Hi, I am 12 days in now and basically back to feeling the same as I was before I started (on a wholefoods diet with limited wholegrains and dairy). One of the main reasons I am doing this is because I find it difficult to keep my blood sugar steady and my body seems to have become dependent on regular large meals with protein, veg and a wholegrain. Now I am the same but without the grain.

I want to get my body to learn to cope without needing more food every time the previous meal gets used up/ stored. I am thinking a period in ketosis is needed? How much do I need to cut my carbs to do that? If I just stop fruit and keep eating meat/ fish/ eggs and veggies will that do it? I eat about half a plate of veggies and half a plate of meat, or maybe a bit more towards the meat.

My other question is- I also want to start fasting every now and then for 24hrs-ish at a time. How long should I wait before starting that or would it be good to start now?

I am aware my body has been through a lot the last few years with a nasty gluten-related illness whilst bearing 2 babies and 6 yrs of nursing them, I don't want to be too hard on it and end up feeling worse, but I want to push past this hurdle of needing to eat so much so frequently.

Foodwise I'm not 100% paleo, but I am totally grain, tuber and legume free and dairy free except a bit of goats butter every now and then.

Regular fasting is RARELY done for 24 hours. You don't want to do that. You still want to eat at least once a day. Typical fasting cycles are reported in a (time fasting)/(time eating) manner: 20/4 and 19/5 are pretty regular for people who do regular IF (ala Eat-Stop-Eat). If you do this, start counting AFTER you eat dinner. It's much easier to fast for this long if you're asleep during a lot of it.

I personally used to do 19/5 fasts 6 days a week. It did work, and I felt great. Now-a-days I'm doing things similar to the leangains style of fasting - 16/8 daily fasts. This really just means no breakfast, when you think about it.

EDIT: fasting is also a good way to kickstart ketosis. Just fast for 19 hours, and eat a big meal of only meat.

Keep your fasts to 16 hours or less.

And stop trying so hard.  Increased stress/overwork/higher cortisol levels won't be helping anybody.

Thanks, thats really helpful. I have fasted before for 24 hrs, I ate breakfast and then went through to breakfast the next day, and felt fine. That was when I started to think that my food was doing something to me that was triggering the feelings of certain death if I didn't get crabs and protein every 4 hrs or so! But I am happy to wait on that one or do it for shorter times. What about something like just skipping snacks and lunch and then eating dinner? I just have an instinct that my body needs a bit of a push to get it to learn it can function without eating every 3-4 hrs.

There is a "posh" butchers in town so I am going to go there and see if they have grassfed tallow. I think the goat butter is staying for now, it is making this WOE a lot easier for me, so I think it's worth it for the time being.

That was when I started to think that my food was doing something to me that was triggering the feelings of certain death if I didn't get crabs and protein every 4 hrs or so!

This typo cracked me up!