Low-carb hack #4 – try intermittent fasting

October 9 2016 by in Helpful tips, Intermittent fasting

How do you make it simpler to stick to a low-carb lifestyle in the long run? Making low carb simple is our mission, and here’s another practical hack that you could start using today.

Try intermittent fasting

There are few methods that are as effective for weight loss as intermittent fasting, especially when combined with a low-carb diet. It causes insulin, the fat-storing hormone, to drop drastically while fat burning is accelerated. Adding intermittent fasting is like turbocharging a low-carb diet.

Many people find it much easier to do than expected. They also find that they’re not very hungry.

So how do you get started?

Options

There are many methods that you can try – everything from short fasts, e.g. a 16-hour fast, to longer fasts that last for several days. Dr. Jason Fung gives a few examples of fasting regimens in these posts:

If you want our full guide, here it is:

Intermittent Fasting for Beginners

Have you tried intermittent fasting? Feel free to share your experiences in the comments below.

Low-carb tips and guides

Earlier

Diet Doctor Low-Carb Hacks #3 – Eat Less of Dairy Products and Nuts

Diet Doctor Low-Carb Hacks #2 – Get Enough Sleep

Diet Doctor Low-Carb Hacks #1

Low Carb for Beginners

How to Lose Weight

Videos

Advanced Low-Carb Tips! – Interview with Dr. Eric Westman

7 comments

1
Ruby
October 9 2016
Great timing on your article. I've spent the last two weeks trying to get my head around not eating when I'm not hungry but my real discovery is I have been using intermittent fasting without being conscious of it.
I started LCHF back in June with the two week challenge, and lost 9kgs. I struggled losing any more weight, but still followed the principles, eat when hungry, stop when full, and embrace fat. I had too much dairy at first (cream in coffee!) and too much fruit. I kept reading the 'Get Started' information, and closely paid attention to hunger signals. Breakfast was the first to go, in favour of two teaspoons of single cream in an insulated coffee mug. I put it on my desk at work and waited to feel hungry. Almost two hours later, I felt a tiny bit hungry. Amazing, usually I would have forced myself to eat breakfast on waking.
I've noted the times I feel hungry and times I don't. It's about 16 hours not hungry. So 16/8 as you call it. Even then, when I eat it takes less to feel full. I dropped the high amount of meat I was eating as my hypertension numbers were 150 over 117 (no meds) and today it is 134 over 79 before I take my medication - my GP has me on Ramipril, Amlodipine and Indapamide which I now hope will be gradually reduced and then discontinued soon!
I have so much energy after I fast it can keep me awake at night? I now go for a long walk after work, before an evening meal, or if time allows I exercise gently at the gym. After battling depression, fatigue, super morbid obesity, hypothyroidism (now cured!) anaemia (cured) vit D deficiency (cured) I think IF and LCHF has saved my life. My GP keeps trying to give me even more medication, and mentioned Beta Blockers when I presented with super high readings back in June. Not anymore. So happy I took up the membership.
Thank you, all at DD.
2
Mark McCoskey
October 9 2016 2
I've fallen into the rhythm of a 23 hour fast with my single daily VLC meal being within the 1 hour window. Works wonderfully.
3
Tanja
October 11 2016 1
I'm on my first 7-days-fast, day 3 now and I feel very good. I have been fasting intermittedly over the past few years, sometimes 16:8, sometimes 36hrs to 42hrs.
For most of the time I follow a ketogenic diet, but sometimes i indulge, like last week, there were a few occasions where I couldn't resist and loaded up on carbs and junkfood. The result were major issues in my digestive system, so I use the fasting now as a method to heal my upset gut.
4
C
April 26 2018
Most dieters on a low carb / keto diet (eg. Atkins 20) have less hunger (search on "simple carbohydrates hunger leptin"), so some sort of fasting makes sense. Dunno why the two aren't mentioned more often together!
5
D
December 20 2018
I have been eating low carb on a 22/2 eating cycle for a few weeks and have not lost an ounce. In fact, my clothes feel tighter and my blood work has gone haywire. Help would be appreciated.

Reply: #6
6
Reply to comment #5 by D
Kristin Parker Team Diet Doctor
December 22 2018
For some people, fasting actually raises blood sugar. Try a longer eating window like 16:8 and see how that works for you.
7
Laura
March 27 2019
Hey, I've tried lots of different IF windows - if I do 6 hour eating window or less I don't lose weight. I read up on it and I think it is linked to there is only so much your body can absorb in one intake of food - all excess is therefore stored. so 1500 calories over 2 hours you store much more than 1500 calories over 8 hours, where over 8 hours your body is using it because you've depleted your stores. Hope this helps.