Britt's Eight Weeks to Maintenance Journal

Brendalea69

Great work on getting all those A's Britt, I'm so happy for you I think that if you just do basic OMAD then you will lose those extra pounds and I'm sure it's mostly water weight...I also think that by adding in some Shake only days is a great idea...You got this!!!

blambo61

Congrats on those grades!

brittdee88

Thank you so much for the input and congratulations, everyone!
I think you’re all right - I am going to forgive myself and stick with OMAD instead of trying a whole bunch of things. I’m also just going to stick with FAA since I plan to eat that way forever instead of LC/keto, which I know is not realistic for me long term. I don’t want to have to try to restrict myself when I spend time with my fiancé and his family and then have to spend the whole following week frantically trying to get rid of the carb weight. Besides, I think I care most about being binge-free and near-sugar-free than about being near-zero carb, and FAA is perfect for that. I may try a fast day, but every other day is probably not realistic considering I don’t know my food needs for exercise yet since this is my first time working out on OMAD. Might as well just keep it simple.
Thanks so much everyone!
Also, I did my math incorrectly — today is actually 23 days to maintenance!

Jim_fbr

brittdee88 wrote: »

I've been reading a lot about alternate day water fasting for the past year and came across another article just now. I am thinking of trying it out next week to see if I can get rid of some of the holiday bloat a little quicker. I've mostly read about 4:3, so I was thinking of fasting on Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday but allowing a post-workout shake (100 calories) instead of just plain water on those days. Anyone have any experience? I've read quite a few blogs, but was wondering if any OMADers had tried it out. I was thinking it might be too stressful to combine 4:3 with OMAD and exercise, but I'm intrigued.

I spent a lot of time last year working on combining exercise and fasting, so I will offer some suggestions.
To me the whole reason for doing it is to train your body to be good at fat burning. Our bodies can burn glucose (sugar) or it can metabolize your own fat, become good at burning fat. It's like anything else, it takes some time and training in order to make the metabolic pathways in our bodies good at burning fat. For most people it almost never happens. I was dead set on training myself to be a good fat burner and I think it definitely helped me on the final third of my journey.
So with that said I'll just make two suggestions,
Exercise: do it like 3 or 4 times per week, and ALWAYS exercise on any day you fast. HOWEVER, AND THIS IS IMPORTANT, keep the intensity to a moderate level. For example maximum fat oxidation occurs at roughly 65-70% of your max heart rate. This should be your target zone. Forget for now anything to do with resistance training, HIIT, etc. That can come later, I assume at this point your main goal is to get to your target weight maintenance zone. Chose a cardio activity at no more than 70% heart rate, for example roughly 150 bpm I'd guess for your age, and do it for 30 to 60 minutes, 3 or 4 times per week, and always on a fasting day. If you feel at all uncomfortable just drop it down a notch. I went by feel, you should feel comfortable.
The second suggestion is to go gradual on the fasting days, give your body time to adapt. For example start with one fasting day per week, and give that a few weeks combined with the exercise and basic OMAD on your eating days. Then play it by ear as to adding any more fasting days. Incremental approach I think is better than making huge sudden changes.
Bottom line if you continue to do the moderate exercise I described while in a fasted state your body will become proficient at burning fat, it will more easily be able to switch over to fat burning which helps with staying on basic OMAD on a day to day basis. It's easier to get through the day to your next meal when your body is fully trained to make the switch over to fat burning in the absence of available carbohydrate.

Sorry for the long reply, I feel I could write a book on this aspect. Once I got to the point where I was a good fat burner it really put me over the top.
Good luck with whatever you do.

Oh I have to say great job on the grades!
That is the really big story here after all.

blambo61

What Jim said! I find I can walk forever fasted but cannot do HIIT while fasted. Fat metabolism is an aerobic process and if you go anearobic you won't be burning fat. Also I think with HIIT stuff the brain says no, the rate of energy usage is too great and I will run out and not be fed and it shuts the system down.

The liver can store about 500kcal of glycogen and the muscles can store about 1500 (numbers will vary for individuals). The liver can feed the brain but the muscles can't. If you get low on liver glycogen, the only thing left to feed the brain is the keytones the liver produces from metabolizing fat and glucose from gluconeogenisis. If you exercise low intensity, the liver can keep up with needs and maybe even fuel the muscles (??). I know I've hiked 10-hrs while fasted no problems but can't do one set of heavy weights fasted. I can run for 30-min fasted and then will bonk and slow down 2-min/mile at that point.

If you must do HIIT stuff or want to run at a faster pace, you can take coconut oil right before the exercise or take regular corn starch or both. They will feed the brain (only takes about 100-200kcal) and then with what the liver is producing and with the stored glycogen in the muscles, I can do an hour long run and burn about 1000kcal while only injesting about 100-200kcal before the workout. If I don't do that, I will bonk after about 400-500kcal of effort (30-min run). Taking that stuff, I think the brain says, I'm fed and will allow the body to go faster and then it runs off of the stuff you just ate, what the liver is producing, and the stored muscle glycogen.

I'm not sure what that will do to a person trying to train themselves to burn more fat though. Probably would degrade that somewhat. Taking the coconut oil probably wouldn't hurt that process but then you might be eating more fat than you want. Coconut oil is amazing though what it can do while fasted.

brittdee88

THANK YOU, @Jim_fbr and @blambo61! Your posts were SO helpful!
So for clarification: I should start off with one day a week of fasting for a few weeks (likely will do Sundays since I weigh in on Mondays), and I should keep exercise to moderate on this day? Or do I keep it moderate the whole week? I don't want to have to take coconut oil all the time - can I avoid this by keeping it moderate everyday?
Also, why only 3-4 times per week? I am finding my weight to be not too important to me right now as long as I end up below 150. I actually love HIIT and resistance training because I lose a ton of inches and fat fairly quickly, and that's what I care about most.
What about short (20 minutes or less) HIIT 6 days a week, resistance training 3-4 days a week, and then a 60-minute walk/yoga on fast days? Does that look okay?

blambo61

brittdee88 wrote: »

THANK YOU, @Jim_fbr and @blambo61! Your posts were SO helpful!
So for clarification: I should start off with one day a week of fasting for a few weeks (likely will do Sundays since I weigh in on Mondays), and I should keep exercise to moderate on this day? Or do I keep it moderate the whole week? I don't want to have to take coconut oil all the time - can I avoid this by keeping it moderate everyday?
Also, why only 3-4 times per week? I am finding my weight to be not too important to me right now as long as I end up below 150. I actually love HIIT and resistance training because I lose a ton of inches and fat fairly quickly, and that's what I care about most.
What about short (20 minutes or less) HIIT 6 days a week, resistance training 3-4 days a week, and then a 60-minute walk on fast days? Does that look okay?

I think you can try anything and see if it works. I just know from my own experimentation, that HIIT while fasted won't last very long. You may be different. I like HIIT also and that is why I either do the starch or the coconut oil or both before the workouts so I can do them after a fast. If you go low intensity, you probably won't need to do that. You can try and see what happens.

I only run 4xweek because I need the recovery. I'm getting older. In younger days, I ran 6xweek. Weights can be everyday to once a week depending on what your trying to do. I like 2xweek (for a single muscle group). If your go every day, you have to go light weight and lots of reps. You can go heavier if you go less frequently. If you really trying to hit high weights, once or twice a week would be max (for a muscle group). You can lift heavy every day if you switch muscle groups. As far as fasting only once a week, I think you will have to decide what you want to do. If you want to get to it everyday, you could jump in or gradually do it. I wouldn't get discouraged if you have bad day though and don't make it, just try again.

brittdee88

Thanks, Bob!
I am only doing bodyweight resistance training until I can get back into the gym in February, so I can definitely do it daily, but I prefer every other day because I also include some bodyweight training in my HIIT workouts.
I think you're right, though, about everyone needing different things. I think I am going to give it a try this week and see how it goes. I don't actually enjoy cardio so it won't be hard for me to listen to my body and dial it back if needed. I struggle a lot with listening to my body while lifting, but I will cross that bridge when I get there.

Jim_fbr

If you're fine with the weight and love HIIT and resistance training even six days per week, then my only question would be why would you also be thinking to add fasting days? I'm not sure if those goals would be compatible as you need to be fueled for the higher intensity stuff.
Many say you can do both, build muscle and lose fat and inches at the same time. For me it seems like a tougher route compared to doing them one at a time, because there is also the matter of determining the right way of eating and the right quantity in order to support doing them at the same time. You'll be hungry with all that workout activity, you might need full omad with no fasting at a minimum.
In any case try it but listen to the signals from your body and then make adjustments if need be.

brittdee88

You're right, Jim -- I'm trying to have my cake and eat it, too! I don't want to hold off any more with exercise because I honestly just miss being active, especially since I am on break and have the time. I'm currently at 158 post-holiday, and I know that when I work out I tend to stall, so I was thinking the fast day would help get me below 150 before entering maintenance. I also wasn't following OMAD when I was stalling before, though, so who really knows? I think you're right -- I will try a week with just OMAD and exercise and then adjust if needed.

brittdee88

12/30
23 Days to Maintenance
Weight: 158 (+11.8 - WOW)
Exercise: 10-minute HIIT at 3:45 PM
OMAD - 4:30 PM:

Not pictured: 1/2 of a raw chocolate protein shake (not technically FAA-compliant because it contains stevia, but I'm making an exception for the extra protein). Next time, I will have the shake immediately after exercising while preparing my meal, as I was completely ravenous afterwards.

I read that wine can interfere with recovery, so I will be having a glass of red alone at around 8:30 PM.

tlblanksfit

That meal looks really good!

tlblanksfit

I am predicting you will drop at least 2 of those pounds in the morning.

brittdee88

tlblanksfit wrote: »

I am predicting you will drop at least 2 of those pounds in the morning.

I will claim that! That would be AWESOME.

katjustkat

Britt congrats on the A+ grades! Super awesome. January should be easier for us as everyone is sick of goodies and is ready to shed the holiday splurges. Yay for January! I'm all for KISS-OMAD...it's just plain rewarding anyway you look at it.

brittdee88

Thanks, @katjustkat! You’re definitely right!

brittdee88

Please make more predictions, @tlblanksfit! I hit 155.8 today I’m hoping to see another decent loss tomorrow since today is an active rest day and should come with some inflammation reduction.
I wish I could figure out a way to lose that 11 pounds just as quickly as I gained them (without fasting or heavily restricting carbs/calories) — I would be a millionaire if I made that discovery!

Brendalea69

Nice loss I hope you make that discovery soon!!!

brittdee88

Happy new year, everyone!
I had lots of sangria last night at an NYE party, and I woke up at 156.6. Not too bad of a gain, but I found myself immediately googling how to lose 21 pounds in 21 days and realized that I have still not completely recovered from this diet mindset. While I liked the idea of entering maintenance on my 30th birthday, I think the pressure of meeting that specific date might actually do more harm than good with my disordered eating past. Instead, I will be leaving yet another thread (ugh!) to begin anew today with the plan of reaching my goal weight of 135 or below whenever I meet it instead of trying to starve and exercise myself to death over the next 3 weeks. I know that I can get there with OMAD by summertime, so I will look forward to wearing my first real bikini at 30 as my huge milestone. We have some vacations planned, so we’re both planning to get serious with getting fit over the next 6 months or so. I think having him along for the ride will make this even better for me (and I can now stop using Mondays as my official weigh-in days!).
Thanks for all the support, everyone! I will see you in my new (and hopefully last) weight loss thread!

jeanona

Happy New Year to you too!

Congratulations on the weight loss since starting the new plan AND the grades AND the binge-free streak (which I saw on the other group). Only a slight gain today so don't worry about it.

I have not set a specific date for getting to goal too. You can definitely get to your milestone girl!

Looking forward to seeing your new thread.

brittdee88

Thanks so much, @jeanona! I somehow missed you in the other group but I will pay better attention

jeanona

@brittdee88, nah, I posted only once in the monthly binge-free challenge and then decided to use my journal thread instead to record binge-free days rather than posting progress reports twice. I'm officially a lurker in that group!

Brendalea69

I love your new plan

minigrrll

Wow! So much has happened since I logged on! A huge congratulations on your grades... So amazing. And happy new year!

katjustkat

Britt...me toooo...not a bikini lol but....I def want to feel good and not all hot and uncomfortable this summer. Yay we have 6 months to be tortoises that will beat the hare (consistency is the key)