Fasting

akkelley81

Hello everyone! I wanted to start this thread to discuss with anyone else that's doing a fasting plan. My Doctor recommended the book The Obesity Code to me, and it just makes so much sense to me why I've can't seem to find a way to lose weight and stick to it. How is it working for anyone else? What are you struggling with? Right now I can't imagine taking the creamer out of my coffee in the morning, but I'm working on the rest

GabiV125

Hi there, actually I started last week the 16/8 fasting and turns out that I am not struggling with keeping the hour , but to stay in the caloric allowance.
And I went from creamer to milk 3 years ago, but the milk stays!
Not familiar with the obesity code, sorry

didi75810

Hello, I started fasting a month ago. It was tough at first but I have seemed to adjust. I still have moments that I sway a little, but I just keep going instead of beating myself up. I've lost 7lbs, I'm sleeping better and my energy is getting better every day. Using my fitness helps me to see where I'm at and keeps me honest.

GabiV125

All sounds good, happy to hear your results are so spectacular.
The side benefits I’m looking forward are less pain in right hip and SLEEP.
I started IF for a week now, and I messed up Sunday and Monday. I am working on not beating myself up, like you said, and getting hopeful for results this time.

Shortgirlrunning

I don’t technically do IF because it’s too strict for my taste. But I do generally skip breakfast and just have a cup of coffee with my creamer. Because having or not having that 35 calories doesn’t matter.

Not eating until 11-12 helps me manage my calories better throughout the day. But I still do what works for me each day. Like this morning I was really hungry after my run so I had a bagel. IF isn’t a magical solution to weight loss. If that way of eating makes managing your calories easier, awesome. But nothing bad will happen if you eat outside your window. No matter what diet you are following in the end it all comes down to calories in vs calories out.

bishopjulia

Hello I have been trying to follow fasting/OMAD for a while now, I’ve managed to lose 10lbs, was at a a 16lb lost and went up. My issue is I beat myself if I eat during the day, guess not the most productive attitude lol. What have you all been doing for exercise? I work long shifts and half the time am too exhausted when I get home to work out. Even the word “work” out makes me tired lol

Go_Deskercise

Jockimom

bishopjulia wrote: »

Hello I have been trying to follow fasting/OMAD for a while now, I’ve managed to lose 10lbs, was at a a 16lb lost and went up. My issue is I beat myself if I eat during the day, guess not the most productive attitude lol. What have you all been doing for exercise? I work long shifts and half the time am too exhausted when I get home to work out. Even the word “work” out makes me tired lol

I don't usually hop on threads but it looks like the poster above sort of shut you down with that big graphic on a couple of different threads (or maybe you're friends and it's an ongoing joke or something). Anyway, that would discourage me so I wanted to give you my two cents. OMAD is pretty advanced fasting. I'm glad you've had some success with it, but maybe it's too extreme if you're eating more often or finding yourself exhausted. There are tons of options - it doesn't have to be all or nothing. For example, my sister is a 40-something professional and her doctor recommended 14:10. I have an autoimmune condition that affects my gut, so I get more out of a once a week long 24-hr+ fast. Talk to your doctor, do some more research and play around with the hours a bit and find out what works for you - then you'll have the energy to up your exercise. Good luck!

GabiV125

I agree with you it’s all down to decreasing the intake. Well, easy said...
I call it IF because it’s probably the closest to reality. I didn’t eat breakfast for years, but also snacked with an occasional binge, well into the night. If I tackle the end meal I know I will control the numbers a little better.
Managed to lose easily the baby weight first time around but not the second time, and that child starts high school this fall.
Tried many things and fell many times , got distracted and sidetracked altogether , and now I’m back on the horse and excited to have mates in this journey

bishopjulia

Jockimom wrote: »

bishopjulia wrote: »

Hello I have been trying to follow fasting/OMAD for a while now, I’ve managed to lose 10lbs, was at a a 16lb lost and went up. My issue is I beat myself if I eat during the day, guess not the most productive attitude lol. What have you all been doing for exercise? I work long shifts and half the time am too exhausted when I get home to work out. Even the word “work” out makes me tired lol

I don't usually hop on threads but it looks like the poster above sort of shut you down with that big graphic on a couple of different threads (or maybe you're friends and it's an ongoing joke or something). Anyway, that would discourage me so I wanted to give you my two cents. OMAD is pretty advanced fasting. I'm glad you've had some success with it, but maybe it's too extreme if you're eating more often or finding yourself exhausted. There are tons of options - it doesn't have to be all or nothing. For example, my sister is a 40-something professional and her doctor recommended 14:10. I have an autoimmune condition that affects my gut, so I get more out of a once a week long 24-hr+ fast. Talk to your doctor, do some more research and play around with the hours a bit and find out what works for you - then you'll have the energy to up your exercise. Good luck!

Thank you very much (have no idea who the other poster is) I just like other people am looking for advice. That’s what we do when we feel stuck and lost. I’m not new to weight loss it’s been a battle my whole life. What worked once doesn’t seem to work as well as it used to. After reading yours and some other posts it seems that I’m putting to many rules on my self then I fail , beat myself up and sometimes “yes” give up from discouragement. Calories in vs calories out is very simple on paper or on post but can be hard in day to day life. If it where that simple no one would be over weight and obesity would be non existent. That’s why there are posts, forums, my fitness pal. All feedback I take with a grain of salt. Thank you for your help 😌😉

Philippe74005327

Hi, 59 year old, down 28 kg since January 10th 2020, 10 kg more to go! Combination of 1600-1900 cal intake, walking *3-4/week (8 miles +) and resistance training at home 3-5/week.

First, I think there is no way out of "burn more than you intake". If you add exercise to the somewhat reduced intake, you should get a calorie deficit and shed the kg. Exercise will allow to have an less painful "decrease the intake".

Having said that, I am doing a 16/8, more often 17/7, around twice/three times a week when not exercising too much. Basically that day I have an extra deficit which is my breakfast calories. I will keep on doing 16/8 even when I have reached my weight goal, first because I usually feel extremely well the day after and second because it seems to help, at least for older man like me, to boost both growth hormone and testosterone - which is probably not an issue for you.
Once every 10 days or so I do a "stronger fast" where I drastically limit my calories intake to around 700-800 maximum. Again feel pretty good the day after and will probably continue to do that as well. Stomach grumbling a bit, but lots of water, coffee and tea - sorry never used creamer or milk neither in coffee nor tea!

If you are constrained by time, may I suggest you have a good look at using kettlebells? This is a great way to combine strength and cardio - a lot on YouTube - concentrated in a limited time. And forget on getting women bulky with that, it will get you toned and help shed the weight easier.

bishopjulia

Thank you very much (have no idea who the other poster is) I just like other people am looking for advice. That’s what we do when we feel stuck and lost. I’m not new to weight loss it’s been a battle my whole life. What worked once doesn’t seem to work as well as it used to. After reading yours and some other posts it seems that I’m putting to many rules on my self then I fail , beat myself up and sometimes “yes” give up from discouragement. Calories in vs calories out is very simple on paper or on post but can be hard in day to day life. If it where that simple no one would be over weight and obesity would be non existent. That’s why there are posts, forums, my fitness pal. All feedback I take with a grain of salt. Thank you for your help 😌😉
[/quote]

Geeze... I’m not saying calories in vs calories out is wrong, I’m saying it can be difficult for some people. That people deal with road blocks and frustration and discouragement and. And yes if it was extremely easy to lose weight there wouldn’t be No need for my fitness pal or weight loss centres or advice forums. Disagree all you want. Doesn’t bother me. Lol

Philippe 😊, I haven’t tried kettle bells. Think I may have to invest in some. Thanks for your feed back.

Diatonic12

I'm debate free on purpose but I find this a tad confusing.

"All feedback I take with a grain of salt. Thank you for your help 😌😉"

I can name 28 people off the top of my head that have found long term weight stability via this forum. They offer every bit of encouragement they've got to give. They give and give and give. While our time may be free it's not worthless.

Go_Deskercise

I agree with you @bishopjulia! It is easy in theory but hard to execute most days

LOL - 1000 apologies for "shutting you down with that big graphic"
Some people are very sensitive *shrugs*

It is a very useful graphic as most people feel like that HAVE to be on a diet plan of some sort in order to lose weight

lgfrie

I don't honestly get anything out of the various IF books, of which I've read all of them. All the rigamarole about insulin levels and leptin modulation through fasting and all that.

BUT...

I have been eating a fairly strict IF diet since June 9, 2019. Almost 14 months, almost every day, maybe 1-2 days off per month like when I'm out socializing and can't live up to my 7 pm food cutoff. My food window is noon to 7 pm. I sometimes "cheat" (hate that word) by putting creamer in my coffee in the morning, but didn't at first. I've lost almost 80 pounds. It's the first and only successful time I've lost more than 30 pounds and not regained. However, I still have 40 lbs more to go to get to a Normal BMI so it's too early to declare it a complete success. But I will call it a strong interim success, so far.

Couple of thoughts in no particular order.

What seems pretty hard at first - not eating outside the food window - actually gets really easy after 3-5 weeks and then you experience a kind of remarkable lack of appetite and interest in food outside the window. At least I did. I have much less appetite than I did before IF. My body got used to not getting even a morsel of food 17 hours each day and it seems to have made its peace with that. That is the most powerful aspect of IF, imho.

IF is the only thing that's ever helped me control my nighttime binging, which stopped the day I started IF. Previously, I had real binging issues, easily capable of gorging on 4,000+ calories in an hour (the usual suspects - ice cream, chips, queso, cookies, etc). I have had 4 or 5 instances of severe gorging over the last 14 months, so I know the tendency is still there, but IF does help me control it most of the time.

I think it is best to be kind of hard core about it at first - zero calories outside the eating window. This is to develop good habits and really get you in the right frame of mind. Later on, if you need to loosen things up a bit, it won't hurt you. There is no penalty for putting a skootch of creamer in your morning coffee or having a few carrots before bedtime. But first you need to "lock in" the IF mindset and habit, so I'd suggest doing it right - zero calories outside the window.

Those books on IF are kinda weird. They have a lot of pseudo theories that kinda half make sense but also kind half sound ridiculous. Having seen my own test results, I think there may be some advantages to IF aside from just weight loss, as far as blood sugar levels, blood pressure, RHR, etc. These might be minor or significant, depending on the person. For these reasons and also because time restricted eating can be a great way to lose weight, I think IF is worthy. But the arguments for IF being tossed around out there are kind of way out there and unnecessary. Just the fact that IF for many people becomes a natural appetite suppression after a month or so is all the justification needed to give it a shot.

Hope that helps.

akkelley81

@igfrie great to hear how well it's going! That's motivating!

akkelley81

didi75810 wrote: »

Hello, I started fasting a month ago. It was tough at first but I have seemed to adjust. I still have moments that I sway a little, but I just keep going instead of beating myself up. I've lost 7lbs, I'm sleeping better and my energy is getting better every day. Using my fitness helps me to see where I'm at and keeps me honest.

I agree, I've had more energy too! I no longer need an afternoon cup of coffee

akkelley81

bishopjulia wrote: »

Hello I have been trying to follow fasting/OMAD for a while now, I’ve managed to lose 10lbs, was at a a 16lb lost and went up. My issue is I beat myself if I eat during the day, guess not the most productive attitude lol. What have you all been doing for exercise? I work long shifts and half the time am too exhausted when I get home to work out. Even the word “work” out makes me tired lol

nice job! So far I've just been going for afternoon walks during my fasting stage. Helps keep my mind off eating but I hear it burns more calories too do that while fasting. I kind of want to tackle the fasting first then incorporate more workouts. Who knows!

dawkson2017

My 2 pence worth:
Im 68 yo female. 157 cm tall 115 lbs.... yes.... 115 lbs. Was 125 lbs in March.
I did it by cutting out all bread, rice, pasta, biscuits, cakes, etc and increasing protein. I only eating between 10 am and 4 pm (6:18).
What has helped is lockdown, as no socialising with cake and coffee or pub meals.
I wake up with big pot of plunger black coffee, and after 4pm, I make a big pot of black/green tea to have something to put in my mouth.
Ok, so I have to go to the bathroom in the night..... so what!
Another tip: if its not in the house, you cant eat it!
Will I keep going.... Yes.... I feel better, sleep better, less anxiety.

HeidiCooksSupper

bishopjulia wrote: »

... Calories in vs calories out is very simple on paper or on post but can be hard in day to day life. If it where that simple no one would be over weight and obesity would be non existent. That’s why there are posts, forums, my fitness pal. All feedback I take with a grain of salt. Thank you for your help 😌😉

You are absolutely right -- so was whoever posted the graphic. Sadly, the only things that correlate with weight loss and health are eating less and moving more. Calories in, calories out. Do whatever works for you. For some, it's IF, for some its low carb, for some its OMAD, for some it's a cheat day. for some it's 5:2. For some of us, it's just calories and logging. That's me: calories and logging. The rest I can't cope with.

You're right about this, too. If it were totally easy to eat to maintain a healthy weight, we'd all be doing it. Some of us eat too much and are overweight. It's not easy to change that but we are all in this together trying!

didi75810

GabiV125 wrote: »

All sounds good, happy to hear your results are so spectacular.
The side benefits I’m looking forward are less pain in right hip and SLEEP.
I started IF for a week now, and I messed up Sunday and Monday. I am working on not beating myself up, like you said, and getting hopeful for results this time.

I started IF because I read it helps with menopause symptoms and weight gain.
It is the only thing that has helped. I sleep better, hot flashes not as bad and I'm thinking much clearer. I love that it heals your body at the cellular level.
I'm not super strict with hours. I have an 8 hour window to eat and I still have treats. If I deprive myself of those, I end up binging. I eat dark chocolate almonds and yasso bars. They are delicious and low cal.
Good luck and stick with it, you'll get there.