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I started with IF in the first week of December weighing 120kgs. I coupled IF with 15-20 minutes of cycling on a trainer ata decent pace.
I checked my weight on 24th December and it had gone down to 112.5 kgs. Meanwhile my IF had turned into OMAD.
After 24th December, I haven't been able to do any exercises but continued with OMAD. I wasn't expecting any more weight loss as apart from exercising my day doesn't involve much movement during these winter days. So I was pleasantly surprised that I had lost 2 more kgs when I checked my weight last on 24th Jan. I will add cycling back to the mix as the extreme winters are nearly over and will also add moderate strength training to the mix as well as I have bought some barbells and weights so I can train at home easily.

Keto diet works best in small doses, mouse study finds.

Highlighting few points from the article -

This is a study in mouse and they do acknowledge that controlled studies are needed for humans. In yet another study (need to dig up that reference), they suggest that mice develop deleterious effects after about a week on keto diet. Considering a typical life span of mouse of 7-yrs, that might work out to a human equivalent of 3-months.

However, the big difference is we as humans do intervene time and again to take necessary precautions and also we can occasionally "cheat" the keto diet with or without full cognizance. Poor lab mice has no such freedom! So what theoretically works out as 3-months, could in principle may as well extend to 3-yrs (I think).

My guess is that once the objectives of keto diet has been met, it might be best to slowly slide back towards a "balanced diet." Furthermore, the keto diet itself could be practiced with some interruptions in between - subjectively, as various body types adjust to this metabolism.

Docs on the forum could throw more light on this.

Just wanted to thank all the contributors, from a silent reader.

I Been going through this thread since long and have always thought I should also start dieting but never bothered. I always had excuses not to diet stupid:.

I eat a lot. I eat 4 meals a day (break fast, lunch, evening snacks and dinner and sometimes chips etc post midnight). Since I had gastritis issue, I could never keep my stomach empty as that would trigger headache and resulted in saridons to be popped.

Looking at reviews here, 10 days back I started IF for 2 days just to see if i can survive. I somehow managed by eating cucumber etc. By day 3 I stopped having gastritis issues and subsequent headaches which means i could stay on empty stomach. Hence I gradually shifted to OMED on day 4. Now on OMED completed 6 days on it.

I cannot believe how wonderfully it has worked. I have lost ~5Kgs in 10 days. I have absolutely zero gas issues. Did not have headache since a week even though I’m living on empty stomach. Looks like over eating lead to all those issues and weight gain as complimentary.

I just eat one meal (lunch) by 6PM and that’s it. Never felt weak or out of stamina. Looks like I never needed 4-5 meals in the 1st place for the sedentary lifestyle I have (IT).

May more weeks to go before I hit the desired number



i know, numbers looks awesome isn't it? :D

EXCELLENT PROGRESS clap:
You may also want to share what you eat that keeps you going for next 24 hours.
I agree IT life is sedentary, to say the least.
Did you try throwing in some exercise too?

:)
To list what i have:
Morning:
1 Big glass of ACV (1 TSP) water
1 Big glass of Lemon and honey mix.
Small cup of tea with half TSP sugar.

By 10 AM, a small glass of jeera water and a small glass of cilantro water (heated separately for 10 minutes). - This actually keeps my tummy full.


By 12 a cup of green tea - i have it since it is there in the office pantry, no other reason.

Keep drinking water when ever i feel hungry and keep myself busy with work.

Push lunch time till 6pm . It usually would be 3 big chapathis and some curry (veg, non-veg).

after that its just water till i sleep (really dont need to eat after those chapathis). And then repeat :)

I do have a treadmill and a elliptical cycle which bought couple of years ago which actively works as cloth hanger. Yet to dust it off and start using. So as of now no exercise at all. Hopefully will start from Monday which definitely will give a boost to overall process.

Err .. How is this IF when you are consuming Honey and sugar early in the morning?

that morning part was the routine since few years. Do not want to change that during diet too.

By the way its OMED now. 1tsp honey and half sugar (in 24 hours) should really not matter when there is only one meal that is going in.

I shifted from 3tsp for a cup to tea to half is nothing short of a miracle :).
So exceptions can be considered.

My rule was not to go overboard with the diet where in one will lose interest in couple of days, instead make it a comfortable one so that one can push it to few months. And once pushed for few months can very well be pushed as a lifestyle later.

honey and sugar that I have might add 40-50 calories which is like nothing to 3-4000 calories before.

More than the calories I think it has to do with your insulin levels going down to zero during the fasting hours. That which; even a single dose of sugar may over ride.

I think fasted state running can be more relaxing given you now fully tap into your fat resources rather than sugar. Again it may depend person to person. On a fed state even after 3-4 hours, its not easy to run. Because you may still be carrying that extra baggage which may impede with running.

Thats what I meant actually. The benefits could possibly from the massive reduction of intake specially when there is a lot of excess fat already. For benefits of IF to kick in (as in autofagy etc) the Insulin has to go down and kept low- which is not possible if one takes sugar or other calories during fasted phase. Anyways as long as it works, one can call it all they want. We want results and for that we need to follow what we can stick for life.

In my case, I have now modified my schedule a bit.

Monday to friday- 16:8. Fasting from 6:30/7 PM to 1130 AM/1200 Noon.

Saturday - lunch at 12/1230 Snack at 4PM/5PM.
Sunday- Lunch around 11/1130 Snack at 4PM/5PM.

This gives me 16-17 hrs fasting on most week days and 18-19 Hrs fasting on Sundays and Mondays.

Slowly will take off the snack on Saturday/Sunday getting the fast to be over 20 hrs.
There will be exceptions to this on weekends due to social life. But I will not fret over that as long as I am able to manage other days well.
Best part is that, this works well with my job which involves a lot of traveling also.

The great thing is, I now enjoy fasting. I Am never craving for food, but when I eat, I do realise 'when' I am full (never used to happen before> bloating after eating) and enjoy the food more.


Thanks. That was my reasoning as well. To think that earlier even the thought of a 12 hr fast for blood work used to look daunting. Now I am able to run 10Kms after fasting for 18 hrs!

This is the reason I am most thankful about when following IF. My cravings have stopped completely and my portion sizes have dropped even when I am only eating one meal a day. People who know me are literally flabbergasted when they see me not eat anything the whole day and still only manage to eat a lot less when I have my meal, as compared to earlier, when I ised to go through a whole Domino's cheese burst on my own. Even I can't explain it to them, how easy it feels and how, at least for me, it doesn't take any will power to fast for so long

Thanks for that. I am a noob when it comes to these things.
If a spoon of honey can reduce the effect then it sure is not worth consuming during fasting hours.
Will not add from tomorrow.
As long as the target is achieved. :)

I have started to do my IF+LCHF from Monday.
Current weight is 94Kg and target is to reduce 10Kg and later to reduce till 75Kg in long term.

IF is 16:8 (Fasting from 9PM to 1PM and lunch at 1 PM, dinner at 8.30 PM). I go to bed at 10 PM, after a 10-15 mins walk after dinner and wakes up at 6.00 am

I have started to do walk+jog for half an hour in the morning.
I am surprised that I don't feel any tiredness or carvings during fasting and feels more energetic than my usual.

I have a query : Do I have to take any supplements / multivitamins to provide essential minerals to our body ? If so , what should I take ?

:thumbs up

I would recommend to get a blood test done including B12 and D vitamin to understand where you stand. Usually, it is these two vitamins that we Indians have deficiency of.

Thank you ! I will get it done on this weekend.
I asked this because my friend who did an LCHF diet used to take Zincovit. I guess it is better to consult before having any medicine.

Please ensure your maintenance level and daily macros are met, this is VERY VERY IMPORTANT. Losing weight is okay, but losing too much weight or having an imbalanced diet can have even more disastrous consequences than being over weight.

Counting Marcos you ask? It is not just counting calories in and calories out, but it tracks your carb, protein and fat intake, and all of these are necessary and important.

Please invest in an app like MyFitnessPal and input your food items to see how healthy your diet is. You have Indian options also available but they spam you to death with ads so I have given up on them.

Also drink a lot of water.

Finally, exercise is key, one can be on a higher BMI but with better vitals by working out than be 'thin' but not work out.

Edit - I popped your diet in my tracker and your macros are absolutely unhealthy and unsustainable, please add a variety of foods to ensure you meet your protein and fat needs. FAT is not bad in itself and your body needs it. Carbs you would be getting from the chappatis anyway.

Plan your weight loss, the ideal maximum recommended weight loss / week is around 1 Kg, 4 kgs / month thus is the maximum recommended safe zone loss (unless you are doing some extreme fasting under medical care)

You seem to be losing far more.

Please do this in a scientific manner as I have seen my friends and relatives do things like this and then fall ill / seek expensive medical treatment later, and quite simply fall of the diet as this offers no variety and again, will not be sustainable.

If I may, for better weight loss, eat earlier, a 90 min interval is not ideal. That being said, if you are active in the day, and your body has a higher than average BMR, it should not affect you as much, but in general give a 2-2.5 hr window if you can.

On supplements, don't take them blindly, do a full fledged blood test and then consult a doctor.

I am a gym rat and lift a lot, the supplements I take,

1) Vitamin D - I was severely deficient, like non existent Vit D 2 years ago, now thanks to supplements, I am at just 'deficient' levels. Here, take a loading dose of 60000 strength every week for 4 weeks and then taper it off with a 2,000 strength dose daily. If however you get enough sun daily, this might not even be needed

2) Vitamin B12 and B9 - I cover this with a general multi vitamin supplement, pick it up OTC

3) Iron - I consume Chelated Iron as I also used to and continue to have deficiencies if I stop this supplement

In addition to these I have,

4) Magnesium

5) Omega fish oil (am a vegetarian and this is entirely lacking in my diet)

Round all this out with probiotics.

Now, you might not need all of this, but knowing our Indian diets, I would guess 1, 2 & 3 you might have a deficiency in.

However, please do a comprehensive blood test every year to check, consume supplements and then course correct as needed annually.