INTERMITTENT FASTING - A LIFESTYLE MAKEOVER

ChristinaOne21 wrote: »

Thanks, for your feedback.

In regards to food being so available these days I totally agree - however my new mantra is "just because it's there doesn't mean I have to eat it!"

You sound like you are a lot more motivated than me Does eating healthily, with less calories than you burn and exercising regularly all come naturally to you? Did you also start off where I am now? Or have you always had a good relationship with what goes in your mouth and with keeping fit?

Those things do not come naturally to me at all unfortunately - especially the exercise part

You are right though, it should be pretty simple if you follow that formula.

It will be interesting to see how I progress with Intermittent Fasting and whether I stick to it. So far so good and I'm feeling better for it already, but I am also eating better and actually doing a bit of exercise now too!

I am loving counting calories on this website - it really opens my eyes to what's not been working for me. All this researching has been great too, as I can now see everything from a more holistic view of where I was going wrong.

I actually thought I was a 'healthy' eater - takeaways and sugary foods only on rare occasions, lots of salads and veggies, vogels bread - not white, trim milk - not fat, eating in - not out etc. However I wasn't aware, or maybe just in denial of how a lot of the 'good' foods and the seemingly small things I add to them, along with the all day grazing and sometimes nibbles and cheese platters with drinks before dinner - have all been adding up. My friends all seem to eat the same, if not more than me, and are all slim and trim. But the fact is they are probably only over-indulging when we see each other and then go back home to their exercise and diet regimes and active jobs.

My couch potato comment is badly worded - I wonder if I can edit it? Some of it came from my reading a heap of websites on the benefits of IF and how intermittent fasting may make you eat fewer meals (as in my case) and unless I overcompensate by eating much more during my 2 meals, I will end up taking in fewer calories. So I may not always be actively reducing my calorie intake, but with IF I am always passively reducing it

Below is an extract from one website that made sense to me and explains the 'fat burning' from fasting:

How Does Intermittent Fasting Work?
To understand how intermittent fasting leads to fat loss we first need to understand the difference between the fed state and the fasted state.

Your body is in the fed state when it is digesting and absorbing food. Typically, the fed state starts when you begin eating and lasts for three to five hours as your body digests and absorbs the food you just ate. When you are in the fed state, it’s very hard for your body to burn fat because your insulin levels are high.

After that timespan, your body goes into what is known as the post–absorptive state, which is just a fancy way of saying that your body isn’t processing a meal. The post–absorptive state lasts until 8 to 12 hours after your last meal, which is when you enter the fasted state. It is much easier for your body to burn fat in the fasted state because your insulin levels are low.

When you’re in the fasted state your body can burn fat that has been inaccessible during the fed state.

Because we don’t enter the fasted state until 12 hours after our last meal, it’s rare that our bodies are in this fat burning state. This is one of the reasons why many people who start intermittent fasting will lose fat without changing what they eat, how much they eat, or how often they exercise. Fasting puts your body in a fat burning state that you rarely make it to during a normal eating schedule.

Read More Here: http://jamesclear.com/the-beginners-guide-to-intermittent-fasting

amusedmonkey wrote: »

ChristinaOne21 wrote: »

Thank you.

I'm only just starting to get awareness of what works for me - lets hope I can also turn that into sustainable habits.

I love getting other opinions and perspectives on everything - being a Libran I'm always searching for the balance and other 'side' to what I read, so it was a really interesting read and I agree about the foraging too. I still don't really get the fasting fat burning thing, but will keep researching.

And anyway I guess as someone else said at least I am using IF for hunger signalling, calorie control and satiety if nothing else.

Have you also struggled with obesity? If you have you will understand my excitement about finding something that will finally kick start me into a healthier place. I have to thank IF for that at least and also for bringing me here to MFP

I have been morbidly obese for a years before I decided to diet. There is nothing wrong with being excited about something that works! I was pretty excited about finding IF as a tool that allows me to control my calories more easily in some situations (mostly the every other day diet style of IF'ing). It definitely is in my "makes dieting easier" pile. It doesn't have special magical properties, though, and it does not work for everyone. It's one of many things that work for me, but not the only thing, and not in all situations. It also doesn't need some drawn out scientific sounding explanation to convince me that it's useful because I've seen it work first hand. See how it goes for you! Some tools can be life-changing in the sense of "why haven't I tried this before?", but keep in mind that in the end it all comes down to calories and if something stops working temporarily it's okay to switch strategies. There are many ways to create a calorie deficit.