What is best way to do 'Intermittent Fasting', without brain fog/excessive hunger?

[shiphen]

Hi

What is the best/least painful way to do "Intermittent Fasting"?

Background:
I don't want training to take over my life. I currently go to the gymn where I am doing HST for about 45mins to 1 hour, three times a week. I also do a gentle run once, sometimes twice a week too.

I am in my (very) late 40s and weight c80Kg. I am in reasonable but not brilliant condition: I can bench press about c.70Kg and leg press c.218Kg. My target is to broadly trying to build muscle (say 5-10Kg) AND lose fat (I am currently aprox. 14% fat and would like to take it down to 9 or 10%).

Health Issues:
I have a history of
- IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndome),
- various food sensitivities (notabaly to dairy & wheat),
- mild sugar regulation problems (sub-clinical reactive hypoglycemia) an

If I do a *complete* fast, (e.g. I dont eat at all) I find that the low blood sugar rather interfers with my mental productivity at work - particularly during the first 2-4 hours. It gives me "brain fog" with slow thinking, poor memory and mental fatique.


After about 5 hours of not eating (during waking hours), this improves slightly. But then when I start to eat I get intensely hungry... ...And in my experience I am at acute risk of putting on fat at this point... You get the picture!

So what is the best way of doing "intermittent fasting" to lose fast (not muscle) without excessive hunger and brain-fog.

- Timing of what to eat and when to eat it ?
- Timing of exxercise

With thanks


John
John Smith

 

[Totentanz]

The easiest way to overcome this is to take stimulants. An ephedrine and caffeine stack is ideal if you can tolerate it, as it will prevent you from feeling fatigue and also blunts appetite.

 

[shiphen]

Hmm... I think it's not a good idea for me to take drugs/stimulants - my adrenal system is screwed up badly enough as it is!
If something like IF can be said to be genuinely good for your health then that would be different.
(That said I do allow myself about 1 cup of coffee per day to get my brain going - esp in the morning.)

My main problem is holding down a productive job at the same time as all this - i.e. I really cant afford to have too much brain fog - or I will get sacked (!).

 

[Totentanz]

Seriously speaking, IF may not be for you. Just saying. Seems like it just isn't a good fit around your requirements. If I were you, I would try something else.

 

[shiphen]

Seriously speaking, IF may not be for you. .

Wait a minute - although it is true that I do not want to do anything "unhealthy" or likely to screw my system up, some of the proponents of IF seem to be claiming that IF is genuinely good for you health.

 

[Totentanz]

Eh... it might be or it might not be. I haven't seen a lot of evidence that it is a whole heck of a lot different than eating any other way (healthwise) except that hopefully more calories will be partitioned toward protein instead of fat.

But your schedule and your other requirements make it really difficult for you to set it up by the book, right? I think the best diet for someone to follow is the one that works best with their lifestyle, schedules, etc. IF might not be your best choice in this regard.