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

Fat free milk is the worst (well almost!) All of the sugar (lactose) and none of the satiating fat.

@lee/Aase, oh my goodness, I never thought. I will move over to Fair Life. @johnbishop Guess what? Jay is on board with this approach. He has type II diabetes and about 15 lbs of house arrest nibbling. Question....is there a special calendar you just fill in? With cognitive decline creeping into my daily routine...I am often suffering from the “did I take them or not?

Should Jay and I be on the same calendar and try to do our eating time together? Keep the answers coming....wonderful. You are making this very accessible and motivating.

@artscaping that is really good news that Jay is on board with giving it a go. I think it will be easier if you eat together on the same schedule. It's kind of a downer for me because my wife is at work at 5 am most mornings but we usually eat lunch around 12:30 which is my second of 2 daily meals. I'm doing the 20 hour fast, 4 hour eating window most days and it works well for me. I'm thinking you might want to start with a 16 hour fast and 8 hour eating window and you can fit your regular meals into the time period. Don't think you really need a calendar. Just download the Zero app on your phone (https://www.zerofasting.com/). It lets you keep track of your daily fasting schedule and you can easily change from one type of fast to a different one as well as edit the starting and ending times for a fast if you forget to do it on your phone when you stop or start eating. It's easy to use and free...but you can buy the premium service with a few more bells and whistles that I've never used.

I have not yet started counting carbs but I am trying to focus on lowering the amount of carbs and increasing the high fat intake. I have been drinking skim milk for so long that is a change but not too bad since I'm not a big milk drinker. @LeeAase has me started on making my own thick yogurt and Lavon loves it. I take one small jar of the yogurts I make and use it for 2 refrigerator oatmeal breakfasts which I really like. Lee's world's best yogurt is easy to make (https://social-media-university-global.org/2020/05/best-yogurt-ever/) and I use it as the base layer in my refrigerator yogurt. I got some 14 oz glass containers with snap on lids on Amazon and I put 1/2 of the jar of yogurt in the bottom which I think is 2-1/2 tablespoons. Then I add about the same amount of unsweetened applesauce into the glass. Next is 1/2 cup of rolled or old fashioned oats. Add milk (was using skim but now am switching to half and half) to just cover the oats. Last add some fresh or frozen fruit to fill the glass a little. Put the lid on and place in the refrigerator overnight. Mayo recipe said it's good for about a week but I generally eat it in 2 or 3 days. I had the carbs figured to be 46 g using another great app that @rjwilliams mentioned in her post earlier in this discussion. Great app for planning and tracking your food but may take a little work to input all of the info. I just used it to enter my one recipe to see how it works. -- https://cronometer.com/

I keep it simpler with the yogurt, as pictured. I think oatmeal is kind of overrated as it just adds carbs. I add about 3-4 tsp of inulin powder (see this for background https://www.verywellhealth.com/the-health-benefits-of-inulin-4587258) which is a prebiotic fiber that supports a healthy microbiome. It also sweetens the yogurt, along with a modest sprinkling of raspberries. As I mention in the post @johnbishop linked, I use a blend of about half heavy cream and half half-and-half (how's that for a string of "halfs"?) as my base in my yogurt.

I've used this yogurt for more than a year, and it does have appetite-suppressant effects, which in addition to fat-adaptation is why I almost never have hunger issues.

I've encouraged a few other couples to make the yogurt, too, and they also have found it helpful.

People who have IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) and following a Low-Fodmap diet need to be careful with added Inulin (as well as other Pre-biotics added to food). They can increase symptoms of IBS.

I found LCHF through many decades of frustration in losing weight (Weight Watchers Lifetime member, Low Fat diet, etc etc). After years of severe symptoms of IBS and trying a Low Fodmap diet with some success, I decided to try Intermittent Fasting in 2016. I lost 40 lbs over the course of a year and felt great. However, I developed a sinus infection that wouldn’t resolve with many rounds of antibiotics and was diagnosed with a Primary Immunodeficiency (from birth) which also affects the gut as well as the lungs and sinuses (frequent infections). The treatment is regular Gamma Globulin infusions, however this caused a gain of 20 lbs as my body became more healthy. Finding Low Carb (LCHF) in addition to the IF was a game changer. Now I am slowly losing again (slowly because the infusions cause fluid retention due to having to be over hydrated to absorb the thick medication). I am an advocate for eating whole food, no sugar, no sweeteners (have been off of both for 1.5 years), low carb low Fodmap veggies, some fruits, whole fat yogurt (no added Inulin due to IBS), and no gluten. This way of life is the best for my body. We all respond differently. Before changing my diet to LCHF I participated in a Microbiome project at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). I recently took samples and submitted them again to UCSD as part of a study to look at the Microbiome of people with Immune Deficiencies. This time I was eating LCHF so the pre/post results may be very interesting. I think we are going to find in the future that our Microbiomes are what determines which foods are bodies need to thrive. Google the American Gut Project (not able to post the link) for more info.

@spark11, welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect and LCHF group. I noticed that you wished to post a URL to American Gut Project with your message. You will be able to add URLs to your posts in a few days. There is a brief period where new members can't post links. We do this to deter spammers and keep the community safe. Clearly the link you wanted to post are not spam, so allow me to post it here.

- American Gut Project https://microsetta.ucsd.edu/

How long have you been living LCHF now? How often do you have to submit data to the Gut Project?

Thank you for posting the link, Colleen!

I have been living LCHF since October of 2019 when I started a search to find relief from osteoarthritis and other issues. I found LowCarbUSA and the LowCarbMD podcast which provided a wealth of information that makes sense. I submitted one sample pre-LCHF. Results took 5 months. Last summer, as part of a research project I submitted 3 samples - One a month for 3 months. No results yet. Since not much is known yet about the Microbiome, the report just shows what is in the gut without any interpretation. People would need to find someone who might be able to give an interpretation of the data. I joined the American Gut Project mainly to help advance the science for the greater good.

Hello, thank you for the response. Yes I'm overweight right now. I had a knee surgery 15 months ago, due to certain complications after I became inactive, stress leading to eating etc. Would love to go on a healthy diet to start losing wt. slowly. I've high BP but is in control with my pills. I need suggestions and advice where to start. Thanks