Keto and Intermittent Fasting

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Paul1977

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#284406 20-Apr-2021 12:05

So, I've packed on a bit of weight over the past couple of years, and have decided it's time to shed it. I'd like to lose 20-25kg.

My problem is that I absolutely hate exercise. I know I have to at least start working in some moderate exercise a few times a week... but baby steps.

It may be a fad, but I have a friend who lost a good amount of weight on keto, and has managed to keep it off. So I've decided to give it a go and start off pretty hard out to try to jump start the process and am doing strict keto combined with two 36 hour water only fasts per week (8pm Sunday to 8am Tuesday, 8pm Wednesday to 8am Friday).

Only on day 11, but I've found it surprisingly easy as far as hunger goes so far. Yesterday was my third fast day and the easiest so far. Lost a little over 3kg after the first week - but assuming that's mostly water.

Is anyone else doing keto and/or intermittent fasting (not meant to call them diets - apparently they're "lifestyles"), and how have you found them? Any tips, or advice as to what to expect a little longer term?

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#2695235 20-Apr-2021 12:13

36 hours is fairly extreme, many intermittent fasts only effectively skip two meals making it 24 hours or a bit less. I do fasting sometimes, I find it helps, but you have to eat moderately all the time. Walking is sufficient exercise, but walk up a big hill if you can.

There was a recent report in the news that keto diets could damage the heart. I won't link to a specific article, have a search around.

duckDecoy

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#2695241 20-Apr-2021 12:24

This wasn't what you were asking about but

"My problem is that I absolutely hate exercise. I know I have to at least start working in some moderate exercise a few times a week... but baby steps."

I too hate exercising, and the consequent low motivation to do anything about it. What I did was start parking my car a set distance away from work, in my case its about 40mins walk. Got myself good shoes and very good wet weather gear (super waterprof but super light, and gortex shoes). I *have* to go to work, and I *have* to get home. So every weekday I am forced to walk. My head says im not exercising, i'm just getting to work.

3 house moves and 20 years later its still working for me. And I still loathe any other form of exercising and wouldn't walk anywhere unless it was to work.

Paul1977

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#2695244 20-Apr-2021 12:29

timmmay:

36 hours is fairly extreme, many intermittent fasts only effectively skip two meals making it 24 hours or a bit less. I do fasting sometimes, I find it helps, but you have to eat moderately all the time. Walking is sufficient exercise, but walk up a big hill if you can.

There was a recent report in the news that keto diets could damage the heart. I won't link to a specific article, have a search around.

It sounds a lot, but you're not hungry in between the last dinner and bedtime which takes it down to about 33 hours, then sleeping 16 hours of that (two nights). So I think of it as a 17 hour fast!

Like everything, there seems to be "experts" for and against. I think if you're having mainly "bad" fats it can be bad for your heart over time. I'll look into this more.

gehenna

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#2695253 20-Apr-2021 12:48

Get yourself a ketone monitor instead of strips, you'll thank me later. This one's worked well for me.

Buy ZestKeto Ketone Breath Tester - e-PRO at Mighty Ape NZ

FYI I swear by IF. It's a great way to maintain alertness for work and reduce weight while building energy reserves. Once you get going you may find you have some more momentum for exercise. I was doing 20:4 for a few months before I fell out of practice, but I want to start again once I get through birthday season.

Paul1977

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#2695267 20-Apr-2021 13:17

gehenna:

Get yourself a ketone monitor instead of strips, you'll thank me later. This one's worked well for me.

Buy ZestKeto Ketone Breath Tester - e-PRO at Mighty Ape NZ

FYI I swear by IF. It's a great way to maintain alertness for work and reduce weight while building energy reserves. Once you get going you may find you have some more momentum for exercise. I was doing 20:4 for a few months before I fell out of practice, but I want to start again once I get through birthday season.

Too late. I got a blood one before I read about the breath testers. The strips are expensive, but I'm not testing excessively - just a couple of time a week to compare fasting to non-fasting days.

dafman

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#2695269 20-Apr-2021 13:19

Good luck, I wish you well.

I've been intermittent fasting for about 3 years. Typically, I don't eat until 12pm, then two meals a day - lunch & dinner. Prior to 12pm, I only intake water and black coffee.

My main reason was not primarily for weight loss, rather I liked the idea of giving my digestive organs a break each day. So as a general rule, I follow the 16/8 diet - 16 hours no food, 8 hour food window. However, bear in mind it takes up to 8 hours to digest a meal, so in effect, I eat for 8, digest for up to next 8, fast for final 8.

About six years ago I gave up added sugar for regular meals (eg. yogurts, cereals, soft drinks and pretty much any processed food as it all comes pre-packed with added sugar). It you want to lose weight and improve general well being, I would recommend this first over intermittent fasting.

I have always been active, reasonably regular at gym. I lost about 3 kg with giving up sugar and same again, approx 3 kg, with intermittent fasting.

I don't do any fad diets and I would put Keto clearly into the fad category. My view is that our bodies have evolved to derive nutrients from a variety of natural foods. I just think there is risk in severely restricting major food groups. Yes you might lose weight, but what are the long term health implications?

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HellraiserNZ

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#2695276 20-Apr-2021 13:36

Paul1977:

So, I've packed on a bit of weight over the past couple of years, and have decided it's time to shed it. I'd like to lose 20-25kg.

My problem is that I absolutely hate exercise. I know I have to at least start working in some moderate exercise a few times a week... but baby steps.

It may be a fad, but I have a friend who lost a good amount of weight on keto, and has managed to keep it off. So I've decided to give it a go and start off pretty hard out to try to jump start the process and am doing strict keto combined with two 36 hour water only fasts per week (8pm Sunday to 8am Tuesday, 8pm Wednesday to 8am Friday).

Only on day 11, but I've found it surprisingly easy as far as hunger goes so far. Yesterday was my third fast day and the easiest so far. Lost a little over 3kg after the first week - but assuming that's mostly water.

Is anyone else doing keto and/or intermittent fasting (not meant to call them diets - apparently they're "lifestyles"), and how have you found them? Any tips, or advice as to what to expect a little longer term?

Keto is very effective, the issue is strict boundaries you have to operate on. Ideally you cannot consume more than 5-10g of total carbs in all of your caloric intake, and if you mistakenly consume carbs, you'll probably be kicked out of ketosis for a couple of days.

If you have the money, control (self and over social events) and motivation it can be done. You will no doubt put on a bit of weight if you reintroduce carbs back into your system. Over long term, IF is sustainable.

When I live in London in 2019/2020, I went from 131 kg to 100-101 kg in less than a year with IF. Last meal before 8 and break my fast around 1-2 p.m. I did a fair amount of exercise, my commute to/from work had about 5km of walking and we used to walk a lot exploring cities etc. as you do.

Another benefit of IF is, you can work out on an empty stomach if needed, when you do eat you can eat more than usual as you still have to get your calories and macros (with a deficit) in a shorter amount of time and usually when it matters the most.

-K

tanivula

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#2695277 20-Apr-2021 13:38

I started IF on a whim when work was doing biggest loser. I didn't take it seriously (pair it up with Keto), but I've stuck at it and lost 16kg over 12m (Nov 2019-2020). We have a young fam, and thanks to COVID lockdown, there was not much going out etc meant I would typically fast for 16-18hrs a day depending on what time we ate (and being pretty well behaved about snacking after dinner). I did do some bodyweight exercises at home during this too which would have helped. Hardest parts were no sugar in tea + after dinner bikkie/snacks with the wife once the kids are in bed.

Have stuck with it since, but have relaxed the strictness so I can have milk with my tea till midday 1st meal. Essentially it's my new lifestyle, rather than a temp diet.

Good luck, hope it works for you!

Paul1977

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#2695279 20-Apr-2021 13:46

dafman:

Good luck, I wish you well.

I've been intermittent fasting for about 3 years. Typically, I don't eat until 12pm, then two meals a day - lunch & dinner. Prior to 12pm, I only intake water and black coffee.

My main reason was not primarily for weight loss, rather I liked the idea of giving my digestive organs a break each day. So as a general rule, I follow the 16/8 diet - 16 hours no food, 8 hour food window. However, bear in mind it takes up to 8 hours to digest a meal, so in effect, I eat for 8, digest for up to next 8, fast for final 8.

About six years ago I gave up added sugar for regular meals (eg. yogurts, cereals, soft drinks and pretty much any processed food as it all comes pre-packed with added sugar). It you want to lose weight and improve general well being, I would recommend this first over intermittent fasting.

I have always been active, reasonably regular at gym. I lost about 3 kg with giving up sugar and same again, approx 3 kg, with intermittent fasting.

I don't do any fad diets and I would put Keto clearly into the fad category. My view is that our bodies have evolved to derive nutrients from a variety of natural foods. I just think there is risk in severely restricting major food groups. Yes you might lose weight, but what are the long term health implications?

My natural pattern is to often skip breakfast and lunch, effectively putting me on a 19/5 diet by default. But I just ate high carb sh*t all night (chips and chocolate, plus dinner) and got fat.

I'm unlikely to stay on strict keto forever, and if I make as far as reaching my target the plan is to start adding more carbs back in to try to maintain a good weight with a more balanced diet. The fasting I'm doing seems like it could be perfectly manageable long-term though.

Paul1977

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#2695283 20-Apr-2021 14:00

HellraiserNZ:

Keto is very effective, the issue is strict boundaries you have to operate on. Ideally you cannot consume more than 5-10g of total carbs in all of your caloric intake, and if you mistakenly consume carbs, you'll probably be kicked out of ketosis for a couple of days.

If you have the money, control (self and over social events) and motivation it can be done. You will no doubt put on a bit of weight if you reintroduce carbs back into your system. Over long term, IF is sustainable.

When I live in London in 2019/2020, I went from 131 kg to 100-101 kg in less than a year with IF. Last meal before 8 and break my fast around 1-2 p.m. I did a fair amount of exercise, my commute to/from work had about 5km of walking and we used to walk a lot exploring cities etc. as you do.

Another benefit of IF is, you can work out on an empty stomach if needed, when you do eat you can eat more than usual as you still have to get your calories and macros (with a deficit) in a shorter amount of time and usually when it matters the most.

I'm not going to the extent of weighing and calculating what I'm eating, for me I know that's a sure fire way for me to fail because it becomes too time consuming and complicated. I'm just sticking to things that I know are very low carb, and testing blood ketones a couple of times a week to make sure they're about right.

An 8pm-1pm fast for me is really just skipping breakfast, and never achieved anything. It's great that it works for you (and many others), but for me it just never did unfortunately. Different people probably need different lengths of fasts to get a benefit, and I suspect I'm on the longer end of the scale.

trig42

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#2695288 20-Apr-2021 14:30

I've been on Keto since April 2019. I was about 158kg (not exactly sure, scales stopped at about 156 :))

One year later, on pretty strict Keto, I was 110.

Since then, I've lost about another 5kg, Pretty happy with where I am (apart from having to buy all new clothes;) )

I kept net carbs to 20g or less per day, and then brought in IF - last meal at 7pm, then nothing till 1pm the next day.

The last few months, we've had a few cheat weekends (and they can turn into a binge), and the weight fluctuates about 3-4kg on those (water weight mostly).

It is a lifestyle, not a diet - you just can't load up on carbs. I think I may need to cut down a bit on fats (and I find them quite hard to eat sometimes anyway). I am looking for a way to migrate back to a few more carbs (and fruit!). Maybe IF is the way to do that, with a bit of regular exercise.

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gehenna

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#2695293 20-Apr-2021 14:47

Lots of good info on the subreddit too r/keto, and r/ketogains is a good one for motivation pictures. There's also r/intermittentfasting. All 3 are useful.

openmedia

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#2695295 20-Apr-2021 14:50

trig42:

I've been on Keto since April 2019. I was about 158kg (not exactly sure, scales stopped at about 156 :))

One year later, on pretty strict Keto, I was 110.

Since then, I've lost about another 5kg, Pretty happy with where I am (apart from having to buy all new clothes;) )

I kept net carbs to 20g or less per day, and then brought in IF - last meal at 7pm, then nothing till 1pm the next day.

The last few months, we've had a few cheat weekends (and they can turn into a binge), and the weight fluctuates about 3-4kg on those (water weight mostly).

It is a lifestyle, not a diet - you just can't load up on carbs. I think I may need to cut down a bit on fats (and I find them quite hard to eat sometimes anyway). I am looking for a way to migrate back to a few more carbs (and fruit!). Maybe IF is the way to do that, with a bit of regular exercise.

That is some pretty serious weight loss. Did you get advice from a doctor before hand??

Generally known online as OpenMedia, now working for Red Hat APAC as a Technology Evangelist and Portfolio Architect. Still playing with MythTV and digital media on the side.

trig42

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#2695301 20-Apr-2021 15:00

openmedia:

trig42:

I've been on Keto since April 2019. I was about 158kg (not exactly sure, scales stopped at about 156 :))

One year later, on pretty strict Keto, I was 110.

Since then, I've lost about another 5kg, Pretty happy with where I am (apart from having to buy all new clothes;) )

I kept net carbs to 20g or less per day, and then brought in IF - last meal at 7pm, then nothing till 1pm the next day.

The last few months, we've had a few cheat weekends (and they can turn into a binge), and the weight fluctuates about 3-4kg on those (water weight mostly).

It is a lifestyle, not a diet - you just can't load up on carbs. I think I may need to cut down a bit on fats (and I find them quite hard to eat sometimes anyway). I am looking for a way to migrate back to a few more carbs (and fruit!). Maybe IF is the way to do that, with a bit of regular exercise.

That is some pretty serious weight loss. Did you get advice from a doctor before hand??

Only that I was severely overweight.

I'm about 190cm tall. ~160kg is too much. According to BMI stats, I should be about 85-87 (I think I'd be a stick at that weight, I'd like to be about 98, just to see two digits on the scales).

The weight came off really easily, about 10kg in the first 6 weeks, then about a kilo a week after that. I kept up vitamins etc., and ate as healthy as I could without sugary or starchy foods (fruit is the hardest thing to miss out on for me, though on keto, I can have a few berries).

Paul1977

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#2695312 20-Apr-2021 15:16

trig42:

I've been on Keto since April 2019. I was about 158kg (not exactly sure, scales stopped at about 156 :))

One year later, on pretty strict Keto, I was 110.

Since then, I've lost about another 5kg, Pretty happy with where I am (apart from having to buy all new clothes;) )

I kept net carbs to 20g or less per day, and then brought in IF - last meal at 7pm, then nothing till 1pm the next day.

The last few months, we've had a few cheat weekends (and they can turn into a binge), and the weight fluctuates about 3-4kg on those (water weight mostly).

It is a lifestyle, not a diet - you just can't load up on carbs. I think I may need to cut down a bit on fats (and I find them quite hard to eat sometimes anyway). I am looking for a way to migrate back to a few more carbs (and fruit!). Maybe IF is the way to do that, with a bit of regular exercise.

That's bloody good going, well done. My starting weight was 111kg (heaviest I've ever been), and hoping to get to 85-86kg. I'd like to average 1kg a week, but that might be wishful thinking.

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