I'm impressed with myself

I've lost 3st on the 5-2 diet.

http://thefastdiet.co.uk/

I've always tended to be heavy and I really don't like constant calorie restriction, I find trying to eat 500 calories under every day really hard to keep up, whereas I find this system suits me much better. It's also supposed to have other health benefits as well.

The trouble with 'fad' diets is your metabolism just adapts to the new regime, then when you go back to eating normally you put the weight straight back on again...

...the only way to maintain a healthy weight loss is to re-educate yourself into not stuffing more into your mouth than your body needs!

Yesterday I substituted my usual lunch salad for an egg roll from the van in Halfords carpark; about 100 calories for the egg, and probably 200 for the roll and butter...

...the thing being, that egg roll would previously have been a snack in between meals

I know your not supposed to skip meals as your body reacts to it like starvation, but if you have never had breakfast since you were a kid, I figure my body does not know it's missing something, I also only occasionally have something for lunch, I tend to live on coffee and dinner. When I separated from my hubby though for a bit I lived for a while in the local town and ate packet food and loads of pizzas as it was across the road and beer, hence the mahusive gain in weight now I eat small portions of food at night and a couple of beers on a Friday night and that's it.

Alison

That is so not good for you Al... :shock:

We_are_Stevo":h9pmjdu6 said:

REKIBorter":h9pmjdu6 said:

I am trying to get back to my fighting weight after a couple of years off the bike. The doctor has given me the all-clear to start doing serious exercise. Trying to get out on my bike at least twice a week for 3hr rides. The dry warm weather helps. Looking to loose 2 stone and get some of my fitness back. Finding it hard to cut back the food intake as I am always so hungry, especially after a ride. I just cannot stop eating and most of it is stuff that is not good for you. Need more self discipline!

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You really need to keep a food diary; another member on here very kindly shared his ideas with me and gave me the inspiration to kick-start my own weight loss...

...I have porridge for breakfast most days (strict 1/2 cup of porridge with a cup of water, two minutes in the microwave and you're good to go) sweetened with Agave syrup, usually a sub-200 calorie salad for lunch and a main meal of around 600 calories in the evening (I eat a lot of rice; a packet of Tesco/Co-OP/Sainsburys egg fried rice is less than 300 calories) which is usually something over rice; typically a tin of cheap chicken curry (just over 300 calories) mixed with a handful of frozen peas. Sounds disgusting but you soon get used to it

You also need to drink plenty of water, or water based drinks (paying careful attention to the calories contained therein!); in fact, many of the times you think you are hungry so snack unnecessarily you are actually thirsty and a large glass of water can work wonders...

...really you can eat anything you want so long as you don't have much of it, but do watch out for/be aware of 'hidden' calories (Tescos sushi for instance; small 'taster' pack less than 200 calories - until you put the Soy Sauce on it that is! They don't tell you that!).

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Your diet seems to be heavily carb orientated - which can be fine, if very active and kinda steady state / equilibrium.

However, for people losing weight, there's significant benefit to ensuring they are getting plenty of protein to sustain any activity they are doing. And of course, by definition, EFAs and dietary fat in general, is essential - in fact, protein and fat are the only essential macronutrients - you die without them, carbs are the only optional ones.

The reason why protein is important when losing weight, is that all things being equal, you will lose some bodyfat, some LBM / muscle, and potentially some water (depending on how you're dieting). The types of "fuel" used when exercising have no true significance to weight loss or even body recomposition. As it all balances out - surplus calories, long-term being stored as bodyfat. And if you attempt to fuel activity / exercise using bodyfat, there's glycogen that you're not using, which in turn will just end up being surplus, and cumulatively will get stored as bodyfat. So all other things being equal, likely the best way to get leaner when dieting, is to try and get your body to retain as much LBM as possible when dieting and in - what is in effect - a catabolic state.

So stimulus and sufficient protein to get your body to still find a need for as much muscle / LBM as you can retain, should mean that what fuels the deficit being bodyfat (as there should be no ongoing need to long-term store surplus calories, in fact the reverse).

Bearing in mind, though, I'm mainly talking about weight-loss, here - plus there can be other reasons for overweight people to carefully control the carbs they eat.

So sufficient protein + EFAs and a reasonable amound of dietary fat, then otherwise, fill the gap up to your desired calorie deficit with carbs - just don't neglect the key essential things if you want to get leaner, but still retain as much LBM as you can.

We_are_Stevo":3373q1gl said:

The trouble with 'fad' diets is your metabolism just adapts to the new regime, then when you go back to eating normally you put the weight straight back on again...

...the only way to maintain a healthy weight loss is to re-educate yourself into not stuffing more into your mouth than your body needs!

Yesterday I substituted my usual lunch salad for an egg roll from the van in Halfords carpark; about 100 calories for the egg, and probably 200 for the roll and butter...

...the thing being, that egg roll would previously have been a snack in between meals

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Thing is, though, IF aren't fad diets, and the I (intermittent) bit is usually designed to be a brief period before any notable metabolic adaption has occurred.

As a generalism, though, I agree - working out a sustainable diet that you can maintain on a long-term ongoing basis is clearly likely to be the best solution. It just so happens, that some people find IF diets kinda fit that reasonably well.

Isaac_AG":r8y4hix7 said:

I know your not supposed to skip meals as your body reacts to it like starvation, but if you have never had breakfast since you were a kid, I figure my body does not know it's missing something, I also only occasionally have something for lunch, I tend to live on coffee and dinner. When I separated from my hubby though for a bit I lived for a while in the local town and ate packet food and loads of pizzas as it was across the road and beer, hence the mahusive gain in weight now I eat small portions of food at night and a couple of beers on a Friday night and that's it.

Alison

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Your body / metabolism does not react to skipped meals in quite that timeframe.

Hormonal response might - which can well have a significant affect on appetite and craving, but not metabolic rate. That's why people talking about small regular meals being better for your metabolism, or not to skip a meal 'cos it will make your metabolism slow down are talking absolute rubbish.

It may well have other effects, that may affect cravings / hunger / appetite, but not the metabolism, not to any degree of significance in that timeframe.

We_are_Stevo":qlcqlrmq said:

That is so not good for you Al... :shock:

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The eating pizzas and loads of beer or the not having anything till the evening? I canny face food in the mornings and, the odd sarnie maybe but I cannot face food every afternoon either, but what I get at night is a well balanced home cooked dinner, NO crap any more

Alison

'Living on coffee' will not do your blood pressure any favours, and is terrible for cellulite!

We_are_Stevo":3vz0qeun said:

'Living on coffee' will not do your blood pressure any favours, and is terrible for cellulite!

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Dunno about the cellulite thing - but all the same, caffeine most definitely does have an impact on the metabolic rate (only in a temporary fashion, mind), given all the other comments in the thread about what's supposed to influence the metabolism.