Question about Fasting/IF'ing page

[Shelly6]

Bear with me, I'm still pretty new to all this stuff....

I have toyed with fasting and IF'ing in the past, after having gone Primal. Unfortunately, about 15 hours is my "comfort" limit--anything longer than that and I start to get HUNGRY. So, I usually eat. One day I did make it 24 hours, but I was ravenous and my energy level had plummeted from good (morning) to so-so (afternoon) to slug (mid afternoon) to DOA (evening).

My question is, should I stick with my 15-16 hours and go with it and see if I can gradually lengthen the time, even by 15-20 minutes per day? Or should I just suck it up and do a 24 hour fast, energy level be darned? I would like to see some weight loss happen. I'm not overweight, but I'm not as slim as I would like to be/could be/have been in the past. I'm thinking 5-8 pounds of loss would be great, and I think I'd feel better.

I have read about how to become fat adapted and have done what I've read/heard, but it seems like after almost 3 months I should be there by now and be able to go longer than from dinner to a late lunch the next day without feeling like I could eat the table cloth

ETA: The times I have (tried) to fast, it was water only and nothing else.

[Diana Renata]

I've been incorporating more fasting into my routine. It seems sort of natural with weather setting in, and in the wild food would become more sporadic. Anywho, I pulled 41 hours last week, and am aiming for 48-72 hours this week.

Early on, fasting was difficult, but it gets easier. 41 was surprisingly simple last week so I don't anticipate any problems with going as many as 72. Just for curiosity's sake I started poking around the internet to see what I could find (in case anyone wanted to freak out on me about it.) One site was particularly interesting. Thought you might think so too. Especially the "true hunger" page that it links to.

Effects of Fasting Ketosis | AllAboutFasting

[MarissaLinnea]

In my opinion, fasting 15-16 hours a day should be fine. I don't necessarily feel that it's good to force it longer, especially when doing so disrupts your energy levels.

Lot of folks argue that women shouldn't fast longer than 15-16 hours at a time anyway, but I'm not sure of the reasoning behind it. Maybe someone else will know.

[magicmerl]

I'm guessing fro your username that you're a woman. You might want to read this.

tl:dr; 15 hours is a fine limit, there's no need to push past that.

[Shelly6]

I've been incorporating more fasting into my routine. It seems sort of natural with weather setting in, and in the wild food would become more sporadic. Anywho, I pulled 41 hours last week, and am aiming for 48-72 hours this week.

Early on, fasting was difficult, but it gets easier. 41 was surprisingly simple last week so I don't anticipate any problems with going as many as 72. Just for curiosity's sake I started poking around the internet to see what I could find (in case anyone wanted to freak out on me about it.) One site was particularly interesting. Thought you might think so too. Especially the "true hunger" page that it links to.

Effects of Fasting Ketosis | AllAboutFasting

Well, I can honestly say that I've probably never felt "true hunger", and I am extremely thankful for that.

I'm wondering if a fruit fast would be an idea....problem is, I thought fruit was something to limit if the goal was weight loss?

Marissa, I've decided that if I can't do it, I can't do it. If 15 hours a day is what this old body wants to do, then 15 hours a day is what we'll do, and we'll figure something else out as far as dropping those very, VERY stubborn last few pounds

[Shelly6]

I'm guessing fro your username that you're a woman. You might want to read this.

tl:dr; 15 hours is a fine limit, there's no need to push past that.

Interesting article, thanks! I'm saving all these.
I'm in no mad dash to lose the belly fat I've got, but I'd like to see it gone by spring if possible. I'm "skinny fat" everywhere else...

[Diana Renata]

I'm wondering if a fruit fast would be an idea....problem is, I thought fruit was something to limit if the goal was weight loss?

IMO, fruit gets a bad rap by paleo peeps the same way saturated fat gets a bad rap by CW peeps. There's a huge difference between eating fruit and drinking fruit juice. It's way easier to drink a cup of orange juice than it is to eat 3 oranges, and yet they're about equivalent in calories/sugar.

Personally, I have no trouble with fruit. In fact I find apples make me feel ridiculously full, sometimes uncomfortably so if added to a meal. They're loaded with nutrition, so I don't see any problem with including them. I doubt fruit is going to push you into a calorie surplus.

[zoebird]

we do a 16 hr fast with 8 hr eating window and it works well for us.

I also eat 1-3 pieces of fruit per day. Fruit is good.

[Gorbag]

My question is, should I stick with my 15-16 hours and go with it and see if I can gradually lengthen the time, even by 15-20 minutes per day? Or should I just suck it up and do a 24 hour fast, energy level be darned? I would like to see some weight loss happen. I'm not overweight, but I'm not as slim as I would like to be/could be/have been in the past. I'm thinking 5-8 pounds of loss would be great, and I think I'd feel better.

!5 - 16 hours is just fine and if extending this I recommend you to combine IF with the proteinfast instead(PSMF) where you eat 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight and keep fat and carbs very low (below 20 gram each). When doing ordinary IF you can simply do PSMF on one or two days per week to get more effect of your IF protocol. Very effective for fatloss...

[Shelly6]

!5 - 16 hours is just fine and if extending this I recommend you to combine IF with the proteinfast instead(PSMF) where you eat 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight and keep fat and carbs very low (below 20 gram each). When doing ordinary IF you can simply do PSMF on one or two days per week to get more effect of your IF protocol. Very effective for fatloss...

I'm curious as to how many grams of protein is in a "normal" sized cut of meat (a grass fed strip steak, a chicken thigh, etc). Off to research, that might be up my alley...along with apples. Thank God for apples, I love them so