Your One Thing?

[OregonERG]

BTW, my one thing right now is intermittent fasting. I only eat two hard-boiled eggs or a small piece of cheese all day. With coffee and water and kombucha, I am able to comfortably make it until dinner without other food. I was 173 lbs a week ago (June 7), so I'll see where I am in a few more days and we'll see if it does any good...

[Ombrax]

BTW, my one thing right now is intermittent fasting. I only eat two hard-boiled eggs or a small piece of cheese all day. With coffee and water and kombucha, I am able to comfortably make it until dinner without other food. I was 173 lbs a week ago (June 7), so I'll see where I am in a few more days and we'll see if it does any good...

How do your dinners compare to the previous ones? I'd imagine that even if you do eat a bit more than before, it isn't enough to undo the reduction due to eating very little during the day.

[OregonERG]

BTW, my one thing right now is intermittent fasting. I only eat two hard-boiled eggs or a small piece of cheese all day. With coffee and water and kombucha, I am able to comfortably make it until dinner without other food. I was 173 lbs a week ago (June 7), so I'll see where I am in a few more days and we'll see if it does any good...

How do your dinners compare to the previous ones? I'd imagine that even if you do eat a bit more than before, it isn't enough to undo the reduction due to eating very little during the day.

That is correct. And the "bigger" dinner is enjoyed so much more. I am actually hungry by then, the food tastes amazing, and regardless of what I eat it is never as much as a breakfast and lunch combined plus a dinner. So, yeah, it works for me. But I do "cheat" during the day by eating two hard-boiled eggs and drinking coffee/kombucha.

[WayHand]

Intermittent fasting worked for me. I lost 27Ibs doing 2 days and then 5 days a week. However, it took over 5 years because IF itself was intermittent!

When doing 5 days a week I just ate a pear and an apple in the day with a dinner in the evening.

I've now stopped IF and am concentrating on reducing my bread consumption by having 'overnight oats' in the morning with blueberries rather than my favourite toast with butter! Skipping meals works well, and so sometimes I miss breakfast and have it for lunch.

I also find it easier to do IF when working in the office rather than working from home. It's a matter of finding the right solution that works for you.

[OregonERG]

I also find it easier to do IF when working in the office rather than working from home. It's a matter of finding the right solution that works for you.

I agree with this. My wife is a baker and when I am at home I tend to snack... But I am going to keep trying.

p.s. I am down to 164.4 lbs today, so that is a move in the right direction...

[mromero680]

I log what I eat by macro (protein, carb, fat) and adjust based on how energetic I feel and which way my weight is trending. For me, that means eating pretty much the same thing each day with the exception of fruit and veggies just to keep the log simple. After a while I get a good idea of what I should eat based on feel so I don't have to log it forever.

[Blindside]

I log what I eat by macro (protein, carb, fat) and adjust based on how energetic I feel and which way my weight is trending. For me, that means eating pretty much the same thing each day with the exception of fruit and veggies just to keep the log simple. After a while I get a good idea of what I should eat based on feel so I don't have to log it forever.

What does "the same" usually consist of regards the breakdown of your macros, would you tend to incorporate more carbs depending on what training you have planned later?

[mromero680]

Breakfast is oatmeal with protein powder, blueberries, walnuts and milk. I don't really alter my meals based on the workout that day. I keep it pretty consistent mostly for simplicity.

[Rick]

Regular strenuous exercise.

I can keep weight down by moderating intake or content, but there’s a difference to me between looking slimmer and being healthy and physically fit. Now on the north side of 60, it’s as important to maintain muscle and bone strength and mass as it is to watch the waistline. And although I actually gained weight while regaining muscle through exercise, I was undoubtedly healthier and more energetic. Weight gain isn’t always bad!

For me, it’s about balance. I don’t want to be such a slave to fitness that I miss life. Neither do I want to be such a slave to pleasure that I let my body slip into an unfit mess. But I have found that my body needs work… regular, hard work, to stay healthy and happy and ready for the next adventure. I’m getting older, but have no intention of growing old any time soon. So I balance enjoying some of life’s fun side with a bit of sweat and effort to keep the needle in the good range.

[OregonERG]

Regular strenuous exercise.

I can keep weight down by moderating intake or content...

Those two things are the two that don't work for me.

Running and rowing as hard as I can just makes me hungrier. The extra calories burned doing a 15 mile run (versus a 6 mile run) are just gobbled up in that evening's meals because of the "I am ravenous!" feeling. As for moderating intake, well, if I could do that, I wouldn't have a problem in the first place.

I guess I would be fine if I just ate half as much as I usually do and was always slightly hungry. But as it is, once I start eating, I usually indulge (since I am always hungry from working out).

[mict450]

For those over 40, some sort of calorie restricting regimen need to be followed to maintain a lean, healthy body weight, irregardless of exercise status. If our goal is weight loss/maintenance, diet is everything. Unless we're one of the lucky few who've won the genetic lottery.

[Ombrax]

As for moderating intake, well, if I could do that, I wouldn't have a problem in the first place.

I've found that it's easiest to do this (moderately) with supper, followed by no snacks - especially on days when I don't exercise. Even if you're a bit hungry, once you're asleep it doesn't matter anymore. (unless you're "ravenous" as you said, and you aren't able to fall asleep in a reasonable amount of time)

[mict450]

Ravenous may possibly be a legitimate reason to increase intake. Hunger, I believe, is not. We in the 1st world countries, really don't know what hunger is & cheapen the meaning when used as such. The "hunger" we supposedly experience when not eating till fullness, is probably the feeling someone in Ethiopia has after gorging on the best meal of his life.

We experience apetite & cravings. If we're not hungry enough to eat a big bowl of raw vegetables, we're not really hungry.

[OregonERG]

Ravenous may possibly be a legitimate reason to increase intake. Hunger, I believe, is not. We in the 1st world countries, really don't know what hunger is & cheapen the meaning when used as such. The "hunger" we supposedly experience when not eating till fullness, is probably the feeling someone in Ethiopia has after gorging on the best meal of his life.

We experience apetite & cravings. If we're not hungry enough to eat a big bowl of raw vegetables, we're not really hungry.

That is such a good post. I agree. I also think that it is one of the perks of intermittent fasting. Being "really hungry" by the end of the day makes EVERY meal taste so good. When we graze all day long, nothing really has any meaning (beyond taste) but when we fast, dinner is usually epic no matter what it is.

That said, I do get "bonky" sometimes on a row/run if I haven't eaten all day. I was doing a 12km river loop yesterday and I was totally fixated on what I was going to eat after the run. But as you can imagine, that workout wasn't my fastest. Being low blood sugar has repercussions on our ability to train hard.

[Dutch]

I am one of the lucky ones who has the genetic skinny gene. At 17 I was 6ft and 8st 6lb.
To gain weight when I took up weight lifting at 20, I just drank 9 pints of full fat milk a day, I gained 4 stone in 6 months.
Two years later I took up kick boxing and dropped 2 an half stone in 3 months such was the amount of excess weight in muscle and fat.
I had always had a small appetite it was not until i hit 28ish that I started to eat normal amounts. Then over 15 years my weight panned out to about 12st 2lb and held for years. Probably some of it still muscle weight though from working out.
12 years ago I took up yoga and my weight went down to 11st 10lb over 2 years and lean. Then my job changed and I was just on my feet at all times and no weights working so my weight dropped to 11st 4.
Six years ago I decided to workout again and went from 11st 4 to about 13st 4lb in 3 years. I did once touch 14 by forced eating 2 years ago but hated it, I felt sluggish so took up the rower and dropped a stone in about 3 weeks but it was mainly because of no forced eating.
I eat everything within reason and eat what I want. I have an egg an mushroom fry up each morn and have done for 7 years. I eat the odd chocolate and odd bag of crisps. Now and then an eclair. But mainly portion size and healthy food. We cook fresh 3 to 4 night a week I have potatoes most nights. I dont like pasta or rice, its boring. I drink coffee and eat bananas, nuts and grapes in the day maybe a soup at 4pm, then an evening meal. I walk 3 miles at least 5 days a week and cycle or row at least 4 miles, 4 days a week, resistance training 4 days per week high reps time under tension.
I dont eat after 7.30 at night until at least 10 am the next day, more because I get a terrible nights sleep if my body is processing food all night. It is like I have a natural built in limit to food, low appetite and quick metabolism.
I have naturally low blood pressure and my body seems super efficient at burning sugar.
I drink lots coffee in the morning to speed up the system and control water weight from over night.
I was alway jealous of the amount my partner could eat, but now she is struggling with weight, my old training partners struggle as well and I realise I am lucky not to be.