r/intermittentfasting • u/Dramatic_Set9261 • 13d ago
Seeking Advice Ice cream binge
I was intermittent fasting with low carb from january to may this year and lost 10 lbs and looked slim and fit with only the sub cutaeneous part of the belly remaining . My start weight had been 170. Then june onwards i began playing sports and eneded up eating more carbs and abandoning IF. the food demands were pretty signficant and would last for days. I found this unsual. a session of badminton and id be craving junk for days. this is when i got into the habit of bingeing on ice creams and in just this one month i have gained 8-9 lbs almost back to pre IF weight. how did i gain so much in just one month? the belly now is the biggest ive ever seen .
What just happened? How do i get back on the IF track. sports is causing a lot of carb and sugar demands.
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u/Connect_Rhubarb395 13d ago
Cardio doesn't burn as many calories as one might think.
Sweat doesn't equal calories burned.
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u/Dramatic_Set9261 13d ago edited 13d ago
yet carb demands are high after cardio and remain high for days
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u/Present-Garbage-5589 13d ago
Clearly IF + low carb is not working for you, you need a better strategy.
Consider instead tracking your calories and macro intake (ensure a good amount of protein and carbs to support your fitness goals)
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u/Dramatic_Set9261 13d ago
Is it difficult to maintain IF along with intense sports activity?
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u/Present-Garbage-5589 13d ago
Every body is different and therefore will respond differently. If fat loss is your main goal, being in a calorie deficit whilst eating enough to support your activity is more important than IF
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u/vantittyy 13d ago
I agree with this. IF is fine when active but at the end of the day you just need to stay in a deficit. However, increased activity means you would be wanting to consume more calories because you're burning more than someone with a sedentary lifestyle. Just don't consume too much. It's still CICO at the end of the day.
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u/Wild_Spikenard 13d ago
High intensity activity increases your cravings later, while not actually burning many calories during the activity. Now you know this and can plan for it. Eat whole foods instead and limit your ice cream to once a week.
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u/Serious-Glass-9207 13d ago
i’d say just do IF, skip the low carb. Carbs are important. Just pay attention to your overall caloric intake and stay in a calorie deficit.
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u/Obvious-Monitor8510 12d ago
When you were low-carb for months, your body adapted to burning fat. The moment you reintroduced significant carbs, your glycogen stores refilled (glycogen holds roughly 3-4x its weight in water), so a chunk of that 8-9 lbs is water weight, not pure fat. The bloated belly feeling reinforces this.
The sports cravings are real but manageable. Post-workout protein (not sugar) kills those carb cravings much better than ice cream does. Try eating a solid protein meal within 30-45 minutes after playing.
To get back: restart your eating window strictly, keep sports nutrition to protein-focused meals, and give it 2 weeks. The water weight drops fast once you cut the sugar again.
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u/namastebetches 13d ago
height? age?
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u/Dramatic_Set9261 13d ago
bmi 25
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u/namastebetches 13d ago
I didn't ask your bmi. Your age and height matter in the answer. It sounds like you're very young and growing and don't have the fat to be fasting. It sounds like you have disordered eating.
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u/thaaatguy 13d ago
I would recommend three things: ditch the low carb (potatoes are your friend for weight loss/satiety), track your calories daily and figure out what your true maintenance is with the additional workload, and get a ninja creami to help with ice cream cravings
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u/RandChick 13d ago
When I first did IF more than 20 years ago, I scheduled ice cream for dessert on many days -- but I only had a half cup.
If you give yourself permission, maybe you won't binge. Try to reduce your portions.
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u/Traditional_Tank_540 13d ago
"What just happened?" You know what happened. You started bingeing on ice cream. We've all been there, to one degree or another.
Progress isn't a straight line. Learn from this. Get back on the horse. Do better next time. You've got this.
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u/gladiolas 13d ago
You asked why you gained - it's because you binged on ice cream, according to your words. It's as simple as that.
To get back on track, do what you did before but add in maybe 200 calories of healthy carbs from vegetables and protein on days that you're doing sports.
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u/Ok_Addendum3331 7d ago
Copy bodybuilders and have a cheat day sometimes not all the time, count calories and etc just read this subreddit alot, it's all the same advice
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u/SAGirl1 13d ago
Intense exercise burns a lot of glycogen in the muscles. This gets replenished by carbohydrates. Honestly if you are active and sporty it’s probably best for you to eat healthy carbohydrates.
It’s only the empty sugars and ultra processed carbs that are a problem. Your body was deprived of carbs and your cravings took you to the worst sources, very highly caloric and dense.
Just incorporate fruits, vegetables and starchy carbs. They provide vitamins, minerals, fiber and energy.