The FastDay Forum

am fasting today. This every other day is not working for me this time I keep being very round and about 13 kg heavier than I ought to be What shall I do???I

I'm so sorry you're frustrated @Margotsylvia. It's terrible to be working so hard for no results.

have you tried low carb? It's really been helping me out.

My endocrinologist told me to try the dietdoctor.com site. He told me to limit my carbs to 60g per day and that it was fine to combine with intermittent fasting or fasting windows.

I thought that was far too low and instead for the first couple of weeks I limited to 120g/day, adding in three 60g/day fasting days. Then as I saw 60g wasn't so bad, I made my fasting days 20g and my regular days somewhere near 60g. Now I'm doing mostly 20g days and 60g on the weekends. I've lost 7 pounds since June 26, when he told me about the dietdoctor site. It's a Swedish doctor who started it. There's lots of videos and recipes. And you can come join us in the low carb tent if you want!!!

I think easing into low carb the way I did, with more gradual reductions, is the way to go. The last two times I tried low carb, I went from a typical American diet of 300+g carbs per day, to the atkins "induction" of 20g carbs per day and I felt AWFUL! I couldn't last more than a couple of days both times. Now I know that easing into it is much easier.

Good luck sweetie!

Hello,
I'm fasting today, too! Going to try to make it without eating until tomorrow. Just coffee, water and broth. We'll see. I don't feel great, so we'll see how it goes.

@margotsylvia sorry alternate day is not working out for you! I've never tried it, but it's supposed to be effective. Like @tracieknits said, I also recommend the diet doctor website. He has lots of videos and articles about fasting and maybe there is some tidbit to help with alternate day?

Good luck everyone!

Good Luck @NYCNYC2013!

Just saying hi. I'm also fasting today... so far, so good. I am more hungry than usual, so I hope I make it. The goal is 36 hours this time.

Does anyone else feel sort of spaced out and slow when they are fasting? I often feel like I'm about to get a migraine headache, actually, but then the feeling passes and nothing happens. I don't really enjoy this feeling though and I wonder what could be going on.

@creativenikki I've heard that it could be some sort of electrolyte imbalance. Have a warm cup of chicken broth (most are less than 10 calories) and it should go away. Don't go for low sodium -- you need the salt.

Tracieknits wrote: @creativenikki I've heard that it could be some sort of electrolyte imbalance. Have a warm cup of chicken broth (most are less than 10 calories) and it should go away. Don't go for low sodium -- you need the salt.

I'll see if that helps. I've been using Kettle & Fire bone broths if I need them during my fasts. I always end up adding salt because they don't have a ton of flavor without it. I just get this weird foggy, sort of tunnel vision thing when I fast. I get the same feeling before a migraine usually.

When was the last time you had your blood sugars checked? If a salty broth doesn't clear things up right away, and you haven't had your fasting blood sugars tested in a while, I would recommend you stop fasting immediately, eat a few carbs and make an appointment for an annual checkup. Ask to get your blood sugar checked. Not all doctors are supportive of intermittent fasting so if you talk about it, be prepared for a response. My primary care and endocrinologist are both *very* supportive, but I've heard other people say their doctors aren't.

It is my fast day too . The first one after a long weekend get away , I gained a couple pounds but I chose to indulge . So now its back to it with no guilt . I usually weigh every day , I think I will hide my scale till the end of the week .

Tracieknits wrote: When was the last time you had your blood sugars checked? If a salty broth doesn't clear things up right away, and you haven't had your fasting blood sugars tested in a while, I would recommend you stop fasting immediately, eat a few carbs and make an appointment for an annual checkup. Ask to get your blood sugar checked. Not all doctors are supportive of intermittent fasting so if you talk about it, be prepared for a response. My primary care and endocrinologist are both *very* supportive, but I've heard other people say their doctors aren't.

I did feel better after the broth and after moving around a little. I got a ton of blood tests done a couple months ago and actually my doctor encouraged me to try fasting. Today I think I spent way too much time in the computer at work. I prefer to spend more time in the shop or going to the gym or whatever, but my office manager had to leave early today and that put the kebosh on my plans.

@creativenikki - glad to hear you felt better! So now you know you need more salt on fast days And I'm glad your doctor is so up on the science!

Welcome back @Irenie - good plan to hide the scale for a week!