Consuming All Calories Before 1PM??

3dogsrunning

Basically, today was very unhealthy and high-sugar. It looked like:

6:30 AM 1 muffin w/ butter, some grapes and figs

8:30 AM waffle, blueberries, peanut butter

12:00 PM spinach salad, small piece of garlic bread, frozen yogurt, fruit, chocolate chips

The total ended up a little under 1900 calories.

A) this is unhealthy? Well hell.

We call this intermentant fasting. There's a girl here on MFP who only eats one meal a day. As far as I can tell she isn't suffering any ill effects, unless an amazing body is an ill effect.

Just to clarify my point - I am not against IF, and it is totally fine to eat only within a certain time frame. My point was just that one day of it is likely due to other factors than the benefits of IF.

PepperWorm

How are you not starving all the time?

conniemaxwell5

Basically, today was very unhealthy and high-sugar. It looked like:

6:30 AM 1 muffin w/ butter, some grapes and figs

8:30 AM waffle, blueberries, peanut butter

12:00 PM spinach salad, small piece of garlic bread, frozen yogurt, fruit, chocolate chips

The total ended up a little under 1900 calories.

Hard to believe this was almost 1900 calories. I think you're setting yourself up for failure here.

Achrya

Basically, today was very unhealthy and high-sugar. It looked like:

6:30 AM 1 muffin w/ butter, some grapes and figs

8:30 AM waffle, blueberries, peanut butter

12:00 PM spinach salad, small piece of garlic bread, frozen yogurt, fruit, chocolate chips

The total ended up a little under 1900 calories.

A) this is unhealthy? Well hell.

We call this intermentant fasting. There's a girl here on MFP who only eats one meal a day. As far as I can tell she isn't suffering any ill effects, unless an amazing body is an ill effect.

Just to clarify my point - I am not against IF, and it is totally fine to eat only within a certain time frame. My point was just that one day of it is likely due to other factors than the benefits of IF.

This is totally true, I more meant that the Op shouldn't feel bad/freak out because some people live their lives that way.

Not me though. I'm eating every 2 hours.

honeysprinkles

If you eat 1500-1800, it's not unhealthy. It doesn't really matter when you eat them. I think you weigh less the next day most likely because your food is all digested and everything like that. If it works for you and you feel okay doing it that way, there's nothing wrong with it.

nkayyy

Unhealthy, unrealistic.

The only thing on your menu you posted that I saw that was 'bad' was the muffin with butter.

You don't give any info on your activity throughout the day. You could be consuming 1900 calories before 1pm and burning 700 after.

Get rid of the scale, seriously. You seem to be obsessed over it. I was the same way and stopped using it entirely. At your weight it's not important if you weigh 135 or 132.3. You're at a healthy range unless you're like 4 feet tall.

Just eat healthy and burn calories. That's all it is about.

I haven't exercised yet today. I'm about to play tennis pretty soon, and I may do some weights at the gym later. My goal is to burn around 600-700 calories total, depending on how I feel.

It's not about being at a healthy weight; I've always been "healthy", but I gained the freshman 15 at college and still have 6 pounds left to lose. 130 is where I feel really good about my body and fit into all my clothes. It may not sound like much difference, but it really shows on my frame and makes a huge difference to me.

nkayyy

Basically, today was very unhealthy and high-sugar. It looked like:

6:30 AM 1 muffin w/ butter, some grapes and figs

8:30 AM waffle, blueberries, peanut butter

12:00 PM spinach salad, small piece of garlic bread, frozen yogurt, fruit, chocolate chips

The total ended up a little under 1900 calories.

A) this is unhealthy? Well hell.

We call this intermentant fasting. There's a girl here on MFP who only eats one meal a day. As far as I can tell she isn't suffering any ill effects, unless an amazing body is an ill effect.

Just to clarify my point - I am not against IF, and it is totally fine to eat only within a certain time frame. My point was just that one day of it is likely due to other factors than the benefits of IF.

This is totally true, I more meant that the Op shouldn't feel bad/freak out because some people live their lives that way.

Not me though. I'm eating every 2 hours.

Thank you! That's how it came across originally, don't worry You guys have me researching IF now... I never knew it was an actual "thing" before!

MrGonzo05

It's not unhealthy to skip meals, but it will not help your weight loss efforts. What matters is the calorie deficit and nutrition.

honeysprinkles

I'm assuming you weigh yourself sometime in the early morning. If you finish eating at 1pm and weigh yourself at 6am your food has worked its way through your system and you have less in your stomach then you would if you finished eating at 6pm.

So does that mean it isn't actual weight loss? I'm trying to understand the process and why eating early affects me that way.

No, it is not actual weight loss. Any number of factors affect scale weight. Things like undigested food and waste can affect weight. Since you stopped eating much earlier, more of the food would have made its way through your digestive tract. I am assuming you weight after you go to the washroom.
The other part that I was talking about is glycogen store. Glycogen requires water to be stored in your muscles, it is the source of energy your muscles use. As you deplete your glycogen stores, you also release the water stored in the muscles. Think of it as a fuel tank. SInce you last eat at 1 pm, and continue to use glycogen, your weight goes down slightly. Once you eat, those stores are replenished, and the weight goes back up slightly. This is also what happens when people cut carbs drastically and drop 10 lbs (and why people post panicked questions when they "cheat" on a low carb plan, eat some carbs and spike up in weight). It is merely water weight, not fat loss.

That makes sense to me. It's just that I've sort of been waiting to drop those couple random pounds I gained this week, so I assumed when I woke up a pound lighter that my body was just getting on board with my healthy habits. But your explanation makes more logical sense by far.

I've noticed that when I quickly gain a few pounds (in a few days) the gain is usually just water weight too and will normally come off really quickly!
Last week, I weighed 135 pounds up from 125 (due to eating whatever I wanted for days in a row and having my period). 3-4 days later and I'm down to 126.5! So the gain was really just extra water weight from too much sodium most likely!

I like to weigh often too, but if you weigh everyday, you can not put too much stock in your weight or its fluctuations. It's normal to have a 5lb range that your weight will fluctuate around, depending on what you've eaten, the time of day, how much sodium you've had, etc.!

nkayyy

I'm assuming you weigh yourself sometime in the early morning. If you finish eating at 1pm and weigh yourself at 6am your food has worked its way through your system and you have less in your stomach then you would if you finished eating at 6pm.

So does that mean it isn't actual weight loss? I'm trying to understand the process and why eating early affects me that way.

No, it is not actual weight loss. Any number of factors affect scale weight. Things like undigested food and waste can affect weight. Since you stopped eating much earlier, more of the food would have made its way through your digestive tract. I am assuming you weight after you go to the washroom.
The other part that I was talking about is glycogen store. Glycogen requires water to be stored in your muscles, it is the source of energy your muscles use. As you deplete your glycogen stores, you also release the water stored in the muscles. Think of it as a fuel tank. SInce you last eat at 1 pm, and continue to use glycogen, your weight goes down slightly. Once you eat, those stores are replenished, and the weight goes back up slightly. This is also what happens when people cut carbs drastically and drop 10 lbs (and why people post panicked questions when they "cheat" on a low carb plan, eat some carbs and spike up in weight). It is merely water weight, not fat loss.

That makes sense to me. It's just that I've sort of been waiting to drop those couple random pounds I gained this week, so I assumed when I woke up a pound lighter that my body was just getting on board with my healthy habits. But your explanation makes more logical sense by far.

I've noticed that when I quickly gain a few pounds (in a few days) the gain is usually just water weight too and will normally come off really quickly!
Last week, I weighed 135 pounds up from 125 (due to eating whatever I wanted for days in a row and having my period). 3-4 days later and I'm down to 126.5! So the gain was really just extra water weight from too much sodium most likely!

I like to weigh often too, but if you weigh everyday, you can not put too much stock in your weight or its fluctuations. It's normal to have a 5lb range that your weight will fluctuate around, depending on what you've eaten, the time of day, how much sodium you've had, etc.!

That's very helpful, thank you! So basically, I just need to stop worrying about the scale and just be patient for good results. Easier said than done but I'll certainly try!

faely

I'm curious - do you really feel an actual difference in your body with just those 5 lbs or is it a number thing? I'm very big still so 5 lbs doesn't seem like diddly to me unless its 5 lbs I've lost and kept off. But actually FEELING different without those 5 lbs...I can't tell a difference. For me there has to be a significant amount of weight difference before my body feels different/better.

nkayyy

I'm curious - do you really feel an actual difference in your body with just those 5 lbs or is it a number thing? I'm very big still so 5 lbs doesn't seem like diddly to me unless its 5 lbs I've lost and kept off. But actually FEELING different without those 5 lbs...I can't tell a difference. For me there has to be a significant amount of weight difference before my body feels different/better.

I really do feel and look different with the extra 5 pounds. I don't know why they make such a big difference exactly, probably because my body fat is pretty low to begin with and I have a small frame even though I'm 5'9". I'm pretty sure other people notice it too, probably at a subliminal level, though it's hard to be sure. But I know my confidence rises a LOT when I'm that extra 5 pounds down, I get more attention from guys, and just generally feel great.

tigersword

That's all in your head, because you are fixated on the number. For an example:


This girl weighs about your goal weight on the left (131,) and weighs about 7 pounds MORE than your current weight on the right (142.) Worry more about fitness, less about the number on the scale. It's obviously having a negative effect on your psyche.

Check out her story: http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/

sugermonkey37

I DO THIS TOO! It works for me and the weight does stay off. This is acutally my FAVORITE diet method. I don't eat dinner or anything after 12-3 whenever I decide to stop. But yes it works well also if you have a plateau.

cwolfman13

133 - 135? That's all pretty much in the natural body weight fluctuation territory right there.

I think you're being overly obsessive about an arbitrary number on the scale that is representative of many things, not just fat.

3dogsrunning

Just a warning, the OP posted this almost 1 year ago. :bigsmile:

magerum

Just a warning, the OP posted this almost 1 year ago. :bigsmile: