Hi all, I am a 34F who is 5’7 and currently sitting at 271 pounds. I just started IF last Tuesday night. I looked at some pictures of me from over the weekend while I was complaining about how my back and knees hurt and everything clicked and I’m FINALLY in the mindset to lose the weight. My goal weight, honestly, is anywhere between 170-180, so I I have close to 100 pounds to lose.
In the past, I’ve been successful with weight watchers but I’ve been really unhealthy with it which has caused my weight to yo-yo much of my life. I lose 60 and gain 80, etc. Recently, I had knee surgery from an injury. My injury was misdiagnosed so I was on crutches and basically immobile for 9 months which… obviously caused some weight gain. I’ve never been this big before in my life or more out of shape and I’m trying not to let that overwhelm me. I’m focused and excited about what’s to come.
I have some questions about IF though as I’ve never done it before. I’m starting with 16:8 which I’ve found I can do. My questions are surrounding what to do with the 8 hours I’m eating.
1. What sort of things should I be meal prepping for maximum weight loss? I love fruits and vegetables and am pretty bad about eating protein from meat. My plan was to bring salads with chicken or tuna for lunch at work and then do a lean protein and vegetables for dinner? Is there anything I should be avoiding?
2. Should I be doing 16:8 daily? It seems like my body would adjust to it and I could potentially plateau if I did it every day…
Thank you for the help! Im so ready to drop this weight but do it in a healthy way. Im finally ready for a lifestyle change, not a diet. ☺️
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My recommendation is just start with 16:8. Eat whatever you want. Can you restrict your window to a 16:8 schedule? Do it for two weeks. Check your weight, how do you feel? And go from there.
I feel like in just restricting time I started to make better eating choices naturally. I wasn’t dealing with sudden snacking urges. If there’s one thing you should try to avoid, it’s sugar.
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I sort of made up this schedule. I have sugar free shake in the morning. A half portion of whatever I want for lunch. I eat moderate portions of whatever I want for dinner. That’s it. I’ve lost 34 pounds since july.
You can do it!!! The salads with chicken sounds good for you so long as you don’t burn out on them.
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Are you me? Seriously. Almost same exact stats, age, sex, sw and gw. Except I embarked on this journey about 6 weeks ago (and have already lost 17lbs!!).
The biggest factor in all of this is that I ready the book « obesity code » by Jason Fung (an Canadian medical doctor). The book explained the latest scientific understanding of how the body gains and loses weight. Based on what I learned from that, I designed a program that would work for me. This involves:
- 16-18 hours of fasting/day (fasting does not impact your metabolism, but calorie restrictions (eg WW) does)
- Restrict and avoid all refined sugars and carbs. This helps level out hunger and cravings and also reduces insulin which is an obesity-causing hormone
- eat more fats (eg avocados, cheese, olive oil, nuts)
- stop snacking!! I only eat lunch and dinner
- no fast food. I cook everything myself
- 8 hours of sleep and stress-reduction activités (cortisol is the other obesity-causing hormone).
I plan to experiment more with fasting after my weight loss plateaus for a bit. But for now, this is working wonders so I’m sticking with it.
Feel free to DM/reach out if you want to chat more about this.
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Your lunches and dinners sound good.
For me, I limit refined carbs and sugar, as I seem to be carb sensitive, physically AND mentally. I also do not drink my calories. I drink water and tea, while fasting, and sometimes LaCroix sparkling water in the afternoons.
I rarely do any snacking, as it can become such a mindless habit. If I’m truly hungry between meals, I have a piece of fruit or some greek yogurt. Or, I reach for the LaCroix.
You will eventually plateau, no matter which IF schedule that you do. That’s just how the body works. I wouldn’t worry about that, right now.
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My suggestion is to start slow. Make small changes each week you can stick to which sounds like you already started. I know some people eat whatever they want in the window but I never could and lose weight(to be fair I only have 10lbs to lose.) I do a low carb/keto meals and only eat omad
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Just starting is a great step. I think you will find this lifestyle more beneficial than following a commercial diet. Couple of pieces of advice and cautions to throw out…Advice:
- do some research on fasting and understand how metabolically it works. Some good YouTube sources IMO (Thomas DeLauer, Dr. Berg, Dr Sten Ekberg, Dr. Pradip Jamnadas) to name a few. Each bring their own unique position and you will see commonality amongst them.
- know that this is a lifestyle change and it will be hard but will pay off dividends. Stick with it and ask this community of supportive IFers.
Cautions:
- you still need to watch what you eat and I would not suggest eating whatever you want in that eating window. Based on what you are eating above, consider the keto approach but you need to likely up the healthy fats and don’t worry so much about the lean protein.
- plateauing is normal. Don’t rely exclusively on the scale, but rely on other cues like clothes fitting better or falling off, face gains, stamina gains, fasting window lengthening etc
Good luck!!!
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Your salad idea is a good one. I suggest using cabbage instead of lettuce as it’s more filling and probably less expensive. Also, cabbage lasts longer than lettuce, so you can chop a bunch and meal prep to make it easy.
Dressing is key on your salad. I like to mix Greek yogurt with seasoning. Want a southwestern flair? Mix taco seasoning into the Greek yogurt. Ranch seasoning is my go-to, easy and great as a dipping sauce for carrots or celery sticks and a good salad dressing.
Make sure that you eat fiber-filled foods during your window to avoid feeling hungry.
Best of luck to you!