Intermittent Fasting & Low Carb, High Protein, Moderate Fat .. Setting up to fail ?

mandyneedtolose

I am a yo yo. I go up and down in weight. About 3 years ago I lost close to 100 lbs ( yes I have alot of weight to loss) and I gained it all back. I am limited to exercise as I am recovering from hip replacement, so doing hours of cardio isn't workable right now. I am going to try 16:8 fasting, and my foods will be low carb veggies, limited fruit, red meat chicken, tuna, ground beef, salmon, and fats will be avocado oil, olive oil. And eggs. I am not a cheese fan. I don't eat bread, rice, pasta. I don't drink pop or juice. What do you think ?? Setting up for failure again? or maybe it will work ??

cmriverside

Eat what you like to eat, at the hours you want to eat. Makes no difference.

Staying within your calorie goal is all that matters.

I do 16:8 naturally. I stay under 150g carbs most days. It's just the way I like to eat. It's still up to me to make my calories work with those preferences I have. That's all there is to it. Find a way to eat and food to eat that works for you while adhering to your goal.

amusedmonkey

Do you think this way of eating will teach you valuable strategies for weight maintenance? Does it feel natural to you? Do you consider it easier than any other alternative? If the answer is yes to all, then sure why not. If you're not sure, try it and see how you feel about it. If the answer is no, then you're creating arbitrary rules and making things unnecessarily harder for yourself.

Wtn_Gurl

Generally, that sounds like a pretty good eating plan. You will know when you see it work for you or not. Whatever made you re-gain 100 pounds that you worked so hard to lose - THAT is what i would focus on and not do those things again. You learned what worked for you in the past and what messed you up regaining. Remember those things and do something different.

kommodevaran

I think it looks like a recipe for failure. Not for the meal timing, which is a healthy, normal eating schedule, but for the food restrictions. Especially if you have a history of yoyoing, it's important that you try to fix that. If you don't like bread, rice, pasta, pop or juice, that's fine, don't eat/drink it. But if you like them, you'll eventually cave and binge. That is the yoyoing.

Low carb is high fat and moderate protein, not high protein and moderate fat. But low carb isn't even necessary for weight loss. You can lose weight with whatever macro split you feel comfortable with. A healthy diet is balanced - and balance can be found in a wide range. Don't limit yourself to a few "healthy" foods, because a healthy diet is also varied - because all different foods provide us with different nutrients, and we need them all. Variety also tends to prevent boredom, and enhance flexibility, and getting bored with diet, and suddenly feeling stuck because a staple is unavailable, is a predictor for giving up.

You don't have to exercise to lose weight. You lose weight through a consistent calorie deficit, and you can achieve that just by eating less.

Unknown

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mandyneedtolose

My regain was from falling off the wagon and going back to eating breads, pasta and rice. And back to drinking pop. And it wasn't that I craved these foods, it was tight financial problem and it was cheaper it grab a sandwich then to buy chicken breast. Yes I know there is no price on health, but unfortunately for me I put my 4 kids needs before buying the foods I needed. It's not an excuse, but that is what happened and I have learned from that.

Lillymoo01

That kind of diet would never work for me and would set me up for failure because I could not sustain it long term. It could well be the case for you too. However, this type of plan works wonders for others. There is no magic diet, no one size fits all. The best diet for you is one that works with weight reduction and health and one that you will still stick with in maintenance.

kommodevaran

mandyneedtolose wrote: »

My regain was from falling off the wagon and going back to eating breads, pasta and rice. And back to drinking pop. And it wasn't that I craved these foods, it was tight financial problem and it was cheaper it grab a sandwich then to buy chicken breast. Yes I know there is no price on health, but unfortunately for me I put my 4 kids needs before buying the foods I needed. It's not an excuse, but that is what happened and I have learned from that.

Now is the best time to learn how to shop, cook and eat healthily and cheap. There are a number of threads reagarding that on the forums already.

cmriverside

mandyneedtolose wrote: »

My regain was from falling off the wagon and going back to eating breads, pasta and rice. And back to drinking pop. And it wasn't that I craved these foods, it was tight financial problem and it was cheaper it grab a sandwich then to buy chicken breast. Yes I know there is no price on health, but unfortunately for me I put my 4 kids needs before buying the foods I needed. It's not an excuse, but that is what happened and I have learned from that.

Nothing wrong with bread, rice, or pasta, though. I eat one of those at each meal on most days. I eat two pretty good sized meals in my 8 hour window. I eat beans most days (cheap) I also eat one or two servings of meat or eggs or dairy in each meal, and I have a vegetable or fresh fruit at each meal. Simple.

Each meal will be:

• Bread/rice/beans/pasta/other grain/potato
• Protein
• Vegetable or fruit
• some sort of fat

Stay in calories. Figure out how to do that. It takes discipline and you may be hungry before a meal. That's part of weight loss. Try to get enough fiber, it helps with satiety. I also don't do much snacking unless it's an exercise day.

amusedmonkey

mandyneedtolose wrote: »

My regain was from falling off the wagon and going back to eating breads, pasta and rice. And back to drinking pop. And it wasn't that I craved these foods, it was tight financial problem and it was cheaper it grab a sandwich then to buy chicken breast. Yes I know there is no price on health, but unfortunately for me I put my 4 kids needs before buying the foods I needed. It's not an excuse, but that is what happened and I have learned from that.

I have multiple "diets". I tried various things and picked the top few that were easiest. It's nice to have a backup plan when your original won't work. For example, when my schedule is too chaotic for alternate day fasting I do simple calorie counting. When I have a whole week of social events I do "one meal a day" diet...etc. Always have a backup plan for when low carb is not workable. How would you handle a situation where you are forced to eat rice and sandwiches?

Somewhere along the way of your weight loss, probably when you are ready to take a diet break, try to have a week of the same foods that contributed to your overeating when you regained and try various strategies to see what would help you handle them better if push comes to shove, then add that to your weight management arsenal for the future. If you want to stop yoyoing you need to start thinking of ways to handle the main contributors to your regain, be it foods, emotions, activity (or lack thereof)...etc. If low carb intermittent fasting is your most comfortable plan, then you are doing the right thing by going back to it, just don't neglect the areas that do need work.

Blitzia

mandyneedtolose wrote: »

My regain was from falling off the wagon and going back to eating breads, pasta and rice. And back to drinking pop. And it wasn't that I craved these foods, it was tight financial problem and it was cheaper it grab a sandwich then to buy chicken breast. Yes I know there is no price on health, but unfortunately for me I put my 4 kids needs before buying the foods I needed. It's not an excuse, but that is what happened and I have learned from that.

Counting calories is key, and after reading this I went back and looked at your original post and it doesn't look like you mentioned calories in your plan. For weight loss, it doesn't make a difference if you eat 1500 calories worth of pop and bread or 1500 calories worth of chicken breast. (You may feel hungrier on the pop and bread, but 1500 calories is 1500 calories when it comes to weight loss.) So that's the only lesson you need to learn. If you have to save money for your kids, it doesn't have to derail your weight loss. Stick to the calorie goal whether you're eating 1500 calories of healthy food or 1500 calories worth of junk. (And two notes: 1. I just made up 1500 - put your stats into MFP to get a more accurate goal. 2. Junk food isn't always cheaper than healthy food. For instance, why would you drink pop instead of water if you're trying to save money? People on these forums can offer awesome advice about grocery shopping for low calorie/healthy food on a budget.)

Otherwise, good luck. The hardest step is deciding to start and you're already there.

LKArgh

mandyneedtolose wrote: »

I am a yo yo. I go up and down in weight. About 3 years ago I lost close to 100 lbs ( yes I have alot of weight to loss) and I gained it all back. I am limited to exercise as I am recovering from hip replacement, so doing hours of cardio isn't workable right now. I am going to try 16:8 fasting, and my foods will be low carb veggies, limited fruit, red meat chicken, tuna, ground beef, salmon, and fats will be avocado oil, olive oil. And eggs. I am not a cheese fan. I don't eat bread, rice, pasta. I don't drink pop or juice. What do you think ?? Setting up for failure again? or maybe it will work ??

Something so restrictive and overcomplicated, can you see this working for life? Can you imagine yourself watching the clock to see when you can eat and having this small variery of food forever? If not, you have your answer.

lemurcat12

Wtn_Gurl wrote: »

Whatever made you re-gain 100 pounds that you worked so hard to lose - THAT is what i would focus on and not do those things again. You learned what worked for you in the past and what messed you up regaining. Remember those things and do something different.

I think this is good advice.

mandyneedtolose wrote: »

My regain was from falling off the wagon and going back to eating breads, pasta and rice. And back to drinking pop. And it wasn't that I craved these foods, it was tight financial problem and it was cheaper it grab a sandwich then to buy chicken breast. Yes I know there is no price on health, but unfortunately for me I put my 4 kids needs before buying the foods I needed. It's not an excuse, but that is what happened and I have learned from that.

Hmm. Why going back to the pop? That might be something to work out (I do think it's good to quit pop if you want to do it, but if you miss it or slip back into drinking it at stressful times, then really learning to drink other things instead as a new habit might be important to work on, including diet drinks if you like them enough). I don't always want water (although I drink a lot of it), so for me it's helpful that I enjoy coffee tea, homemade iced tea, some diet sodas occasionally, etc. -- basically a lot of almost no cal drinks.

Also, if you are going to want it, learning to fit it in is probably a good idea, so you don't have to choose between being perfectly on program vs. being off program.

Same with the rice, pasta, bread. I know they are easy, so one thing (if you don't want to fall back on them) is having other fast, easy, cheap options that you want to eat instead.

More important, I think it's necessary to get past the idea that things have to be perfect to be able to eat the right amount of calories. I am low carbing now (I prefer eating this way in part because rice and bread just don't tempt me and it's an easy way to cut calories without feeling like I am, for me -- it's almost less restrictive in some ways). BUT, I also lost a lot of weight and maintained it eating pasta (which I do like) and there is NO reason why eating bread, pasta, rice = weight gain. Learning how to lose/maintain whatever the diet is important, I think, if you can't always have exactly the foods you want.

As for the eating schedule, does eating within 8 hours seem like it would be an easy schedule to work with and would it help you not overeat? If so, good idea -- the trick is it should make things easier, as it doesn't cause weight loss in and of itself. (What works for me is eating 3 meals or 3 meals and a planned dessert and not snacking.)

As for the food choices, I don't think there's any reason to be so limited, but it sounds like you are doing a lower carb plan, which like I said I like for myself. Do you like focusing on food limits because you find that you can lose without counting calories? Or are you reflecting how you like to eat? Do you have a plan if you can't stay with those food choices every day for some reason, like before?

nvmomketo

mandyneedtolose wrote: »

My regain was from falling off the wagon and going back to eating breads, pasta and rice. And back to drinking pop. And it wasn't that I craved these foods, it was tight financial problem and it was cheaper it grab a sandwich then to buy chicken breast. Yes I know there is no price on health, but unfortunately for me I put my 4 kids needs before buying the foods I needed. It's not an excuse, but that is what happened and I have learned from that.

I have a tendency to eat too much when I eat carbs. It just seems to stoke my appetite and cravings. When I switched to low carb high fat (LCHF) this time, I realized that it should be a permanent change for me. Luckily I feel much better when I eat LCHF so that makes it much easier to stick to.

Unless you are exercising a lot, you probably do not need high protein. Moderate protein will probably be enough. I mention that because high fat is a cheaper way to eat. Wings and legs (skin on) are cheaper than chicken breasts, and ground beef that is not lean is generally cheaper. LCHF can be expensive (nuts and cheese) but those do not need to be a large part of your diet.

Grabbing a hard boiled egg will be just as cheap as a sandwich. Raw veggies with a full fat creamy dressing may be cheaper than the high protein chicken breast too.

Sometimes higher fat may be easier and cheaper than high protein. It is just as healthful.

Pop (diet) is my vice too. I limit it because it is expensive and I doubt it is healthful. I was given a water carbonation unit as a gift. That's a good stand in for pop. Almost as good.

As for the IF, I would give yourself some time to settle into low carb before adding that too strictly. Many low carbers find their appetite is suppressed so they naturally fall into IF. I usually only eat in a 4-8 hour window because I'm not hungry. If I tried doing that while still eating higher carb (or still used to that woe) I'd be starving with hypoglycemic symptoms. I wouldn't be able to force that on higher carb, KWIM?

Just start as you mean to go on and that should get rid of the yo-yo part of your diet. Good luck.

amusedmonkey

@lemurcat12 Yeah, I wondered the same about pop. Why would being on a budget mean drinking pop that you don't even want when not drinking it (which I assume was the case on low carb) would be cheaper? I'm suspecting being unable to follow her preferred diet to a T triggered complete surrender and self sabotage. "If I had bread might as well go for broke".

mandyneedtolose

About the whole pop thing ... I didn't go and stock up on pop!! I didn't drink gallons of it. I was just meaning that I drank it more often then I should as it's no good for me. When I was talking about the tight budget I was mean about lean proteins and some of the veggies were hard to get as they are pricey. So grabbing a sandwich ( which is cheaper on the budget) was what I did!

mandyneedtolose

This was my first week of intermittent fasting, and upped my calories. I eat only between 11 am - 7 pm. And I lost 3.8 lbs this week, with limited exercise.

AmbitiousRooster

I've been doing the intermittent fasting (16:8) diet for a few weeks now and have lost 5.5 pounds so far. Mornings are definitely the hardest, especially when I have free time. I eat between noon and 8pm for the most part. With school out for the summer (I'm a nanny) I'm having to rethink this diet since the girls worry when I don't eat breakfast with them.

Soda is definitely my weakness but I've gotten more into flavored sparkling water for the taste and carbonation and it's zero calories! If I absolutely need to eat before noon I do lower calorie things like a few crackers or a handful of dried cherries. What is really helping me the most, I'll admit, is tracking calories. Forcing myself to be accountable for what I eat makes me realize just how horribly I snack, even if I do stay under 1200 calories a day.