Intermittent Fasting on a Vegan Ketogenic Diet: Intro

I’ve definitely mentioned intermittent fasting (IF) in the past. I’m a huge fan of this method for timing out meals (or more accurately, the window of time in which you eat), but I’ll admit I don’t really know that much about the practice. I’ve been doing a “lazy IF” for a while, where I basically just start eating around 1pm, and make sure that none of my meals extend past 9pm, but I really don’t always follow this perfectly. In fact, more days than not, this pattern is disrupted.

I’ve been really curious about what the proper way to start IF was, and even more so, how this would work with my current vegan ketogenic diet, especially in light of the fact that I just added a bunch of more intense exercise back in my routine. So, I decided to read up on IF, and start documenting my experience with it over the next two weeks, just to see the impact.

The book I’m using for information is from Dr. Anna Falkowski, who is a naturopath and the clinic director of Vitality for Life in Ontario. The ebook, called A Naturopathic Doctor’s Guide to Intermittent Fasting, has been immensely helpful, as it not only cleared up exactly how to start intermittent fasting, it also sheds some light on the benefits of doing so, and provides a pretty clear path. It was exactly what I needed!

I’m going in with the following questions:

• How will my fasting blood glucose levels be impacted by practicing IF?
• How will my workouts be impacted by practicing IF?
• Will my weight and body composition change at all?
• How will my hunger levels be impacted?
• Is intermittent fasting feasible on a low carb vegan diet?
• How do I feel overall?

Those first three questions, I can back up with data from my glucose monitor, rowing machine, scale and measuring tape. Of course, this isn’t a perfect experiment, and there’s not really a control, but I’ll at least notice patterns and have some interesting data to work with.

The last three questions are pretty subjective, but I think they’re still pretty important. After all, if I don’t feel good eating this way, then losing a half inch around my waist might not seem all that important.

So, over the next few weeks, I will be providing updates about how things are going, and hopefully everything will be a success!

Have you had any experience with intermittent fasting? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!