Need Help with Weight Goal!

WHEN are you eating and WHAT are the calories?

I slowly went from 190 lbs in the 1990's to over 260 lbs in 2021. No diet worked. No amount of exercise worked. Calorie restriction didn't work. CICO (calorie in-calorie out) didn't work. Any weight loss I achieved would always come back. The body remembers its "set point" when losing weight through basic calorie restriction and/or heavy exercise. (This is why EVERY single person who appeared on Biggest Loser always gained the weight back.)

I have been under 200 lbs for several weeks and I finally found something that works. I also spent several months reading 100's of peer-reviewed journal articles because I was convinced I would die if I did not eat for two days.

If you want to lose that stubborn last five pounds, then keep reading...

The term "calorie" is utterly useless as the body processes different nutrients in very different ways.

Are the calories from fat OR protein OR carbs (glucose) OR sugars (glucose and fructose)? Each of these nutrient categories has a very different effect on metabolism.

• Liquid sugars, such as fruit juice, soda, coffee drinks, and other sugary drinks, will cause the fastest and strongest insulin response.
• Carbs and sugars will spike insulin, but not quite as fast as liquid sugars.
• Protein will trigger mTOR and insulin. The insulin peak is not as high as carbs, but will last longer.
• Only fats will not cause an insulin response (which is by high fats are okay as with Bulletproof coffee). Fats alone do not trigger an insulin response.

If you have insulin in your blood, then your body is inhibiting the fat burning metabolism that uses the fat stores in your fat cells. So, if you are eating frequently or have elevated insulin levels while working out, then you are only burning glucose and you are not triggering lipolysis (the breakdown of fat).

I dropped over 50 pounds in less than 3 months with extended fasts and monitoring WHEN I was eating. This was with NO calorie counting and very little physical activity.

The CICO (calorie in - calorie out) method is more outdated than the claims that saturated fats cause heart disease. CICO doesn't work and your body will almost always put the weight back on.

Fasting and eating a keto menu will provide the best and fastest results. My 50+ pounds was with extended fasting and a non-keto menu. I experimented with eating carbs and sugars. I even had binge days where I ate crap for 24 to 36 hours, just to see what happened to blood sugar and ketone levels.

Also, heavy exercise with fasting is not recommended as the cortisol and some other hormones will interfere with some metabolic processes. The best exercise during fasting is anaerobic exercise.

Try a 36 hour fast with light exercise (very light for you). Try to avoid carbs and sugars for 48 hours before you start your fast (this will help with cravings, headaches, keto flu, and other issues people experience when fasting).

Your glucose and glycogen stores will be mostly depleted after 24 hours of fasting. Only LIGHT workouts in this period (intense workouts during this phase can make cravings much stronger). Your body should start transitioning to a primarily ketone metabolism around 24 hours.

If you are planning a 36 hr fast, then hit the workouts after the first 24 hours. However, based on your workout activity, these would be very low intensity workouts for you. Again, strenuous workouts will often interfere with fat burning, even when the body is in ketosis. From an evolutionary standpoint, this is due to the "fight or flight" response. When fight or flight hormones (like cortisol) are in sufficient quantities, the brain inhibits your ketone metabolism while boosting your glucose metabolism. As a result, intense aerobic exercise is less effective for fat loss.

Another interesting phenomenon occurs with extended fasts... no lactic acid buildup in the muscles. Lactic acid in the muscles is a waste product of glucose metabolism. After 36 hours of fasting, most people will find that no muscle soreness develops during exercise as lactic acid is NOT a byproduct of ketone metabolism.

If your goal is to lose only 5 lbs (and your last 5 pounds), try this...

Step 1) No sugar or carbs for 2 or 3 days. During Step 1, eat LCHF, keto, or paleo menus (anything with low carbs and high fats and proteins). Eat until you are full, no calorie counting or calorie restriction. (CICO is PROVEN to not work long term.) Then, wait as long as you can before eating again.

Step 2A) If you have fasted before and know you can do 36+ hours... Standard water fast (coffee, tea, NO sweeteners of any kind) for 96 hrs. You will likely lose over 5-7 lbs in the 96 hours including roughly 2 lbs of water weight.

Step 2B) If you have not fasted before and think you will starve after about 24 hours (which was me last year), then standard water fast (coffee, tea, NO sweeteners of any kind) for 36-48 hrs. This will show you that you can do it.

Step 3) DO NOT CHEAT! One piece of chocolate will spike insulin and shut down lipolysis. If you have to cheat, then eat a FULL meal and start back at Step 1. If your cheat meal is in accordance with Step 1, then restart your fast right after you finish your meal.

Step 4) Breaking the fast. There is lots of advice about how to break a fast. I've found it is a very individualized experience. Some people need to start back eating very lightly with bone broths and similar foods. After multiple extended fasts, I've found I can eat just about whatever right after a fast. That being said, I tried eating a bunch of sugar after an extended fast, and that is one thing I now avoid.

The first 24 hours is typically the hardest due to cravings and hunger pains.
Hours 24 - 48 you may have the dull hungry headache that many experience in the prefrontal cortex (the forehead area). The headaches diminish and sometimes disappear for those will 4 or 5 extended fasts. It is just the body and brain adapting to a ketone metabolism. If your body has never been in ketosis, then you definitely feel these dull headaches.

Once past 48 hours, you start to see many changes, but this post is already too long.

You do not NEED electrolytes for a 96 day fast, but many people find electrolytes helpful, especially for the headaches. You want sodium, magnesium, and potassium with NO sugar additives or substitutes. Many fasting electrolytes are available online.

watts6151 wrote: »

Your at 140 and need to weigh in at 135
A simple water cut is all that’s required, as a fighter
I assume you will have some experience in this department.

Try eating at maintenance for a week and take a Deload from training

Actually simple!! Eat less. It was a long time ago but in high school I was a Champion wrestler in New Hampshire. We always have to cut weight and yes sometimes it was a lose of muscle, but it was still weight. Make weight, fight, and eat again!! No need for some of the
advice here, except what I quoted...