Low-carb healthy fat living. Intermittent fasting. What’s your why?

Welcome to the LCHF and Intermittent Fasting group - a place where you can meet other people who are living a low carb healthy fat life and others who want to learn about low carb healthy fat (LCHF) living and intermittent fasting. You can ask questions, offer tips, give and get support, and celebrate milestones.

Exploring the world of low-carb, healthy fat eating and intermittent fasting, I quickly realized that there are many reasons why people adopt this lifestyle.

What is your why?
Why did you choose LCHF? Intermittent fasting? Or both? What's your experience? What are you exploring?

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the LCHF Living & Intermittent Fasting Support Group.

@gibr

I fast for 18 hours daily. I believe that autophagy is improved by exercising while fasted - only makes sense that in a fasted state your body will be burning fat and anything else it can find like useless proteins. So I do interval work each morning before breakfast (I fast from 2pm to 7 or 8 am the next morning). I also do hot baths - 20 minutes daily followed by a quick cooling off (cold showers in winter and sitting under an overhead fan in summer). I have also gone vegan with the exception of a can of sardines every couple of days and take fish oil.
Over the last 1.5 years my body has changed so much it is hard to describe - I feel better now than I did at 50, I am now 75. More alert, chronic back pain is gone - able to run again, dry skin on my face is gone, periodic skin cancer (basil cell) is no longer reoccurring, mood is better, motivation is better... it just goes on and on. I highly recommend listening to Huberman podcasts on health. He is a neuro biologist researcher and professor at Standford that interviews top research scientists. The amazing thing is that all that I am doing now has become easy - no one seems to believe me. Screaming into the void is how I feel when I tell people what is there for them if they change their lifestyles.

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Not screaming into the void. I’m a believer

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@sadiecat

Not screaming into the void. I’m a believer

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Hi @wshart and @sadiecat, Welcome to Connect. Feeling better and improving your health is a big plus for intermittent fasting and low carb healthy fat eating along with exercise. Besides videos by Dr. Jason Fung, I've also found this one by Dr. Jay Wortman humorous while being very informative.
--- Dr. Jay Wortman - 'Undoing Atkins: A Cautionary Tale':
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIegMp5cWBY

Are you using intermittent fasting along with low-carb healthy fat eating to help with your health?

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@johnbishop

Hi @wshart and @sadiecat, Welcome to Connect. Feeling better and improving your health is a big plus for intermittent fasting and low carb healthy fat eating along with exercise. Besides videos by Dr. Jason Fung, I've also found this one by Dr. Jay Wortman humorous while being very informative.
--- Dr. Jay Wortman - 'Undoing Atkins: A Cautionary Tale':
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIegMp5cWBY

Are you using intermittent fasting along with low-carb healthy fat eating to help with your health?

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Yes! I just started today. Intermittant fasting doing 18/6 to start. I'm trying to learn all I can. Found many surprising carb numbers in food.

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@wshart

Yes! I just started today. Intermittant fasting doing 18/6 to start. I'm trying to learn all I can. Found many surprising carb numbers in food.

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That's great! I use the 18/6 the most but will do the 20/4 for a few days to change things up a little and the 16/8 when I have to do unplanned meals.

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John,
What are the most important things to eat when there's only a 4 hour window to eat. And to not feel hungry or for the program to work the best?
Thank you for the help and support!

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@wshart

John,
What are the most important things to eat when there's only a 4 hour window to eat. And to not feel hungry or for the program to work the best?
Thank you for the help and support!

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When I first started doing the 4 hour eating window I kind of thought it meant I can eat for four hours and that didn't work out to well for me. Now I try to eat one meal and not overeat. I like a late breakfast so I usually end up with a 3 egg omelet and bacon or sausage and 1 piece of toast. That or I have a low carb (5g) protein drink at the beginning and later have a lunch with soup/salad with pieces of chicken. I sometimes sneak in some low carb peanut butter cups as a treat before my eating window closes 🙂 When I first started doing it was a little difficult but became much easier and I wasn't as hungry when I started the 20/4 intermittent fasting.

I recently purchased a BlendJet and love it for ease of use. I will through in some water or juice, then add some fresh spinach leaves followed by some fresh blueberries and a few pieces of frozen fruit (mostly berries). Then I top it off with a spoonful of flax and chia seeds and mix it up. I find the smoothie pretty filling and helps control my hungries.

Hope this helps!

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Just ran across this interesting TED Talk on fasting for longevity.
https://youtu.be/dVArDzYynYc

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I want to avoid Alzhiemer's disease and have been doing IF for several months. I still struggle with many food cravings and my weight loss has leveled off. If it werent for the additional energy I have in the morning, I would be much more discouraged.

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@peter4rn

I want to avoid Alzhiemer's disease and have been doing IF for several months. I still struggle with many food cravings and my weight loss has leveled off. If it werent for the additional energy I have in the morning, I would be much more discouraged.

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Welcome @peter4rn, You are not alone! I've been doing intermittent fasting for a few years now and the cravings are not as bad as when I first started but I still have them when I'm waiting for my fasting window to close and eating time window to open. I think everyone who has a loved one or a friend with Alzheimer's want's to avoid the disease. Mayo Clinic has some helpful information on the topic here:
--- Alzheimer's prevention: Does it exist?: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/alzheimers-disease/expert-answers/alzheimers-prevention/faq-20058140.

There's also another discussion you might find helpful:
--- Brain Health: Keeping your brain active: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/brain-health-keeping-your-brain-active/.

I use the free Zero fasting app on my phone to keep track of the time and it does make it really easy to follow a timed eating plan - https://zerolongevity.com/. Have you been following a specific intermittent fasting plan?

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This is my first post I hope I’m doing it right! I had knee surgery Jan 22 and my activity was also limited the 2 months prior. In total I’ve gained 10 lbs from the whole injury- surgery. I’m 60 and with the limitations on movement I still have am struggling to lose weight using any method. I was doing low carb gluten and dairy free intermittent fasting and stayed same weight at least. I’m trying to keep the fasting but switch to keto and I was in ketosis 2 days then dropped out and despite following it strictly (yes eating enough fat and super low carbs right macro protein) I fell out of ketosis day 3 and haven’t gotten back. Very scary as without being it you’re eating way too much fat. I feel like my body has some metabolic issues and not sure how to correct them. Nutritionists just teach me to cover my plate with half veggies and a serving of meat looks like a hockey puck. My family can’t believe how my eating doesn’t reflect my weight. I really need to lose about 30 lbs for my whys- help my joints. ward off diabetes (a1c at the line) and feel better in my body- I feel very restricted in movement with the extra weight. Anyone else correct metabolic syndrome? I know one could argue what I’m doing now is perhaps exasperating it but the lack of movement issue feels like I need a chemically induced burn vs a eat well and move equation. Sigh.

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