I need to change my life

Hello all, 23(F) here! I recently through a breakup (blah blah blah) and I have gained so much weight from it that I think I am at my heaviest. I have tried keto and I had lost 40lbs but I have never paired it with IF. I am seeing all of these success stories and I need to get my sh*t together! I cannot believe I let myself get this bad and especially because of some idiot! I have been scared of fasting because I am hypoglycemic and I worry about my fainting spells and fatigue. It has been explained to me that I should pair IF with keto otherwise I could possibly kick myself into diabetes. I am determined to give this a legitimate attempt because I need to do something for myself. So, I have a few questions for you ladies and I am more than willing to hear any bit of advice! With losing large amounts of weight so quickly, how is your skin? I am afraid that I will have loose skin from losing weight as fast as I see some of you losing weight. Will my skin bounce back? I figured I should start with the standard 16:8 but how long should I maintain that? Do I need to advance the amount of time I am fasting to continue to get results? What is the point of the extended fasts? And holy mother of sh*t, when do I eat regarding workouts? I usually do not eat before a run or workout because it makes me sick to my stomach but after a run last night, I was starving!! Does anyone else have this issue and a solution? I want to thank anyone for the helpful hints and advice, it means a lot to have a supportive community behind me in this journey! *crossposted

Answer

The /r/fasting FAQ and “Fasting in a Nutshell” will give you some knowledge to help prepare you!

I’d definitely recommend IF. It is fantastic to help ease you into extended fasts. Since you’ve already been keto for some time, this transition shouldn’t be too difficult (won’t get carb flu, etc).

For me, I really like extended fasting because it takes the guesswork out of everything. I’m not stressed about “is this keto? has it been 16 hours since i’ve eaten?” etc. I just don’t think about food at all. It’s a great mental break and give you some freedom away from food.

Best of luck! Keep us updated :)

Answer

Hey, welcome! My HW was 250 and my “usual” adult weight is the 220s. I hit 235 last summer and then decided to start losing. I’m down 45-50lbs and loose skin hasn’t been an issue so far - but I realize it likely will (I’ve also had quite a few kiddos!). My husband is completely on board with a tummy tuck if I want to go that route and it’s not as expensive as I thought, so that’s always on the table as an option.

I have heard that with extended fasts the skin doesn’t have issues due the autophagy playing “clean up”. Dr. Fung has this claim on his videos and in his books too. He’s not really a diet doctor as much as a kidney doc out to fix diabetes. I’ve also heard autophagy only really kicks in after 3 days.. so.. it means doing typical IF likely won’t offer the same benefits. I’ve also read somewhere that the first 24 hours are stressful on your body and you stay in a catabolic mode, which is what made me rethink my 23:1 approach.

Longer fasts are easier. I’m on my second one and today I just felt relief that I was resuming. It sounds nuts, but it really does take all of the food stuff away. I still am very busy - walk 5-8 miles daily, get approx 6 hrs of broken sleep at night! - and fasting didn’t interfere with that. There are folks on /r/fasting training for triathalons while doing extended fasts.. so I think (at least for me) the “I’m exercising lots I need to eat” is just my way of trying to justify food intake that isn’t necessary.