So I've been doing IF probably 10 yrs ago when Lean Gains stuff came out but after becoming a father and a busy family man...I fell off the wagon. Year ago I decided it was enough and I went back to gym and IF lifestyle, went from 120kg to 86kg as of today. Here are some tips and things that I experienced through my journey
• CICO is real, you have to watch your intake and people like me who can eat enormous amounts of of food especially need to track stuff. Some people can't ingest a lot of calories in a short time window...I can. I will smash a whole bread if it's coming hot from oven :)
• I use buffer when tracking calories...like for example if I am going for 1500kcal...I will actually track to 1350-1400 to account for small misses and forgotten spoon of something during the day. Trust me it happens more than you would imagine.
• Scale is not to be trusted short term, watch your waist measurements and how you look rather than digital scale every morning. I had literally been stuck at 92.15kg for 2 weeks...every single day same weight. I thought scale has gone mad, checked it with a dumbell...guess what, it was dead on. My body was maintaining weight to the 0.1kg tolerance for freaking two weeks...and then it all flushed away after two weeks.
• Keto works...it really does. I believe there is no better combination for weight loss than IF+Keto. But it's not for everyone, it is incredibly strict and antisocial way of living. Having to worry about being under certain carb amount the whole day is very stressful, at least for me. I do lower carb diet but not strict Keto as I just cannot sustain the rigorous regime of the whole thing. Also I do better in gym when having some carbs pre workout...follow your body.
• If you slip and binge eat one day...no drama. Eat nothing for 24h and continue the usual regime. I even lost weight after these binge days...you know social events, friend and family gatherings. Overshooting calories may seem like a disaster but in long term it is just a blip on the chart, absolutely unimportant and not to be stressed about. Do not be put off by this, continue the plan as if nothing happened and do not let this derail your long term goals.
• Ignore people freaking out when you explain how you don't eat for most of the day. Remember you are the one feeling amazing now and more energetic than ever.
• Year of life is really not much, and with IF I really didn't feel like I was on some strict diet. I eat a lot once or twice a day, a lot being clean whole foods and that's it. Think of your weight loss plan as short term incovenience for long term benefits.
• I haven't eaten anything with real sugar for a year and I do not miss it. There are sugar alternatives and cakes I make with almond flour and Monk fruit sugar are out of this world. If you have a sweet tooth...you have a lot of options.
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Good that you are successful.
Most people on an interval eating protocol benefit mainly from observing the water-fast period religiously every day. What and how much they eat in their eating window is a distant second because, over time, the emotional brain getting used to an empty stomach, and the stomach itself shrinking down, “trumps” calorie counting and other conventional diet weight-loss schemes. Over time- months to years- hunger urges go way and people find themselves not obsessing about food. Weight is lost and there are other benefits.
What are your observations on this?
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Great advice. Particularly about not getting down on yourself if you mess up a day. Stringing together 3-4 good days in a row is honestly an achievement and will outweigh the occasional slippage long-term. Plus it builds habits that can be sustained over time, which is what you’ll need once you hit your goal weight.
In terms of the scale, I think what you’re saying is the opposite…scales can definitely be trusted. You thought you were going mad, but the scale was telling you exactly what was happening, which was you weren’t losing weight for two weeks. It’s hard to get that feedback when you’re striving every day to be mindful and eat less, but it’s crucial feedback, and I think more important than even counting calories, because the latter is pretty inexact. In other words, if the scale isn’t changing, you have to make additional changes to get it moving again. It’s incredibly tough because our bodies are already screaming at us to go back to our old ways, but it can be done!
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Thank you for sharing. I‘m considering just starting to eat at 8PM because if I eat at 5, then I give in to the compulsion to eat before bed. It’s really strong, I think I’m better giving into it and eating later, rather than fighting it. I’m a bit worried about exercising on an empty stomach in the morning. Any thoughts on that?
PS You could stock my pantry with cookies and cakes and meh, pasta/bread is another matter.