Same Calories But A Change Of Timing...and a BIG THANK YOU

I am putting this post on this board, because I think that someone on this board is owed a Thank You from me.

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Anyone is knows my history on MFP knows that I am CONSISTENT.

I don't change my calorie goal. It is low by MFP standards; but that number was set by my doctor and my nutritionist; and it has remained my goal from months. The only time that I increased that number was in February at the encouragement of some folks on MFP who believed that I needed to eat more calories. The result was a month of almost no weight loss.

My doctor and nutritionist told me to go back to my original calorie goal and not worry about 'starvation mode'. That's what I did, and I make sure that my calories are as close to that number as I can get without going over...every single day. My food plan is set, before my day begins, and it is never changes to allow for exercise.

If this doesn't sound right for you, that's okay. Your food plan, your daily calorie goal, your decision to count exercise calories, to weigh daily or to never do any of this is ENTIRELY UP TO YOU. We each have to do what we feel is right for us.

However...sometimes...someone will give you a piece of information that may help you to figure out a way to improve what you are doing. Even though I am somewhat stuck in my ways, I do listen from time to time. It may take an act of God to change my thinking, but I have been known to change reluctantly. :noway:

I have wonderful MFP friends who have given me encouragement, love and even some advice. At some point during this past week, one of those friends gave me a REALLY GOOD SUGGESTION. I can't remember who mentioned this idea in a post. Believe me, I reviewed all of my posts, blogs and even my messages, hoping to find that comment again...the source of this idea.

All I can do now is say, "Thank you" to that lovely MFP sister who mentioned 'fasting'. Now, I am not talking about religious fasting. I have done that many times in the past. For me, that meant dedicating my day to God. I didn't eat from sun up to sundown and spent the whole day in prayer, in the Word and learning more about God.

This fast was strictly a food related thing. My MFP sister (I do know that it was a lady.) told me that she would not eat before 10AM or after 6PM. The fast was throughout the night and into the next morning. That seemed like an easy thing to do...and quite honesty...not much of a fast to someone who was used to fasting, while awake the whole time. I can't even remember, if she said how many days she fasted like that.

Then, I started thinking, "When do I typically eat my food...especially my snacks which tend to have more salt and sugar than my other foods?" That's when I had to acknowledge that I was eating most of those snack after dinner; and dinner often did not come until 8PM or even later. That meant I was consuming a lot of calories in the last hours, before going to bed...often within an hour of laying down.

I was on a mini plateau that had lasted for 5 days with no weight loss. So, what could it hurt. Tuesday, I ate all my calories (meals and snacks) by 6:30PM and stuck to water and diluted cranberry juice for rest of that night. Wednesday, I finally got all my calories in by 6PM, and I did the same on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Wednesday, my plateau ended with a drop of 0.2 pounds. Again, the same amount came off of Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Amazingly, today I had a drop of 0.8 pounds.

I had just been patting myself of the back for staying faithful to my food plan and not doing anything DESPERATE to get off that plateau. I had not CHANGE A THING, and I had started losing weight again. At least, that's what I was thinking. I was so proud of me and my consistency.

Then, I happened to look up at the clock and realizing that I only had a few more hours "to eat the rest of my calories for the day". That's when it hit me. I have been on that new schedule of fasting for almost 5 days...something HAD changed; and that something could very well be the reason for my recent weight loss. Suddenly, I didn't think that I was 'all that and a bag of chips'...puffing myself up for never changing anything in my successful food plan. :huh:

That when, I felt bad...pretty dumb actually. I never said Thank You to the MFP friend who suggested that I try 'fasting from 6PM to 10PM'; and now, I don't know who to thank. That suggestion probably had more to do with me losing weight this week than all my so called consistency.

So, here it is. Thank you to my sweet, unidentified friend who helped me to realize that the timing of my food needed a serious adjustment. Thank you for leading me to what probably ended that mini plateau without the need to change my calories. :flowerforyou:

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Have any of you done this kind of fasting? How many days do you stay on this fast? Maybe, it is supposed to be ongoing with no limit of days.

I am not sure about this. So, I am open to some advice about this kind of fast. I promise, I will listen.