Intermittent fasting

[Einkarl]

I'm really overweight and I'd like to shed them pounds. I've looked into an IF diet where I fast for 16hrs and eat anything in an 8hr window. I've done some research and it seems efficient. However, I've read that once IF is stopped weight tends to be regained quickly.

Advice or experience please?

I do workout as often as possible BTW.

[Stalinist Speaker]

eat as healthy food as possible, Example instead of white bread eat black bread, don't eat fast food and from food chains like mc Donald's, when you eat try to lower down on meat and put more vegetables, don't fry food with butter and oil but change to something with less fat in it. don't eat snacks and other unhealthy stuff, don't drink soda, energy drinks or other unhealthy drinks, if you drink milk try to drink the milk with less fat in it (i think its about 0,5%) and continue like this and keep doing work out daily.
hope this helps.

[Quail]

I don't know about intermittent fasting, but I'm not sure it's a very good idea. I think it's best to just try and get a balanced diet. To keep your weight down you could try eating more veg, and kind of filling up on veg before you eat the higher calorie part of your meal. (Or, just eat vegetables/beans/etc for your whole meal. There are loads of tasty recipes.) You could also try drinking more water/herbal tea to feel more full. While losing weight, there will probably be times where you want to eat more or you go to bed a little hungry. I find a hot drink really helps with that (usually herbal tea because I don't generally drink caffeine).

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

please don't do intermittent fasting.

Look, here's the long and short of it. Beyond all the diet fads, all the miracle cures, there are some simple truths.

Your body needs a certain amount of energy to function each day. Calories are a measure of energy. If you want to lose weight, your energy intake (i.e. the amount of calories you eat) needs to be less than the energy you expend (living, breathing, walking, exercising).

The average man needs around 2,500 calories to sustain their body-weight, roughly speaking. The average woman about 2,000 calories. This varies according to age, height, weight, etc. Google 'calorie calculator' to find out your specific calorie needs.

In order to lose weight, and not put it back on (which I can assure you is worse than not losing any weight!), you need to make a lifestyle change. Honestly, any old sucker can lose a few stone in a few weeks, but if its a fad diet they'll put it straight back on again, because the change to their diet is un-sustainable.

You need to ask yourself some questions:

What is my current weight, height, BMI? How unhealthy am I currently?
What is my goal? Do I want to look good, be a healthy weight, etc.?
How much exercise can I realistically do per week?
Realistically, how strict can I be with my diet?

You can then work out a target weight, an exercise regime and, most importantly, a diet.

Generally speaking, a healthy estimated calorie intake for fat loss would be 500 calories less than your maintenance calories (i.e. the calories you need to maintain your current weight). This is your calorie deficit, 500 calories. If the calorie deficit is much lower, then you'll not lose weight fast enough to see results and keep motivated. If it's much higher, then you'll get hungry and not be able to keep up the lifestyle change.

A list of foods you may want to consider eating:

Protein, from chicken (grilled or boiled, not fried), turkey, beef, eggs (not fried!), protein shakes, skimmed milk, cottage cheese.

Carbs, from brown bread, brown rice, brown pasta, natural/greek/fruit flavoured yoghurt, ramen noodles

Fats, from olive oil, olives, un-salted nuts (in moderation!), oily fish.

Also lots of fruit and veg (boiled or steamed is best).

There's loads more to consider, but read the above and if you've any questions just ask away.

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

also as quail says - when you feel hungry just have water or a hot drink instead. Something like Ovaltine is great - tastes amazing and isn't that calorific.

Also ask yourself when you're hungry - do I need to eat (i.e. real hunger) or is my body giving me false signals because I just hanker after crap food (i.e. fake hunger)?

[RedBen]

I'm really overweight and I'd like to shed them pounds. I've looked into an IF diet where I fast for 16hrs and eat anything in an 8hr window. I've done some research and it seems efficient. However, I've read that once IF is stopped weight tends to be regained quickly.

Advice or experience please?

I do workout as often as possible BTW.

here's a bit of info on eating healthy, and different things to look for. off the bat, don't go by Calories, go by Macro Nutrients, like Fat, Protein, and Carbohydrate Grams. i realize this isn't completely comprehensive but here's some of what i know. measure your body weight, calculate how many Macro Nutrients you need daily.

Food

Fats Types
Saturated as found in fatty meats: boosts Testosterone(Anabolic or muscle building Hormone), but raises bad Cholesterol, lowers good Cholesterol.

Mono or Poly-Unsaturated as found in things like nuts: lowers bad Cholesterol, highers good Cholesterol. "Fat Soluble" vitamins as found in many salads require these Fats(in moderation) to help with nutrient absorbtion.

Calories per Fat Gram=9

Carbohydrate Types

Complex as found in whole wheat, oats ect: slow burning, does not spike Insulin(which promotes Fat storage and Muscle building but also increases likely hood of Diabetes), sustained energy, higher in fiber. converted into Glycogen(fuel for your muscles) by the liver.

Simple as found in processed pasta, white bread: fast burning, spikes Insulin(which promotes Fat storage and Muscle building but also increases likely hood of Diabetes), does not provide energy as sustainable as Complex, lower in Fiber. essentially useless.

Calories per Carbohydrate Gram= 4

Protein Types

Animal: self explanatory. contain more complete Amino Acid(what Muscles are made of) profiles, including Essential and Non-Essential Amino Acids. best absorbtion rate above other Proteins.

Whey as found in dairy type foods: absorbs rapidly(which is beneficial post workout for maximum Muscle Recovery), Whey is about 20 percent of dairy Proteins and actually is relatively lactose free.

Casein is the other Protein found in dairy type foods around 80 percent: digested much more slowly, ideal for before bed so as to stave off the Catabolic(muscle wasting state) effect of not eating for the period of time you sleep.

Soy: self explanatory. debated about it's usefulness in fitness use. soy in an Anti-Carcinogen, but it contains compounds that may lower Testosterone(in males) due to it's Estrogen-like compounds, called Isoflavones.

Vegetable: self explanatory, contain Amino Acids that Animal Proteins may not have.

Calories per Protein Gram= 4

Daily Food Intake

http://macronutrientcalculator.com/

here is a link to a calculator based on your body weight. the percentages are the percentages of daily Calorie intake. remember Protein and Carbs have 4 Calories per Gram, and Fat has 9 Calories per Gram. personally i went from 260 to 170 in a year and a half, by doing less than 50 Fat Grams daily, roughly 40% of my bodyweight, (Gram to pound of bodyweight ratio of Carbs, example: 40 grams of Carbs for 100 pounds of weight) and a 1 to 1 ratio of Protein to bodyweight. in other words, i ate 50 or less Grams of Fat daily, 100 or less of Carbs and 200 plus of Protein. it is imperative to avoid bad Fats and bad Carbs when formulating your diet.

When To Eat What

you should divide your Macro Nutrient intake into 5 to 6 small meals per day spaced 3 to 4 hours apart. if you ingest Saturated Fats, get them out of the way early in the day before you work out, at least an hour an a half before workout. this will both allow you to boost your Testosterone levels, and give you an opportunity to burn off the Fat Calories. workout should be roughly an hour or so, followed by a Protein shake that spikes Insulin(post workout being the only time you do this intentionally) that may include Whey Protein powder with honey(your Natural Insulin source). consume less Carbs later in the day, and consume a Casein shake before bed(while you sleep your body releases HGH, or Human Growth Hormone, however, consuming Fats or Carbs before bed has been shown to inhibit HGH release. the slow release of Protein will help prevent your muscles from becoming Catabolic AND reaping the benefit of HGH release)

sorry for being long winded, i'll go more in depth later, i'll bring up supplements, exercise routines and what have you. hope this helps some. also, i have a pile of Muscle and Fitness magazines. if you want em, i can mail em out, also the Muscle and Fitness website has a forum similar to this. i was on it years ago and it had very knowledgeable people on it.