Too Much Fasting... Not Enough Fat Etc.
collegefbfan
Posts: 346 Member
Been awhile since I been on here. I have kept almost all of weight loss weight off for a year. Cheated some and then the trip to Mexico totally blew it out the water. Still, only really gained 6 pounds. Returned home, back on track,lost the 6 pounds, and started the biggest loser contest again. We are on teams this year and the two ladies on my team don't need to lose any weight. Anyways, for two weeks, Monday through Thursday I have been eating a small meal around 3:30 pm after work and then supper around 6:00 pm. No breakfast, no lunch, tons of water, etc. Sort of intermittent fasting I guess. Lost five pounds the first week. Do I keep going this direction? This is essentially one meal a day, is that good or not? I know I am not getting enough fat. That is bad too, right? Please help.
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I would say track exactly what you eat for a week and take a look at how the macros turn out.
Eat if you're hungry for sure and don't specifically make yourself fast if your body is telling you to eat. If you can do it easily, it's probably ok. Hopefully that snack and meal are substantial. That's what tracking for a while will help you determine. It will help you know if the fat is high enough too. But you really want to make sure you get enough protein on a daily basis also.
If you figure to eat 1g protein per pound of ideal body weight, that should give you a solid ballpark amount of protein to eat. It will be a high estimate so you could feel comfortable if you don't quite hit that amount but just get close. You do need a minimum amount of fat too and You can probably use this calculator that's for doing protein sparing modified fasting just for the purpose of determining a good minimum fat intake. Just ignore the rest of what it tells you. On PSMF they basically have you eating a minimal healthy amount of fat based on your stats so that's why it may be helpful to ensure you are getting enough on your IF eating.
http://burnfatnotsugar.com/macrocalc/
Just remember that fasting without ever feasting is just extreme calorie restriction. Maybe plan to eat more on the weekends and let those be your feasting time.2 -
Meal timing is not relevant for weight loss, as long as you are getting adequate nutrition it doesn't matter if you eat 12 times a day or once a day.
You don't have any food logged, so how many calories are you eating a day?1 -
Well, I logged religiously last year. Now, on this WOE I don't feel as hungry. So, when I get home, usually some ham, stone ground mustard, leftover veggies, etc. Then supper is usually meat, good veggies, not the bad ones, butter, etc. Just not hungry. I feel with the amount of meat I eat, protein is probably okay. The rest probably off some.1
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I am pretty driven by macros and logging. I would at least check on the protein to make sure you are getting enough. You don't want to lose muscle mass.1
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If you're eating at 3:30 and 6pm you're basically doing 20:4'ish intermittent fasting. There's nothing extreme about that at all. You don't need to eat 3 meals (or 6) a day or anything. As long as you're getting enough protein and that is working for you then you're in great shape IMO.4
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I remember you. Good to see you again. 6th Grade teacher. Worrier.
Had about 1600 calories as a goal. Often ate below and sometimes ate above. It all balanced out and you lost weight. Right? Kudos for keeping it off.
If my memory is correct you have no problem getting in sufficient protein with your big steaks and bacon. Those 2 are great for fats also. Proteins and fats are both essential. Carbohydrates are not. Keep your carbs low and fill in the rest with fat and protein to fullness. Unless you're eat only skinless chicken breasts and canned tuna in water with no additional fats, you're getting plenty of fat. And protein. You know this.
Do what you did last year to lose in the competition. Keep it simple. Go back and look at "nutrition" (weekly) on your phone. The data is there if you were tracking religiously as you mentioned. So are your "burns". I recall you were using a step tracker. Stepz as I recall. Maybe not.
For we metabolically healthy folks it still boils down to calories. To your question: Meal timing DOES NOT matter. If eating a little after school and a nice big dinner with your wife in the evening works for you, keep doing just that. Just eat fewer calories than you have been eating while maintaining. It really doesn't matter when you eat them.1 -
Wow, you remembered tons @kpk54 ... the thing is this year it is different, not the contest just my eating. I was honestly seeing if fasting worked. It did somewhat, but just seeing what other strategies and benefits are out there. Last year, I ate because sometimes I was hungry. Now, not so much, so just wondering what approaches I needed to take. I get about 12,000 steps a day along with three large Yeti cups of water. I also like to drink my coffee in the evening.2
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When you fast your insulin is not spiking and causing hunger. Jason Fung has a lot of good information about the calories versus hormone aspect of weight/health. He advocates fasting.3
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collegefbfan wrote: »Been awhile since I been on here. I have kept almost all of weight loss weight off for a year. Cheated some and then the trip to Mexico totally blew it out the water. Still, only really gained 6 pounds. Returned home, back on track,lost the 6 pounds, and started the biggest loser contest again. We are on teams this year and the two ladies on my team don't need to lose any weight. Anyways, for two weeks, Monday through Thursday I have been eating a small meal around 3:30 pm after work and then supper around 6:00 pm. No breakfast, no lunch, tons of water, etc. Sort of intermittent fasting I guess. Lost five pounds the first week. Do I keep going this direction? This is essentially one meal a day, is that good or not? I know I am not getting enough fat. That is bad too, right? Please help.
The only concern I see is with how much you are eating. By that I mean, if you are fasting, then fast. If you are eating more than a few hundred calories a day but a significant deficit from what you need, this is what causes the metabolic slow down we all hear about with cases like those in the biggest loser. True fasting has been shown to not have this affect.
I have also been both researching and experimenting with fasting lately, but for BG reasons and not weight, although weight is the primary topic for most of the studies.
From what you are talking about for a fasting schedule, it would be easy to fall into that category of eating too much to benefit from fasting, but at a high enough deficit from what you are burning to cause the slow down. If you are keeping your deficit reasonable, then that type of intermittent fasting has been shown to have the same benefit for some as the longer fasts. It really seems to be something where trial and error is needed. Imagine that. Another situation where it is not one size fits all.1 -
^^I agree with this.^^
In my own personal opinion and in my experience, you're basically not fasting, you're skipping meals, depending on your eating calorie count. There IS a difference...
After fasting, it's recommended you feast. If you don't, you're operating at a calorific deficit, even when NOT fasting, which, I understand, is not good....0 -
I was thinking that also. So, in simple terms, I can fast but for those few hours I don't fast I need to eat like a normal calorie intake for my size or body style. Right?1
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I'm confused. OP said Monday through thursday he's eating all his calories at around 3:30 and 6pm. What about Friday-Sunday? Is he fully fasting those three days, or eating on a different kind of schedule.
I'm confused b/c of the references to feasting in the thread. 20:4 daily intermittent fasting while eating at a reasonable calorie deficit is just standard low carb, fitting calories in a way that works for him. Apologies if I missed the whole story.
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collegefbfan wrote: »I was thinking that also. So, in simple terms, I can fast but for those few hours I don't fast I need to eat like a normal calorie intake for my size or body style. Right?
Yup. High protein, low carb, fat to moderate, adjust or maintain. But just rely on normal food fat content/cooking material, if you're aiming to lose.... body-fat is used by the body as fuel...if you add more dietary fat than you need, your body will use that instead. That's 'maintenance' for ya.....1 -
I'm confused. OP said Monday through thursday he's eating all his calories at around 3:30 and 6pm. What about Friday-Sunday? Is he fully fasting those three days, or eating on a different kind of schedule.
I'm confused b/c of the references to feasting in the thread. 20:4 daily intermittent fasting while eating at a reasonable calorie deficit is just standard low carb, fitting calories in a way that works for him. Apologies if I missed the whole story.
I thought calories were low because of the lack of hunger. That's why I mentioned feasting.1 -
Didn't mean to mix anyone up. Mainly, I didn't think of it as skipping meals. Might be though. On Saturday and Sunday, usually a late breakfast and a regular supper. Friday I eat small breakfast and small lunch and regular supper. I have to admit, I haven't been eating enough fat. It is almost like the lack of hunger has me scared to eat the way I should. I mean I am almost 40 pounds lighter. I was scared of eating all that fat in the beginning of the WOE. It's almost like I am scared again. Sounds funny I know.0
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