The FastDay Forum

That's great Margot! Congrats. And you are right, it's a marathon not a sprint! And that's a pretty low weight, so I don't think a few extra lbs will hurt!

I have a question. Those of you who reduce your carbs (not super low carb), do you give yourself one day to eat almost anything you want? or will that just undo everything??

One other question. I'm doing 16:8 and reducing my carbs (trying to stay under 100g) and as a result my daily calories are under 1000 most days. Should I worry about this? I don't feel hungry or deprived, but will this affect my weight loss?

Can I ask a question that's probably been asked a lot before? If you do 16/8 do you do fasting days as well and just do 16/8 on your 'feed' days?

Even this was my question...Was thinking about it from long time..

[Tracieknits]

Welcome to the forum, @Johans!

Hi @Johans!

I am not sure if you had seen an answer to your question - I couldn't find where you had got the quote from loversghost. I assume you had seen an answer, but just in case you didn't...

Generally people who use eating windows to manage their food intake don't also do fast days (ie very low calorie days). But some do - for example, some people following 5:2 never have breakfast so often end up eating only in a smallish window (eg noon- 8pm). With the eating windows approach, it does appear that a number of people have to have quite narrow eating windows in order to keep their calorie intake low enough to result in weight loss. Try different approaches to see what works best for you. Good luck!

Hi @cblasz, I am no expert, as you well know (!) but based on people's experience of BSD there should not be any negative impact on your weight loss efforts by eating less than 1000 calories - as long as you are not feeling hungry or deprived. The problem with feeling hungry or deprived can be that you end up eating foods that are less nutritious. But if you start feeling genuinely hungry, perhaps add in some full fat yoghurt and berries, or some equivalent that appeals to you, and see how that goes. And increase your low carb veggies, as that can help you feel full.

Out of interest, what types of foods are you counting as carbs?

I am not a low carb eater, but in terms of your question about whether you undo all the good of having 6 low carb days by having one day where you eat what you want. I guess it depends what it is you want, and how much of it you have! If you don't overdo it, you will probably be okay. I also expect there is quite a bit of individual variation depending on how your body reacts to carbs - you really have to test if on yourself and see what happens. @Carorees is much better placed to answer this, and also because of her own experience, as I think she does lowish carb most of the time, but does have times when she has carb rich food.

Hi @Sassy1 - thanks for your response! I'm using MyFitnessPal to track my carb intake and trying to stay under 100g. So carbs are fruit (I'm still eating a banana almost every day, even though it's a bit high in carbs), occasionally high fiber bread or tortilla, peanut butter, a few squares of dark chocolate, etc. I'm trying to really avoid sweets, but I have treated myself to a frozen yogurt bar or a chai latte.

Well, since my 'success' on last Monday my weight has gotten heavier and stayed there! And now it is the weekend, when I tend to have a low carb dessert as well., Hmmm. I cannot quite figure this out. But I quess it is the same old : "wait and see"

Well, I am back to the odd week ends again . I actually have lost weight now after several days. . Still not as low as I was on last Monday . I only have this week to go now. Next weekend I am going away, to somewhere I cannot do my window fasting. Maybe it'll be good to have somewhat a break. And I'll see then what I'll do afterwards. So "on-wards and down-wards", weight-wise, naturally!

I seem to be the only one writing here these days. Well, there was no 'fasting today' -place; so I'll write here for today. It is Tuesday and I have lost yet more weight! This is new to me this time: I have not lost both at the weekend and on Mondays as well, before, No weight loss all week, and now 3 days in a row. figure that!
to report: I now weight 56 kg. and my BMI is 21.88. Since starting this window regime in mid august I have lost 4 kg. so I guess I cannot really complain.

[carorees]

Thanks for tagging me @sassy1
Erm, yes the more I learn about the role of carbs and insulin, the more I keep my carb intake down!

I think that there are three main culprits for weight gain that you can influence (ignoring genetics which you're rather stuck with): insulin, inflammation and stress (and possibly gut bacteria, plus a host of minor players too, such as protein intake, vitamin and mineral imbalances).
Insulin is the fat storage hormone so high insulin means high fat. As carbs drive insulin, keeping carbs down keeps insulin down. Insulin resistance raises insulin levels, and is driven by high carb intake, fructose intake (..and table sugar is half fructose) and also falling hormone levels with age. The older you are, the less carbs you can tolerate
Inflammation may also be triggered by high blood sugar (i.e., carbs), but also such things as fructose intake, industrial seed oils (i.e., vegetable oils that are extracted by chemical/heat as opposed to cold-pressing), trans-fats (not only in margarines and hydrogenated fats but also industrial seed oils), food intolerances (gluten, dairy, other components of wheat, MSG etc etc), environmental pollution and more.
Stress can be due to work/home stresses but also over-exercising, poor sleep, too much fasting, inflammation, and causes raised cortisol which messes up insulin, appetite, sex hormones, thyroid hormones, sleep patterns etc etc.
And all of these factors (and more) interact with one another.

So the answer to the question on how much you need to restrict carbs really depends on your personal situation and how you choose to fast (fasting lowers insulin more than low carbing but increases stress so you need to find a balance), what you eat apart from carbs. You need to experiment to find your best balance of fasting, carb intake, meditation, exercise, protein intake, and general non-fast day food. It can take a while...I'm still working on mine nearly 4 years after starting intermittent fasting!

I'm very interested in this 16-8 I've been trying it fir a few days and my weight is all over the place. Down ,then today up by two kilos which is crazy as I'm only a few kilos overweight so to suddenly put on two kilos is horrifying. I'm hoping g it's fluid or something
Margotsylvia, you are an inspiration. What are you doing ! How long is your window. Do you do it every day
How long have you been doing it and what do you eat in the window
I eat from 2-30 to 9.30
Usually have fruit and a salad for lunch. Then dinner followed by hot choc and a yogurt .so far as I said I am Going up.not down hmmmmm

Sarah - are you weighing yourself at the same time every day/week? You might want to try the Libra app. It will give you a trend weight.

My window is generally from 12-8 and I'm trying to reduce my carbs. I'm generally eating between 800-1000 calories. I'm just getting started though and I've had a few "bad" weekend days, so we'll have to see. I only seriously weigh myself once a week. At the same time, before I've eaten/drank anything.

Like carorees said, I guess we all just have to experiment to find out what works best for us!

I've only been doing this about one week. Weigh every day. First day I lost then up I went ...2 kilos crazy. I might try change window. Eat earlier and stop,eating earlier
Have cut carbs now and eat around 1000 calls. Have to loose 5 kilos now not 3 !

I gained my first week then lost 4 pounds my second week. This week the scale registered that I gained a little but hopefully, my weight will adjust. I opened my window earlier today because we had a Birthday party for a co-worker. Tomorrow I will be back on my 19:5 opening my window at 3pm and closing at 8pm.

Had lighter dinner last night ,woke up hungry but will eat lunch around 2 . I lost 400 grams. I know I shouldn't weigh every day but I am so stunned that I weigh 3 kilos more than I did 6 weeks ago when I had just got home from a wonderful holiday .on holiday I ate what I felt like,didn't fast and came home weighing what I had weighed when I left home. Before the holiday I had dieted and couldn't loose weight.
It's so strange ,I put on two kilos after giving up 5/2 and could not loose those two kilos despite dieting and fasting.
And then I put on three more ..... I don't overeat or binge or even eat a lot of junk. I do I lot of power yoga. Maybe it's muscle [incompatible emoji removed] [incompatible emoji removed]