Today is my first day of IF (16:8) and I’m currently eating lunch right now, wondering if the type of food I’m eating is going to help or hurt. For breakfast I had a chicken biscuit and coffee w/ almond milk. For lunch I’m having a plate of pasta with marinara sauce, two small garlic rolls, a small portion of fries, and a bowl of assorted fruits. Is this too carb heavy? What are good vs bad carbs, because I think my diet most of my life has been pretty carb heavy (rice and pasta).
Ideally I’d like to feel full without eating too many calories, so that way I won’t feel extremely starving during my fasting periods. My goal with IF is to lose weight and feel less sluggish.
First of all, fasting is about not eating timeframes. Also, pasta isn’t bad is just about portion control and most of the t8mes the extra calories came from the sauce.
There isn’t such thing as bad carbs and good carbs at the end of the day they’re carbs. Also, people keep demonizing them all the time.
Is about the nutritional intake. A home made hamburger will be healthier than a Burgerking one. 100 carbs of Cherries will be healthier than 100carbs of Milka. But is about the nutritional side of it.Your time frame is pretty small, which is fine. But you can’t expect much weight loss if that’s your purpose. Actually, to lose weight you’ll need to be in a Calorie deficit and that’s seems quite high-calorie.
I would get something green in on the side with the pasta atleast. a salad, or spinach sauteed in garlic, brussel sprouts. Something with some fiber/good nutrients.
But also its your first day. Don’t stress too hard. Get an eating window figured out first, and clean up the diet as you go. Don’t race towards towards perfection, it’s a marathon.
It sounds like a lot of white flour/highly processed carbs. Now, I love carbs and don’t think they’re evil. But if you’re trying to lose weight without feeling hungry, pasta + rolls + French fries for lunch probably isn’t ideal. I have tried low carb/keto diets and I definitely lose weight with them, but I can’t sustain those diets because bread and sweets are deliciou. But from trying those diets, I’ve learned that, at least for me, and I’ll bet for a lot of people, biscuits, white pasta and white bread are just the kinds of carbs that feel lovely and satisfying in the moment and leave me hungry 2 hours later. OTOH, protein + fat is satiating and therefore make fasting easier. My suggestion would be to try to find some ways to swap out some of those white carbs for protein, fat and/or slow carbs such as veggies, beans and whole grains.
I would focus on getting protein from whatever sources you prefer and micro-nutrients through veggies. I’d avoid sweets as those can make you want to eat more, even if you can’t taste the sweetness (thus the harmful nature of added sugars).
That’s just from an appetite stand point. CICO will be the key to actually losing weight regardless of what you eat.
I think you could lose the fries and add some veg to replace it. But other then that just don’t think too hard on it. If you eat healthier and IF you’ll probably lose weight quicker.
For IF remember this quote
“If you do what you always done, you’ll get what you always gotten.”
IF will be much better if you make significant changes to your diet.
Good luck!