Hey y'all! Anyone and everyone is welcome to jump in and join us.

This is the Intermittent Fasting DAily Menu/Results/Accountability Thread. It's where a few of us (or many) are going to log in and encourage each other while we experiment with our own IF plans. You can list or talk about anything--not just your food. I look forward to adding in HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) and core exercises to my walking plan while practicing IF. So expect to hear about that too. hehe I expect some of us will talk about the known IF side-effects like insomnia, circadian rhythm disturbance, etc. It's all good! Let's hack this IF mofo! mkay?

There is not any 1 specific IF plan--there are so many to choose from, so this is a BYOIFP (bring-your-own-IF-plan) and join the fun! This is the thread where we'll post our daily menus and maybe some piccys at times! We can discuss progress, issues we might notice, look at how we may want to refine our own personal plans. I do think you should be healed from surgery and have your doctor's and RD's blessings to try something like this and you should do a ton of research and reading about Intermittent Fasting.

IF isn't only about weight loss, it's about taking specific measures to limit either quantities, calories, macros, or sometimes only consciously altering eating windows/schedules in order to effect metabolic change and reduce inflammation and improve health markers.

Ok, let's do this thang!!!

25 minutes ago, Sheribear68 said:

I try to make sure I have nothing after 7pm and I take an 800mcg Chromium supplement with my evening meal.

Do you notice a difference taking the Chromium supplement? Does it help with your hunger/cravings?

On 04/18/2019 at 10:48, FluffyChix said:

I think TRE is a good thing for most of us as long as we're meeting our Protein needs on average each day whatever that definition is? One thing you might do is use some Premier Protein in coffee-just try 1 ounce or 1 1/2 oz. That way you are still drinking a thin liquid, but it's helping meet your protein needs! For the longest time I would do that in the early morning and then wouldn't eat until 11.

Please feel free to jump in here even if you can't IF yet.

I actually started adding in 2-3 ounces fairlife milk to the coffee.
For some reason, any of the protein drinks leave me with a slightly queasy stomach. I think it’s the artificial sweeteners as I’ve not yet found one (besides small doses of stevia) that doesn’t leave me with an upset tummy. And that was before surgery. Since surgery it’s gotten worse to the point where even smelling the protein shake made me want to run for the bathroom.
I’ve tried just the plain milk in the am, but even that is too thick early in the day.

It’s okay.... I’m learning from this thread and will eventually be far along enough to jump in

2 minutes ago, Sheribear68 said:

I actually started adding in 2-3 ounces fairlife milk to the coffee.
For some reason, any of the Protein Drinks leave me with a slightly queasy stomach. I think it’s the artificial sweeteners as I’ve not yet found one (besides small doses of stevia) that doesn’t leave me with an upset tummy. And that was before surgery. Since surgery it’s gotten worse to the point where even smelling the Protein Shake made me want to run for the bathroom.
I’ve tried just the plain milk in the am, but even that is too thick early in the day.

It’s okay.... I’m learning from this thread and will eventually be far along enough to jump in

Awesome that you are figuring things out and what works for you! We're all so brilliantly unique!!
Good that you are figuring out how to up your protein game a smidge! Do you hydrate really well before drinking anything?

45 minutes ago, FluffyChix said:

Congrats!!! IKR? The longest I've been able to do was 42hours and I didn't feel so great. I kept worrying about my blood pressure and maybe being malnourished? My bp went very high.

But I'm losing, so I just keep working on building my fasting muscle.

How do you feel? Welcome back btw!!

Thank you! I have been hiding after a very bad March---(damn you disney world), but I got off the 8 pounds I gained plus 1, so all is not lost.

I felt ok, really. I probably could of went the full 48 or at least 36. Just my anxiety got the better of me.

Plus I have been dealing with some phlebitis in my left leg (two spots) plus this morning it looks like I am getting another clot on my right forearm. I have no clue what is going on. My doctor didn't think much of it, but I went two weeks ago when it was just one clot. I am going to follow up next Thursday. But from everything I read, fasting can only help clots, so onward I go!

On 04/18/2019 at 10:57, shoregirl75 said:

Do you notice a difference taking the Chromium supplement? Does it help with your hunger/cravings?

I just started it this week.
I was reading dr fungs book on IF and it was mentioned that chromium is good to help with getting levels of insulin down so i decided to start taking it with evening meal to prolong the benefits of my 16hr fast.
Honestly I don’t get very hungry yet so I can’t say as to whether or not it’s decreasing hunger.

On 04/18/2019 at 11:01, FluffyChix said:

Awesome that you are figuring things out and what works for you! We're all so brilliantly unique!!

Good that you are figuring out how to up your Protein game a smidge! Do you hydrate really well before drinking anything?

I do. In fact, I make sure I have at least 32 ounces water before I eat anything for the day.
I think that’s one reason why I’ve started skipping breakfast.
In the early weeks, I was so paranoid about protein requirements that I was forcing down 3 meals and I noticed my water intake was suffering.
Now that I embrace the fact that (for now) a morning meal just isn’t a good idea, I drink like a maniac in the morning and then slow down as the food starts to come in.

I just posted this in my February surgery thread, but I’ll repost here.
This is my lunch I just made: salad mix, cheddar, blue cheese and a single meatball.
This has about 15gm protein and I’ll drink 8 ounces fairlife for another 13gm between lunch and dinner.
By dinner time, I can hold about 2x the food from lunch, so I’ll make up most of my protein by then and repeat tomorrow.

Yum! That looks and sounds great!! Great! Now I'm hungry! haha! I'm gonna eat between 1-2 today. Today is a feast day for me, so looking to really max protein and will have 2 meals + small snack (salad). Lunch will be a can of sardines in water + yellow mustard and a hb egg with maybe a couple slices of cucumber. Dinner we're going out for Mexican and I haven't decided yet on my poison meal. LOL. It's a new place but it looks like there are really healthy choices there, so maybe not so bad!

On 04/18/2019 at 11:16, FluffyChix said:

Yum! That looks and sounds great!! Great! Now I'm hungry! haha! I'm gonna eat between 1-2 today. Today is a feast day for me, so looking to really max Protein and will have 2 meals + small snack (salad). lunch will be a can of sardines in Water + yellow mustard and a hb egg with maybe a couple slices of cucumber. dinner we're going out for Mexican and I haven't decided yet on my poison meal. LOL. It's a new place but it looks like there are really healthy choices there, so maybe not so bad!

Went out for Mexican once since surgery because of friends in town and I ordered fajitas and ate just the meat, veg, and cheese and a small bit of sour cream.
If I recall, the leftovers made 2 more meals.

13 minutes ago, Sheribear68 said:

Went out for Mexican once since surgery because of friends in town and I ordered fajitas and ate just the meat, veg, and cheese and a small bit of sour cream.
If I recall, the leftovers made 2 more meals.

Yeah, that's what we usually do, and we probably still will and I'll get a cup of tortilla soup no tortillas. Then will just have a bite or two of his fajitas and guac/pico. Usually does me. But they have some yummy fish dishes like grilled fish with chimichurri and veggies and avocado. (Come to Mama!) And also have a good looking salmon salad, so will have to decide on the fly. Will likely be good, cuz I'm at a new low today and I don't want to completely screw it up.

1 hour ago, YeahOkay31 said:

Hello IF gang!

Has anyone managed to get to 48 hours? I just finished the Obesity Code (great book) and I have managed a two 20 fasts and just finished a 33 hour fast. I could have went longer since I didn't feel any adverse effects or hunger but I dunno--I freaked out. Like I am terrified I am going to suddenly pass out from an electrolyte imbalance or something will go amiss with my BP (I have hypertension). I need some IF balls, people!!!

How long have you been doing IF? And did it help you lose your 8lbs!? That's fantastic, btw! Congrats on getting back and getting right back to beeswax!!! How is it doing on your hunger? Hope you'll stick around with us!

Enjoying a cup of my Bergamot and Green Tea. YUM!! It's working its magic to take the edge off my hunger and rule in the head stuff. Something about hot liquids. Are they soothing, appetite suppressing to y'all?

16 minutes ago, FluffyChix said:

How long have you been doing IF? And did it help you lose your 8lbs!? That's fantastic, btw! Congrats on getting back and getting right back to beeswax!!! How is it doing on your hunger? Hope you'll stick around with us!

I have been doing IF since April 4 and, yep, that is how I lost the 8 pounds. When I came back from Disney I was so carb and sugar dependent I could not just go back to my old routine without failing miserably each day--which by itself was very low in sugar and less than 75 g total carbs per day/1100-1200 calories. The cravings were still unreal. Plus with two little ones that don't have weight issues and tons of easter candy about there is no way for me to purge my house of cheat foods. I needed a way to turn off the cravings and IF did that while still eating about 55-60 total carbs per day.

The only issue I find is getting all my protein and calories in is hard as heck. My restriction ain't great at a year out but it is still there. I can get in 1000 calories on a 16:8 but the 20:4 is proving really impossible. I switch to whole fat yogurt and been lacing it with walnuts, but I still fall short most days. Biggest concern is that I drop my BMR below 1000 cal and then I am screwed! Right now it seems to be about 1400 cal which I think I can live with long term.

6 minutes ago, YeahOkay31 said:

I have been doing IF since April 4 and, yep, that is how I lost the 8 pounds. When I came back from Disney I was so carb and sugar dependent I could not just go back to my old routine without failing miserably each day--which by itself was very low in sugar and less than 75 g total carbs per day/1100-1200 calories. The cravings were still unreal. Plus with two little ones that don't have weight issues and tons of easter candy about there is no way for me to purge my house of cheat foods. I needed a way to turn off the cravings and IF did that while still eating about 55-60 total carbs per day.

The only issue I find is getting all my Protein and calories in is hard as heck. My restriction ain't great at a year out but it is still there. I can get in 1000 calories on a 16:8 but the 20:4 is proving really impossible. I switch to whole fat yogurt and been lacing it with walnuts, but I still fall short most days. Biggest concern is that I drop my BMR below 1000 cal and then I am screwed! Right now it seems to be about 1400 cal which I think I can live with long term.

Read more about Dr. F. He says that if you do IF and then also have feast days, you won't reduce your BMR. Any calorie deficit is accessible through the ketones (fat burning) + the autophagy (protein recycling).

Try to work toward getting your carbs <50g total per day or net (veggies/fiber) to 25-35ish? Sounds like you're doing it.

I'd also go back to having a protein drink during your eating window until you figure things out? Yay that you still have restriction and that you can have your triggers in the house! Tipping my hat to you!!

3 hours ago, YeahOkay31 said:

Hello IF gang!

Has anyone managed to get to 48 hours? I just finished the Obesity Code (great book) and I have managed a two 20 fasts and just finished a 33 hour fast. I could have went longer since I didn't feel any adverse effects or hunger but I dunno--I freaked out. Like I am terrified I am going to suddenly pass out from an electrolyte imbalance or something will go amiss with my BP (I have hypertension). I need some IF balls, people!!!

I have not tried... Yet. I may one day.

1 minute ago, GreenTealael said:

I have not tried... Yet. I may one day.

How are you enjoying life right now lady? Are you doing well?