Current Events > Been Intermittent Fasting for four days now....

(+) Yeah! (+)

mustachedmystic posted...

I dont count calories, or restrict carbs. I just get a lot of exercise, I only eat once a day, eat a lot of fruits and veggies, and restrict red meat ( I mostly eat chicken). I dont eat a lot of sugar,(I only have a couple sodas a week). But I will have some, IE, I got some coffee cake muffins from Costco, and a box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, which I have been craving, I will have one or 2 of the muffins as dessert. Now, my weight has been pretty steady at around 160 for the past few months. If I start to gain weight Ill cut cut out the sugary foods for a few months.

Thats good. I want to get to that point where i can maintain a low weight without being too restricted.
The whole old school approach of eating 3 main meals a day for my appetite and cravings would lead me to regular days of at least 3000 calories probably. Which is no wonder why i would get to 300lbs. Getting used to this 8 hour window to eat and mostly just following it strictly has been an idea i have been thinking about and finally trying to do.
Liking it so far and hopefully results are steady for a while as i slowly work my way back up to cardio and weight training.

Jx1010 posted...

When do you eat? What time?

I used to eat my first meal at noon, 12pm to be exact. Then 2nd meal at 6pm. Would that be considered intermitent fasting?

My problem was eating junk, too many carbs and sweets. If I can do that, maybe Ill be good.

Technically would be a type of IF. I use a fasting counter app in my phone to be more flexible and fast at least 16hours before having a window of 8 hours to eat.

Usual times for me would be to have my first small meal at like 3pm and curb any cravings or hunger. Then i have like a main big dinner around 5 or 6. Usually finish any snacks or dessert by i or 9pm.

Jx1010 posted...

When do you eat? What time?

I used to eat my first meal at noon, 12pm to be exact. Then 2nd meal at 6pm. Would that be considered intermitent fasting?

My problem was eating junk, too many carbs and sweets. If I can do that, maybe Ill be good.

I eat at 5pm. I am the same way with junk, so for the most part I just dont get it. And when I do get something less than healthy I tend to binge. And like I said, if I start gaining weight, I will just stop buying the donuts, muffins, and sugary cereal for a few months till I get back on track. The way I understand it is after 12 hours of fasting, the body starts to consume stored fat for fuel. Assuming you take an hour to eat, you are on a 17/7 fast, which is pretty good. Back when I ate twice a day I would eat at 1 and 5. Now I do OMAD(one meal a day), and I eat in one meal what I used to eat in 2, sometimes more, minus dairy, which I cut out. And Ive actually lost weight since starting OMAD. And I am very strict about it for the most part.

Yeah the OMAD has been something i thought about doing in the future. I did it yesterday with the IF when i had the big chipotle meal and was able to fast 25 hours after lol.

The OMAD seems like a lot of planning for me though at this time. I would want to cook my own big meals to make sure i get everything i need for the day. Unfortunately, i dont have the free time to do it while my wife is at work and im watching the baby all day.

I just buy rotisserie chickens, and other prepared meals, and fruits and veggies, which I eat raw. I also eat a lot of cole slaw(no mayo), and olives(they have big jars for a good price at Costco).

mustachedmystic posted...

I just buy rotisserie chickens, and other prepared meals, and fruits and veggies, which I eat raw. I also eat a lot of cole slaw(no mayo), and olives(they have big jars for a good price at Costco).

Yeah if you're able to do that consistently and enjoy it, good for you, because i dont think i would be able to do that. At least not yet. I respect that diet.
Could maybe do that a day or 2 out of the week personally but not all the time.

Im STUFFED. Only finished like 75% of my oatmeal, ate that apple, and maybe a handful of cherries.
Getting ready for another long fast during and after my 12hr night shift.

Good luck on your weight loss TC. I actually started at 299 lbs back in March (heaviest I've ever been) and have been calorie counting and exercising. I weigh myself once a week and doing great so far.

It's definitely easier to stick to, if you don't massively change your eating habits and instead make gradual changes.

Yeah I have a huge appetite, which reminds me, I forgot to mention that I also have a couple bowls of Cheerios. And a chicken lasts 2 to 4 days, depending on how big it is.

NoxObscuras posted...

Good luck on your weight loss TC. I actually started at 299 lbs back in March (heaviest I've ever been) and have been calorie counting and exercising. I weigh myself once a week and doing great so far.

It's definitely easier to stick to, if you don't massively change your eating habits and instead make gradual changes.

Thanks and you tooo. How has your progress been?
I definitely should be weighing myself once a week because i find myself weighing myself multiple times of the day. And its good when you see its down, but kind of defeating when you weigh yourself after eating and drinking a lot. In the other hand, it also feels like it keeps me more acountable and more strict the next day if i see isnt going down as much.

FLAMING_EVIL_HOMER posted...

Thanks and you tooo. How has your progress been?
I definitely should be weighing myself once a week because i find myself weighing myself multiple times of the day. And its good when you see its down, but kind of defeating when you weigh yourself after eating and drinking a lot. In the other hand, it also feels like it keeps me more acountable and more strict the next day if i see isnt going down as much.

Yeah I figured weighing myself really often would hurt my motivation, more than help it. So I try to consistently weigh myself every Monday morning, before I eat breakfast.

And as of last Monday I'm down to 242. My goal when I started was 200 by 1/1/23, but I slowed down a lot over the summer (lots of cheat days). Let's see if I'll still be able to manage another 42 pounds in 4 months lol.

NoxObscuras posted...

Yeah I figured weighing myself really often would hurt my motivation, more than help it. So I try to consistently weigh myself every Monday morning, before I eat breakfast.

And as of last Monday I'm down to 242. My goal when I started was 200 by 1/1/23, but I slowed down a lot over the summer (lots of cheat days). Let's see if I'll still be able to manage another 42 pounds in 4 months lol.

Nice!!! I believe in you! You got it.
It definitely gets harder and more restrictive once people like me who are really overweight lose a lot of weight at first doing minor changes.

One thing i like about the IF is right now i dont sweat about cheat days because i usually im able to fit whatever i want if i crave it as long as its in the window and not too crazy calorie wise.
Think before when i lost of weight, i was so restrictive and strict that it made me want to gorge on crazy amounts of stuff like who trays of cookies, whole pizzas, etc.

As I tell everyone. DDPYoga. You can set your own pace, and for the most part it works far better than walking.

DDPYoga is a real? I always assumed it was a pro wrestling thing.

My dad loves DDP yoga lol it seems legit

mustachedmystic posted...

DDPYoga is a real? I always assumed it was a pro wrestling thing.

yes, its real. Last time I was on it, I went from 270 to 228 in about 3 1/2 months. Mind you, I'm back to 300 now from other reasons. But slowly starting to lose the weight again.

8/28: 300lb
9/4: 293.8lb (-6.2)

Going to use 293.8 as my official week 2 weight. Down about 6lbs. Pretty good for a week where i had huge pulled pork sandwiches and a big chipotle meal. Dont expect to have the beginner pound loss every week, but good start.
Surprisingly did well as far as hunger after working overnight. Chugged a cup or so of water whenever i felt an inkling of getting hungry but no big hunger feeling right now and has been about 16 hours fasted. More sleepy than anything.

On to week 2!

And i've never heard of DDP Yoga. Im always more of the easy going cardio like walking or jogging and doing regular compound movement weightlifting with accessory certain muscle workouts. I like to be out and moving with my cardio.

FLAMING_EVIL_HOMER posted...

8/28: 300lb
9/4: 293.8lb (-6.2)

Going to use 293.8 as my official week 2 weight. Down about 6lbs. Pretty good for a week where i had huge pulled pork sandwiches and a big chipotle meal. Dont expect to have the beginner pound loss every week, but good start.
Surprisingly did well as far as hunger after working overnight. Chugged a cup or so of water whenever i felt an inkling of getting hungry but no big hunger feeling right now and has been about 16 hours fasted. More sleepy than anything.

On to week 2!

Nice! 6 pounds in 1 week is a ton. Keep it up!

Thanks!

I know its just beginning water weight so im ideally hoping to lose at most 2.5lbs a week once i have been doing this for longer.
And then will restrict my diet more when it stalls after that.

In the mean time.... i ordered the same thing from Chipotle on doordash again since i loved it so much the first time.

Losing water weight is still good to lose

Cheating a little bit today in this holiday but still within my eating period.

Ate a couple of Sams clubs hotdogs and a few pork ribs my mother in law made to break my fast.
Supposed eat so more later too and grill some burgers.

Ended the day with eating only one burger and some potato salad.

Played some light 1v1 basketball against my buddy afterwords.

FLAMING_EVIL_HOMER posted...

Thanks!

I know its just beginning water weight so im ideally hoping to lose at most 2.5lbs a week once i have been doing this for longer.
And then will restrict my diet more when it stalls after that.

In the mean time.... i ordered the same thing from Chipotle on doordash again since i loved it so much the first time.

generally isnt the large water weight loss from when people make a drastic dietary change and really cut down on stuff that retains water / causes inflammation? I don't think you're really doing that...

Idk exactly what weight it is, i just know its the weight that usually gets lost super fast in the beginning for people like me who are pretty overweight.

When i havent been watching what i eat in a while and i go on strict calorie deficit, i usually lose weight super fast at first whether its from the food ive been eating burning off or just regular weight fluctuations throughout the day or idk.
Don't really want to lose more than 2.5lbs of real pounds a weak to retain any muscle i have if any haha.

Breaking my almost 21hr fast with an apple. Fasting getting easier and easier. The 18/6 seems too easy but ill keep it as my minimum goal.

Gonna be eating nachos tonight so better get healthy stuff out the way lol

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/0/5/7/AADZUeAADpaZ.jpg

Ate somewhat bad again last night.
Had an apple before the nachos and a pear after the nachos. Still slowly transitioning. Just that i had the chips and nacho cheese and ground meat still and didnt want to waste them hehe. Had a protein shake and some ice cream for dessert too. And that was all i had yesterday.
Dont feel too bad about it because the nachos were my only big real meal yesterday and still within my calorie limits.
Still not the healthiest food choices but really not too different than what i was doing before. Added the pears and apples though so some healthier options ive been adding.

Tried to pyramid some pushups but after i got to 6, my left elbow started hurting. Was actually worried about my right elbow and was using a brace band on my right arm. Was actually doing better than i expect and was keeping good form i thought with elbow 45 degrees from body.

Sad.

Breaking my 20hr fast with some roasted almonds while i wait for wife to get home so i can eat main meal.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/4/8/5/AADZUeAADphF.jpg

Stuffed. Pretty much a leftover night. Ate rest of nachos, last 3 pieces of ribs and small bowl of potato salad from other day. Finished it off with a little granola bar.

Swear, think the key to make me feel full is to start of with something spicy like these pickled jalapeos i ate with nachos. Drink so much water while eating it because its so spicy.

Just got done with an hour walk after my stomach settled down from being full. Pretty decent pace for me, not too fast and not too slow. Just steady for an hour.

Couldn't imagine doing anything that long in a cardio machine without getting bored after 20minutes. I like just walking outside and listening to music and just looking at scenery. Although you can't see much at 9 at night.

Still warming my body up slowly to working out. Not as young as i used used to be.
Got my left elbow hurting doing pushups and thought i pulled an ab muscle or got a hernia doing situps lol. For being 300lbs, i was still happy I was to be able to do clean pushups.. up until the pain in my elbow happened. Think my chest was ready for the load but not my elbows with the extra weight i put on.

Hungry yet?

House_Of_Dragon posted...

Hungry yet?

Not yet. The fasting seemes to be going better than expected. Most times i feel a little hugry in the morning, i just drink sips of hit coffee and chase it down with water and it usually goes away.

Robot2600 posted...

intermittent fasting ONLY works because it slaps the donut from your hands late at night when you are tired and maybe drunk.

really it gives you a rule that increases your discipline. much more empowering to know you're losing weight not cause of some fad, but because you have that discipline.

im about 1 day from cutting out all bread and pasta too. gonna be hard at first but im not fucking around this time.

i was 240 lbs, 18 months ago.

I started dieting, SORT OF, but I drank a lot. like 700 calories of vodka a day.

got down to 220 in May of this year. Started running. Started calorie counting. stopped drinking like a crazy person. got down to 209 on august 1, then i bought a gym membership 31 days ago.

now im 194. that's 15 lbs in a month.

fuck yes. it's so much better.

i literally have to go pants shopping this weekend because i only have 2 pairs of pants that fit. i bought some clothes in july (38/32 pants) and they already don't fit.

i got a pair of jeans 2 weeks ago, 36-inch waste cause i didn't think i would get thinner so quickly. they are ALREADY TOO BIG, but at least i CAN wear them with a belt, for now.

I have to go buy 1 pair of 34s this weekend, even tho i need more pants i know i should just wait until im in 32s. even if i lose more weight, 32s will never swallow me whole.

im gonna bodybuild for real this time also, so I dont really want to get smaller than that.

i have a box of old 32-waist jeans in the closet.

im vegetarian.

This is so interesting to me! At my heaviest I was 230lbs at 6' and I was only a 34 waist
I'm down to 180 now and I'm a 30 waist. Losing 50lbs really only narrowed my waist by 4 inches

Hinakuluiau posted...

This is so interesting to me! At my heaviest I was 230lbs at 6' and I was only a 34 waist
I'm down to 180 now and I'm a 30 waist. Losing 50lbs really only narrowed my waist by 4 inches

Nice! How did you do it?

FLAMING_EVIL_HOMER posted...

Nice! How did you do it?

I pretty much ate the same thing every day. V8 energy for breakfast (50 calories), a protein shake at lunch (200 calories), and for dinner chicken breast made in the air fryer with whatever spices I felt like that day, frozen broccoli tossed in a pot with a little butter, and rice (total 800 calories). I only drank water or Arnold Palmer zero's (10 calories per 8 oz) the rest of the day.
Whenever I wanted a snack I had already made options of: 1/4 cup macadamia nuts (250 calories), oranges (about 50 calories each), hard boiled egg (80 calories each), jerky (300 calories a bag), yogurt (100 calories), or this keto ice cream bar (180 calories a bar, I was not keto but it still tasted good)

I also started buying gym equipment so I could do some basic weights, rowing machine, elliptical, bench press, etc. but I only did like 30 min a day. Basically with eating the same thing for every meal and letting myself eat two of the snack options, I was still under 1500 calories for the day without having to follow IMF or OMAD or something
I also had a cheat day on Saturday where I let myself order takeout or cook up a steak or go out drinking. Never really felt like I went overboard but there were a couple days I ate a large pizza by myself or a pack of oreos, the important thing was I made sure it didn't get me down and I continued on Sunday like normal. That might not work for you if you have binge eating issues and it creates a downspiral

Hinakuluiau posted...

Nice! How long ago did you lose it and have you been maintaining since you reached a certain goal?
Sounds like what i used to do when i lost like 60-80lbs before but once i got under 200lb i got too comfortable and the diet wasnt very sustainable for me. I also had the cheat day like once a week or every other week.

Just feels like something i can't stick to right now so im glad the IF is working so far.

Like a lot of people I gained weight at the beginning of Covid when we went into lockdown

I began to take the weight loss seriously around the time I was fully vaxxed (May 2021) as I felt like things were getting back to normal and I didn't want to be overweight with no excuse lol. I was under 200 by Christmas and I've been 180 for a few months now

Hinakuluiau posted...

Like a lot of people I gained weight at the beginning of Covid when we went into lockdown

I began to take the weight loss seriously around the time I was fully vaxxed (May 2021) as I felt like things were getting back to normal and I didn't want to be overweight with no excuse lol. I was under 200 by Christmas and I've been 180 for a few months now

Thats good. Keep it up!
I know i couldnt with that diet because i love food too much. Got to a point where the cheat days werent enough for me. I used to do the whole meal prep thing with chicken and brocolli for work and the small snacks and meals the rest of the day.

Wokeup today and chest actually sore from doing those few pushups. Probably only did like 50 total too lol. Good start i guess.
Will try to do sets of body weight squats later today. Woke up at 292lb today. Still pretty fast but think the n00b weightloss is slowing down.
Really need to put the scale away until Sundays but its hard haha

Think ive been going into too much in the IF rabbit hole. Reading and watching too much about what foods to break fast with and other stuff. Always talking about insulin spikes and stuff.

I broke my fast with almonds yesterday which is apparently one of the worse things to break a fast with but felt fine.

I sort of want to get into a routine to make things easier. Instacarting some bone broth which is apparently one of the best things to eat to break fast other than lean protein. Also seems easy to eat and easy on the stomach. Also buying some frozen fruits to make smoothies into.
And then my main meal will be the thing to be different and not as strict. Try to include veggies in it along with a lot of protein source. Will try to get a good calorie count of the bone broth and smoothies to see how much i have left each day for my main meals and cheat a little.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/4/8/8/AADZUeAADpww.jpg

Gonna try and use this to break my fast when im home. Got a cup of bone broth and a few pieces of frozen chicken chunks. Sprinkled some garlic powders, tumeric, and white pepper and microwaved it. Cracked some fresh black pepper in the end.

Actually taste pretty good. All it needed were some noodles haha.
Depending on if i used a full 3oz serving of chicken, which i dont think i did, that should be about 155 calories and 29 grams of protein. Dont know where my scale is so not sure if i used the 3oz, just put enough to cover bottom of the bowl.

That bone broth has some crazy macros for protein for a soup. 10g judt for a cup.

Been wanting something good and easy to break my fast and high in protein. Think i found what i like for now.
The fasting has been essier so i dont need my oatmeal and chia to fill me up right away like before.

If you enjoy micromanaging your diet so much, and it helps you get to a better place, keep at it, but its really not necessary. All I do is exercise a lot, do OMAD, and eat plenty of fruits, veggies, and fiber. I also take a multivitamin and fish oil. I am at a good weight, and its been stable for months now.

mustachedmystic posted...

If you enjoy micromanaging your diet so much, and it helps you get to a better place, keep at it, but its really not necessary. All I do is exercise a lot, do OMAD, and eat plenty of fruits, veggies, and fiber. I also take a multivitamin and fish oil. I am at a good weight, and its been stable for months now.

True. Once i get to a goal weight i'd be more relaxed. But im ultimately trying to steadily lose a big total weight so i need a little micromanaging for myself.

Just wanted some consistency for the breaking of my fast and getting my fruits in. Also want as much wiggle room as possible for my main meal where i can be more relaxed and mix things up or snack on stuff.
If i constantly break my fast with the broth/chicken and have my fruit smoothie which is a total of about 400 calories, i'd have about 1,600-1,800 to work with to comfortably and steadily lose weight. Always wiggle room to skip broth and go for an even bigger main meal.

Maybe I am just lucky, but I dont have to be so strict with my eating. I can occasionally(once a week) eat a bunch of crap, and it doesnt seem to hurt me, weight wise, that is.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/5/7/7/AADZUeAADpyJ.jpg

Had 3 publix chicken tenders and made a big salad out of it. Mixed greens, grape tomatoes, sprinkle of mozzarella which was only shredded cheese i had, and a few croutons. Using some light caeser dressing.

Looks good, though that would barely put a dent in my appetite.

Yeah I'm hoping TC has another cheat meal, that biscuits and gravy plate was 10/10.

mustachedmystic posted...

Looks good, though that would barely put a dent in my appetite.

Yeah how long does your OMAD meal take?
I tried OMAD a few times and i feel i would struggle to get my caloric need eating just healthy foods. Its easier if i ate like the Chipotle or something.

Feel like the fasting made my stomach capacity lower and i get full a lot faster.

modena posted...

Yeah I'm hoping TC has another cheat meal, that biscuits and gravy plate was 10/10.

Lol don't worry. I get that whenever i go back to work lol.
And it essentially wasnt a cheat since i was still below my calorie count.

Sipping on my fruit smooties with strawberries and mixed berries.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/6/2/2/AADZUeAADpy2.jpg

FLAMING_EVIL_HOMER posted...

Yeah how long does your OMAD meal take?

one to one and a half hours. But I burn a lot of calories exercising, and I take my time eating.

Edit: I dont just eat healthy foods, I am eating fried chicken right now, and I had some donuts yesterday.

mustachedmystic posted...

one to one and a half hours. But I burn a lot of calories exercising, and I take my time eating.

Edit: I dont just eat healthy foods, I am eating fried chicken qright now, and I had some donuts yesterday.

Nice!

Was craving bacon so made a bacon and cheese sandwich with leftover hamburger bun and some microwaveable bacon and slice of american cheese.

Woke up and chest/shoulder/triceps still sore from the small pushup workout i did the other day lol
Definitely missed the feeling of being sore and DOMS after working out, but forgot how annoying it is. Didn't think i would be this sore after just pushups.
I can also feel my legs being sore from the body weight squats yesterday.

I will continue to do body weight exercises now until it gets too easy and add some weight training. Still debating whether i want a gym membership or not.
I have a full olympic weight set with barbells and power cage, but its in storage until we get our house built. No room for the weights where we are other wise.
Finally set up my rower though so i can do some HIIT with it and other cardio.

My time frame to workout consistently is maybe an hour or hour and a half before going to bed. Want to take account the driving time and price but closest on which is less than a mile away is still over 40$ a month and tiny compared to other gyms.