quote:

Originally posted by ShiroKuro:
Steve, thisbook:
https://www.amazon.com/Obesity...349&s=gateway&sr=8-3

Is the diet hard to follow?

Yes, that’s the book.

There are two parts to the plan. The primary part is intermittent fasting. One meal a day, two meals a day, sometimes 36 hours. Some people go longer. Full meals at each sitting to keep metabolism from shutting down.

The second part is a keto style diet - hi fat, mid protein, very low carb. South Beach style and Paleo seem to work as well and are not as strict. No snacking - every snack keeps insulin up that much longer. Cutting out processed carbs is also recommended and may well be the reason my arthritis went away.

I find it very easy to follow, partly because I’m never hungry at breakfast and I gave up sweets years ago.

I try to go 10 to 12 hours between dinner and breakfast.

My goal is to wake up hungry.

quote:

Originally posted by ShiroKuro:
So for Doug and anyone else who does intermittent fasting, do you do it daily? What time do you have your last meal?

I already tend not to eat after dinner, but the time we have dinner could be anywhere between 6 and 8pm depending on how the day goes.

I do it daily as long as it does not interfere with my social life. Fortunately, I have very little social life…

My normal day I finish eating somewhere between 6 pm to 7 pm. then won’t eat again until I am hungry the next day, usually lunch - noon or later. If I am having a big dinner with friends, it might be later in the evening but that might be my only meal of the day. If there is a social occasion involving brunch or breakfast, I just say the heck with intermittent fasting for that day and just watch my total intake for the day. That usually doesn’t happen more than once or twice a month.

This eating schedule is very comfortable for me, but I snuck up on it gradually. First I stopped eating in the evening, then made a point of slowly waiting longer to eat my first meal of the next day. I like it because, today for example, I was able to eat a burrito the size of South Dakota for lunch, and still only eat a reasonable number of calories for me for a day. Of course, it probably also helps that I’m a 6’3” male who exercises every day.

None of this from me is really a recommendation. I have no idea what I’m talking about. It’s just that for me, eating small meals frequently just makes me hungry and want to eat all day. With this approach, my body seems to have gotten used to only being hungry during my comparatively short eating window. I am not feeling hungry, or thinking about food the rest of the day.

quote:

Originally posted by ShiroKuro:
So for Doug and anyone else who does intermittent fasting, do you do it daily? What time do you have your last meal?

I already tend not to eat after dinner, but the time we have dinner could be anywhere between 6 and 8pm depending on how the day goes.

I try not to eat after 9PM. Never before 9 in the morning, often not until 11. (Except coffee with a little milk.)

Hmmm. I get up and eat breakfast immediately. If I don't eat after 7pm, that's 11.5 hours usually. I cannot imagine getting up and coming to work and teaching without breakfast.

I'm also curious about the contradiction between the dieting advice to reduce the number of meals and the advice that eating several smaller meals is better than three larger ones.

Guess I'm going to have to read that book...

quote:

Originally posted by ShiroKuro:
I'm also curious about the contradiction between the dieting advice to reduce the number of meals and the advice that eating several smaller meals is better than three larger ones.

Dr. Fung will tell you that the six small meal recommendation will keep your insulin levels high throughout the day and cause you to gain weight.

quote:

the six small meal recommendation will keep your insulin levels high throughout the day and cause you to gain weight

Wow! Good to know!

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Miller:

quote:

Originally posted by ShiroKuro:
I'm also curious about the contradiction between the dieting advice to reduce the number of meals and the advice that eating several smaller meals is better than three larger ones.

Dr. Fung will tell you that the six small meal recommendation will keep your insulin levels high throughout the day and cause you to gain weight.

Right. Eating constantly is not good. Look at European countries, like France. They don't snack and eat constantly. They have meals and stick to that.

Three large meals a day is one meal too many, IMHO.

Well, maybe this points to a small step I could take right now... I had success a year (or was it two) ago when I totally changed what I eat for lunch. I lost about 10 pounds slowly and have kept it off but now can't seem to lose anymore. I would love to lose another 10 though.

So, I probably snack too much, even when my snacks aren't unhealthy. So maybe even if I don't reduce one whole meal, if I can just reduce the snacking to start with, and then go from there.

I wish this stuff wasn't so hard. And I wish food wasn't so good!

quote:

Originally posted by wtg:

He stresses that each person is affected by the various factors in different ways; sounds like a lot of this is discovering your particular profile and adjusting your eating and the timing of your eating accordingly.

I've been meaning to comment on this point.

It's what I've thought for a while. Anyone who says that there is one single, universal answer that works for every person doesn't know what they're talking about, or is trying to sell you something.

Different people react to different foods and different food schedules differently.

What's more, the same person can react differently at different points in their lifetime.

It's important to understand principles, and it's important to pay attention to what you're doing, and to how your body reacts. Beyond that, though, it's an individual judgment, and there's no magic snake oil that works for everyone.

+1

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Miller:

quote:

Originally posted by ShiroKuro:
I'm also curious about the contradiction between the dieting advice to reduce the number of meals and the advice that eating several smaller meals is better than three larger ones.

Dr. Fung will tell you that the six small meal recommendation will keep your insulin levels high throughout the day and cause you to gain weight.

Even if the total calories are the same either way?

Yup.

Dr Fung's explanation:

https://medium.com/@drjasonfun...-part-1-627ab2d751fa

edit: Part 2:

https://medium.com/@drjasonfun...-part-2-5cca7562b8fe

This is a perfect example of what I mean when I say that everyone is different.

His one-size-fits-all program would not work for me. Why? Because fasting causes a starvation response and my metabolism shuts down.

For me, the best program involves daily periodic fasting of at least twelve hours, plus two or even three shorter sessions of intensive exercise each day. The best way I can explain it ... my metabolism is like a wave. Exercise causes it to crest upward, and then it gradually comes back down. Exercise multiple times a day, and my metabolism is higher for more of the day.

And don’t go to bed too hungry, because then I get cold and can’t sleep.

Oh, and most athletes who engage in intensive exercise ... triathletes, for example ... will tell you that it’s important to eat a combination of carbs and protein within half an hour after working out. Many use chocolate milk for this purpose, it’s portable and they think it has the right proportions. It helps with muscle recovery and keeps the metabolism ramped up.

For me, anyway.