IF and LCHF

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Batpapaw
Batpapaw Posts: 13 Member
in Introduce Yourself
Looking for advice, tips, help, insight and to give the same. I've been doing this for about a month and feel better but feel like I could be actually doing better. Ive done 16/8, 18/6 and quite a few OMAD. One week I'll lose 5lbs and the next I'll gain back 3. Should I stick to the same schedule every week or keep mixing it up? I work out 3 to 5 days a week and change up my work out every week. Trying to keep my body guessing. Maybe I'm doing it wrong. Any advice? Thx

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  • Batpapaw
    Batpapaw Posts: 13 Member
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    I should mention that I've lost 18lbs in the last 2 months but really don't like this up and down reading on the scale and want to make sure I'm doing the the best way for success.
  • optishot
    optishot Posts: 3 Member
    edited August 2017
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    If you lost 18 lbs in two months you have nothing to worry about, keep doing what you're doing. A controlled weight loss of ~1-2 lbs a week is preferably, it gives the body time to adjust. I have been doing LCHF for 1 year today with occasional IF and has worked just right, sometimes I do a 24+ hour fasting. One very important tip is the food you eat coming out of a fast, most people neglect this and ruin their fast, go for nutrient rich foods as the body is primed to take in those nutrients. Hope it helps. Keep on, you're doing fine.

    JP
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    Good of you to provide some data. What do you mean by doing better? You have lost on average 2 pounds per week. That is the maximum rate MFP lets you set.

    Meal timing and frequency has no impact on weight loss. To lose weight, you need a consistent calorie deficit. A good meal schedule can make it easier for you to stick to a calorie deficit, though. You can mix it up or stick to one, it really makes no difference. You can't fool your body with exercise and meal times. It will figure it out.

    It's perfectly normal for weight to fluctuate, it's what body weight does, it's not a sign you are doing anything wrong, and there's nothing you can do about it. Provided you have a consistent calorie deficit, you'll lose consistently at around the same rate, you just can't see it through those fluctuations. I found this somewhere and I can't say it better so I stole it: "Weight loss is rarely a ruler-straight line downwards as we are complicated bags of meat, fluid and semi digested matter."
  • kpk54
    kpk54 Posts: 4,474 Member
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    Weight fluctuates. I will kindly say it is something you need to become accustomed to. I've been maintaining for 3+ years and flux occurs daily even though I tend to eat about the same amount daily. Free apps like Happy Scale (iphone) or Libra (android) are helpful for seeing the overall trend versus fluctuations.
  • Batpapaw
    Batpapaw Posts: 13 Member
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    A little more detail as to why I feel I could do better. I have hypertension, T2D and high cholesterol. I've been tracking my blood glucose and just want make sure I'm doing this thing right for maximum benefit.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    Batpapaw wrote: »
    A little more detail as to why I feel I could do better. I have hypertension, T2D and high cholesterol. I've been tracking my blood glucose and just want make sure I'm doing this thing right for maximum benefit.

    You can't lose faster than your body (or amount of body fat) allows. What's your height and weight?
  • Batpapaw
    Batpapaw Posts: 13 Member
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    I've tried calorie counting and 5 small meals a day with calorie deficit. Worked short term but didn't last. Tried high carb/low fat, didn't work. What has been working for all my issues is high fat/ low carb and intermittent fasting. Blood glucose is lowering without the aid of medications. Blood pressure is coming down little by little and just had blood drawn today to check my cholesterol. I am watching my macro's and calories also.
  • kpk54
    kpk54 Posts: 4,474 Member
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    You might want to join this forum:
    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/394-low-carber-daily-forum-the-lcd-group

    It is full of Low Carbers of all sorts (very active representation of LCHF). Many are very knowledgeable and experienced and there is a large representation of people with T2D who are experiencing significant improvement. There are also many discussions regarding cholesterol. It is a very active forum.
    Batpapaw wrote: »
    A little more detail as to why I feel I could do better. I have hypertension, T2D and high cholesterol. I've been tracking my blood glucose and just want make sure I'm doing this thing right for maximum benefit.

  • mr_bob_1974
    mr_bob_1974 Posts: 14 Member
    edited August 2017
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    I'm in the same boat sort of. I've been at this for 2 months and am down 19 lbs. I am not doing high carb, etc. I don't want to over think it. Just trying to keep my consumed calories below 1600 per day with 3 square meals a day and a lot of cardio 7 days a week. As for weight fluctuation, I make it a point to try not to weigh myself more than once a week. If I weight myself every day, I will see it go up and down, but weighing once a week, the trend is an average loss of about 2 lbs per week.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    Weight loss is simple maths/physics. We need numbers, data points, facts. Without any more concrete data, I can only guess what you have been doing, and from that explain what has happened (if I guessed correctly) and try to answer what I think you are asking:

    During your previous weight loss attempts you have had a bigger calorie deficit, and lost faster, and been more hungry, because you ate too little. We can do anything for a short while (and that doesn't mean that it "works"); what matters is what we can do forever. Now you are losing at a slower rate, but sustainably, because you are just losing fat, not muscle, and your body can sustain that easily, and you eat more, so you don't feel hungry. You may also be getting in better nutrition overall. Fat is an essential nutrient, and going too low also means you're not getting all the nutrition from the vegetables you're eating, and fat generally improves taste and mouthfeel so you feel more satisfied with your food, not just filled up.

    Weight loss method and diet type and meal schedule has no impact on how fast you lose. It's all up to the calorie deficit and whether you can sustain it.

    Now enough guessing and on to facts: Your health markers are improving because you are losing weight (yay and good job!), not because of your macro split or meal schedule.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    mr_bob_1974 wrote: »
    As for weight fluctuation, I make it a point to try not to weigh myself more than once a week. If I weight myself every day, I will see it go up and down, but weighing once a week, the trend is an average loss of about 2 lbs per week.
    Heh, I make it a point to weigh myself daily so I can see the fluctuations. The trend is the same regardless of how often you weigh yourself.
  • kokonani
    kokonani Posts: 507 Member
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    Fluctuations are very normal. But to have a consistent loss, you have to take into consideration your calorie deficit. Macros, eating times, IF.. it all doesn't matter if you are not eating at deficit. I do OMAD, but consume at my maintenance and do not lose or gain. So it's all about Calories.
  • Batpapaw
    Batpapaw Posts: 13 Member
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    Thank you all for your input!

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