Help Needed with IF Routine

Barry Cole · 12-14-2007, 08:36 AM

I have issues with sugar and am hoping that IF can help.
So, three weeks ago (the day before Thanksgiving) I started a regime of IF. 20/4hrs is my reference, but with work, kids and their activities, it gos from 18/6 to usually 22/2. At first, it went well and I noticed improvements. Then in the last week, I started getting heartburn, slightly painful bloated feeling after gorging, some acid reflux plus I'm very tired. Yesterday, I was feeling so awful I broke down and ate a Butterfinger. I felt better almost immediately.

Should I try more calorie-dense food when I eat, a larger window, or should I throw in another meal?

Mike ODonnell · 12-14-2007, 09:16 AM

Not knowing your eating habbits I would suggest the following steps:

1) Switch over all day eating to Paleo foods, avoid breads, sugars, grains. Most Heartburn is not too much stomach acid but a lack of with undigested protein emmiting fumes that burn your esophagus...or not enough stomach acid. You can try adding some apple cider vinegar (1 tablespoon in water) with your meals. Also your food combinations will make a huge difference. Protein and vegetables mix well....protein and starches can be an issue (is for me!).

2) Add in IF slowly, otherwise too much all at once is not going to do much except make your blood sugar crash and make you feel sick. Its not a race, so ease into it. Try 2 days a week only, on those days just don't eat till 6pm. The other days keep a normal schedule with high quality paleo foods. See how that goes. Work your way into a more daily routine if you like but it doesnt have to be daily as the biggest issues is people really don't know how to eat enough in a small window.

So cleaner eating and slow IF routine is the best steps. Again...not a race and you will see great benefit in just 2x a week. Get your health down first....and then experiment later with other types but life is supposed to be variable and changing...not a set routine.

Garrett Smith · 12-14-2007, 09:45 AM

Larger feeding window, especially at the start, especially if you have sugar issues.

Bo Bolund · 12-15-2007, 04:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barry Cole

I have issues with sugar and am hoping that IF can help.
So, three weeks ago (the day before Thanksgiving) I started a regime of IF. 20/4hrs is my reference, but with work, kids and their activities, it gos from 18/6 to usually 22/2. At first, it went well and I noticed improvements. Then in the last week, I started getting heartburn, slightly painful bloated feeling after gorging, some acid reflux plus I'm very tired. Yesterday, I was feeling so awful I broke down and ate a Butterfinger. I felt better almost immediately.

Should I try more calorie-dense food when I eat, a larger window, or should I throw in another meal?

Try to reduce your salt intake and increase potassium intake.

Chris Forbis · 12-15-2007, 07:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bo Bolund

Try to reduce your salt intake and increase potassium intake.

If you're worried about potassium, you might want to supplement Mg as well. I know Eades wrote about Mg intake being important to Na/K balance.

Barry Cole · 12-18-2007, 06:38 AM

Thanks, guys. I increased my window so that It's more like 14/10 or 16/8 and I feel better even though there is sometimes 2 hr stretches in my window when I can't eat.
Why does this seem more difficult now than when I started? When I started, I didn't miss breakfast or mid-morning snacks at all, now I get very hungry before my first meal.
It also seems like if I eat sugar in a window, I get my symptoms back and feel worse.

Jay Cohen · 12-18-2007, 07:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barry Cole

It also seems like if I eat sugar in a window, I get my symptoms back and feel worse.

Uh......don't eat sugar. It's truly the white death, more addictive then cocaine. Just ask the rodents that were offered both as a reward, they preferred the sugar........

William Hunter · 12-18-2007, 07:56 AM

Well, there's certainly not a lot of hard data on any type of IF protocol. However, I believe almost everyone who has experimented with it agrees that you have to focus on eating clean food FIRST, then add in the IF component. You're setting yourself up for some bad crashes if you eat a lot of refined carb products, then hit the fast. Dial in the paleo for a while, then experiment with some IF (basically repeating MOD's post).

Barry Cole · 12-19-2007, 01:21 PM

How long does it take for you to start experiencing higher levels of energy?
By 3:00 pm I am beat. If I go to bed earlier, I start having trouble going to sleep, so I think I'm getting enough total sleep.

Allen Yeh · 12-20-2007, 04:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barry Cole

How long does it take for you to start experiencing higher levels of energy?
By 3:00 pm I am beat. If I go to bed earlier, I start having trouble going to sleep, so I think I'm getting enough total sleep.

Once I started IF after about a month or so I noticed I didn't have that "afternoon slump" that I'd had going on. When I first started I was doing 15 hour fasts and eating from 9am-6pm.