Hail & Well Met,
I just got back from vacation. While on it, I was very unhappy with how much space on the airplane seats I took. So I cleared my head and something told me to google that thing I’d heard about a while back…Intermittent Fasting.
After a good amount of trolling various blogs and health sites and this subreddit, I decided it is what I am going to go for. I think it will be better tailored for me than other methods I’ve tried in the past. My two primary issues are serving size and late night snacking.
So using the Lose It! app, I am going to track my intake of calories so that I ensure I don’t overeat during my window. And in the interest of not letting perfect be the enemy of good and trying to go too hard at IF and then failing…I’m starting with a 9a-9p feeding window. The intention is that will cut off my late night snacking and drinking, the worst offendor. And then once I get settled into that with good control, I’ll shift it to a 1p-9p feeding window. Note, for both of these routines, weekends will be no fasting. So much of my life is social with friends and food. However, I will continue to control my intake on those days. Once I get solid at that, I’ll consider whether to start restriction feeding windows on weekends as I see where my needs lie, or possibly instead throw in a 24h fast on say Wednesday.
I know this is not the “ideal” 18/6 or OMAD routines. But I have so often tried a diet or lifestyle and failed because I went too hard at the start. And even these “dirty” fast styles will be better than what I am doing now. And who knows, once I get into it and realize how it makes me feel, maybe I’ll take it further? Or maybe it will lose me the weight I want (I’m setting 250lbs. as my initial long term goal) as is.
Of course, input is welcome. I start my first 9a-9p tomorrow, and I will also take initial weights, dimensions, and pictures as well (not certain I feel comfortable sharing the pics right away however).
Good day,
Tack
Welcome to the club. Starting slow and building will help you wean your body off the daily bad choices. Reducing those bad choices to once a week will help a lot. I’ve dropped 45 pounds over the past year and feel so much more alive because I’m eating better. You can do this.
You won’t see any immediate measurable results with your plan in terms of scale etc, but what you should feel is an improvement in your body/mind as you reduce the intake of snacks and crap that we’ve all fed ourselves.
Here are some “neutral” concepts that I’ve worked into my routine on the weekends that might help if you are “social”.
If you are going to drink alcohol, drink vodka/diet soda or gin/diet tonic. Avoid all beer, wine, margaritas, anything with high sugar/carb content. Day drink but taper down and try to stop drinking booze a few hours before you sleep. Your body metabolizes booze faster when you are awake.
Bring your own keto snacks (i.e. non carb/non sugar) to the party. Nuts are better than chips. Pecans and macadamia nuts are lower carb with protein/fat content but walnuts and peanuts are middle. Pistachios and cashews have more carbs/calories per serving but they are still better than doritos. If you dont’ like nuts, buy some brie wrapped in prosciutto topped by arugula? Its basically cheese and italian bacon. Try it on top of a parmesan crisp instead of a potato chip. It’s low/zero carb with no sugar. You are intaking fat and protein, which will help adapt your body to ketosis faster. You may overeat this combination on the weekend but it will keep your body leaning towards ketosis once you are back fasting M-F.
Stop sugar intake as fast as possible. Sugar is the enemy. Sugar intake produces insulin. Your body can’t lose weight if you are producing insulin as insulin stops ketosis/fat burning.
Find out your calorie consumption based on your body weight/mass then start targeting a 500 calorie deficit per day, either thru diet, exercise, or a combination of the two. Here’s the thing, its a lot easier to put down or throw away a bag of doritos than it is to run 5 miles, so 90% of your weight loss journey will be a diet choice, not an exercise choice. That said, if you exercise, look up high intensity interval training as that is the best way to burn calories/fat. Work slowly into the workout scene but concentrate 99% of your effort on eating better.
Yes! Start moderately, and take it from there 🔥🔥
Eliminate processed foods, is the most important step early on, in my opinion.
(There is a particular ingredient in most processed foods, omega-6, that plays a very central role in the ‘situation’ that keeps insulin elevated. Getting insulin down is what will put you in a place where fat loss can start happening.)
I would recommend podcast The Fasting Method (from episode 1) to any beginner getting into IF.
Welcome!!
Good for you for easing into it! Fasting is like going to the gym: the more you do it, the stronger you get.
I don’t know how you feel about calorie counting, but if you’re like me (I hate it) I can tell you from experience that once you get into those therapeutic fasting ranges, there’s really no need. Weight loss is more about hormones then is is about calories— your body adjusts your energy expenditure too much to really make calorie counting all that useful of a tool.
I second the fasting method podcast suggestion made by another comment. I also recommend the books “the obesity code” and “the complete guide to fasting” by Jason Fung as the knowledge there is golden. There’s a lot of misinformation floating around about fasting now that it’s more popular.
Good luck!!
Edit: added author’s name.
You have joined the fasting club! IF will certainly help you! One thing you might think about is Time Restricted Eating (TRE) that means during your 9am-9pm eating window don’t just graze all day, each time we eat we increase insulin, the goal is to keep that down. So I would recommend sticking to three meals with an eating duration of 30-60mins. Then once your meal is finished, no more eating, this will allow your insulin to come down and can really help with insulin resistance. Which if you are overweight, you have insulin resistance. Also, another vote for the Fasting Method Podcast. Stick with it and experience the power of the fast!
Best of luck. I’ve definitely found IF as the best because once I tell myself it’s time to stop eating, I can stop. When I try to eat smaller ‘healthy’ portions, it just doesn’t work for me.
I’m down about 68 pounds in 15 months. Keep us posted.