What are your opinions on...

NikkiOWarriorFit
NikkiOWarriorFit Posts: 3 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
What are your opinions on intermittent fasting, Leto, paleo, macro counting. Do you currently use one as your guide?

Replies

  • jdhcm2006
    jdhcm2006 Posts: 2,254 Member
    Do whatever you’re going to be able to do in the long run. For me, that’s eating everything in moderation. I love carbs, so going low carb wouldn’t make sense for me. Just make sure you’re sticking to your calorie goal and eating in way that’s sustainable for you.
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  • Nony_Mouse
    Nony_Mouse Posts: 5,646 Member
    Nony_Mouse wrote: »
    My opinion is that people should eat in a way that enables them to meet their weight loss, health, and fitness goals, without feeling tied to a way of eating that feels restrictive to them just because they heard it was better, and with the understanding that at the end of the day it all comes down to CI/CO.

    Oh, and that the paleo diet bears no resemblance whatsoever to the way in which our Palaeolithic ancestors ate :D

    There are probably several 'named' things I fit into, but none of them are deliberate.

    Don't ya hate it when the time to edit has just run out and you want to change something?

    Anyhoo...

    1) Weight goals, not just weight loss, because obviously some of us are maintaining, and some are gaining (building muscle);
    2) CI/CO is what it comes down to for weight management, health and good nutrition are a separate matter.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,279 Member
    NikkiOWarriorFit wrote: »
    What are your opinions on intermittent fasting, Leto, paleo, macro counting. Do you currently use one as your guide?

    I assume Leto is a typo for keto?

    I use none of them, except a very rough macro counting.

    My main guide is my calorie allowance.

    My opinion is use anything that works for you without getting obsessive about it.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    edited January 2020
    paperpudding wrote: »
    NikkiOWarriorFit wrote: »
    What are your opinions on intermittent fasting, Leto, paleo, macro counting. Do you currently use one as your guide?

    I assume Leto is a typo for keto?

    I use none of them, except a very rough macro counting.

    My main guide is my calorie allowance.

    My opinion is use anything that works for you without getting obsessive about it.

    "Leto" is autocorrect for "keto". I have seen it several times.

    My main guide is calories and food preferences while keeping an eye on protein intake because I tend to go low if not careful. My opinion is that whatever helps you control your calories easier is the winner for weight loss. For me, that's eating foods I love and find satisfying while monitoring calories.
  • ReenieHJ
    ReenieHJ Posts: 9,724 Member
    edited January 2020
    IF intrigues me but the others, not at all. And the only reason I don't do IF is because I KNOW I wouldn't be able to stick to it. It would make me really grouchy if I didn't get to eat every 2-3 hours. :/ I'm more of a small meals/snacker all day. I just try to stick to healthy options while looking to see where I'm lacking such as need more protein or veggies, etc.
  • mgfit2020
    mgfit2020 Posts: 10 Member
    The only one of those I've tried 100% was IF but it did not work well for my daily routine and caused me more stress than anything else. As for Keto, Paleo etc. any kind of diet that eliminatesnor restricts certain foods just doesn't work for me. I've never tried macro counting but would definitely be open to it.

    What works for me is eating 80/20 whole foods and CI/CO. I generally eat 80% "clean" (though I HATE that term) 20% processed food/treats/other and don't stress the specifics too much, other than to make sure I'm getting enough protein. I don't like most meats, so it's easy for me to let protein slip if I don't keep an eye on it...also a big reason why keto, Paleo, and the like would be next to impossible for me.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    I figured out what would make things easiest for me. I eat 3 meals, no snacking, because I prefer to use my cals that way. I don't care what time of day I eat them, although it's usually before work, midday, after work (and I work late). I look at calories when I am logging (I'm at maintenance and don't always log), and I also look at protein, fiber, and overall micronutrients (only because I log at a place where it's easy to track them, on MFP I just relied on eating an overall healthy and balanced diet). For my own preferences and what works for me, again, I eat mostly whole foods and typically at least 800 grams of veg a day, plus some fruit. None of these are exactly "rules," they are how I prefer things (and not snacking is huge for me in making it easy to control cals since a bunch of smaller meals or grazing leaves me unsatisfied and often leads to mindless eating).
  • lgfrie
    lgfrie Posts: 1,449 Member
    edited January 2020
    IF has been life changing for me. It's 9:11 am right now, I won't eat until noon and I have absolutely no appetite or interest in food at the moment, as is the case every morning. I used to wake up starving, and I used to snack all day and night. I was constantly hungry, it seems like a lifetime ago. I don't know where my appetite went, but nowadays it only shows up during my eating window, noon - 7 pm, and is absent most of the rest of the time. Which makes me think appetite is more psychological than physical, something I never quite realized before.

    I'm a strict calorie counter; I layered IF on top of diligent calorie logging, I don't thing IF works for many people without that. Just compacting your eating day into a smaller number of hours does not guarantee you will eat less. I can eat a whole day's worth of calories in 20 minutes, so I don't see how IF without logging could possibly work. On places like Reddit IF threads, when you see the really eye-opening success stories of 100+ pounds lost, those people are all calorie counting. It's the people who post about their IF experience without calorie counting who are asking why they're not losing weight, or complaining that they've lost 6 pounds in 7 months, or whatever.

    Keto, macro counting, Paleo - no interest. I wanna be able to eat whatever I want, and that includes plenty of carbs and less healthy things that all these diets don't allow. Losing weight is more than enough of a contribution to my own health. If I want to have a big, fat refined white sub roll with processed salami and other crap on it and can make it fit into my caloric day, that's my business. I really have an aversion to diet systems that involve giving up certain categories or types of foods.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    amusedmonkey wrote: »
    paperpudding wrote: »
    NikkiOWarriorFit wrote: »
    What are your opinions on intermittent fasting, Leto, paleo, macro counting. Do you currently use one as your guide?

    I assume Leto is a typo for keto?

    I use none of them, except a very rough macro counting.

    My main guide is my calorie allowance.

    My opinion is use anything that works for you without getting obsessive about it.

    "Leto" is autocorrect for "keto". I have seen it several times.

    My main guide is calories and food preferences while keeping an eye on protein intake because I tend to go low if not careful. My opinion is that whatever helps you control your calories easier is the winner for weight loss. For me, that's eating foods I love and find satisfying while monitoring calories.

    I always think of Duke Leto Atreides...
  • Diatonic12
    Diatonic12 Posts: 32,344 Member
    The best diet is the one that improves your health.
  • richardgavel
    richardgavel Posts: 1,001 Member
    In the end, I believe in calories in, calories out. I jokingly call my diet the "just don't eat like an idiot diet". It really comes down to understanding WHY you eat more than you need. If you eat because of stress, going vegan/Paleo/IM is not going to matter one bit. If you feel hungry a lot, then food choices could matter (some are more filling than others). Or maybe you just don't realize you're eating more than necessary in which case it may just come down to tracking and a good scale. Figure out the WHY and develop your plan from that.
  • ReenieHJ
    ReenieHJ Posts: 9,724 Member
    richardgavel wrote: »
    In the end, I believe in calories in, calories out. I jokingly call my diet the "just don't eat like an idiot diet". It really comes down to understanding WHY you eat more than you need. If you eat because of stress, going vegan/Paleo/IM is not going to matter one bit. If you feel hungry a lot, then food choices could matter (some are more filling than others). Or maybe you just don't realize you're eating more than necessary in which case it may just come down to tracking and a good scale. Figure out the WHY and develop your plan from that.

    Very wise words.
  • H_Ock12
    H_Ock12 Posts: 1,152 Member
    I count macros because as a former weightlifter and current marathon runner it's important to me to have adequate amounts of protein and carbohydrates to fuel my workouts.

    I did intermittent fasting for many years... OMAD was my favorite form. But I modified that as I ran more because not fueling during a 30 mile run just isn't feasible for me (I don't have that much fat to burn as a fuel source). I went back to eating throughout the day when I became pregnant because heartburn. The #1 benefit of IF for me was that I like to eat large quantities and having an eating window regulated my calories by keeping me mindful of when I ate them.

    Keto was wayyyy too rigid and pricey for my liking, but low(er) carb works well for me. I do carb load before long runs (15 miles +), but as a five day per week rule, I eat a reduced number of carbs.

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