015, 03:58:28 PM »
I used fasting to a degree in my journey to better fitness...but in real terms it took a backseat to plain ol' cardio and strength training. I was trying to gain muscle mass (while simultaneously losing body fat) along the way so I was worried about depriving my muscles TOO MUCH with excessive fasting. But I skipped a lot of breakfasts and lunches along the way...but NEVER dinner. I cannot go to bed with hunger pangs and expect to sleep a wink...

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Re: Intermittent Fasting For Fun and Badassity
« Reply #32 on: July 02, 2015, 10:35:55 PM »
I'm interested in how women handle IF.  I failed hard.  I couldn't complete my workouts, and I was shaky the whole time.  IF appeals to me, but I don't think it's a great fit. 

I gained weight skipping breakfast.   New data would suggest a big breakfast as your main meal and stop eating at 3 or 5.
Eh.  Depends on the person.  A big breakfast or a breakfast with a ton of carbs kills my diet for the rest of the day.  I'm hungry and grouchy for the entire day.  I like to start my day with a small protein snack after working out (usually two hard-boiled egg whites).  An hour or so later, I eat a protein rich breakfast with a piece of fruit. 

Dinner is usually my main meal unless I have an evening workout.  I don't get hungry until a few hours after working out, and I'm usually in bed/asleep.

The leading propogator of IF trains chicks like men.


Martin found, in his research, that women can handle 14 hours fasting, as opposed to men handling 18 hours.

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Re: Intermittent Fasting For Fun and Badassity
« Reply #33 on: July 03, 2015, 10:01:33 AM »
I used fasting to a degree in my journey to better fitness...but in real terms it took a backseat to plain ol' cardio and strength training. I was trying to gain muscle mass (while simultaneously losing body fat) along the way so I was worried about depriving my muscles TOO MUCH with excessive fasting. But I skipped a lot of breakfasts and lunches along the way...but NEVER dinner. I cannot go to bed with hunger pangs and expect to sleep a wink...
Right. More pics, so we can assess the role of intermittent fasting on muscle development. You know, for science. ;)

But seriously, I agree that the easiest time to fast is morning-afternoon. You're already coming off that nice overnight fast so your hunger is damped down already and psychologically I just think it's nice to have a proper, satisfying dinner.

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Re: Intermittent Fasting For Fun and Badassity
« Reply #34 on: July 03, 2015, 10:13:29 AM »
I'm interested in how women handle IF.  I failed hard.  I couldn't complete my workouts, and I was shaky the whole time.  IF appeals to me, but I don't think it's a great fit. 
I'm interested to see if this is a common theme among the ladies who've tried IF. Out of curiousity, were you calorie restricting along with IF, or eating at maintenance calories while just shuffling around the eating window? I have a theory that it's just harder for woman (physiologically or culturally, I don't know) to pound down maintenance calories in a shortened timeframe.
[/quote]

Lady here. I couldn't do IF without the shakey-shakes until after my first month of paleo/primal. Other factors could certainly have been at play here- it coincided with improved sleep, overall focus on my health and paying better attention to my body, pushing myself through discomfort more, etc. I don't plan it but usually if I don't feel like packing a lunch then I also skip brekkie and have an IF day. Anything with a good load of fat will do around dinner time then. I do feel like I need to eat more fat than DH too, or I will be much hungrier. Also probably worth mentioning that I am not very clinical or strict about the whole thing.

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Re: Intermittent Fasting For Fun and Badassity
« Reply #35 on: July 03, 2015, 10:31:58 AM »

Right. More pics, so we can assess the role of intermittent fasting on muscle development. You know, for science.

Naughty, naughty. ;)

Sadly (for you at least), more half naked pics of yours truly are not likely to make an appearance around here anytime soon.

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Re: Intermittent Fasting For Fun and Badassity
« Reply #36 on: July 03, 2015, 11:30:10 AM »
Right. More pics, so we can assess the role of intermittent fasting on muscle development. You know, for science.

Naughty, naughty. ;)

Sadly (for you at least), more half naked pics of yours truly are not likely to make an appearance around here anytime soon.

It's as if you HATE science with the intensity of a thousand blazing suns.


Lady here. I couldn't do IF without the shakey-shakes until after my first month of paleo/primal. Other factors could certainly have been at play here- it coincided with improved sleep, overall focus on my health and paying better attention to my body, pushing myself through discomfort more, etc. I don't plan it but usually if I don't feel like packing a lunch then I also skip brekkie and have an IF day. Anything with a good load of fat will do around dinner time then. I do feel like I need to eat more fat than DH too, or I will be much hungrier. Also probably worth mentioning that I am not very clinical or strict about the whole thing.
I'd agree with this. Though I don't consider myself primal or whatever, if I'm jumping back into IF after a stretch of more traditional style eating I dial back carb consumption and dial up fat. That seems to really help with longer-term satiation. But I'm one of those people that could nibble their way through an entire cake over the course of a day without ever noticing how many calories I'd eaten, so for me sugary things are just not satiating. I know other people where a small slice of cake in no way makes them want to eat more cake. My guess is that individual variations in glucose control/insulin sensitivity/etc. kind of determine what macros and meal frequency work best for people. N always = 1, in other words.

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Re: Intermittent Fasting For Fun and Badassity
« Reply #37 on: July 03, 2015, 08:46:35 PM »

If you're a bit of a nerd and enjoy lectures the video series by Dr. Jason Fung is great https://intensivedietarymanagement.com/category/lectures/the-aetiology-of-obesity-lecture-series/. Actually most of his whole website is awesome.


Thanks for this information.   I just finished binging through the videos & blog over the last 2 days.  Fascinating how Dr. Fung pulls together so much nutritional information. I must be living under a rock, because I had not heard of IF until I stumbled onto this topic.  The topic  caught my eye because I have been working on losing weight/improving fitness the last few months and appear to have stumbled close to IF without realizing it: I have been just skipping dinner on any night all my kids were engaged in some activity and so dinner plan was grab some left-overs before you head out.  Have probably been close to a     

I am now really excited about trying to more formally change my diet to the low-carb/high fat that Dr. Fung recommends, and trying some longer fasting.  At this point,  I would like to loose about 10lb, and I know that the calorie-reduction approach I have been using would plateau quickly anyway because I don't have much to loose.   

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Re: Intermittent Fasting For Fun and Badassity
« Reply #38 on: July 04, 2015, 01:42:50 PM »
I sometimes  accidently IF.  Like yesterday for example I had black coffee for breakfast and went out to start working in the garden. I had just finished up mowing the yard and was heading in to eat a late lunch when  the fire pager went off (I'm a volunteer fireman) so I ran down to the station and got on a truck. The fire took a few hours and by the time I got back I didn't see any reason in eating because we had some guest coming over for dinner around 8 o clock that evening when I finally ate. I have done this several times (with different events of course, like house projects) and have never felt any ill effects. In fact sometimes I get scared of eating because my body goes into digest mode where I get sleepy and unmotivated . I've been trying to lose a few pounds  (I love craft beer and pizza) and have considered adding one day of IF in a week where I would go from dinner the night before to that nights dinner ~24 fast. Would this be enough to reap the benefits? I really don't want to give up breakfast everyday and eating a majority of my calories in the morning just doesn't interest me.

Ready2Go

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Intermittent Fasting For Fun and Badassity
« Reply #39 on: July 05, 2015, 09:32:23 PM »
So I tried a 36+ hour fast over 4th of July. Worked out very well.  Last meal on Friday about 7, ate breakfast about 10 this morning (Sunday).  Did eat 3 cubes of watermelon, but figure that's ok.  We spent most of sat at big party, so there were a lot of people to chat with and keep me distracted.  Helped that the party food was not too good looking :). Felt great the whole time and didn't feel hungry.  I don't believe I felt inclined to eat more than normal today.  The next trial will probably  be harder due to lack of novelty.


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Re: Intermittent Fasting For Fun and Badassity
« Reply #40 on: July 05, 2015, 09:57:50 PM »
I'm female, and I do intermittent fasting pretty regularly because I've found it useful to maintaining a healthy weight (or for reducing after big food events).

I typically do an 8 hour feeding window. I first started because I realized that I was forcing myself to eat breakfast in the morning even though I wasn't hungry and it made me slightly nauseous because I was worried about getting hungry before lunch time (I teach science, so no real opportunity to snack before lunch). Turned out that if I skipped breakfast, I got hungry about half an hour before lunch, which is the same time I get hungry if I do force myself to eat breakfast. I started it during the last weeks of grad school because I had gained 15 lbs and wanted to get back to my pre-grad school weight and fitness level.

I eat a plant-based diet, and I do not eat sugars or refined grains except vary rarely and balanced out with protein and fat. I also eat low glycemic load/index foods anyway because I have a family history of hypo/hyperglycemia, pre-diabetes, and type 2 diabetes, and I'd like to avoid that.

I think it's most useful for me because I have a big appetite, and have bad habits of eating mindlessly/when I'm bored, so even though I'm active it's really easy for me to gain weight. Since this weight always ends up in my abdominal area, I'm not exactly happy about it, and the health implications are more worrisome.

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Re: Intermittent Fasting For Fun and Badassity
« Reply #41 on: July 06, 2015, 04:32:41 AM »
Apart from family lunches I've been IF'ing for 3 years now. I eat between 6 and 10pm. Like Jon I also can't go to bed hungry. Seems to keep the weight off, and the blood sugar and cholesterol in really good levels, but the biggest benefit is I don't feel hungry during the day so I have more time, and no need for snacking.

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Re: Intermittent Fasting For Fun and Badassity
« Reply #42 on: July 06, 2015, 10:33:37 AM »
I have considered adding one day of IF in a week where I would go from dinner the night before to that nights dinner ~24 fast. Would this be enough to reap the benefits?
I think so. See how your body responds. I'm sure you'll be able to do it, but many people feel that it's easier to get into a rhythm with IF because your body is remarkably good at knowing when fuel should be coming and triggering hunger in anticipation. So if you are eating 3X a day most of the time, that one 24 hour fast might be uncomfortable. In any event, DON'T lead into your fasting period with a bunch of pizza and rad beer. You'll want to eat a house the next morning. (Source: also enjoy pizza and beer.) :)

So I tried a 36+ hour fast over 4th of July. Worked out very well.  Last meal on Friday about 7, ate breakfast about 10 this morning (Sunday).  Did eat 3 cubes of watermelon, but figure that's ok.  We spent most of sat at big party, so there were a lot of people to chat with and keep me distracted.  Helped that the party food was not too good looking :). Felt great the whole time and didn't feel hungry.  I don't believe I felt inclined to eat more than normal today.  The next trial will probably  be harder due to lack of novelty.
Badass. Fasting over the 4th of july festivities is pretty hardcore. Curious: how much compensation eating would you say you did after the fast? Like, did you want to eat 2x normal intake, or more like 1.25x intake?

I'm female, and I do intermittent fasting pretty regularly because I've found it useful to maintaining a healthy weight (or for reducing after big food events).

I typically do an 8 hour feeding window. I first started because I realized that I was forcing myself to eat breakfast in the morning even though I wasn't hungry and it made me slightly nauseous because I was worried about getting hungry before lunch time (I teach science, so no real opportunity to snack before lunch). Turned out that if I skipped breakfast, I got hungry about half an hour before lunch, which is the same time I get hungry if I do force myself to eat breakfast. I started it during the last weeks of grad school because I had gained 15 lbs and wanted to get back to my pre-grad school weight and fitness level.

I eat a plant-based diet, and I do not eat sugars or refined grains except vary rarely and balanced out with protein and fat. I also eat low glycemic load/index foods anyway because I have a family history of hypo/hyperglycemia, pre-diabetes, and type 2 diabetes, and I'd like to avoid that.

I think it's most useful for me because I have a big appetite, and have bad habits of eating mindlessly/when I'm bored, so even though I'm active it's really easy for me to gain weight. Since this weight always ends up in my abdominal area, I'm not exactly happy about it, and the health implications are more worrisome.

I'm very similar - I find it easy to eat a lot and have family history that's lousy with various metabolic syndrome things I'm determined to avoid. Thanks for weighing in! Do you think WHAT you eat as a woman makes it easier to IF? It sounds like your diet is fairly moderate in carbs and very high fiber - so that would tend towards high satiation. Do you think that plays a role in your success with IF?

Apart from family lunches I've been IF'ing for 3 years now. I eat between 6 and 10pm. Like Jon I also can't go to bed hungry. Seems to keep the weight off, and the blood sugar and cholesterol in really good levels, but the biggest benefit is I don't feel hungry during the day so I have more time, and no need for snacking.
Agreed. Taking meal prep out of my afternoon chore list frees up a lot of time. For me, though, I have to pre-plan so I have food ready for my kids or else it's game over for my fast. I'll end up snacking on whatever I cook fresh for them.

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Re: Intermittent Fasting For Fun and Badassity
« Reply #43 on: July 06, 2015, 10:38:49 AM »
Did an 8-hour feeding window for the majority of the past year and held weight pretty steady, stopped around Memorial Day (vacation and laziness) and have put on weight since then. Back to it! Big lunch at 1, snack around 3:30, workout 6-7, protein + banana shake 7:15, big dinner around 8. Weekends are a bit different, normally we cook our food for the week on Saturday morning so I'll graze during that, Sunday I like to make breakfast.

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Re: Intermittent Fasting For Fun and Badassity
« Reply #44 on: July 06, 2015, 05:15:23 PM »
So I tried a 36+ hour fast over 4th of July. Worked out very well.  Last meal on Friday about 7, ate breakfast about 10 this morning (Sunday).  Did eat 3 cubes of watermelon, but figure that's ok.  We spent most of sat at big party, so there were a lot of people to chat with and keep me distracted.  Helped that the party food was not too good looking :). Felt great the whole time and didn't feel hungry.  I don't believe I felt inclined to eat more than normal today.  The next trial will probably  be harder due to lack of novelty.
Badass. Fasting over the 4th of july festivities is pretty hardcore. Curious: how much compensation eating would you say you did after the fast? Like, did you want to eat 2x normal intake, or more like 1.25x intake?

I don't think I did much compensation eating;  I actually made a conscious effort to consume a 'normal' about of calories later.  My timing made it easy:  ended the fast at about 10am on Sunday with my favorite Sunday breakfast:  bagel with egg & cheese.  So I was happy to be eating my favorite food and didn't feel the need to eat more.  This is also my normal Sunday breakfast/lunch habit so that helps too.  Later there was the usual rush of Sunday chores to get done so no big deal to just eat at dinner and stop.  My only real extra was to treat myself to desert on Sunday night.  Not in line with what I have been reading here:
https://intensivedietarymanagement.com/category/lectures/the-aetiology-of-obesity-lecture-series/
, but it was just a trial.

Have spent the last few days reading more about different approaches to IF/ADF.  I think I am going to try out a schedule of 2 days of 36-hour fasting per week till I hit my goal weight.  If that proves too difficult,  I will back down to 18-hour fasting.   The clarity of simply not eating for a day is very appealing, and for me its no big deal to skip breakfast.   work in progress!

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Re: Intermittent Fasting For Fun and Badassity
« Reply #45 on: July 06, 2015, 05:25:54 PM »
Some good info when I was looking into it:

http://www.precisionnutrition.com/intermittent-fasting

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Re: Intermittent Fasting For Fun and Badassity
« Reply #46 on: July 08, 2015, 08:56:36 PM »
Just did my first intentional 24 hour fast. It went really well. I felt pretty much normal all day. I did feel somewhat of a hunger sensation at noon but it passed in 10 minutes or so. I'm going to atribute that to a conditioned response. I also felt a little hungry with about an hour left in the day but I was done with all my work and was just screwing around the internet so I'm caulking that up to boredom. After the quiting bell I did about two hours of yard work before starting the grill. Around 8 o'clock I ate dinner consisting of a fresh salad with homemade ranch, a 10-12 oz  steak, and washed it all down with a 16 oz glass of milk.  I'm feeling  just as satisfied as I would had I ate my normal days worth of food. I am deciding to start making Wednesday my fasting day every week. Towards the end of my fast I was pulling some weeds in the garden. At one point I stood up kind of fast and got a little light headed. I am thinking it's just a coincidence but was curious if anybody else has experienced any lightheadedness while fasting.

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Re: Intermittent Fasting For Fun and Badassity
« Reply #47 on: July 09, 2015, 05:26:57 AM »
A quick yes to the lightheadedness - could have been a low blood sugar issue.


But the association with standing up actually sounds like a blood pressure issue. Could you have been dehydrated? That's something to watch carefully. Be sure you drink enough when fasting.


If it was blood sugar, to me that would be less of a concern, especially if you were about to eat anyway and assuming you're not diabetic or borderline.

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Re: Intermittent Fasting For Fun and Badassity
« Reply #48 on: July 09, 2015, 06:38:28 AM »
A quick yes to the lightheadedness - could have been a low blood sugar issue.


But the association with standing up actually sounds like a blood pressure issue. Could you have been dehydrated? That's something to watch carefully. Be sure you drink enough when fasting.


If it was blood sugar, to me that would be less of a concern, especially if you were about to eat anyway and assuming you're not diabetic or borderline.

I felt like I was drinking enough water. I know this is something I need to work on though. I spent most of the day driving around for work so I was in climate control more or less all day. It is also really cool here for this time a year. I think it was maybe 80 degrees and overcast while I was doing yard work. That does make sense though. It was similar to what I would feel like in high school when we had three a days football practice.

I don't think I have any diabetic problems. I have no family history and although I could stand to loose a few pounds I'm not overly overweight.


Erica/NWEdible

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Re: Intermittent Fasting For Fun and Badassity
« Reply #49 on: July 09, 2015, 07:10:29 AM »
A quick yes to the lightheadedness - could have been a low blood sugar issue.


But the association with standing up actually sounds like a blood pressure issue. Could you have been dehydrated? That's something to watch carefully. Be sure you drink enough when fasting.


If it was blood sugar, to me that would be less of a concern, especially if you were about to eat anyway and assuming you're not diabetic or borderline.

I felt like I was drinking enough water. I know this is something I need to work on though. I spent most of the day driving around for work so I was in climate control more or less all day. It is also really cool here for this time a year. I think it was maybe 80 degrees and overcast while I was doing yard work. That does make sense though. It was similar to what I would feel like in high school when we had three a days football practice.

I don't think I have any diabetic problems. I have no family history and although I could stand to lose a few pounds I'm not overly overweight.
Blood pressure commonly drops while fasting. That's pretty normal. For many people with elevated blood pressure that's actually a good thing, but if your blood pressure is normal/low to start with those symptoms like lightheadedness and dizziness when standing can happen. One way to manage that is with electrolytes - additional salt, basically. You could put a pinch of salt into your water, or have a cup of beef or chicken broth if you feel like that would be ok during your fast.

 

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