A Simple Guide to Fasting And Why It Isn’t Working For You Especially With A Disordered Eating History

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This guide has now passed thousands of views! Big thank you to everyone who continues to share (my posts & your story too) & be a big part of my life as my digital family!

 You guys make my days so much brighter & I hope you know how much you mean to me!

I’ve lost 60 lbs thanks to carnivore & intermittent fasting! Follow me on Instagram (@lil_bit_of_fit) to see my day-to-day journey with living a meat-based life as a rockin travel xray tech & almost 42 year old athlete of life with Crohn’s Disease. (Birthday July 2nd 🎉)

I tried every diet in the book to lose weight & heal my gut issues. While I did see occasional results, I eventually couldn’t  sustain it and then yo-yo’d. IF & carnivore have been the simplest and most manageable way I have found to improve my health & fitness (and stick with it).

This post is intended for my friends (and friends of friends) who have been following my health journey on Instagram, Facebook, or have asked how to get started. Because the interest has been in the thousands (so amazing!), I’ve wanted to share this information more publicly.

In the interest of time, I’ve created this super quick educational start guide with a couple troubleshooting videos!

Let’s dive into fasting & why you may not be seeing results.

I see this oftentimes with all y’all chronically under eating, trying to do protein sparing modified fasting (PSMF) or OMAD (one meal a day) with a disordered eating history.

Tap for a short video on why fasting may not be working for you!


Yes, I prefer to utilize intermittent fasting. It works best for my digestion. I eat when I’m hungry & fast when I’m not. Typical fasting window is around 14-20hrs, biggest meal I consume after my workout in the am. I also love to incorporate fat & carb cycling.

It is not necessary for you to fast to achieve your health and body goals no matter what diet you prefer.

Remember: health & happy hormones first.
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Here’s a previous video answering a client question talking about why fasting wasn’t working for her

What is intermittent fasting?⁣⁣

Intermittent fasting, also known as intermittent energy restriction, is simply an umbrella term for various meal timing schedules that cycle between voluntary fasting or reduced calorie intake and eating over a given period of time.

It is just a tool to help you to manage meal times & calorie intake, it is not a dirty word nor is it a quick fix or magic pill. There are 100 different ways to “fast” & everyone has their own “definition” of what they consider fasting. Some drink coffee & water, some don’t. Some use no calorie sweeteners, some don’t. There are more optimal times, situations, & schedules that are more effective & efficient. Make sure it fits easily into your lifestyle & schedule. Pick whatever suits your needs. Remember adherence & consistency are always keys!

Most utilize the 16/8 or 14/10 or 12/10 windows. (Fast 16 hrs/eat 8) You can also periodically fast 24 hrs or longer. I personally do NOT do extended fasts.

  • 16/8, 14/10, 12/12 Protocols – Ex: Fast 16hrs/8hr eating window
  • OMAD – One meal a day, fast the rest
  • TMAD – Two meals a day, fast the rest
  • PSMF – Protein Sparing Modified Fasts: highly restrictive diet that involves severely limiting the intake of calories, carbs, & fat & consuming only lean (zero-low fat) protein
  • 5:2 – Eat normal 5 days, restrict calories to 500-600 for 2 days
  • Eat Stop Eat – Eat normal for 5 days then fast for 24hrs for 2 days
  • 4:3 or Alternate Day Fasting – Fast every other day, eat normal on non-fasting days
  • Skip Meals Spontaneously – skip meals when you’re not hungry

Will fasting help me lose body fat?

Why your story & background matter when it comes to fasting efficacy

Before we dive into fasting deets I want to reiterate & touch on WHY your story & food/dieting/health history matter when it comes to the experiences & results you get (or lack of).

Lets be honest, the main reason most people choose the Carnivore Diet & utilizing fasting is because they want fat loss. That’s fine, we all wanna look good nekkid, HOWEVER, the difference lies in our starting point: calorically, metabolically, hormonally, physiologically, mentally, emotionally – the whole picture.

I feel we really should approach any nutrition protocol from a health/healing perspective, first, aesthetic perspective, second.

Some of us come from the SAD (Standard American Diet), some have been dieting basically our entire lives & still think 1200 calories is the magic number for weight loss, some fear fat, some fear carbs, some are binge eating &/or suffering from disordered eating & still in denial, some come from Keto, some have been struggling with gut issues/autoimmune stuff for decades & really have no idea what they can eat.

All of these different stories & starting points impact the transition & adaptation to any diet. You do not have to fast at all if you don’t want to.

Usually I see two different stories, & thus experiences, when working with clients. We’ll call them Peter & Patty.

Are you Peter or Patty?

PETER

Peter is male, used to over consuming the typical SAD, dad bod (aka looks like he might lick something deemed “healthy” & work out occasionally but really loves tacos & would much rather smash a 6 pack vs have a 6 pack). Simply eating meat & cutting out all the other crap significantly reduces his caloric intake & the fat just falls off.

PATTY

Patty is female, lets say 30-40yrs old, habitual yo-yo dieter, excessive exerciser, wants to lose fat & build muscle but doesn’t wanna be “bulky” (sigh smdh), scared to eat more than 1200-1500 calories & gaining weight is one of her biggest fears.

She’s tried every diet in the book. Had some success with “Keto” (doesn’t really know what keto means but she’s eating less carbs right?!) but always falls off the wagon, stressful home life/ job, struggled with bloating & gut issues for years.

Her neighbor, Peter, looks great since carnivore, so she decides it’s gonna be the magic quick fix to all her issues. Sooo Patty stops tracking food (because she was told it didn’t matter on the carnivore diet) & starts smashin all the bacon, ribeyes, cheese, ribs, & chicken wings.

Her gut issues get better, the first week she dropped 3lbs, but now she’s about 6 weeks in & hungry, tired, & the scale is going up! So she decided to start fasting more, & ups her steps to 20k/d. (Further stressing her body out more btw).

She gives it another month with more weight gain. She wants to quit after a couple months despite her gut issues resolving. It doesn’t work she says, “I didn’t lose weight.”

Things that matter when choosing any diet, macros, calories, &/or fasting protocols

Things I need as a coach to help you figure out appropriate macros/diet/fitness/fasting approaches:

  • Age, Current Weight, Height⁣⁣
  • Training modalities⁣⁣ (how you prefer to workout. CrossFit vs running vs yoga vs Orange Theory vs walking vs Barre vs Bodybuilding vs power lifting etc)⁣⁣
  • Daily Activity ⁣⁣(steps, job, kids, schedules etc)⁣⁣
  • Training Frequency, Volume, Intensity ⁣⁣
  • Previous Dieting History⁣⁣ (disordered eating, low carb, high carb, low fat, have you been chronically dieting, eating surplus, etc)⁣⁣
  • Medical History⁣⁣ (allergies, IBD, IBS, gut issues, hormonal issues, cancer, thyroid, etc)⁣⁣
  • Your goals, preferences, special needs)⁣⁣
  • Mindset & mental health⁣⁣
  • Lifestyle⁣⁣ & Stress (kids, stressful job, shitty sleep, relationship problems, etc)

That’s a LOT of stuff, right? It’s not as simple as just picking a set of macro numbers, or calories, or a magic diet camp or fasting protocol. You are not a template or calculator, you’re a human. This is why we set up coaching consultations to help you!

indiana lilbitoffit maintenance calories chart carnivore reverse diet katie kelly
A BIG reminder, we should not be dieting any more than 1-2 times per year, no longer than 12-16 weeks. You should be chillin, eating at your maintenance calories, enjoying life and getting strong AF the majority of the year! Like this chart? Allllll the free content available on Instagram!

Why should I try fasting?⁣⁣

  • It’s simple, eating fewer times works better for your schedule, less thinking/measuring. Your lifestyle aligns w/your eating schedule. Helpful when in a calorie deficit to allot larger meals.⁣
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  • Metabolic flexibility. It will utilize the fuel from previous meals/glycogen first, then it will use your fat stores to fuel your day.⁣⁣
  • Hunger response. Are you bored or really hungry? You learn/feel the difference. A big reason I would utilize IF with clients. It helps connect with your body’s true hunger signals.⁣⁣
  •  Benefits of fasting: hormone balance, reduced insulin resistance, risk of diabetes, inflammation, improved focus, gut health & digestion, fat loss in a calorie deficit.

Why it works for fat loss

While I will reiterate fasting is not a diet, it can help with fat loss goals by creating a calorie deficit in various ways:

  • Reduces the number of meals in a day
  • Helps create food rules to prevent over eating & snacking, especially for people who are abstainers
  • Helps reduce your weekly calorie average
  • Helps you feel & get back in tune with true hunger cues which helps prevent eating when you’re not truly hungry. Many of us eat out of learned habit like eating in front of the tv at night, eating desert just because it is available, or seeing/smelling/hearing food cook

When should I not fast?

  • You’re on the gain train. If you’re ok cramming 3-4000 calories down your pie hole in a short amount of time go for it. For most, IF protocols are utilized for eating less calories simply by decreasing feeding time.⁣⁣
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  • It screws with your mind & feels restrictive. Can’t sustain it easily & comfortably w/your lifestyle. If it increases cortisol/blood sugar/affecting your sleep/mood/energy negatively.
  •  If you can’t feel fullness cues & eat past satiety & all you do is think about eating during your fasting — STOP! Try eating more frequent meals during the day.

Who should NOT fast &/or fasting is not ideal

  • Pregnant Women
  • Women who are nursing
  • People who are reverse dieting
  • People training for high performance
  • People who have abused or overly fasted
  • People who have chronically under eaten for an extended period of time (aka you’ve made chasing a smaller body your hobby)
  • People who are trying to gain muscle
  • Women a week before their cycle
  • People healing &/or struggling with adrenal insufficiency & fatigue
  • People with eating disorders &/or disordered eating habits, poor relationships with food, exercise, &/or body image where restriction is a huge trigger

Getting Started

Chances are that you’ve already done many intermittent fasts in your life.

If you’ve ever eaten dinner, then slept late and not eaten until lunch the next day, then you’ve probably already fasted for 16+ hours.

Some people instinctively eat this way. They simply don’t feel hungry in the morning.

Many people consider the 16/8 method the simplest and most sustainable way of intermittent fasting — you might want to try this practice first.

If you find it easy and feel good during the fast, then have fun, experiment and maybe try moving on to more advanced fasts like 24-hour fasts 1–2 times per week (Eat-Stop-Eat) or only eating 500–600 calories 1–2 days per week (5:2 diet).

Another approach is to simply fast whenever it’s convenient — simply skip meals from time to time when you’re not hungry or don’t have time to cook.

There is no need to follow a structured intermittent fasting plan to derive at least some of the benefits.

Experiment with the different approaches and find something that you enjoy and fits your schedule.

At the end of the day, there is no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to nutrition. The best diet for you is the one you can stick to in the long run.

I find for those who have a poor relationship with carbs & sugar, chronic gut or health issues, autoimmune needs, etc for example, a lower carb, animal or meat-based approach is extremely effective for health, healing, & fat loss.

👇older posts to reference for ideas & help👇

body transformation woman carnivore diet

Here’s my routine & what has help me drop lbs & put my Crohn’s disease & bulimia in med-free remission.

https://lilbitoffit.com/the-stupidly-simple-system-i-use-to-stay-in-shape-and-love-my-body-as-an-empath-at-age-40/

Intermittent fasting is great for some people, not others. The only way to find out which group you belong to is to try it out.

If you feel good when fasting and find it to be a sustainable way of eating, it can be a very powerful tool to lose weight and improve your health.

oxox Coach K

Confessions of a Sick, Overweight, Broke B*tch: The Beginning. Plus Things That Helped Me Stop Binging

**Warning** This may be sensitive, triggering information for some.**

It’s officia! This is the beginning of my journey as an author. You guys have been telling me for years to write a book about my life…so I’m keeping my promise. Manifesting this sh*t.

I decided to just. start. writing. Here are some bits & pieces from, Confessions of a Sick, Overweight, Broke B*tch.

Enjoy, I hope these nuggets can resonate in a way you need.

How bout that cat shirt tho? 🙂

I remember it well, it was a Saturday morning. I snuck an unopened package of Girl Scout Tagalong Cookies into my bedroom. I ate the entire box while everyone slept.

Who would’ve known the gates of addiction, self sabotage, sickness, obesity, & decades of debt & relationship debacles would follow. 

My body image issues, food addiction, gut dis-ease, & disordered eating started at the age of 8 with the opening of a package of girl scout cookies. 

I could put away more food than my father did at dinner.

I’ll never forget my mom (bless her heart she meant well) saying, “If you keep eating like that you’ll get as big as a barn.” 

I grew up on a family farm in small town USA, Indiana, raising crops & beef cattle. We ate good y’all. ALL the meat, potatoes, home-cooked baked goods, fried spam & bologna. ALL the down home country sh*t.

I am the oldest of 3. I have 2 younger brothers, both “skinny” growing up, I was always the “fat” one. There was a reason I played catcher in softball & threw shot put in track. You wouldn’t think it lookin at my 5’1, 105lb frame today at 40 years old.

Current me 🙂

I remember crumpling the package of cookies under my bed, hiding it in shame. I curled up in pain, stomach so full & nauseous from all the sugar. At that time I willed myself not to throw up. I was swollen, sick, ashamed, & unaware of the drug addiction that had only just begun.

“What have I done? What would my parents say or anyone else if they ever found out?” I thought.

Huge transformations mentally & physically thru my 40 years!

Then the binging & purging began as I got older.

I discovered I could make myself throw up & “undo” what I had done. I could workout more. I could restrict more so I could enjoy my binges more & eat MORE.

F*cked up, right?! 

The thing is the “monster” inside of you doesn’t see it that way.

It’s like you have two personalities like an angel and devil on your shoulders fighting for your attention.

Things I used to tell myself, “This must be what all the skinny & popular girls do at school, right?! Because I have to look like them to be loved by all the boys & be successful. I’m just not trying hard enough. Push harder. Oh, you gained 2lbs, great job, Katie, no food for you for 2 days.”

Sound familiar?

As painful as it is reliving these nightmares, I’m writing this for YOU. 

I know I’m not alone and I want you to know that someone else gets it. 

I know what it feels like to be so full you’re sick, but you can’t stop eating. 

I know what it feels like to be lying on the floor with a sore throat, reflux, & puffy eyes telling yourself, “This is the last time” & also knowing you’re full of bullsh*t.

I know what it feels like to feel like you’re not even in your body when a binge is happening. The sugary taste of all the foods you’ve denied yourself & deemed “bad” are orgasmic, the high of knowing what you’re about to do is exhilarating & shameful at the same time. The feeling of letting food control you & sabotage every relationship & facet of your life.

I know what it feels like to feel hopeless. Suffering with gut issues and not knowing what to eat because everything makes you bloated, constipated, & miserable to the point you’re a shell of yourself.

I know what it feels like to live in an abusive relationship with yourself and others, seeking validation through outside sources like relationships, controlling your body, excessive drinking, and overspending to the point you’re over $40,000 in debt. You feel like you’re drowning in a cesspool of your own creation.

The scary thing was I thought I was fit & healthy in the left photo, but I remember what hell I was putting my body thru trying to chase a constant smaller version of myself. I still thought I was fat. Thank God for CrossFit, it made me realize what I was doing was wrong & I needed to eat MORE! Strong not Skinny 🙂

Binging became something I did regularly, pushing the boundaries of “full” further & further.

My memories of elementary & middle school are saturated with the fact that I was fatter than all of my friends. 

I had a friend jokingly poke my waist & make a joke about “pinching an inch.” My classmates ridiculed me & called me heifer & lamb chop because I had frizzy curly hair, full cheeks, was a farm kid, & bigger than everyone else.

It became a recurring nightmare until my first bad break up in high school.

I was so emotionally distraught I just quit eating. I lost 15lbs in a matter of 3 weeks before school started. 

I didn’t even have the energy to show my calves at the Indiana State Fair. I did, but I thought I was gonna pass out.

Rub some dirt in it right?! Suck it up. Farm kids were raised to be tough. We weren’t allowed to give excuses.

I remember my mom telling me she was gonna put me in the hospital if I didn’t eat. 

Guess what happened when I went back to school 15lbs lighter?

All the kids magically loved me.

I was thinner, I was praised for my weight loss & finally got attention! 

BOOM! 

That moment right there was the pivotal moment I believed in order to be loved, successful, & worthy, I needed to be as thin as possible.

“Bare bones, b*tch, that’s our goal. Don’t f*ck this up.” That’s what I told myself.

At 40 I finally feel whole, happy, & peaceful with my being.

I’m grateful for a meat-based & “carnivore” way of eating. It broke my addiction & healed me in ways physically & mentally I never thought could be mended.

I’m not writing this for pity or attention, I’m writing this for YOU. The ones still stuck in this cycle looking for magic & quick fixes.

Fall in love with your journey & slow down, it’s a long one but well worth the work & effort & patience. YOU ARE WORTH IT! You are worthy just because you exist. And you are fabulous at whatever weight & size you are your healthiest.

Love the skin you’re in, it’s the only home you have forever!

Book to be continued 😉

Things that helped me break my binge eating

They may seem small, but these lil tips make a huge impact on your healing. No need for perfection here, but it does take making & KEEPING commitments to yourself.

I think I can speak for all of us who struggled or are currently struggling with 50 shades of a fuxked up relationship with food & exercise.

Like I spoke about earlier, I chased bare bones, wore restriction like a badge, & was abusing carbs like a drug (let alone with my Crohn’s, my body couldn’t digest & utilize carbs & fiber like a normal human being. I was in agony).

The disordered eating & carbs, they’re like a high for us, like a drink to an alcoholic, or a high like that first kiss from that boy you’ve loved for so long.

Some signs of a disordered relationship w/food & exercise:

  • Refusing to eat foods you love due to fear of weight gain.
  • Avoiding social situations, anxiety.
  • Compensating by “working food off,” “earning”, or using food as a “treat/reward.”
  • Obsessing about food, tracking, exercise.
  • Addiction to specific foods.
  • Not being able to moderate specific foods like carbs, sugar, hyperpalatable & caloric foods like bacon, cheese, high fat meats, etc.
  • Letting the weight on your scale or missing a work out ruin your day.
  • Obsessive body checking in the mirror.
  • Constantly seeking validation from things &/or others.
  • Falling into the restrict, binge, self hate cycle. Yo-yo dieting.

There’s so many more but the above were biggies for me.

Tips that helped me:

  • Find your triggers (food, stress, emotional situations, comparing, etc) write them down & journal or talk to yourself about why you react to them the way you do. You have to gain self-awareness.
  • Eat regularly & eat enough for your goals & activity. Binging comes from overly restricting. It’s your body’s survival mechanism. It affects you physiologically & psychologically.
  • Eat larger meals with plenty of protein & healthy fats. Carbs & highly palatable, calorically dense foods seem to be a big trigger for most people.
  • Determine if you are an abstainer or a moderator. Abstainer’s typically do better with food rules, also get the trigger foods out of your house.
  • Eat with friends & family. STAY BUSY to avoid emotional eating or boredom eating. Get out of the house, WALK, clean, call someone, read, watch a movie, color.
  • Eat mindfully, chew your food, slow down, portion food on a plate, avoid tracking & weighing yourself if those are triggers.
  • On the other hand, tracking & weighing can also help some of us that have lost our true hunger & satiety cues. Often we can’t physically tell when we’re full, so tracking will give us the data for us to make decisions about proper portion sizing.
  • Wear comfortable clothes & stop body checking in the mirror. Get new clothes that fit & are flattering. You wear your clothes, they don’t wear you! Stop keeping smaller items in hopes you’ll fit into them again. I find it just causes more disordered behavior & thinking.
  • Strive to be self aware rather than judgmental. You are simply on a fact-finding mission to uncover patterns of feelings & behavior so you can work to change them.
  • Journal! I cannot tell you how many epiphanies I have had while journaling about food. You don’t have to sit and write out a lengthy entry, brain dump. I’ll just make a list of what I’m feeling & thinking, not worrying about how it sounds or if I use proper sentences or grammar. It releases emotional weight. Use the prompt, “What is the feeling I am trying not to feel?”
  • Remove your food triggers & get on a meal plan that works for you. For me, this was the carnivore diet. I have an addiction to carbs. I also do not digest them well, causing physical harm. I cannot stress enough how important it is to eat enough food for proper body function & activity. You should be eating at your maintenance caloric levels the majority of the time. We shouldn’t be chronically dieting. It will really help cut down on overeating & binging & help you relearn portioning & true hunger/fullness cues.
  • Opt out of others’ ideas of health, beauty, & diet culture. Cut the toxicity out of your life & monitor what you consume. This means relationships, social media, your environment, what you read & watch – it’s not simply just food. I remind myself:
    • One, there are things that are easy for me that are difficult for other people.
    • Two, people generally share successes & highlights, but not the effort or failed attempts that lead up to them.
    • Three, I am making progress doing what works for me.
  • Start prioritizing sleep! We NEED sleep, 7-9 hrs/night. It not only affects you cognitively, but physically. When we don’t get enough sleep, it throws off our hunger & satiety hormones, leptin & ghrelin, making us hungrier & typically crave carbs, sugar, & high fat foods. Getting enough sleep is as important as diet & exercise in fat loss. People who get enough sleep not only physically are healthier but also cognitively make better choices.
  • If you do binge or overeat, focus on moving forward. One of the single biggest things (other than the carnivore diet) that helped me was not responding to a binge by restricting the next day. Go back to your normal meal schedule, otherwise, you’re stuck in the restrict & binge cycle AGAIN.
My Crispy Airfryer Meat Bars are LIFE! I have an Instant Vortex 6qt airfryer from Target, also on Amazon- Link in IG Bio under Amazon Favorites. I cook about 1-2 lbs of meat at a time, usually 85-90% ground beef & Perdue Ground Chicken, Airfry, 380, 12 minutes!
  • Seek therapy &/or help from a coach or practitioner. I have a lot of difficult conversations with my therapist. When it comes to conflict & relationships, I’m an avoider. I hate talking about difficult topics, I hate conflict, I feel angry & anxious when I do. But the way to get rid of a monster’s power is to shine the flashlight in the closet and see it for what it is. Talking about a negative thing gets rid of any power it has over you. A surprising thing about therapy is that every time I tell my therapist something I’ve been too embarrassed to tell anyone before, she tells me how normal it is & how it’s in a cause & effect relationship with other things in my life & absolutely can choose again. Amen, right?!
  • Keep a compliment journal, write affirmations on post-its & put them on your bathroom mirror, write out positive intentions in your scheduler everyday, list things you’re grateful for every morning. I even save a board of inspiration on Pinterest when I’m feeling low vibe. I always feel better after reading through!
  • Be compassionate with yourself when you’re not perfect. Recovery is not linear. Think about how you’re feeling & how to redirect instead of punishing yourself for feeling & thinking certain things. Its like punishing & rewarding yourself with food & exercise. Food is fuel, not a reward. Exercise is a celebration of what your body can do, not punishment. Another reason I loather the word & use of “cheat day.” You’re only cheating yourself.
  • If you’re hungry, eat, if you’re not, don’t. We do not need to over complicate things. There is also no one-size-fits-all to anything in life, especially food & fitness. You don’t have to choose a specific diet camp, fitness modality, fasting regimen, etc. Do what feels good & authentic to YOU!

Love you all & sending y’all virtual hugs!

All info you may need lives in my IG Bio Link.

oxox Coach K