Very quiet out there....

Having a fast day today. Feeling a bit low energy. Had a cup of coffee at lunch time yesterday and I think that was the reason I woke up in the middle of the night. Hence my lackluster energy level today.

@Meghan509 - a big congratulations on a year of logging!!! What a commitment to yourself!. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other and I know you will make it.
I don't know about you but I think the sizes on women's clothing have changed. I am now wearing size 8s. Np matter how little I used to weigh I never remember being able to f a size 8.

@ryenday - I am a big fan of taking breaks. It can refresh one's soul. Where did you go? Looking forward to your pics.

Hi all, i've been quiet as i've been poorly. Great for appetite as i've not thought about food but not good at the same time as the motivation and cooking routines feel like a new learning experience again. Unsure where i am with my loss as regards to what i will stabilize at when i'm eating back normally on 5:2 as i've lost 5llbs being poorly for a week. Only problem is biscuits have been easy palletable and i now need to leave them behind again! What is slightly funny is that my husband is lost and can't wait for me to be in charge of the menu as he isn't loosing weight taking over being cook lol! Any way hopefully tomorrow i will be up and about again. Everyone sounds like they are having great losses!

Hi everyone. Nice to meet all of you. I'm really looking forward to starting 5:2. This is my second fast day. So far so good!

Hey all...trying to drop in more so I don't seem like that creepy cousin at family reunions who lurks around on the fringes of the crowd looking for someone to talk to...

@jknight001 - thanks for the kind words, poor Saints, to end it like they did, but the future looks bright with rookies of the year on both offense and defense!

Also, I've been doing more keto lately and haven't had much to contribute on the 5:2 lifestyle. I hope to combine them once I get settled into a routine. The testimonials I've read show that the combo can be devastating to fat stores. In keto the goal is to have your body fueled by fat, not carbs, and to a lesser extent protein. One of the things that is interesting is that most people on keto, when talking about intermittent fasting, are referring to time slots for eating...such as 16:8, 18:6, etc., where you eat nothing for the majority of the day (24 hours) and then do all of your eating within a smaller window (18:6 meaning fasting for 18 hours and consuming all your calories in the remaining 6 hours of the day.) I find myself doing more of a 20:4 or 22:2 scenario...one big meal at the end of the day. Which, when you think about it, is how humans have been eating for the vast majority of our time on this planet. Before we were domesticated (within the last 10 to 20 thousand years or so) we were hunters and gatherers and the bulk of our calories were consumed at the end of the day when the tribe's/clan's/etc. bounty was brought back to the camp/cave/etc. and shared around the fire. This also explains a lot about our emotional attachment to food...it brings us a sense of safety and contentment...it's worked its way into our genome over the millennia. Some call this the Caveman or Warrior diet.

These things (and logic) explain why the American way of eating for the past 70 years has been so harmful to our bodies. And these ideals have been literally crammed down our throats (food pyramid, breakfast is the most important meal, fat becoming a bad word, carbs being the goto fuel via corn, soy, and wheat products) by the egos of a few men in powerful positions. It has not helped that scientists were removed from panels and stripped of funding when they disagreed...so they've learned to either shut up or, worse, stylize their findings to fit U.S. guidelines. Things will change, but it will take some doing...we're at a time in our history as a country where the masses don't trust their government and people are once again exploring alternative diets, medicines, treatments and lifestyles, instead of just swallowing what we're being fed.

...hmmm...sounding like an anarchist...back to what I was saying...

All of these types of diets/lifestyles are the result of what amounts to us applying logic to the history of humanity. Our evolution is why we respond to sustenance so deeply on both a physical and emotional level. No food means death and no food for everyone means extinction...every specie's main goal is to survive. This is why the things we need to do to keep on existing feel so euphoric...it applies to eating, and without getting too vulgar here, it also applies to propagation.

Keto: the majority of the food we've eaten through our existence was high fat...fat is good! We have been carnivores for the entirety of this time (sorry vegans)...meat was the only food that wasn't seasonal. Sometimes nuts, berries, roots, etc. were necessary to get us to our next successful hunt.

Paleo: if our ancestors didn't eat anything processed, then neither should we. Genetically modified and processed foods are the inventions of modern man. If our timeline (~200 thousand years for us, ~6 million for our ancestors) was condensed into a 24 hour day, then we've consumed these types of "foods" for less than 1 minute...less than 2 seconds if including our evolutionary ancestors.

Caveman/Warrior: the day's meal was consumed in a short window and around the campfire in the safety of numbers and shelter. Food is strongly tied to our emotional and social needs; this is why many of us eat when we are scared, lonely or under stress...it is inherent to the human condition. Digestion and other biological functions are also more efficient when we're less stressed.

And finally...
Intermittent Fasting: contrary to popular belief, the human body doesn't go into starvation mode and "hold onto" our calories by decreasing metabolism. This biological necessity doesn't occur until around day 9 of complete starvation and weeks longer on severe calorie restriction (~25% of BMR). When caloric intake is reduced significantly the body actually increases metabolism steadily for about 7 days or so. As applied to our hunter/gatherer ancestors, this was needed to increase our chances of survival; when a hunt (or food foraging) failed, our bodies required more calories to function (so the body could keep moving/hunting and the brain could think harder to resolve the crisis), and this would continue for days (humans can survive for over 20 days without eating). This increase in metabolism is why it's harder to sleep when we're hungry and why we can have such crazy dreams while fasting...it's due to increased brain activity. Hunger pains are just another biological incentive for us to get to that next feeding.

OK...like I said...just popping in to say hi.

Bye,
Rus

Hi all!
Wow lots to catch up on here... I’ve been popping in & out just to check my steps but feb has been a waste for me!

First off congratulations Meghan for completing one entire year logging in with mfp! Great job and very inspiring!

I enjoyed your post Orlcam, good insight.

I’m hoping March works better for me as feb had a lot of stress to it although it ended good with a lovely anniversary dinner out with the hubs..

Goodbye February!!!
Hello March!
Off to make some good choices for dinner!

Good week for me too. Down 1 pound. Very happy.

@orlcam - Glad to see you coming out of lurker status. Wondering how you like keto?
In reading your post, I had to pause over the thought that we were originally carnivorous. I had always assumed we were mostly plant based simply because, while it is true that meat is available year round, it is much easier to convince convince a yam to become your dinner than a deer. Only the good hunters would have the opportunity to eat meat.
I also wondered about the statement of not holding on to our calories. I can buy that but it leaves me wondering about those crazy plateaus that happen with plain calorie reductions. I have myself experienced weeks of not losing or gaining a pound when trying to lose weight by simply reducing my calories.
Interested in your thoughts on my two comments.

@meghan509 - Congrats on the weight loss! Love the whoosh. Love that you are thinking about how to make this WOE work for you. If we are to maintain our loss, we have no other choice but to make how we eat work for us.

@mamainthekitchen - glad to see you as well. March is a good month to get re-started. How is your husband doing? Glad you had a good anniversary dinner. Those kinds of things are what make life a joy.

@ryenday & @KateNkognito - Hope you both are doing well. Maybe @ryenday decided to permanently stay on vacation.

Thank you for the info @orlcam. I will look into Magic Pill. As for me, my basic rule is the farther food gets from it's earthly origin, think foods like Cheetos and foods with unpronouncable names in the ingredient list, the worse it is. My other rule is everything in moderation.