Those of you trying to extend your fast on July may find this useful. It's simple, you just make a promise to yourself to regularly try new foods.
It can be an ingredient you have never eaten before, or a dish that's unfamiliar; or a dish/ingredient you have sampled, but never prepared yourself.
You can do it every day, every second day, every Saturday or whatever works for you.
So if you'd like to give it a try, just say your goal below, and maybe suggest a few foods you would like to try. Keep a list of foods as you think of them, and tick them off as you try them.
Background: A year ago I did a month or so of ADF (alternate day fasting). TSN really helped me get through the fasting day by concentrating on the new experience tomorrow, and it made me feel glad to have a day off eating and meal planning, as one new dish every two days was plenty. 🙄 Maybe an exciting supper every day (or second day) might do the same during the 20 fasting hours.
Written by
Subtle_badger
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
roasted celeriac steak with white bean puree; courgettes fried with a bit of butter and garlic; green salad, olive oil dressing. (very specific; I must have cut and pasted this from somewhere)
Some of them I've not heard of but I love celeriac weather it mash or chips just love it. Xx
I tried something different this evening that was cabbage, broccoli fried and add a teaspoon of marmite it was amazing but you either love it or hate it xx
I've never heard of that, but I would eat broccoli with absolutely anything, cooked absolutely any way. It's my fav veg!.. My favourite way to cook broccoli/sprouts is blanched with boiling water for a minute, then stir fried in a hot frying pan with olive oil, chilli, garlic... then a wee squeeze of lemon juice at the end. Delicious. And if you're feeling decadent.. add some toasted flaked almonds as well.I will debate with myself whether to try the marmite combination!
This was my lunch I've just had there baby gem hearts with a drop of hm mayonnaise with a sprinkle of sea salt and chilli with my hm toast and 2 slice bacon grilled xx
I think this is a great idea -- I remember you suggesting it to me recently. I think with the way things are going for me at the moment, I may be ready in a few weeks or so to try ADF. Daily 19-20 hour fast seem to be working well at the moment, so when I hit an obstacle, I will mix it up with ADF as you recommended.I've also never hear of baked radishes! Did they taste good?
I grated up some daikon and carrot and used salt and squeezing to extract some water. Added an egg to make a couple of patties and fried them up in lard, finished in the oven. A tasty alternative to a potato cake.
That’s sounds great!— I’ve just had daikon arrive in the groceries. I had no idea had big it would be! I imagined it about the size of a carrot. I’ll have plenty to try patties and baked. — hope you enjoyed your patties
Hi SB, You've really got me thinking about ADF now. I hope you don't mind if I ask you a few practical questions?... probably I should ask you over on the fasting forum, but here seems to be a good place! -- I know the usual debate about letting your appetite dictate how long you're fasting/"not eating" for, and I agree in general that is a great approach. But I am now on a mission to get my weight down faster. So, yes, I'm focusing on it in a more planned way, because fasting really seems to help me do that, and painlessly too.I was wondering did you set yourself specific times, as in a 36 hour fast/12 hours eating window, or whether you just let it happen as instinctively as you could?
On the days when you were eating, did you stick to very low carb, or just low carb, 2 or 3 meals, snacks, or did you not feel very hungry?
Also, did you do ADF on a continuous rota over the course of 2days, or did you have some days where you didn't fast?
Sorry, one more question, how long did you do this for, and what was the deciding factor to go back to eating at some point every day?
Really interested to know more about your experiences of doing this.
Apologies if you've already answered these questions before elsewhere!
My version of ADF could be called 36:12; I ate nothing one day, then 3 meals the next.
ADF can't be entirely instinctual, but fasting is not just about instinct. The food environment messes with that. I am sure our pre-agricultural ancestors didn't eat every day, even in times of plenty, because the hunters were unsuccessful or the foraging scarce. I am never in the situation where there is no food (there is a co-op open 6-23 10 minutes from my home), so not eating has to be a conscious choice. But it's not a hard choice, as I know there will be food tomorrow, as my wily ancestors knew tomorrow's hunt would do better or a reliable source of roots they could walk to the next day.
I ate my normal diet the next day, so low carb/keto. But nutritious, well planned meals. I concentrated on protein, as I wanted to maximise my intake.
I did it 7 weeks (mid May to mid July finishing off with a 60 hour fast ending on July 10 to reach an artificial goal I set myself of 20kg total weight loss. Since then I have kept my weight under 70kg, mostly towards 65 but currently I am closer to 70kg.
It seemed quite sustainable if it was required, but I am glad I was able to end it. I would do it again, but hopefully will not need to. Getting away from the weightloss forum and it's weekly weigh-ins was a boon for my mental health.
Thanks so much for your reply. It's really helpful, and I'm totally in agreement about "pre-agricultural ancestors"-- it's a mental reference I keep in my head to assess my eating patterns/meals, to rationalise to myself what I'm doing.You did so well achieving that goal in that time, and to be maintaining since. It's a serious achievement.
I'm still being frustrated in my efforts to increase length of fasting. I think the only way to get to the root of it would be with blood test/monitoring throughout a fast.. but I wouldn't really know what I'm looking at anyway unfortunately.
I get to about 21 hours, feeling great, then get almost panic attack symptoms.. even though not thinking/feeling anxious. Heart rate/blood pressure fine though. Hoping I'll be able to gently keep increasing the length so I can try ADF soon to speed things up. 4 kg gone over the last 2 weeks at least, so the increase from 16:8 to 19:5 is at least helping.
Thanks again
This is a great idea, especially for anyone feeling like the foods they're 'allowed' to eat are getting samey. And great for the gut health too, as different microbes prefer different kinds of fibre and protein, so getting variety in the diet helps diversity = better health overall including weight management!
Now to think of things to try... I am stealing and amending ur list Badger!
Lots of veggies and herbs from Asian and African cuisine I still need to try - will look some up later
I was watching one on the Dr Berg videos that Cosmo501 posted on the other thread. He mentioned cod liver - I can't believe I have never tried it. I'm going to order some.... it comes in tins and isn't too expensive. Excellent source of Omega 3. Has anyone tried it?
I'm very keen to try some now, so I ordered some to arrive tomorrow. First I'm going to try some on it's own then I'm going to have it with eggs and asparagus (and maybe anchovies depending on how strong the cod liver is...). Then I might make a cod liver pate for some football canapés.
This has me intrigued. I've been considering doing some fasting for a while, starting small but to be honest lack the discipline 🤔 the idea of actively trying new things sounds really fun too though... I might keep my eye on this thread while I ponder a little more whether this suits me... I find my days are very varied so while some days it's easier to delay breakfast other days I'm so active in the morning that I struggle if I don't eat. And it feels like if it isn't a routine then there's no point....? Like skipping breakfast twice a week can hardly be called intermittent fasting can it?
I think we can separate TSN from IF. You can happily try something new whatever your mode of eating. I think most will eat better if they try new foods, especially plants and organ meats.
As for fasting, I think anytime you do it, it can have value. Fasting typically lowers your blood glucose. Glucose damages your organs, so getting it down has value even every time you do it, even if it's not every day.
There wasn't actually much in the tin - it was at least 50% oil (it's tinned in it's own natural oil). I read that half a tin is the suggested portion size, but when I looked at it I though "no, I'm going to eat the lot". I had it with a bowl of green leaves and cold green veg and a tiny amount of the oil from the tin made into a salad dressing. I have to say it was a mistake to eat all the liver and I'm very pleased I only ate a dribble of the oil. I think it might be the most satiating thing I have ever eaten! A few hours on and I can't imagine ever feeling hungry again. Very strange.
It is not very fishy at all - if I had eaten it without knowing what it was I would not have guessed it was fish offal. It was like a very rich and buttery chicken liver parfait.
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
want to try LCHF but don't know where to start
New to this
Ketogenic Advice please?