Hi Akieye,

I had read a lot about intermittent fasting and all of the benefits it gives you so I wanted to give it a try. I have been doing different things to make sure my body doesn't get used to anything. Usually I fast for 1-3 days and I try to eat for 1-3 days and mix those up, sort of randomly, like 2 days of fasting and 1 day of eating and then 1 day of fasting and 1 day of eating and then 3 days of fasting. Sometimes I would just fast through the day, eat a hearty meal at night and then go back to fasting. I also ate different amounts of food on my eating days, from low to medium to high calorie. Mostly I tried to keep it randomized.

I really wish I had been more scientific with this and taken notes, but with school and work, I haven't had the time like in the past when I would experiment on myself and keep track of everything. Since I have to watch my starchy carbs because of blood Sugar issues and I have a gluten-intolerance, I first experimented with what I could get away with eating and not gain weight or be effected negatively in the way that I feel. Not because I would like to do that on a regular basis, but once in a while it would be nice to have a treat. If I eat anything like bread or pasta, I usually put on a few pounds of water weight the next day, so I wanted to see if IF would have an effect on this.

I found that I could eat higher starchy (non-fruit and non-veggie) carbs up to a point on one day, fast, and still lose some weight. I could not eat higher starchy carbs for 2 days in a row and lose weight, although after 1 day of fasting, I would be able to maintain, which was a good sign since that never happens. After even one meal with bread in it, I gain water weight. I still would not feel great after a meal that contained gluten, though. That did not change.

I also found that I could generally eat higher calories, fast, and then lose weight, but this too seemed to have a threshold where I would just maintain after fasting.

IF was super hard at first, for at least the first few weeks. I often had brain fog and felt lethargic from going in and out of ketosis. I didn't feel like working out either. *But* around 4 weeks in, it started to get a lot easier. I almost stopped thinking about it any more. I have read that when you IF, your body gets into ketosis quicker and quicker. It now feels pretty normal to fast off and on and I now feel kind of weird about eating for more than a few days without fasting.

I think my body would have gotten used to it faster if I had been eating lower-carb foods and had also been exercising. These things I plan to start incorporating to see how it effects things. I plan to try weight training on eating days and cardio on non-eating days. I also will only fast for 1-2 days and then eat for 1-2 days or do the thing where I fast during the day, eat a meal at night and then fast again the next day, or eat one meal every two nights.

Also, my weight would seem to fluctuate a lot, but it would slowly go down. I learned not to weigh myself after an eating day, since the jump in weight would seem kind of scary.

The one definite negative is that it has made it hard for me to do a longer fast. I'm so used to Ifing now, that it's hard to get in the groove of a longer fast.

I am mainly interested in IF at this point as a way to try and get the anti-aging benefits of Calorie Restriction without having to do low-calorie every day, since it seems that they are comparable in studies. I also like the freedom to get more done during fasting days and I like knowing that I can go to a party and eat relatively normal things if I want and negate some of the effects from fasting the next day. That would be nice as a special treat once in a while.

All in all, it has been a very positive experience, but one that can seem unduly hard at first. But it seems even my body has gotten used to it, much like I've read about from others, much to my surprise.

Here is the link to a blog of someone who has been doing IF for a year or so:

http://musingforces.blogspot.com/


Mamaducky