I talked to my nutritionist yesterday, and explained how I had failed at IF 20:4 and 18:6. She is putting me on a new program she says will actually have me fasting 21 hours a day, but in shorter periods. According to her, long fasts just don't work for some people, but there is nothing to be ashamed of in that, because everyone's body is different. It really is about WHEN you eat and HOW MUCH you eat as much as WHAT you eat. Here it is:
Strict Mediterranean WOE. Water only between meals. 4-5 hour intervals between meals. 12 hour overnight fast. I can eat and drink whatever I want in the eating windows, but she suggests I try to keep it to a total of 1600-1700 net calories a day with fewer than 100 carbs, even though the med diet allows more.
Breakfast: 7-8 a.m.
Lunch: 12-1 pm
Dinner: 5-7 PM
I know a lot of you are big advocates of keto and less carbs, but she says some people's bodies just need more carbs, and as long as they are healthy carbs and you don't overdo it (most people eat between 225-325 carbs per day). Of course, watch out for added sugar, eat more veggies than fruit (I'm bad about pigging out on fruit) and more whole grains.
She wants me to lose weight slowly, which aggravates me, because I want to lose faster, but she says this should let me lose at least a pound a week, maybe more if I exercise. I'm joining a gym on the 1st of Oct. when my new insurance kicks in, so we'll see how much that affects my weight.
I know a lot of you can't afford a nutritionist, and I really can't either. My insurance only pays if it's recommended by my doctor and only for a few visits a year, and I only have two left, so after that, I'm on my own. I'm trying to learn as much as I can from her while I have her and pass it on to those who can't afford a nutritionist.
I think mainly what I've learned is that it's fine to try things, but if they don't work, you just adjust until you find something that does. Some people work best with CICO, some with low carb, some with keto, some with IF, etc. I've never done well with diets that restrict what I can eat. Yes, Mediterranean has some restrictions, but mostly, you can eat whatever you want within limits. You eat mostly fish, seafood and chicken, but if I want to have some pork chops or a hamburger every now and then, that's o.k. Mostly use healthy oils, but if I want to occasionally have some fried chicken or cook my eggs in butter, I can. The main thing is to stick to healthier foods at least 90% of the time. That works for me.
So you do whatever works for you to keep you healthy and happy. It's fine to advocate for your WOE, but it's not good to criticize others because they have a different way that works for them.
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This is for r/intermittentfasting
3 meals a day is more not snacking than fasting.
Wheat is very low quality nutrition but you’ll defend its use because you like it.
Search YouTube for IMHC wheat belly dr William Davis and watch either of those 2 videos.
> Pigging out on fruit
Consider not eating food you can’t portion control.
> Try things and evaluate their effectiveness
100%.
There are many paths. Losing 8 lbs in 2 months isn’t bad. If you don’t hit that goal, make a new plan.
> never done well with diets that restrict
r/fasting can help with that mindset but 3 meals a day isn’t 21 hours of fasting as you’ll keep insulin high all day long.
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Suggest reading The Obesity Code by Fung. It is an eye opening view of how our body and metabolism work.
He makes a convincing case for a minimum 16 hour daily fast based in the insulin response. When insulin is high, body fat metabolism is inhibited.
I don’t have much experience with nutritionists. But they make money by developing a set of clients. If they gave them a true solution their business would depend on a constant influx of new, but short lived clients. So economically the motivation is to keep clients rather than cure them.
I don’t know your history. But I suggest listening to Fung on fasting. I’m skeptical of statements like long fasts don’t work for everyone. It sounds logical, but biologically we’re all very much the same. The statement just doesn’t ring true.
Adapting to fasting isn’t so easy. But it is very doable. And once you do it, most report it becomes normal and sticking to it is painless, even preferable. I’ve done OMAD 4 years. Lost my weight in 6 months. And maintained from there. And I actually prefer it to frequent eating. Healthy food tastes delicious to me. Incredible health and I enjoy eating so much more. I’m also very active. I’ve think these positive charges derive from my fasting lifestyle. I encourage it. Even my skeptical wife joined me and now eats on this schedule.
Best of luck.
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I had eating windows like then when I did intermittent fasting in the 90s.
This modern trend of being overly restricted with small windows and not the standard three meals a day is dumb to me. Intermittent fasting doesn’t have to be extreme.
I feel online people give folks a flawed idea of IF. What your nutritionist recommended is still IF.