Kitty
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Post by Kitty on Feb 2, 2017 2:08:24 GMT
I wonder if anyone has tried intermittent fasting? I've been doing a variation since early December and it has been working well for me. For a long time, I had negative thoughts about it. I had in mind that it was something like eating on Monday and then not eating again until Wednesday morning. I found out that even for those who do a 24 hour fast they don't go from Monday evening until Wednesday morning (that is more a 36 hour fast). They tend to go from after say Monday dinner to Tuesday dinner 24 hours later.
Anyway, the version I'm doing is the 5:2 version. I eat normally (following Weight Watchers and calorie counting) on 5 days of the week. Then on 2 days I eat low. I bought the book by Michael Mosley the doctor in the UK who popularized this and it suggests 600 calories for men and 500 for women. I am not always that low, but try to get close to it.
I also read about a variation where people do 16 hours of not eating and then fit all their eating into an 8 hour window. That is what I tend to do on my low days. My low days are usually Monday and Friday. So, I eat normally on Sunday. Then I don't eat on Monday until 16 hours after the last time I ate on Sunday and then fit the rest of my eating on Monday within an 8 hour window.
I wondered if anyone else has tried any version of intermittent fasting and what variation you did. I will say that I'm healthy and don't take any regular medications. If I did have any health conditions, I would check with my doctor first.
One reason that I decided to do this was that I was getting too hungry and my meals were too small for me. I've always liked eating several times a day. I would usually have 3 meals and at least 3 snacks. Now that I am at my WW goal weight (but want to lose another 5 to 10 pounds), I was finding it hard to lose anything given how small my calories needed to be to lose. After having my tummy tuck it was even harder since my baseline weight was lower.
My RMR is only 1120 (I had it tested in a lab) and I found that eating small meals was just making me hungrier. But, if I ate larger meals then I ended the week with no calorie deficit. What I like about 5:2 is that I really only do much restricting on the 2 low days. I usually have 1 higher day of the week (day we go out to eat on the weekend) and then I have 4 days where I mostly eat at home or eat out somewhere low calorie (like Panera). On those days, I count what I eat but I don't have to worry about it. On my low days I usually eat lunch (about 200 calories), have a similar dinner, and then a snack. I end up between 500 and 600 calories.
I've lost about 5 pounds since I started this in early December which is really good for me at this point. I thought I would find it really hard on the low days but it really hasn't been.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 2, 2017 2:14:24 GMT
I believe Fin does the IF where she eats in the 8 hour period.
I have looked into it but there's no way I can do it with my tummy issues.I normally eat 3 meals and 1 snack which seems to work for me.I haven't been tracking calories lately but I eat a lot of the same kind of meals so I know I'm keeping my carbs lower but not real low carb.I find it hard to lose solely tracking calories.I just do better with SP and mindful eating but that's just me.
Congrats on your loss and I hope it continues to work for you.
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Post by lmenglish on Feb 2, 2017 2:27:10 GMT
Reminds me of a strict Wendie Weight watchers plan.
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Post by NatureLover on Feb 2, 2017 14:06:20 GMT
May I inquire - what do you typically eat on the low cal days?
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pbnj
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Post by pbnj on Feb 2, 2017 14:16:34 GMT
Kitty, have you discussed this on your blog? I'd be interested in more details!
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Post by wwlurker on Feb 2, 2017 17:20:38 GMT
I've not done it but I'm interested in hearing others' thoughts on it. The plan I'm on right now has me eating every 3 hours or so, so it wouldn't be compatible, but I see the value in it.
I think that it's good to go a stretch without food occasionally. It would help me remember that it's not an emergency and that it's doable.
I'm also a fan of feeling full/volume eating, so I would rather eat a decent amount less often than constantly be having small, unsatisfying meals (luckily, the plan I'm on at the moment is designed to curb hunger as well, so as long as I follow it as written, I don't get too hungry).
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Kitty
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Post by Kitty on Feb 2, 2017 18:22:06 GMT
I haven't talked about on the blog yet but plan to do so soon. What is interesting to me is that this is working so well for me when I have always been such an advocate of the opposite. I've been a big believer of eating frequently. One thing that I've realized through this experience is that eating makes me hungrier. I've always said I needed to eat often because I would get hungry.
But, some of what I've discovered is that I think that eating smaller meals often makes me hungrier. I've noticed that if I eat a small meal I tend to be hungrier when I've finished eating and then I sometimes go and eat more food over the next few hours than I think I would have eaten with a larger meal. One way the 5:2 plan helps me is that on my "normal" days I can eat larger meals so I'm less hungry in between meals. I still eat snacks but I don't get as hungry.
Another side effect is that I've realized I don't have to eat breakfast every day. I get up fairly late most mornings (I work from home part-time) but I had a habit of having breakfast when I got up then had lunch just a few hours later and then dinner/snacks after that. I've started on most days just not eating immediately when I get up and then just having lunch. This is working well. I do have breakfast if it is a day I need to get up early.
Oh, on what I've been eating. There was a snack I bought that was grilled chicken and then a dipping sauce. It was about 130 calories. So I might have that, then for dinner a piece of fish with a small serving of veggies. For a snack I've had a serving of pistachios or a Vitatop. Another day I had a salad for lunch with grilled chicken and was just careful on the amount of dressing, no cheese. Let's see what else -- Turkey Chili that I had previously made and frozen. It was about 250 calories.
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Post by linda72 on Feb 2, 2017 18:46:04 GMT
Kitty I found this very interesting. My eating habits seem similar to yours. I often can skip breakfast and have lunch around 11:30 and feel fine. Eating, for me, is so much a habit. I went to Dr. Mosley's web site and read through it and had a question. According to their calculators, my BMR is 1077 and my TDEE is 1293. Then, according to his rules, I would eat around 500 calories a day on the fasting days. That number is figured on someone who usually has a 2000 calorie diet. But, my BMR is almost half of that. Does he take into account the difference for a short person? I'm wondering if I would only eat 300 calories on the fasting days. Keep us posted on your results. I think this might work well for me. (although I guess I would just skip the GHGs on those days.)
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Post by thyme2 on Feb 2, 2017 19:05:47 GMT
I did a version of 5:2 with great success. My back story I have shared but in a nutshell here it is. I was very successful with WW when I first did it. My losses came to a halt after a few years and then due to stress and the dawning of menopause I gained. Continued to work the program for 2 more years and finally quit.
In 2015 I read Michael Mosley's book and tried 5:2. I modified the low days with between 800-1000 calories. The other days I ate what I wanted. I have to say that I eat fairly healthfully in general but did not restrict. I lost 16 lbs in 3.5 months and decided to return to WW. I am keeping 5:2 in my bag of tricks if I reach Lifetime and need to shake it up.
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Post by thyme2 on Feb 2, 2017 19:08:34 GMT
I need to add that on the low days I ate mainly lean meat and veggies with the exception of oatmeal for breakfast.
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Kitty
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Post by Kitty on Feb 2, 2017 19:40:14 GMT
Thyme2 - THat is really interesting. I think that one of the reasons this does work for me is that I burn so few calories that the normal WW program is hard for me. I lose so slowly. I am at goal now, but want to lose another 5 to 10 pounds. I think once I get there I will do 6:1 instead of 5:2. That is what Mosley himself does at goal weight. I also agree that the low days don't have to be exactly 500. I've done some that were more as well.
Linda72 - He doesn't really address that issue in his book. My RMR is 1120 and on a non-exercise day I burn around 1200 to 1300 calories. He seems to simply assume in the book that the base TDEE for a woman is 2000 calories. Personally, I think that cutting to 500 is enough and I don't plan to do lower. And, as thyme2 mentioned there are low days where I eat more. I think the concept is more important than the specific numbers. And, I get a lot of benefit just cutting to 500 calories on 2 days. Let's say I would ordinarily eat 1200 calories in a day (what I tried to average while I was losing most of my weight). If I instead eat 500 calories on those 2 days then I've cut an extra 1400 calories in those 2 days. TO maintain an average of 1200 calories I can distribute those 1400 calories to the other 5 days, I can eat 1480 calories on those 5 days and still maintain an average of 1200 calories a day.
And, let's say I decide to eat 1380 on those 5 days instead and then eat 500 on the 2 days. Then, I'm averaging only 1129 calories a day. Another more gentle way to do it is like thyme2 did. Make the low days 800 calories or 1000 calories and that let's you modestly go up on the other days.
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Post by linda72 on Feb 2, 2017 19:46:26 GMT
Kitty That's a good explanation and I do think this will work for me. On my yoga nights on Mondays, I generally have very little to eat and when I return home, I'm not very hungry. The next morning, I don't find myself famished. I too am at goal but would like to lose more for a cushion. My weight loses are so slow now that I get frustrated. I think I will try this. Do you recommend getting the book? The web site is fairly detailed and it doesn't seem there is a lot to do other than restrict your diet 2 days a week. ETA: are you tracking calories on MFP? It won't let you go below 1200 calories. Thanks for your input.
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Post by finreporter on Feb 2, 2017 21:10:31 GMT
i do IF but have been eating way too much calories in the 8 hour eating period.
i would starve if i did a 2 day period of eating barely any calories. it would set me up to gorge on more food than i'd normally eat.
my method is the one where you don't eat for 16 hours of the day, but keep in mind 8+ of those hours are sleeping/getting ready in the morning or ready for bed at night/driving to work/etc. things where you wouldn't be eating anyway. i never was a breakfast eater so i just start my day with a decent sized lunch. then small dinner and light on the snacks. when i follow this method, i do really well. my eating hours are usually between noon and 1pm and then end at 8 or 9pm. when i am very on top of this, i can go months without eating past 9pm on a routine non-eventful day. i also found i sleep better on a nearly emtpy stomach. when i eat too close to bedtime, i wake up frequently because i think i have a mild case of acid reflux.
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pbnj
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Post by pbnj on Feb 2, 2017 21:32:06 GMT
I'm a 'must eat breakfast' person as I'm usually running out of the house early. I have a small breakfast on those days and a bigger late lunch. Will check out Mosley's website .
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Kitty
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Post by Kitty on Feb 2, 2017 21:37:22 GMT
I do the 16/8 thing on my 2 low calorie days. I definitely couldn't do the 2 low calorie days consecutively and they recommend that you not do that. Honestly, I don't even get that hungry on the low days. I usually sleep late on them and then don't eat until mid-afternoon. I have that as a lunch then 4 hours or so later eat again and then another 7 or 8 hours after I started eating.
The schedule I normally follow:
Sat - Eat out. This is my high calorie day and I eat pretty much what I want to. I do track, of course. Sun - May eat out, but it will be lower calorie food or may just eat at home. I can flip Sat and Sun. I plan that those 2 days will total about 3000 calories (collectively). It is OK if it is a little higher or lower. Mon - Low day Tues, Wed, Thurs - Regular days. Usually about 1200 calories but can vary some. Yesterday, for example, I was a little over 1300 for the day. Fri - Low day
Some of this I do vary. For example, this week I made my low day Tuesday instead of Monday. And, if I have plans to go somewhere Friday where I will want to eat, I make that my low day.
On my low days, I don't start eating until at least 16 hours after my last food the night before. Then I eat on the low days within an 8 hour window. I do think that the 16:8 may be the gentlest form of IF.
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