Very low carb days or IF days

[Pink4eva]

Hi guys, I am doing IF and LCHF, I fast any where from 16/8, 18/6, alternated day , longest fast has been 68hrs. My question is, for weight loss, will it be more beneficial to have complete fast, with only water, days or to have v low carb days,e.g., only eating cheese, cream in coffee and water, so virtually no carbs?

[Jack2019]

I've been doing 16:8 and low carbs daily for years now, and the although my health has improved I never lost more than a few pounds, I have about 30 to lose. It wasn't until I tried almost no carbs that my weight shifted. I have lost 10 pounds which tells me that I am insulin resistant so I need to do this to restore normal-ish metabolism. So my vote would be low or no carb. daily until you start dropping some pounds.

[Pink4eva in reply to Jack2019]

Thank you for responding Jack

[Gnomic in reply to Jack2019]

I’m glad you posted that as I’ve been doing 16:8 intermittent fasting for two months now and haven’t lost any weight but do feel well. I don’t eat many carbs either. Maybe rice once a week. Not sure why

[Subtle_badger]

It's clean vs dirty fasting. I am wresting with it too.

I believe the fat won't push you out of ketosis, however your body will burn the dietary fat first, so a teaspoon of cream means 15g less body fat burned. Also eating anything will (apparently) end autophagy and also stop your stomach resting, losing some of the non-weightloss benefits of fasting.

If you can do clean fasting with little pain, I would suggest doing that. If you find the cream and cheese make it much easier, try doing that and see if you still lose weight. If it works, and is easier, do that.

I haven't decided which way to go myself. I sometimes eat a gherkin: 4cal and 1/2g of carbs, I don't think it will ruin anything, and it feels like eating food! Also the vinegar has benefits.

[Pink4eva in reply to Subtle_badger]

Thank you for responding. I think I will try alternate day 'dirty fasting' for a couple of weeks and see how I get on. My weight STS this week which was disappointing.

[TheAwfulToad Ambassador]

Honestly: I doubt it will make much difference, if any at all.

Your body can only burn fat at a certain maximum rate - that is, your fat cells can only deliver a certain maximum power output. Trained athletes who are fat-adapted can obtain 10+ METs entirely from fat storage, but for "beginners" emerging from an insulin-resistant state it may only be in the ballpark of 1 MET (approximately 1kCal/kg/hr; say, 60kCal/hr for the average person). That places an upper bound on your maximum rate of weight loss: a kilo or so over the course of a week.

However "fat burning" is not how LCHF works. Fat is flowing through your fat cells all the time - how fast it's being burned has little or nothing to do with the amount of fat that your body maintains as a static reserve. If you place yourself in a famine situation by "eating less", your body will tend to maintain more than it otherwise would as a survival strategy. It's true that this is less likely to happen on an LCHF diet, but if you're finding that your weight has stalled, it could be that you're eating too little.

I would suggest forgetting about macronutrients completely and just try to enjoy your food. Avoid carby stuff as much as possible, and use butter, cheese etc for cooking, but your primary goal should be to have filling, tasty meals on your plate. Use vegetables to add volume to your meal (that is, to replace the "missing" starches).

[Missdoubleyou]

I think you have to do what suits you. I couldn’t fast personally and don’t see the point when low carb works. And remember this isn’t a race, it’s a lifestyle 😀