Switched to no food until afternoon - feel great!
Discussion
From 21st down to 17st I was doing the 5/6 meals a day, 2k calories stuff. And it worked, but as I got closer to my goal the temptation to cheat (after 18 months of this) took over and I bounced between 16-17 all summer. The main problem is my meals would be 400 calories each until he 5th meal, late in the day after a work out when I'd be starving and over do it (often by an extra 1k cals!!!!)
So - for two weeks I have switched to a couple of black coffees and NOTHING else until about 1/2pm (never before 12 and rarely after 3) That meal is a nice size, maybe 600/700 cals. In the evening I'll have the rest of my 2k limit so that can be a great meal! The food is all good stuff but extra treats fit in.....for example, my meal last night was loads of chicken, salad and mozarela (heavy on the chesse! Still fell well inside my limit)
My work outs are now - few times a week cardio in the morning (swim or run) never too hard as I dont eat after - its more to keep me lossened up after the previous days training. Then I lift heavy (or play basketball - HITT) before the evening meal.
And I feel great. Dropping 3lb a week without trying, feel fine....easy to control mild hunger till this afternoon as its black and white...i just dont eat, simple. My work outs are not on a full stomach so feel good, snacking is not an issue as I am either in a fast or have just eaten a good size meal.
Very happy so far.
So - for two weeks I have switched to a couple of black coffees and NOTHING else until about 1/2pm (never before 12 and rarely after 3) That meal is a nice size, maybe 600/700 cals. In the evening I'll have the rest of my 2k limit so that can be a great meal! The food is all good stuff but extra treats fit in.....for example, my meal last night was loads of chicken, salad and mozarela (heavy on the chesse! Still fell well inside my limit)
My work outs are now - few times a week cardio in the morning (swim or run) never too hard as I dont eat after - its more to keep me lossened up after the previous days training. Then I lift heavy (or play basketball - HITT) before the evening meal.
And I feel great. Dropping 3lb a week without trying, feel fine....easy to control mild hunger till this afternoon as its black and white...i just dont eat, simple. My work outs are not on a full stomach so feel good, snacking is not an issue as I am either in a fast or have just eaten a good size meal.
Very happy so far.
I havent really read up on it but my (limited) thinking is that there is no way we evolved to eat regular meals all day, every day. Look at most carnivores and they chow down on meat once a week. You dont get lions that look like they are short of muscle though!
I'm going to trust my body to figure out what to do with the meat it gets when it gets it.....I dont believe it's going to get all confused because I hit the gym and then skipped breakfast the next day! Nor do I think a human will hit "starvation mode" because I dont eat till 3pm some days! I trust my body and it feels fine right now. In fact, I havent had my big meal yet and I'm not hungry at all....I've got about 900cals lined up so I'm going have to chuck in some extra cardio HIIT to get the appetite up!
I'm going to trust my body to figure out what to do with the meat it gets when it gets it.....I dont believe it's going to get all confused because I hit the gym and then skipped breakfast the next day! Nor do I think a human will hit "starvation mode" because I dont eat till 3pm some days! I trust my body and it feels fine right now. In fact, I havent had my big meal yet and I'm not hungry at all....I've got about 900cals lined up so I'm going have to chuck in some extra cardio HIIT to get the appetite up!
Having done it 16 days now I found (after day 6/7) that it got very easy indeed. I now have a coffee when I wake and another mid morning. I then schedule jobs/tasks/meetings and before I know it it's the afternoon. I feel productive - both mentally and physically - and, at worst, get a little tummy rumble around noon....I never feel "hungry" in the way I used to at about 10.30am having just had a big breakfast! It's very odd!
Flook said:
My understanding has been that this pattern of eating is not particularly good for me, but its the habit I've fallen into.
That was my thinking...but why would it be bad? After millions of years has the body developed to a point where something goes wrong if it doesnt get food within a few hours of waking? I'm sure there are reasons why a bodybuilder/elite sports person, etc may want to do something else....but for your average joe, in good shape - I cant see the body having any issue with keeping me alive until 1pm!Hoofy said:
Rather than speculating, watch the programme on YouTube. A number of health markers were dramatically improved when he did this 5:2 fasting.
Seen now...very interesting.I'm going to stick my "fast till 2" daily routine, simply because it allows me to stay at 2k cals a day without the risk of a big tea wrecking a day where I've already had 5 other meals.
Interested in the 5/2 though....I just wonder how it would work with an exercise routine. I work out hard most days and not sure how i'd feel with 48hrs of no food.
techguyone said:
You don't do the two days back to back... just pick two days at random in a seven day period like. Tuesday & Friday say.
Ahhh...makes sense!Not sure I like the chopping and changing of 5/2 - i'm liking the simple consistency of "dont eat till 2, then eat healthy"
Wondering what 5/2 would do better/different.
coming to end of another week and a bit of an update.....loving it!
For weight loss its superb, I have got to the point where my loss was slowing but I am back to dropping an easy 2lb a week. I feel great all the time. Heres a simple day summary:
Wake up....I have a coffee to start the day (pretty much the only one I drink unless I get offered one during a clinet visit. If I have 10 cups a week thats about average. I dont feel hungry. I'm sat here at 8.20am, been up a couple of hours and still 4 hrs plus till I eat and feel fine. I certainly feel that I could eat, I just dont need to.
Mid morning....Normally busy so dont really notice not eating. Today I'll be driving my kids to their training so before I know it I'll be home at 1pm and ready to eat. The very worst effect is that I may get a rummbly stomach, but its more annoying than causing me to want to eat. Any desire to eat falls way below the desire to be in shape. I sometimes work out in the morning (cardio) and it feels fine....very light on my feet and doesnt increase hunger at all. I avoid weights at this time.
First meal...normally between 1-2pm and it tastes GOOD! I am not "very hungry" at that point, but certainly enjoy it! I keep it sensibly sized though, just a normal lunch.
Late afternoon....feel full still. Never get close to "hunger". Feel very alert and awake, none of the "slump" I used to feel. I will sometimes train weights here so after that will have a protein shake. If I am preparing to play basketball that night I'll have a banana or porridge but a small portion.
Evening....I train hard (either B Ball or weights) and feel brilliant. Not sure if its being lighter or having an emptyish stomach but I feel very fast/strong.
Last meal....my biggest meal. In the past I would do 5/6 small meals and my mistake was always getting to the last one and blowing it! Now I am free to blow it! After a hard session I'll feel ready to eat (again, not "hungry" the way you'd think...just very ready to enjoy the food -- and my body craves good stuff. It's odd, I used to want junk at this time but now my body is calling out for decent food. This will be a bigger meal but one thing I notice is that it's impossible to over compensate for the fasted period. You couldnt eat (and dont want) enough at this time to blow the day....you just arent that hungry. My body has quickly got used to the feeling of either being hungry and ready to eat or full. in the past I'd find myself eating a tube of pringles and KNOWING I wasnt even hungry!
bed....feel full and get a great nights sleep but wake feeling good because I havent been dealing with a tube of pringles all night!
Going forward....the plan is to stick on this till the 6 pack shows. I expect around Xmas. Not sure what I'll do then. I'll admit, I'm not sure how to make this work to GAIN much weight, which I may need to do. But for now I'm fine - I'm a big believer in either being in cal deficit or not. I dont like to try and drop fat and up lean weight at the same time....it makes no sense to me to focus on two opposite things like that. Time will tell.
For weight loss its superb, I have got to the point where my loss was slowing but I am back to dropping an easy 2lb a week. I feel great all the time. Heres a simple day summary:
Wake up....I have a coffee to start the day (pretty much the only one I drink unless I get offered one during a clinet visit. If I have 10 cups a week thats about average. I dont feel hungry. I'm sat here at 8.20am, been up a couple of hours and still 4 hrs plus till I eat and feel fine. I certainly feel that I could eat, I just dont need to.
Mid morning....Normally busy so dont really notice not eating. Today I'll be driving my kids to their training so before I know it I'll be home at 1pm and ready to eat. The very worst effect is that I may get a rummbly stomach, but its more annoying than causing me to want to eat. Any desire to eat falls way below the desire to be in shape. I sometimes work out in the morning (cardio) and it feels fine....very light on my feet and doesnt increase hunger at all. I avoid weights at this time.
First meal...normally between 1-2pm and it tastes GOOD! I am not "very hungry" at that point, but certainly enjoy it! I keep it sensibly sized though, just a normal lunch.
Late afternoon....feel full still. Never get close to "hunger". Feel very alert and awake, none of the "slump" I used to feel. I will sometimes train weights here so after that will have a protein shake. If I am preparing to play basketball that night I'll have a banana or porridge but a small portion.
Evening....I train hard (either B Ball or weights) and feel brilliant. Not sure if its being lighter or having an emptyish stomach but I feel very fast/strong.
Last meal....my biggest meal. In the past I would do 5/6 small meals and my mistake was always getting to the last one and blowing it! Now I am free to blow it! After a hard session I'll feel ready to eat (again, not "hungry" the way you'd think...just very ready to enjoy the food -- and my body craves good stuff. It's odd, I used to want junk at this time but now my body is calling out for decent food. This will be a bigger meal but one thing I notice is that it's impossible to over compensate for the fasted period. You couldnt eat (and dont want) enough at this time to blow the day....you just arent that hungry. My body has quickly got used to the feeling of either being hungry and ready to eat or full. in the past I'd find myself eating a tube of pringles and KNOWING I wasnt even hungry!
bed....feel full and get a great nights sleep but wake feeling good because I havent been dealing with a tube of pringles all night!
Going forward....the plan is to stick on this till the 6 pack shows. I expect around Xmas. Not sure what I'll do then. I'll admit, I'm not sure how to make this work to GAIN much weight, which I may need to do. But for now I'm fine - I'm a big believer in either being in cal deficit or not. I dont like to try and drop fat and up lean weight at the same time....it makes no sense to me to focus on two opposite things like that. Time will tell.
Hoofy said:
Interesting. Out of interest, do you count calories or just eat whatever during the non-fasting period?
At first I counted .... but now i dont bother. I used to count (eating 6 meals a day) because it would make me stop when i hit the limit. Now I know I so rarely eat over the limit it doesnt matter. I suspect I may be short of my limit on some days....but feel fine. If i was looking to gain i may have to re-think this.Opara said:
Is the timng of the meals important? Normally I have breakfast at 8:00 lunch at 12:00 tea at 18:00 with some healthy snacking.
So to do this all i'd have to do is delay breakfast until 10:00 and no snacking after 18:00?
Hmmm...not sure. For me its 2pm - 10pm that eat. So I spend 6am - 2pm awake and fasting, not sure how it would work if you break the fast early?So to do this all i'd have to do is delay breakfast until 10:00 and no snacking after 18:00?
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