Fasting.

[Theland]

I want to begin fasting for weight loss and other health benefits.
Has anybody experience of this?
Also, I know I would find it easier if I drank tea and coffee as well as water.
What is your advice?

[jennyjoan]

Tea and coffee is very fine along with loads of water as you are keeping yourself hydrated and that is very important so don't stop the tea and coffee and perhaps introduce yourself to some other flavoured water if you like it etc.

[jennyjoan]

Get onto the MyfitnessPal - great wee site and it encourages you great.

[rowanwitch]

Theland, steroids i.e. Prednisone need to be taken with food.

Recovering from severe illness you need good nutrition , also bearing in mind the progressive nature of your disease, why now a path of denying an already weakened body the fuel it needs just to carry on. Fasting for otherwise younger healthy people is fine, but encouraging an already very sick man to fast is foolhardy.

[Sqad]

rowan....I agree entirely.

[jennyjoan]

well there ya go Theland, good information from a nurse, a doctor and just a poor failed dieter LOL

[chelle7272]

Agree with Rowan I'm surprised to see people encouraging someone who is in ill health and on meds, not to eat.

[Sqad]

Exactly chelle .....but as Peter Pedant would say..."this is AB"

[jennyjoan]

chelle - I was only going on my own experience of when I fasted myself - didn't mean any harm.

[Theland]

Yes jenny I get bored, but that's not a reason to eat is it?
Oh dear, Evelyn will be chasing me around the house!!! :-)

At the moment at least, it is a challenge, like walking a hundred times around the garden :-)
I will pay far more attention to what I eat, and how much when I do. Eating needs to have far less prominence.

Rowan - Thank you for posting.
Your expertise in my health condition is always most welcome and appreciated. You certainly know what you are talking about. I pay total attention to you.

[ummmm]

Theland - everytime I see a consultant I'm asked about my diet. I was told that the main thing to stay as healthy as you can is diet, sleep and exercise.an

I always thought the fasting diet was just a fad, or for people who need operations and need to lose weight to fit the criteria.

Eat as healthy as you can.

[rowanwitch]

Thank you Theland, taking care of yourself is important, that means thinking about what you eat, but enjoying it, keeping hydrated, and just moving as much as you can. Deep breathing and coughing exercises that you should have been taught by the hospital Physios's are important too to reduce the amount of crud building up in your lungs. Now behave yourself.

[MartinMillar]

Given your recent medical problems I think before you even consider such a daft move you should speak to your doctor

[Theland]

Breaking my fast now.
Egg on toast.

[joko]

fasting is really good for you - but if youre in ill-health i'd advise doing the 16/8 fast - where you only eat in an 8 hour window each day, then nothing except water for 16 hours. you can do variations like 18/8, 20/4 - but 16/8 is standard, and it wont make you feel weak or hungry etc. you can eat anything you like as long as its in those 8 hours
i do it a lot.
i find it easier to have my first meal later in the day, but many people need to eat when they wake up = just choose whatever suits you

[ummmm]

That's not fasting, joko, that's a diet.

Diet's don't work.

[Theland]

My eating regime is getting established properly now.
Small servings, varied foods all healthy, and a one day fast noe and again.
Not weighed myself since the shocking reading in the hospital which was 20st 2lb. Disgusting.
I always had a sweet tooth, but no more :-)

[LadyCG]

Joko, that intermittent fasting is a good way to start if you're not used to fasting for longer periods.

I've fasted that way myself for convenience / busy life purposes and it does make you feel better. It's not healthy for your body to be in a feeling state constantly.

[DTCwordfan]

the biggest cause of gall bladder issues is crash-dieting apparently - you shouldn't lose more than a kilo a day - sensible eating and water/tea is the the key thing.

They say gallbladder 'victims' are the 'five Fs' as in being over forty, female, fat, fair and freckled.... It's one area where one can compare pain levels between men and women and believe me it's agony when a full attack is on - under the diaphragm and up on the middle of the right shoulder (there's an autonomic nerve involved in it)... Women say that it's worse than childbirth - possibly because, psychologically, with the latter one is creating something whereas with a gallbladder, one is losing it..... 65% of patients are female.

[ummmm]

Why is fasting good for you? Why is it recommended we eat 3 meals a day if fasting is so good for us?

Eat less, eat better.

[DTCwordfan]

ummmm has it spot on