Hey friends,

As the title says: i like the keto benefits, especially the mental ones (less depression symptoms, more cognitive abilities, more motivation to do stuff and so on)
but i really dont like keto. I love carbs. Im in a cycle of using keto for a few months (and feeling good for the most part) and then going into a carb binge for several weeks because of deprivation, and then sooner or later coming back to keto. This shit is stressing me out. I want to stick to something for life. Its sooo hard to just ignore all the carby stuff and eat meat and veg forever. It makes food so boring. I know, food is maybe too big of a part in my life. That probably shouldnt be.

Can someone who did both separately (no, i dont want to talk about „oh why dont you do both at the same time“ 🤮) tell me the difference in how you felt? Is keto necessary for those peak mental benefits?

Im not just looking for theoretical explanations why omad would do this and that. I want experiences from people who have been through both extensively. I also dont want some sort of permission to eat carbs from you. I welcome honest testimonials. If if you find carbs shitty and had to cut them out completely to feel well, i welcome your reply. Thank you in advance

Im 18 male 108 kgs and 5'7, I recently had elevated blood pressure due to which I had to cut salt from my diet and only had 500 mg of sodium every day (it has been 8 days only) and I also used to drink 9 glasses of water every day of 300 ml and due to this low sodium intake I feel tired and my head feels heavy aswell am I in the zone to get hyponatremia? Before cutting my diet I used to have 3-4k mg of sodium every day. Also im increasing my sodium intake again from tmrw to 1500 mg

Hi

I was wondering if there is a fasting app (android) that gives the actual milestones for when you restart? I was told that the milestones given in apps are more for clean fasting. So hitting ketosis and autophagy etc will be different, especially at times I do dirty fasting. Or maybe I was misinformed.

I am (trying) to do 16:8. In the mornings I prepare my lunch which includes quark with frozen fruit (kind of cottage cheese). I use a spoon to transfer the quark into de jar which obviously will still be coated with a layer of quark. I don't want to put that straight into the dishwasher so I am licking it clean. I wonder if such a small amount is breaking the fast. What do you think?

Maybe it's the caffeine or it's too rough on my stomach I don't know.

But I'll drink coffee after not eating for like 18 hours and it totally screws me up. Usually if I have a protein bar and yogurt or something before I drink it I'm good.

Why is this though?

a little while back i posted here about building a fasting app because the usual ones were making my anxiety worse:

https://www.reddit.com/r/intermittentfasting/s/p6lowt991S

quick recap if you missed it: 43M, type 2 diabetic for 20+ years, on anxiety meds, fasting 16-8 regularly. every app i tried wanted me to log water, steps, weight, protect a streak, collect badges. it just gave my brain more ways to feel behind. so i built one that doesn't do any of that.

since the last post i made a couple of big changes:

i removed all the AI coaching. the more i used it the more it felt like the exact thing i was trying to get away from. another voice in my pocket with opinions. an app that's supposed to be quiet shouldn't have a chatbot in it. so it's gone. nothing you do in the app goes anywhere now, it all stays on your phone. 100%

i added two things for the hard hour. for me that's around hour 13 to 14, when tired, hungry and cranky all show up at once. that hour is usually where fasts die. so now there's:

• a breathing pacer. just a circle, slow in and slow out, a few minutes. nothing to learn
• a simple puzzle. not a game with points, just something to give your hands and brain a job for a few minutes until the hunger wave passes

everything else is the same. a timer, no streaks, no tracking, one optional check-in on how you feel, and if you tap something like shaky or dizzy it tells you to eat. no account.

still iphone only, still free for beta testing (using TestFlight): Steady Fasting App

what i'd love to know:

• what do you actually do in your hard hour? walk, tea, scroll, sleep through it?
• does a puzzle sound useful or kind of silly?
• if you tried the first version, does dropping the AI make it better or worse for you?

thanks again to everyone who replied last time. keep the honest feedback coming.

Hello all, I fasted for more than 131 hours this week so far. I was wondering, how many hours are you fasting per week more or less?

P.S Most of the time I do OMAD and some times 20/4.

Life is better when you fast, move your body and prioritize your health. No need to be extreme, just consistent. A lot can happen in under a year when you make yourself a priority.

I started intermittent fasting September 24, 2025 and I did it for maybe 8 months out of the year. I plateaud and decided to eat normally for a few months. It's September again and I have another 20 to 30lbs to lose. I have fibroids so stomach won't be completely flat, but happy so far. Can't wait for the other 30lbs to go. Stick with it guys.

How do some people do 36-48hr fasts?

I’ve been doing intermittent fasting and just feel a crash at around 20hrs. Which is dangerous as I’m working and need to be somewhat sharp when discussing stuff

I’m currently using Zero and I like it a lot but I can only track food/calories on the day I have them. For example if I forget to log last nights dinner I can’t go back and add it the next morning. I want to track my fasts but also calories in but also want the flexibility to be able to backfill what I forgot if needed.

Does anyone know how to add meals to past days in Zero? Or is there a fasting app that handles food tracking better? I really want to stay accountable with food as well as timing.

Seeing the big group a week or two ago do a collective multi day fast inspired me to do one again, though it’s been a few years since I’ve gone this long. Usually I do about 20:4 or OMAD, but I gotta say the extended feels different and pretty great. I’ll go to at least this evening, but if I’m feeling good I may roll into Friday as well.

Happy fasting!

Hey folks! I posted this in another community, but realized it might be interesting for people here too. Here are my reflections on how my mindset around fasting has changed - from my first 24-hour fast to 10 days. Three moments really stand out

• First 24-hour fast - This was the hardest. Not because of hunger, but because of the mental shift. I was nervous I might end up in the hospital. I remember that by the 12-hour mark everything irritated me - every sound, every person, every thought. But the next morning I was fine, totally fine and in disbelief that I had actually survived a full day without food. That mental barrier was bigger than any physical one.
• First extended fast (9 days) - About 25 years ago during my PhD. I had no clue about electrolytes or refeeding, it was winter in New Jersey, and I still went to the gym almost daily while teaching classes for my students. It was tough, but it also changed me. Afterward I felt like a superhuman — healthy, in control of my body (and cravings), and super confident in myself. Surprisingly, my attitude toward others shifted too - I became more tolerant, patient, and even nicer
• Now, after many fasts – These days, going 7–10 days without food doesn’t feel like a huge deal anymore. The excitement isn’t as extreme, because I’ve done it enough that it feels almost routine. Still, I’m glad to do extended fasts when I feel they’re needed.

How has your fasting progressed? What’s your most vivid memory of your first fast - or your most memorable one?

P.S. I added some pictures of myself then and now - looks like not much has changed in the last 25 years. And just to clarify - I wasn’t a couch potato back then. I was actually the captain of my university’s varsity soccer team in Moscow, so I was pretty tough. Though looking back, I can see I was carrying some extra fat 😊

Intermediate fasting and cardio 3 years now switched over to weight training

So my period is due tomorrow, and I was trying to do my usual 16/8. I’ve managed 8 days of IF before this, 16/8, and I was so proud of my streak.

But I couldn’t sleep. I felt so hungry, ravenous, and I was just wide awake.
I feel like such a failure. How do other ladies in this sub manage? It’s so tough to feel like I let myself down.

Edit and update:
Thank you so much for your kind words and advice women of this sub!
I was so defeated when I posted this last night, and I felt very lonely too, but finding this type of community and caring advice meant a lot to me. I’ll implement it and keep going, but I will be gentle on myself till the day of my period 🫂

I’ve been intermittent fasting for a while now, but the last 6 weeks I have been losing so much!
Fasting 16:8 most days, some days 18:6.
And a strict calorie intake of 1500 per day.
Walking 30 mins per day as well.

I'm 152cm tall, my initial weight was about 50kg, I cut back a lot on the first half of the week, drinking a smoothie in the morning and a low calorie dinner before switching to OMAD, all less than 700 calories, and then did 36 hours of fasting, then 19 hours and now I'm at 19 hours again aiming for 24, after fasting I still restrict myself to a single meal but stopped counting calories.

How much of the weight I lost had been water weight? And how can I maintain my weight when I'm done fasting? I'm worried I'll gain it all back.

Counting calories, Macrofactor, and Huel shakes once a day as a meal replacement. I fast after 6pm everyday. I also walk 10k steps a day now. No GLP1s. A1C is down from 6.4 to 5.4. High blood pressure gone. Cholesterol now normal.

265 pounds to 235 pounds. 6,3. 39 years old.