Intermittent Fasting

Copabanana

Well-Known Member
"how did I eat all that" days.
And it got worse. I got up from bed and ate 5 bowls of cheerios.

I am thinking of doing a food journal and trying to identify something that will work, identifying what my triggers are.

I am somebody who has successfully fasted, even for long periods, and succeeded at a highly restricted caloric regimen, when I have decided.

I have also been successful at lowering and maintaining my weight, by reasonable food choices. By that I mean to say, I can live with not eating a lot or everything.

But I have not lost anything in 6 months *until that mini-fast last week. I think that is the key. I think I have to completely fast some days and eat normally the others (normal for me.) I do not think I can ask myself to near-fast every day. That is not reasonable.

I took it too far, or not enough. Either longer term complete fast, or several fasting days a week, or one good meal a day. But near-starvation every day without rules and then Costco hotdogs, and 5 large bowls of Cheerios. No.

So I am back to the approach I studied last week: 2 to 4 days at less than 500.

Glad to see you Walrus.
 

InsaneCdn

Well-Known Member
So I am back to the approach I studied last week: 2 to 4 days at less than 500.
Small steps, Copa.
Start with ONE day a week of restricted calories. ONE day. You can do that.
After a few weeks, make it TWO days.
I wouldn't go past THREE days... not for a long while. Get used to it. Find the balance where the weight starts to come off. By then, you will be used to the pattern. Restrictions on, say, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday - you even get to enjoy the weekend ;)
 

Copabanana

Well-Known Member
Insane. I am going back to work in two weeks. I feel like an old cow and look like one too. I know this is "unbalanced" but I want to weigh below 170 before I return.

I know I talked about finding a way to care for myself and not abandon myself, as the key to doing this, but I seem unable to hold onto this.
 

Copabanana

Well-Known Member
Insane, I do agree with every word you write. It is sensible and it is correct. It is also a powerful way to think about his endeavor.

Thank you.
 

1905

Well-Known Member
Hormones, heredity, and any other excuses you can come up with are nothing but excuses. It is hard work being thin. I know this because I am thin and I am hungry, every minute of the day. Some of you know me on Facebook, it's not magical. I work hard. It isn't fun though, I wish I could just enjoy food. But I ride my bike 24 miles a day and I eat a lot, so what. I am at a normal weight and even extra thin. Just don't eat a lot and exercise more, all will be well.
 

GoingNorth

Crazy Cat Lady
Actually, UAN, you area being unfair to people like myself who carry AP weight from zyprexa and seroquel (in my case) and whose thyroids have been destroyed either by lithium or by autimmune thyroid disease (Hashimoto's Disease)

I've got both the whammies, plus crippling arthritis in back, neck, and knees that makes it very difficult for me to do most types of exercise. The nerve damage in my lower back impacts the nerves serving my legs. If my back is acting up, I can't even go for a decent walk
 

1905

Well-Known Member
GN, I was on both of those medications at the same time, I don't mean to be mean to you or anyone. But I will call BS...even if they make you hungrier, don't give in. Be hungry for the win, medication doesn't cause anyone to weigh more, eating more does. That is the truth..ask your doctor. Fight, be strong, it is hard, you can all do it. If your back hurts...my own husband has a bad back too, there are things you can do.
 

GoingNorth

Crazy Cat Lady
UAN, I strongly suggest you read up on the latest studies regarding weight and blood sugar management with atypical APs. You'll find that not only do the drugs literally cause weight gain, by a mechanism a lot more complex than "making you hungry", they also cause type II diabetes by interfering with insulin release, its uptake by cells, and disposing of excess insulin. AAPs also effect other chemical cycles on the cellular level. suck as the release of glycogen from the liver, and the conversion of glycogen to glucose.

Check up on the studies, though put your organic chemistry hat on. I had to grab a couple of textbooks to refer to when reading the studies.

Also, you are an anorexic, in recovery, i hope. You'll pardon me if I take your advice with a grain of salt due to your past.
 

Copabanana

Well-Known Member
In my case I am realizing that I was consuming more calories than I had thought. These past 6 months when I had stabilized and been unable to lose even a tenth of a pound, I believe I was eating my maintenance weight actually well below what the nutritionist told me to eat.

I am seeing now that I need to eat very low calorie, to lose weight and cannot eat more than 1400 on a regular basis in order to maintain. And I am seeing this is not a lot of food. Much less than I figured.

I am thinking about using meal replacement bars, and frozen meals to be better able to gauge consume.

If I did exercise I would be able to bump up but not so much. I know that. It would be better for my arthritis, too.
 

1905

Well-Known Member
GN, I am ignorant on the subject of AAP's, organic chemistry and blood glucose. I can always learn more, I don't know everything, but I do know some things. Please take anything I say with a grain of salt.
 

GoingNorth

Crazy Cat Lady
UAN, I wasn't trying to imply that you knew nothing. AAPs are atypical Anti-psychotics. Organic chemistry is what it takes to learn how these drugs work in the brain and about how they effect various aspects of metabolism. The blood glucose issue is really important as there is a proven link between several AAPs and type II diabetes. What infuriates me is that psychiatrists are not warnings patients or parents about this risk, or about the fact that these drugs jack up "bad" cholesterol and triglycerides.

Also, having experienced them as someone who weighed about 132 when all this started, the food drive from at least zyprexa goes well beyond "willpower". It becomes an overwhelming drive.

I'm no longer on the old AAPs. I'm on a light dose of a newer one called Latuda. So far, while I don't like the cognitive dulling, it does keep my moods mostly in place, and I'm not dealing with that deep, unbearable hunger. I've lost about35lbs. I'm down from 225 or so when I moved to Milwaukee last year, to about 190. FIrst time I've been below 200 in quite a while.
 

TheWalrus

I Am The Walrus
Copa - I HIGHLY suggest you keep a food diary or get an app on your phone. You are right - you have to have some "rules" in place, not just restricting calories all the time. And the "rules" that work for some won't work for everyone. The diary will help you figure out what works, what doesn't, what your triggers are, etc. It also helps keep you on track and holds you accountable.

What worked for me?
- Cutting out diet sodas and drinking water, water, water
- Baking/grilling versus frying (I have never been one for "fried" food often so this was easy)
- Changing to low fat margarines, mayo, salad dressing and skim milk
- Eat dinner early, and don't eat after dinner
- Cutting down on salt/switching to a low sodium salt substitute (soo hard for me)
- Using olive oil (sparingly) when I need it instead of canola (and olive oil spray)
- Adding flax seed and a probiotic
- Moderate exercise 3-6 times a week (no more, no less - and I had to build up to it)
- Tracking my calories, exercise and weight fluctuations (for a LONG time)
- Changing from aspartame to Stevia
- Eating a small breakfast (skipping totally led me to overeat later in the day)

I didn't have to cut out gluten, sugars (oh, my sweet tooth), or starches. I do eat sweet potatoes instead of white when I can.

It has to become habit, lifestyle. I have some pretty strong obsessive tendencies (nice when my house is always clean, a pain when I cannot let go of something that I know is ridiculous) so once I locked onto it and threw myself into in, my Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) tendencies took over and I don't spend much time thinking about my weight, my workouts, or my meals because I just know. Just some thoughts...
 

InsaneCdn

Well-Known Member
And I am seeing this is not a lot of food
Copa, it's amazing how much food you can eat without consuming a lot of calories. This is an approach that works for a friend of mine. She was used to a certain "weight" of food when she ate - any less "full", and she was hungry. So, she started swapping identical calories between high-calorie foods and low-calorie foods of greater "weight", with a particular focus on ending up with high food-value for every bite - maximizing nutrition while minimizing calories. Some of the key winners on her list: Cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli; beans and lentils; and berries. But even some simple exchanges help a lot - like yogurt instead of sour cream, for example.

It has to become habit
Yes, the only way to maintain is to make the new way of eating a habit - automatic, not calculated.
 

GoingNorth

Crazy Cat Lady
Something I do that's strangely satisfying, is to eat a red, yellow, or orange bell pepper every day. Yep. A whole big ol' pepper.

Here's a trick I learned a while ago. Turn your prospective munchie upside down and look at the bottom. If you see 3 bumps, you've got a male. Few seeds, but not as sweet.


If you see 4 or more bumps, you've got a female. Lots more seeds, but considerably sweeter.

Just wash, de-seed, and trim your pepper. Cut into strips. Some people like to dip the strips in a little olive oil, or no-cal/lo-cal dressing. Most I do is put a tiny bit of sea salt on them and that only if I happened to get a female pepper that was rather blah.

Lots of Vit C and Vit A, good minerals and lots of fiber. Green bell beppers also have a decent nutrient profile but not as good as the colored peppers. I don't like them as I find them bitter and "grassy" tasting.
 

TheWalrus

I Am The Walrus
Yes, there are a lot of "negative" calorie foods that take more calories to digest than they contain. You can find a list of them all over the WWW. Luckily, there are a lot that I already love. And keeping junk in the house is no good - it invites temptation.
 

GoingNorth

Crazy Cat Lady
I don't even know how many calories are in a "colored" bell pepper, let alone how many calories it takes to digest one.

All I know is that they make a great afternoon/evening snack when I've got the crunchy-munchies and would otherwise reach for chips (which no longer come in the house).
 
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