I am very frustrated. Reboot?

rs2332

Hope all of you are doing great! I did OMAD from Feb 2017 to May 2017 and went from almost 200 lbs to 185 lbs and was losing weight and bf at a great pace. During this time i ate one meal a day and even did pride myself of eating pizza/burgers and was still losing weight. Since then things have changed and i am feeling pretty mad and frustrated.

Please note : I still lift and run/bike.

Mid May i somehow felt OMAD was killing my Testosterone levels since due to various reasons so i started eating withing 4 pm to 10 pm window. Things were fine for a while but i have started to lose control of my weight/bf % and over all motivation.

I have been running pretty much 5 days a week for the past 2 weeks and i am gaining weight compared to losing it. And my Intermittent fasting is all over the place resulting in almost 5 to 8lbs and 2 % bf gain.

I am not sure what i should do at this point and i am looking for some advise.

blambo61

When do you work out? mornings or evenings?

I left OMAD for a long time and did a lot of 16:8s (with a sprinkling of 21:4s) while I worked out cause I worked out in the mornings (I didn't want to bonk working out after the fast and it is hard to fast after a hard morning workout). As long as I ate a low carb lunch (big salad with meat, cheese, oil), I could maintain weight and not gain. If anything was allowed at lunch, I would gain. I gained back 10-lbs twice tell I figured that out. Since figuring that out, I've been able to maintain well for several months while mostly doing 16:8s.

Having said all that, I'm going to go back to working out at the end of the fast cause I have a hard time losing weight doing the 16:8s with maybe two 21:3s per week. I did that today and walked/jogged for an hour today after work. I want to lose some more weight. The things I need to overcome to do that (run after the fast) are not bonk and be able to run without an upset stomach (if I eat before I run). I've found I can overcome both of these either by eating some coconut oil before I go running or if I eat some UCAN superstarch before I go running. These things haven't messed with my stomach even eating them just 30-min before running hard. The coconut oil is cheap but I worry about eating too much of it. Also I want to burn my own fat and not just coconut oil. The starch stuff is like magic and I can easily run with just 80-cals of the stuff and it doesn't shut off fat metabolism cause it is a super slow release carb that doesn't spike insulin and I don't bonk. I'm going to go with the starch but it is expensive. Since I'm losing weight and not buying lunches, I can justify it and when I don't want to lose anymore, I will probably go back to working out in the mornings (I like working out on an empty stomach and when it isn't too hot) and not use the starch or anything else.

I recommend working out after the fast cause it is easier to fast when you haven't worked out. Make sure you do a good long fast at least 6-days/week (OMAD or at least a 20:4). Eat something like the coconut oil or the starch before you workout so you won't bonk or get an upset stomach. That is what I'm going back to starting just today. That is my plan and I think it would work for you also.

wsandy8512

Hey there RS! I would recommend tightening up on your fasting hours, first and foremost. If 16:8 leaves you to many hours to over indulge, maybe try 18:6 for awhile and see how it feels. Work yourself up to shorter windows until you find your sweet spot and don't change it around so much, if at all, until you've been sticking with it for quite awhile. Make sure to load up on fats, healthy if possible, but whatever you like to eat with fat, as fats may very well help keep you full and satisfied until your next meal.

I workout in the morning in a fasted state and don't have my meal until 4-6 hours later. I have a lot of energy when fasted and I feel great during and after my workouts as well. Bob has great advise if you're in the same scenario and feel tired and lack energy like he does. You really have to go by what makes you feel best.

You are not losing testosterone when fasting, in fact, fasting helps raise it.

Best to you!

rs2332

Thanks for the great input! I workaround during lunch time and my first meal now is around 4 pm while i am doing 18:6 fasting and i agree that it leaves me with too much time to eat and go over my caloric limit. I am one of those people who can easily eat 6000 calories in one sitting so i have to be careful.

When i lost my 15 pounds doing OMAD i would have coffee with coconut oil around 2 pm and a nice big apple around 4 pm. My OMAD meal would be between 7 to 9pm and i will be done! I have to work myself back into it. My BMR is 2200 calories so i should be targetting around 1800 to lose weight.

blambo61

rs2332 wrote: »

Thanks for the great input! I workaround during lunch time and my first meal now is around 4 pm while i am doing 18:6 fasting and i agree that it leaves me with too much time to eat and go over my caloric limit. I am one of those people who can easily eat 6000 calories in one sitting so i have to be careful.

When i lost my 15 pounds doing OMAD i would have coffee with coconut oil around 2 pm and a nice big apple around 4 pm. My OMAD meal would be between 7 to 9pm and i will be done! I have to work myself back into it. My BMR is 2200 calories so i should be targetting around 1800 to lose weight.

If your working out , you can have more calories than 1800 and lose weight. I have to have a shorter eating window to lose. I also have to eat low carb for lunch if I want to maintain. I'm not tire when working out, I bonk when working out after a fast which are different things. Bonking is running out of glycogen and/or keytones to fuel you. Not the same as tiredness. Working out usually suppresses appetite for a couple of hours so you can work out at noon and then eat at 4 should work but you will need to stop eating sooner than your doing to get up to 20:4 or 21:3 or something like that. If I'm gaining or not losing, shortening the window works for me (I don't count cals so I depend on the shorter window limiting my cals). You could also count the cals or use an indirect method like one plate rule or something like it to limit cals and that should work for you also. Good luck!