Intermittent fasting, lost weight then it stopped

Fave

Wed, Mar 03 2021, 9:43 am

amother [ Smokey ] wrote:

It may be that for your body, doing 16:8 is not enough for further weight loss without restricting carbs.

I do a pretty extreme version of intermittent fasting. 23:1 and *very* limited carbs - no grains, sugar fruit or carby vegetables. It's been very effective (I lost 10 lb a month, 30 lb overall), but only when I really stick to it.

In the weeks leading up to purim I loosened up. Nothing crazy, just a couple of cookies or chocolate bar every few days, some particularly fluffy challa on shabbos, some nice whole grain sourdough bread for seuda... I ate out of my window, but was I wasn't snacking all day, I was eating within 7-8 hours or less every day. Despite that, I didn't loose weight for 3 weeks. But happily, I didn't gain either, which is amazing, especially during purim. That means I can maintain my weight while having some carby treats in my diet.
But now I know that if I want to continue with the weight loss, I need to continue with the tiny window and minimal carbs. I have 40 lb to go, so I don't have to eat this way forever, just for a few more months.

23:1 is extreme.

How can you keep that up?

amother

Smokey

Wed, Mar 03 2021, 10:43 am

I eat the same number of calories that one would eat in a regular calorie restrictive diet (1200 or thereabouts), I just do it in one, very large meal. I usually have a VERY large salad with a nice amount of protein and healthy fats.
After I eat my salad I'm usually stuffed, so if I eat midday I'm not hungry until bedtime. Then when I wake up I just have to make it until lunch. Then, I know I'll have another large meal and will feel utterly full and satisfied.
To me that's much more sustainable than eating tiny unsatisfying meals. If I know that all I'm allowed to eat for breakfast is an eggwhite omlette and 2 rice cakes, I'm just not going to follow that diet. I have literally never followed any other diet because their meal plans just make me give up before even starting.
I've always leaned toward eating most of my calories midday, so it was challenging, but not an impossible adjustment.
This method works particularly well these days, when I'm working from home with kids in and out of school and it's super hard to find time to eat full healthy meals for myself, and not just leftover pizza crusts. Now I have one meal that I will prepare for myself and eat, no matter what.

(If you want to hear more about the method that I'm doing, google "eat like a bear". I've mentioned it here before and warmly recommend it)

amother

Wed, Mar 03 2021, 10:56 am

Imax5 wrote:

the argument made by proponents of intermittent fasting is that the set point is dictated by hormonal interactions that can be reset over time by periods of fasting. In other words, everyone seems to acknowledge that traditional dieting causes set point to ratchet up. (anyone who's been doing this a while is familiar with losing 30 lbs on a crash diet and then rapidly gaining back 40 and seeming stuck at that 10 lbs higher point thereafter.) The question is whether it can be similarly ratcheted back down, and some people think the answer is yes, but only where calorie restriction is accomplished by forcing fat burn through fasting rather than by simply reducing caloric intake with steady consumption throughout the day.

Interesting, very interesting. thank you

amother

Wed, Mar 03 2021, 10:59 am

amother [ Smokey ] wrote:

I would add to this that the goal in a nutshell is to reduce times of high insulin. You want to reduce the number of times you eat throughout the day, because insulin causes you to store fat (this is a huge simplification, read about IF if you want to understand in depth).
So you may have lowered your set point somewhat, but depending on how you're eating during your window, you could still have over 12 hours of high insulin, especially if you have some insulin resistance.
Consider looking at how you're eating during your window. Eating 2 solid meals at 11 AM and at 6PM might be much more effective than on and off snacking from 11 to 7. Also, if eating carbs is important to you, maybe you could limit them to the first meal in your window, and have more protein, fat and green veggies during the second half.

So it's better to eat in more condensed meals?
How long does insulin go up for after eating?
I must have some insulin resistance, because I have PCOS.

amother

Smokey

Wed, Mar 03 2021, 3:04 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

So it's better to eat in more condensed meals?
How long does insulin go up for after eating?
I must have some insulin resistance, because I have PCOS.

I just read The Obesity Code, by Jason Fung (a big proponent of intermittent fasting) and his position would be definitely yes. He claims that snacking and frequent eating is one of the contributing factors to the obesity epidemic. But he also recommends to limit carbs and to severely limit processed carbs, including whole wheat bread and pasta. He says that whole wheat flour still raises your blood sugar almost as much as white.

I don't know how well based his method is. He quotes a lot of studies and it sounds well researched, but I'm not a professional. I just know that so far it's been working for me. I really recommend you read the book, or just look for his website and YouTube videos if you want to understand it better. I think it would be particularly relevant to you because of PCOS.

There's no way to know how high your insulin goes up after eating without testing it (which I'm not even sure how you'd test...), and every body is different. If you were diabetic and you regularly tested your blood sugar than maybe you could make a guess?