IF I could only do IF and still get enough protein

I've been doing the IF (intermittant fasting) aspect of my plan since I began lowcarb induction on the 18th. Unlike some who've talked about their experiences with IF, I'm really not hungry during the fasting periods. Of course, I'm in the induction phase, which tends to kill appetite.

The problem is, I can't seem to get the protein I need each day, or anything else for that matter. Since I'm only eating either the first or second half of the day, I have approximately half the food each day that I normally would. A little more the first half, as my change-point is 5pm.

Even without IF, the last time I did LC I found it difficult to eat enough protein in a day. I believe I've been chronically protein deficient for much of my life. I like meat, but it's usually been something only eaten for-sure at dinner and even then in limited portions. Suddenly I'm eating lots of meat yet even with an added protein drink I can't make even 100g per day let alone the 140 or so recommended for my body weight (which is at the highest end of the scale of PPLP's recommended amounts).

4oz of a given meat averages 25g protein. This would suggest six meals a day each with a dose of meat. That is just not going to happen without a drastic schedule and food revamping. This is going to require that I adapt more shakes, or some homemade protein-bars, that much is clear. Still, even assuming I have mega protein at hand, on demand, who the bleep can ingest that much of it in half a day?! Hell it's a major effort to ingest that much in a whole day!

I'm wondering if maybe the IF is not really appropriate for me at this time. NOT because of any quality of the IF itself, which I expect is just as beneficial as suggested by Dr. Eades. But because of being on induction, where perhaps the body chemistry is a little more unpredictable in terms of energy levels (my experience), it's hard for me to know whether I'm weak because my blood sugar has dropped from not eating, or because that's just some side effect of induction.

Mostly, because of being such a high body weight, where the immediate need to get sufficient protein in a day outweighs the longer-term benefit of IF. (Rather like Atkins not caring about his patients on inductions having fewer vegetables, as his primary concern was to get them to drop enough weight, they wouldn't keel over long prior to having time to worry about their vitamin balance!) If I could appropriately arrange my food, IF would work fine, I'm just having trouble with it.

Perhaps some different arrangement of hours, giving me more 'eating hours' per day, would help. Or perhaps, a less than 24 hour period of fasting would help. I don't know. My current IF ended 45 minutes ago; I just had a lovely dinner. But I am thinking of making this my last IF period, until I can get "the habit down" of sufficient protein per day even on a regular LC eating plan... get more familiar with the foods and possibilities so that kind of thing is a breeze.

Maybe new-induction is not an ideal time for IF, not because of anything about induction or IF, but because people just beginning the eating plan may not yet be as good at combining LC things to reach their daily nutritional goals.

OK. Until such time as I can be responsible enough to at least meet 80% of my protein goal most of the time on regular LC, I don't think I should be doing IF, which (due to my own schedule, cooking and eating imperfections) seems to be resulting in me only getting 40-60% of my protein goal each day.

This is NO reflection on IF -- I respect science, and I think the research seems strongly in support of the values of intermittant fasting. I would like to incorporate this into my eating plan at some point in the future, perhaps when I weigh less so my protein demands are lower, perhaps when I'm more experienced with LC so my ability to "flex my food to fit" nutritional demands is greater.

I feel a bit badly about it though, 'cause I wanted to do it long enough to give Dr. Eades feedback on its use during induction and by someone of my weight. Well, I guess that's the thing about any kind of experiment -- no matter what answer you get, it's still an answer, for whatever it's worth.

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