I am a Little Confused. Please Help.

To be honest, the way the person who first responded to you has approached your question with a very odd mindset that makes me a little uncomfortable and a bit confused. LOL. (And is also a troll, from what I hear HAHA)

Take it from someone who has trusted educated medically trained help/information. I am not about running my body on minimum fuel and you shouldn't either. Can you give me some more information? This will help me tell you how much you should eat to properly fuel your body to keep a good metabolism, lose weight the right way, and keep it off with a good lifestyle to accompany it.

I need your age, height, weight, and what kinds of exercise you do, if any. I can give you a plain number to eat where you can eliminate "net" calories and all that stupid stuff that make this whole deal so complicated. It doesn't need to be.

Living in Arizona you can't just sit and wait... I mean... you'd be working out 5 months a year if you did that, Now, let me share a little something with you. I take things very seriously, maybe too seriously, so when I get into fitness for myself I do all the research I can, I read so much information on diet, building muscle, the works.. you know. My problem is that I sometimes have to stop my thing because of something external, like a complicated work week, getting rear ended, having minor surgery,... you know. Then I stop completely and a lot of time can go by without me getting up from the couch. And then I start to go crazy on junk food and forget water even exists. But I don't want to share my life story. Bottom line, it had been almost 2 years since I last got "interrupted", and it's been kind of crazy. If you total the number of home cooked meals I ate last year, it might not reach 50. And I normally love cooking, but that's not the point. I spent a lot of days having only 1 meal per day which is terrible for metabolism. I had to walk a lot, I didn't really get formal workouts but my daily activity level was very different. I was in starvation mode a lot, lack of time, craziness, you know. Net result after all that.. gained 15 pounds. And that might not seem a lot. But I never gain weight, and I can get very lazy. However eating only once or twice a day for so long, even if I was only eating 1300 cal a day made me gain weight. You need to keep that in mind. Your body will make you pay for starving it.

I also quit smoking like a month ago... I had wanted to quit for maybe the last 5 years, and every time I got serious about working out my body begged me to quit. I just never did. I spent the last 2 years waiting for my next fitness period to quit. Funny thing is this time I just saw a Dr, got a prescription for Chantix and just did it. I wasn't even feeling very motivated at the time. I ended up finishing my last pack and never went to get another one. Then I started drinking water like a maniac to flush all the nicotine (and I HATE water) . Then it just got into me, put on my gym clothes and just went out and hit the road. The next week I had cut down on my 5-6 coke zeros a day, to just 1 a day... by now.. 1 a week and I don't even finish it. My point is.. one good healthy decision led me to another and then another and then another. It makes sense. It has to be a lifestyle change, and there I have failed in the past. You can't expect to do a starvation diet for 6, 8, 10 weeks. It will make you miserable and you'll recover all the wait when you're done with the torture.

I'm feeling great after just 5 weeks of all this, never felt better. The mirror is already becoming a very nice friend of mine and my diet has never been healthier. I cut down on everything bad. EVERYTHING. Yet my meals are delicious and I eat 5 times a day. I'm not really a morning person so breakfast and I never get along. Well... I actually force it down my throat because I need to. Some nutritionists will favor low carbs, some others won't, they all disagree constantly on many things, but breakfast is the one thing that no one ever questions. It's the time to get your carbs (since you need energy... and you daily life will burn them off), but mostly your protein (use the 30- 30 rule (30 grams of protein within 30 minutes after you wake up). It will kick start your metabolism and that is what you want. Again, you starve your body, you pay. And in the morning your body will have been at least 7 hours without food, and your body senses a lot of danger in that. It doesn't know if the next meal will come in 1 hour or 1 week, so it starts slowing down the burning of calories AND FAT. The loner it takes for you to eat the scarier it gets to your body... make it scary enough and it will immediately store ANYTHING you eat as FAT. Even if you eat lean meat (your body would process it, take a minimum part of it for whatever it deems urgent, and the rest of the pure protein meal you ate will be stored as fat.

People are too scared of carbs... You want to keep them low.. but not too low. Besides, if you eat healthy carbs, your body will like it. Brown rice, oatmeal, whole wheat bread, grains. The more natural the better. Processed food makes you very unhealthy and promotes weight gain, it causes insulin spikes and if you have a tendency in your family with diabetes, you should be very careful. Carbs aren't a demon. Some people hear the word carbs and they cringe like if someone was trying to kill them. I think you should still eat around 40% carbs every day. Healthy natural carbs. Not carbs in a box or carbs in a bottle.

Make it MANDATORY to eat 5 times a day (lowfat yogurt, a bran craker and a banana could constitute a meal, and you can have that anywhere). If you're not hungry force it. Make it liquid, puree it.. I don't care, you need to do it. If you do it long enough with healthy food you'll make a habit out of it. Your blood sugar will be stable and you'll be glad you did it. With a faster metabolism, you will burn more fat by doing nothing.. by sleeping by driving. Follow your calorie goal, I don't know if you have a meal plan or not, but if it comes from a fad diet... burn it, toss it or flush it down the toilet. Make a new one using the tools on this site. Now if you already have a professional and personalized plan.. stick to it (if it doesn't include at least 5 meals a day, have it redone).

And there are plenty of good videos and reading material on healthy foods. You have access to all that. Things like fruit is to east and not to drink (juice has too much sugar, even if you squeezed it yourself). Potato is a good food (the problem is how you cook it and what toppings come with it)). A lot is common knowledge and regarding healthy foods, most people agree too (except Atkins like nutritionists).

And as far as burning calories.... As I said, you need to make your blood sugar stable, and reassure your body there is no food shortage. At the same time you need to have a caloric deficit. Exercise gives you that. Not only that, they will give you endorphins. They will tone your muscles and strengthen your heart. There's are dozens of benefits to exercise. Just do it. Plus you will feel better. If you don't exercise you will be missing out on a lot. It might even motivate you to quit smoking. It will give you more energy. As long as you do 30 minutes a day and eat right... your body will fix itself slowly but surely, and that includes dropping the extra weight.

Drink at least 1/2 a gallon of water (water, not flavored water, tea, cofffee, diet sodas... water).. and based on your height I'd say even 3/4 a gallon because of the exercise. That alone makes a lot of people drop a few pounds. And consider all this a lifestyle change.. (that doesn't mean your going to become all new age and say hi to the sun when you get out in the morning), you will soon learn how to know if something is healthy or not. Read labels look at calories, then at fat- carb- protein ratio, take it even further and read ingredients, if there's an ingredient you can't pronounce, don't buy it. Soon enough you'll be on your way to a whole different life. Your body will start telling you when you did something wrong, because it will instantly let you know when you ate something bad.. (after eating healthy for a while your body really complains when you eat trash).

Keep in mind you don't have to eat disgusting gunk or flavorless food.. there are a lot of healthy options.. cut down on salt, not garlic, pepper and spices. You can eat very tasty meals... just change the ingredients, and put everything I told you together, one step at a time. You will soon start counting the pounds you drop. Keep in mind it's a SLOW steady pace.. a marathon, not a sprint race. Anything that promises/causes you to lose more than 2lbs per week is a lie, is temporary or is bad for you... keep it in mind... low/ zero carb diets make you drop a lot of weight, water weight, which you end up getting back, and they mess up your whole body chemistry and function. Again... 2 lbs a week,,, maybe 3 if you're doing a great job.... that would be the number 1 rule if you ask me... then come personal preferences and options.

I actually disagree with the "Make it MANDATORY to eat 5 times a day" as the above poster said. That way work for some people's bodies, but not everyone.

Personally, I have had the most success with intermittent fasting. Eating all my days calories from 4pm-8pm. My body and mind love it.

To be honest, the way the person who first responded to you has approached your question with a very odd mindset that makes me a little uncomfortable and a bit confused. LOL. (And is also a troll, from what I hear HAHA)

Take it from someone who has trusted educated medically trained help/information. I am not about running my body on minimum fuel and you shouldn't either. Can you give me some more information? This will help me tell you how much you should eat to properly fuel your body to keep a good metabolism, lose weight the right way, and keep it off with a good lifestyle to accompany it.

I need your age, height, weight, and what kinds of exercise you do, if any. I can give you a plain number to eat where you can eliminate "net" calories and all that stupid stuff that make this whole deal so complicated. It doesn't need to be.

Lol I love how she asks for info but then doesn't say or do anything else afterwards. BTW I USED TO BE A NUTRITION MAJOR LOL. I KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT. :bigsmile:

Yeah cause you'll want to avoid yoyo dieting. Eat close to just under 1200. Look at my diary logs as an example (EXCEPT FOR TODAYS LOL).

See, the reason why diet and exercise go hand-in-hand is because that exercising we do burns off the calories to make room for another (much needed) meal.

Example: My BMR is 1700 kcal
My daily requirement to maintain my current weight is 2,200 kcal

I want to lose 2 lb. a week, so I have to cut back 7,000 kcal/week (3,500 kcal = 1lb. of fat)

2,200
-1,000

---

1,200/day


My day:

Breakfast - 500 kcal
Lunch - 700 kcal

Exercise - (-500 kcal)

---

So far: 700 kcal

By then I'm feeling hungry as fck, and if I don't eat something else to bring me up.. well, it's just a matter of being hecka hungry and feeling bleh. I hate that feeling SO I WANNA EAT!! >:O This may not be the case for you. However, our bodies do things for a reason. Men get morning wood so we don't pee ourselves, we throw up when we ingest something bad as to prevent poisoning, we get diarrhea to flush out all the bad crap, and our stomachs grumble when we are hungry.

I know from past experience that if I deny myself another meal or ignore my hunger, it'll only fester and grow and my mind will become more obsessed with FOOD. FOOD. FOOD.

So then I eat dinner - 500 kcal.

TOTAL: 1,200 kcal I CAN LIVE WITH THAT.

The reason why we work out is because it's hard just diet and live on a 1,200 or whatever calorie daily intake. It's to buy us that extra meal or snack. Because although we're flushing out the calorie expenditure and whatnot, the stomach still wants food and the hormones and enzymes and metabolism and homeostasis and the circle of life and the universe expect it and want it and is like omg wtf is it when it's not there ITS ABOUT VARIETY REGULARITY AND BALANCE DO YOU GET IT!?


Just think about the physicality of your body and consider your stomach as a pet that needs to be fed regularly throughout the day, despite how you may be feeling. It's for the best and the body adjusts and adapts, trust me you'll be feeling better. Also it's important to eat more instead of strictly 'burning off the calories' because we still need daily amounts of vitamins and minerals. You risk gaining deficiencies on a daily diet under 1,200 kcals. Trust me there's a lot more to this than you may think, and if it were just 'straight' and 'simple,' weight loss would be a breeze for many of us.

MFP does a good job with the calorie and macro-nutrient (fats, carbs, proteins) counter, so don't focus on low-carbs or low-fat because even protein will be stored as fat if you go over. Just stick to being equal or under the daily amount the site suggests for you and you'll be fine. Try to get as close to all of those numbers as you can without going too far over. If you go over, it's perfectly fine too, it just means your weight loss will be pushed back for a little bit longer. Don't believe the hype of the low-carb bs just eat what you need daily. I'd only worry about it if you were diabetic like me.

This is really good advice. This has made me understood how it all works now. Thanks

She never said her glucose was high. We can assume it might be. If she changes to complex carbs and makes healthy choices it will certainly be lower. I never refereed to her having BETTER blood sugar from 5 meals, I said it would be more STABLE. I also never said you were in starvation mode when you wake up. Now if you're feeling so wise, refute my claim about the importance of breakfast, The importance of not skipping meals and most of all, eating her whole calorie goal.

People disagree on the 5 meal thing ALL THE TIME. If you feel so qualified as to just drop in and tell me I'm wrong, please take the time to write some advice for the OP, after all this whole thing is supposed to be for her.

So I am new to the sight and I have been eating under the calories it says to consume. Well after I input it is says how I should eat a minimum of 1200 calories or my body will or is in "starvation mode"......

Well I am NOT hungry. Should I eat more to reach the goal?? My main deficit is in carbs, but I try to avoid too many.

Also it says that the calories I burned I should eat. That doesn't make sense to me. Aren't we burning them off for a reason?

Thanks

Hi there,
No starvation mode happens when you eat NOTHING...for more than 2-3 days. After 12-16 hours of NOTHING your body has used all its glycogen stores and starts breaking fat down using protiens..Very complicated.So unless you are going for over 24 hours nil by mouth you dont need to panic.Obviousy if your not hungry your body aint hungry. Hunger is your bodies way of sayin "hey am struggling feed me" lol.As long as your not eating like 200-500 cals a day perminantly.I dont know many people who do this>You should be ok. This is my exeriance and opinion.Also I find if I eat little and often MY body knows its getting food....Low cals (or what other people think is low)has always worked for me.Oh yeh and the computer that generates your daily EDA.....has took those numbers from average people etc etc. I am not average and never will be. Friend me if you like and we can see what ya eating:))) hope this helps

I assume you make some sort of cleansing fast. That's OK. it might be right for you and if it works, I'm happy for you. I didn't say everyone should make 5 meals a day mandatory. I wrote all that with someone in mind. In my opinion (notice I'm not a doctor), the OP has a long road since she wants to drop 80 lbs. She was confused and needed sound advice. Her weight loss will take at least 10 months, so she needs to build healthy habits that will allow her to reach her goal. She has a family history of diabetes and the best way to stop insulin spikes is to have a steady organized meal plan that will regulate her blood sugar. There is no better way to do that than the one I suggested. She will boost her metabolism and start seeing small results very quickly.

http://www.leangains.com/2011/01/better-blood-glucose-with-lower-meal.html?m=1

^

Better blood sugar levels from lower meal frequency

Also eating more frequently DOES NOT increase metabolism
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/529002-a-compliation-on-meal-frequency

Your body is not in starvation mode when you wake up

I agree with him ^^^

Honestly the best advice I can give is find out your tdee and BMR, see the amount you should actually be eating and find out what works best for YOU. you are going to hear a million different things from a million different people and there's so much misinformation out there that they are going to totally contradict each other and you won't know what to believe. Maybe explain your situation to a nutritionist and see what they suggest. What works for me is a keto diet (low carb, high fat, decent protein), I could go into my macro percentages and how great I've been doing living this life style, but I'm not going to, I'm just going to say that's what works for me, find what works for you

Living in Arizona you can't just sit and wait... I mean... you'd be working out 5 months a year if you did that, Now, let me share a little something with you. I take things very seriously, maybe too seriously, so when I get into fitness for myself I do all the research I can, I read so much information on diet, building muscle, the works.. you know. My problem is that I sometimes have to stop my thing because of something external, like a complicated work week, getting rear ended, having minor surgery,... you know. Then I stop completely and a lot of time can go by without me getting up from the couch. And then I start to go crazy on junk food and forget water even exists. But I don't want to share my life story. Bottom line, it had been almost 2 years since I last got "interrupted", and it's been kind of crazy. If you total the number of home cooked meals I ate last year, it might not reach 50. And I normally love cooking, but that's not the point. I spent a lot of days having only 1 meal per day which is terrible for metabolism. I had to walk a lot, I didn't really get formal workouts but my daily activity level was very different. I was in starvation mode a lot, lack of time, craziness, you know. Net result after all that.. gained 15 pounds. And that might not seem a lot. But I never gain weight, and I can get very lazy. However eating only once or twice a day for so long, even if I was only eating 1300 cal a day made me gain weight. You need to keep that in mind. Your body will make you pay for starving it.

I also quit smoking like a month ago... I had wanted to quit for maybe the last 5 years, and every time I got serious about working out my body begged me to quit. I just never did. I spent the last 2 years waiting for my next fitness period to quit. Funny thing is this time I just saw a Dr, got a prescription for Chantix and just did it. I wasn't even feeling very motivated at the time. I ended up finishing my last pack and never went to get another one. Then I started drinking water like a maniac to flush all the nicotine (and I HATE water) . Then it just got into me, put on my gym clothes and just went out and hit the road. The next week I had cut down on my 5-6 coke zeros a day, to just 1 a day... by now.. 1 a week and I don't even finish it. My point is.. one good healthy decision led me to another and then another and then another. It makes sense. It has to be a lifestyle change, and there I have failed in the past. You can't expect to do a starvation diet for 6, 8, 10 weeks. It will make you miserable and you'll recover all the wait when you're done with the torture.

I'm feeling great after just 5 weeks of all this, never felt better. The mirror is already becoming a very nice friend of mine and my diet has never been healthier. I cut down on everything bad. EVERYTHING. Yet my meals are delicious and I eat 5 times a day. I'm not really a morning person so breakfast and I never get along. Well... I actually force it down my throat because I need to. Some nutritionists will favor low carbs, some others won't, they all disagree constantly on many things, but breakfast is the one thing that no one ever questions. It's the time to get your carbs (since you need energy... and you daily life will burn them off), but mostly your protein (use the 30- 30 rule (30 grams of protein within 30 minutes after you wake up). It will kick start your metabolism and that is what you want. Again, you starve your body, you pay. And in the morning your body will have been at least 7 hours without food, and your body senses a lot of danger in that. It doesn't know if the next meal will come in 1 hour or 1 week, so it starts slowing down the burning of calories AND FAT. The loner it takes for you to eat the scarier it gets to your body... make it scary enough and it will immediately store ANYTHING you eat as FAT. Even if you eat lean meat (your body would process it, take a minimum part of it for whatever it deems urgent, and the rest of the pure protein meal you ate will be stored as fat.

People are too scared of carbs... You want to keep them low.. but not too low. Besides, if you eat healthy carbs, your body will like it. Brown rice, oatmeal, whole wheat bread, grains. The more natural the better. Processed food makes you very unhealthy and promotes weight gain, it causes insulin spikes and if you have a tendency in your family with diabetes, you should be very careful. Carbs aren't a demon. Some people hear the word carbs and they cringe like if someone was trying to kill them. I think you should still eat around 40% carbs every day. Healthy natural carbs. Not carbs in a box or carbs in a bottle.

Make it MANDATORY to eat 5 times a day (lowfat yogurt, a bran craker and a banana could constitute a meal, and you can have that anywhere). If you're not hungry force it. Make it liquid, puree it.. I don't care, you need to do it. If you do it long enough with healthy food you'll make a habit out of it. Your blood sugar will be stable and you'll be glad you did it. With a faster metabolism, you will burn more fat by doing nothing.. by sleeping by driving. Follow your calorie goal, I don't know if you have a meal plan or not, but if it comes from a fad diet... burn it, toss it or flush it down the toilet. Make a new one using the tools on this site. Now if you already have a professional and personalized plan.. stick to it (if it doesn't include at least 5 meals a day, have it redone).

And there are plenty of good videos and reading material on healthy foods. You have access to all that. Things like fruit is to east and not to drink (juice has too much sugar, even if you squeezed it yourself). Potato is a good food (the problem is how you cook it and what toppings come with it)). A lot is common knowledge and regarding healthy foods, most people agree too (except Atkins like nutritionists).

And as far as burning calories.... As I said, you need to make your blood sugar stable, and reassure your body there is no food shortage. At the same time you need to have a caloric deficit. Exercise gives you that. Not only that, they will give you endorphins. They will tone your muscles and strengthen your heart. There's are dozens of benefits to exercise. Just do it. Plus you will feel better. If you don't exercise you will be missing out on a lot. It might even motivate you to quit smoking. It will give you more energy. As long as you do 30 minutes a day and eat right... your body will fix itself slowly but surely, and that includes dropping the extra weight.

Drink at least 1/2 a gallon of water (water, not flavored water, tea, cofffee, diet sodas... water).. and based on your height I'd say even 3/4 a gallon because of the exercise. That alone makes a lot of people drop a few pounds. And consider all this a lifestyle change.. (that doesn't mean your going to become all new age and say hi to the sun when you get out in the morning), you will soon learn how to know if something is healthy or not. Read labels look at calories, then at fat- carb- protein ratio, take it even further and read ingredients, if there's an ingredient you can't pronounce, don't buy it. Soon enough you'll be on your way to a whole different life. Your body will start telling you when you did something wrong, because it will instantly let you know when you ate something bad.. (after eating healthy for a while your body really complains when you eat trash).

Keep in mind you don't have to eat disgusting gunk or flavorless food.. there are a lot of healthy options.. cut down on salt, not garlic, pepper and spices. You can eat very tasty meals... just change the ingredients, and put everything I told you together, one step at a time. You will soon start counting the pounds you drop. Keep in mind it's a SLOW steady pace.. a marathon, not a sprint race. Anything that promises/causes you to lose more than 2lbs per week is a lie, is temporary or is bad for you... keep it in mind... low/ zero carb diets make you drop a lot of weight, water weight, which you end up getting back, and they mess up your whole body chemistry and function. Again... 2 lbs a week,,, maybe 3 if you're doing a great job.... that would be the number 1 rule if you ask me... then come personal preferences and options.

A truly shocking post. Somewhere in there you mentioned that you take things perhaps too seriously and that you do all the research you can. So all this research has not stumbled upon Intermittent Fasting and the substantiated benefits?

Others have already pointed out some links you might like to read like the leangains website. While you are there please read this article:- http://www.leangains.com/2010/10/top-ten-fasting-myths-debunked.html

Horizon, a very credible BBC program recently broadcast a program on the benefits of fasting, which had a profound impact on me, and many friends, on the way I had been (un)educated over the years.

Here is a link to it :- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pfna7nV7WaM

Truly shocking? Truly shocking?

What is truly shocking is that someone can drop by, share personal experience and some sound advice because someone needs it, and get this unbelievable amount of people just go crazy on him. I am not dismissing the benefits of intermittent fasting. I don't question your own decisions. But I won't be silent while people throw me around like that. You keep referring to the 5 meal concept as if it were a total crock. Let me tell you something. Serious people in medicine and nutrition have been talking about frequent meals for at least 2 decades. Long before Atkins became popular and then faded as the myth it was. Long beft cae any of the crazy fads you see every 6 months were even in the imagination of any of their creators, people were experiencing the benefits of SMALL FREQUENT meals. If you think fasting will do something for you or the OP, by all means share it. In the meantime I'd appreciate if you respect me and keep in mind my advice was directed at a woman who wants to lose 80+ lbs and clearly stated that she's under eating on a regular basis because she's not hungry. Keep in mind I didn't start the thread... I was just helping.

What was so shocking anyway. You people are so unhappy following your fad crap that you can't imagine the idea of someone being happy and suggesting a lifestyle long lasting change that will make someone happy. The fact that you have a pathetic life is no excuse to make others miserable.


P.S. I'm editing this because I just read your leangains reference. You're following HIS advice like you just converted to a different religion. Seems like a lot of people that replied to my post are in the same boat. I'm going to clarify. The guy tries to prove a point, and in many cases his arguments sound like they make sense. I'm not going to say he's completely wrong. The guy is trying to make a living by selling his system anyway... Who else sold b.s... let me think.. Atkins... well. I'm not saying he's like Atkins... at least not completely. But he bases many of his counter arguments on the morally questionable nature of some people who think differently or on the lack of evidence for the opposing view. For crying out loud the lack of evidence on the truth of something doesn't automatically make the opposite view true by default. He's selling fasting, people who believe in starvation mode would never buy into fasting frequently unless they're brainwashed to stop believing starvation mode is real.

In my personal opinion and experience starvation mode is real. Most serious people in medicine and nutrition believe so too. And people that were close to me and severely overweight who often starved themselves because of their excess weight always failed to achieve anything. Doing things in the way we've come to find out that works.. made 2 out of 3 people I'm thinking about drop at least 60 lbs. All they had to do is eat with some structure, excersise, and avoid dropping under 80% of their caloric requirement, and that was to start with the main topic at hand since the OP wanted to eat too few calories.

Damn it... I said.. "Make it mandatory", not "it is mandatory".. she really doesn't want to eat at all, so you're missing the whole picture. Just keep bringing it on

I'm sure the words: B.S., Doubt it, OMG, B.S., Entirely B.S. and here we go again. Entirely prove the point you are right and are solid evidence that I'm wrong. I'm glad we're all supporting each other here in a common goal. Screw this, I don't need this grief. Good luck to all the good people out there, I'm done with these boards, I'll limit myself to the calorie tracker and tools. This is exactly the reason I'm not active in boards and social networks. Too many stupid people.

I assume you make some sort of cleansing fast. That's OK. it might be right for you and if it works, I'm happy for you. I didn't say everyone should make 5 meals a day mandatory. I wrote all that with someone in mind. In my opinion (notice I'm not a doctor), the OP has a long road since she wants to drop 80 lbs. She was confused and needed sound advice. Her weight loss will take at least 10 months, so she needs to build healthy habits that will allow her to reach her goal. She has a family history of diabetes and the best way to stop insulin spikes is to have a steady organized meal plan that will regulate her blood sugar. There is no better way to do that than the one I suggested. She will boost her metabolism and start seeing small results very quickly.

http://www.leangains.com/2011/01/better-blood-glucose-with-lower-meal.html?m=1

^

Better blood sugar levels from lower meal frequency

Also eating more frequently DOES NOT increase metabolism
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/529002-a-compliation-on-meal-frequency

Your body is not in starvation mode when you wake up

It's intelligent and helpful posts like this that make me glad you're on my flist.

And the pic doesn't hurt things either...


OP: Seriously though, a moderate calorie deficit (preferably with adequate protein, assuming you like your muscle) and resistance training (again, assuming you like your muscle) are the most important things. The rest is just details! Absolutely any time someone says something in absolutes, it is incorrect

Edit: I prefer to eat one big meal and other food when I want it. My feeding window is between noon and 10 PM. Leangains.com is an excellent resource on why intermittent fasting is completely healthy and works well for those inclined.

Truly shocking? Truly shocking?

What is truly shocking is that someone can drop by, share personal experience and some sound advice because someone needs it, and get this unbelievable amount of people just go crazy on him. I am not dismissing the benefits of intermittent fasting. I don't question your own decisions. But I won't be silent while people throw me around like that. You keep referring to the 5 meal concept as if it were a total crock. Let me tell you something. Serious people in medicine and nutrition have been talking about frequent meals for at least 2 decades. Long before Atkins became popular and then faded as the myth it was. Long beft cae any of the crazy fads you see every 6 months were even in the imagination of any of their creators, people were experiencing the benefits of SMALL FREQUENT meals. If you think fasting will do something for you or the OP, by all means share it. In the meantime I'd appreciate if you respect me and keep in mind my advice was directed at a woman who wants to lose 80+ lbs and clearly stated that she's under eating on a regular basis because she's not hungry. Keep in mind I didn't start the thread... I was just helping.

What was so shocking anyway. You people are so unhappy following your fad crap that you can't imagine the idea of someone being happy and suggesting a lifestyle long lasting change that will make someone happy. The fact that you have a pathetic life is no excuse to make others miserable.


P.S. I'm editing this because I just read your leangains reference. You're following HIS advice like you just converted to a different religion. Seems like a lot of people that replied to my post are in the same boat. I'm going to clarify. The guy tries to prove a point, and in many cases his arguments sound like they make sense. I'm not going to say he's completely wrong. The guy is trying to make a living by selling his system anyway... Who else sold b.s... let me think.. Atkins... well. I'm not saying he's like Atkins... at least not completely. But he bases many of his counter arguments on the morally questionable nature of some people who think differently or on the lack of evidence for the opposing view. For crying out loud the lack of evidence on the truth of something doesn't automatically make the opposite view true by default. He's selling fasting, people who believe in starvation mode would never buy into fasting frequently unless they're brainwashed to stop believing starvation mode is real.

In my personal opinion and experience starvation mode is real. Most serious people in medicine and nutrition believe so too. And people that were close to me and severely overweight who often starved themselves because of their excess weight always failed to achieve anything. Doing things in the way we've come to find out that works.. made 2 out of 3 people I'm thinking about drop at least 60 lbs. All they had to do is eat with some structure, excersise, and avoid dropping under 80% of their caloric requirement, and that was to start with the main topic at hand since the OP wanted to eat too few calories.

I like this article because it is on women specifically. Of note, they were postmenopausal. Since not everyone may be familiar with primary sources, I bolded the things I think are most important to understanding why this is relevant
Menopause. 2012 Aug;19(8):870-876.
Short- and long-term effects of continuous versus intermittent restrictive diet approaches on body composition and the metabolic profile in overweight and obese postmenopausal women: a pilot study.
Arguin H, Dionne IJ, Sénéchal M, Bouchard DR, Carpentier AC, Ardilouze JL, Tremblay A, Leblanc C, Brochu M.
Source
From the 1Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Division of Kinesiology, Laval University, Quebec, Quebec, Canada; 2Faculty of Physical Education and Sports, University of Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada; 3Research Centre on Aging, Social Services and Health Centre, University Institute of Geriatrics of Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada; 4Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; and 5Centre de Recherche Clinique Étienne-Le Bel, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Sherbrooke (CHUS), Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE:
The objective of this study was to compare changes in body composition and the metabolic profile between women taking an intermittent diet (ID) and women taking a continuous diet (CD).
METHODS:
Twenty-five obese postmenopausal women were randomized to an ID (n = 13) or a CD (n = 12). In the ID, 5-week energy restriction periods were followed by 5-week weight stabilization periods. In the CD, 15 weeks of energy restriction was followed by 5 weeks of weight stabilization. Outcome measures before, during, and after weight loss, as well as after a 1-year follow-up, were body weight and composition, waist circumference, resting metabolic rate, and fasting lipid and glucose levels.
RESULTS:
Body weight, waist circumference, percentage fat mass, and fat mass decreased significantly and similarly in both groups (P < 0.0001). Both groups showed similar overall decreases in plasma total cholesterol and triglycerides (all P < 0.05). Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol improved significantly in the CD group only, whereas fasting glucose decreased significantly in the ID group only. High-density lipoprotein cholesterol and resting metabolic rate remained stable in both groups. Fasting plasma triglyceride and glucose levels were the only metabolic variables to further improve after the fifth week of the protocol. At the 1-year follow-up, both interventions were associated with successful and similar weight loss maintenance and improvements in fasting plasma glucose levels.
CONCLUSIONS:
The ID resulted in similar short- and long-term changes in body composition and metabolic profile compared with a CD. Most improvements occurred during the first 5 weeks of treatment in both interventions.

nt J Obes (Lond). 2011 May;35(5):714-27. Epub 2010 Oct 5.
The effects of intermittent or continuous energy restriction on weight loss and metabolic disease risk markers: a randomized trial in young overweight women.
Harvie MN, Pegington M, Mattson MP, Frystyk J, Dillon B, Evans G, Cuzick J, Jebb SA, Martin B, Cutler RG, Son TG, Maudsley S, Carlson OD, Egan JM, Flyvbjerg A, Howell A.
Source
Genesis Prevention Centre, University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, UK. michelle.harvie@manchester.ac.uk
Abstract
BACKGROUND:
The problems of adherence to energy restriction in humans are well known.
OBJECTIVE:
To compare the feasibility and effectiveness of intermittent continuous energy (IER) with continuous energy restriction (CER) for weight loss, insulin sensitivity and other metabolic disease risk markers.
DESIGN:
Randomized comparison of a 25% energy restriction as IER (∼ 2710 kJ/day for 2 days/week) or CER (∼ 6276 kJ/day for 7 days/week) in 107 overweight or obese (mean (± s.d.) body mass index 30.6 (± 5.1) kg m(-2)) premenopausal women observed over a period of 6 months. Weight, anthropometry, biomarkers for breast cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and dementia risk; insulin resistance (HOMA), oxidative stress markers, leptin, adiponectin, insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1 and IGF binding proteins 1 and 2, androgens, prolactin, inflammatory markers (high sensitivity C-reactive protein and sialic acid), lipids, blood pressure and brain-derived neurotrophic factor were assessed at baseline and after 1, 3 and 6 months.
RESULTS:
Last observation carried forward analysis showed that IER and CER are equally effective for weight loss: mean (95% confidence interval ) weight change for IER was -6.4 (-7.9 to -4.8) kg vs -5.6 (-6.9 to -4.4) kg for CER (P-value for difference between groups = 0.4). Both groups experienced comparable reductions in leptin, free androgen index, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, total and LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, blood pressure and increases in sex hormone binding globulin, IGF binding proteins 1 and 2. Reductions in fasting insulin and insulin resistance were modest in both groups, but greater with IER than with CER; difference between groups for fasting insulin was -1.2 (-1.4 to -1.0) μU ml(-1) and for insulin resistance was -1.2 (-1.5 to -1.0) μU mmol(-1) l(-1) (both P = 0.04).
CONCLUSION:
IER is as effective as CER with regard to weight loss, insulin sensitivity and other health biomarkers, and may be offered as an alternative equivalent to CER for weight loss and reducing disease risk.


There is a lot of research showing that various types of intermittent fasting is fine. Please cite some sources for your statements so I may evaluate them. I like to make informed health decisions and would change my opinion if presented with sufficient information to warrant it.

Award,

Thank you for taking the time to share that information.

I dropped by in this thread to help the OP. Nothing else. As as said in my unusually long post (in which I covered healthy food, smoking, lifestyle changes, long term goals, my own experience, and some tips I intended specifically for her), I mentioned that when I go into unhealthy living I completely abandon anything related to fitness, I said I had been totally inactive for 2 years (enough to be completely unaware of this relatively new IF thingy). I wasn't aware of its existence. As I said I just wanted to help the OP with her situation. She was confused and clearly stated she had a rough time eating because she's not hungry (and there might be many reasons for that), she didn't understand a lot of basics, plus she needed more support than cold hard facts, or research references to anything really. I simply shared some personal stuff and tried to give her the best advice I could.

The next thing I know, I was under attack for no good reason. People just got very crazy on me. And I just don't want to argue, I really don't. I started by saying this was meant for the OP, explaining I didn't deny their way could work as well, I mean, I really tried being nice after all hell broke loose. All I got was more confrontation and people quoting this leangains website. At some point I got really upset. I went to the website, I read some of it. I don't say the guy is wrong. A lot of people seem to be happy, and many others appear to get good results. I personally found a way to make the 5 meals deal work for me (not only I can manage to do it comfortably but I also get results). I couldn't imagine myself trying to go for 8 hours with no food, just not going to happen. However if it's your cup of tea and it works.. by all means. Bottom line is, many people need lifestyle changes when it comes to food.. according to some numbers 2/3 of the american population. If that is in the form of IF, paleo diet, raw diet, eating 5 times a day, eating 9 times a day, vegan, frutarian.... it's just a matter of preference, they are all healthy choices if done right and come with good sleep and exercise.

At some point I mentioned how the guy basically tries to destroy all conventional wisdom. I don't agree with it. Things shouldn't be my way or the highway. What works for me might not work for you, etc, etc. I for once could tolerate the drug Chantix to quit smoking, many others can't. Am I going to throw bricks at a guy who says the thing doesn't work? Of course not. However people were acting like if they were fighting for their religion, or as if they were in a political debate. Scroll up and back, that was never my intention.

I do't thing I need to quote any of my research, since I don't intend to prove anything. As long as you have enough C-P-F in your diet, and have a number of calories in a healthy range, I think you can do whatever suits you.