Agree. It's very obsessive and restrictive, even if you can't see it .

Everyone in this board thinks they are the exception, and maybe they are. A stopped watch is right twice a day. Overwhe8 though, keto is not sustainable or recommended in the long run. So you haven't really learned anything about your body. You've just tricked it for awhile.

And as for IF, also shown to not be any more sustainable than daily calorie restriction.

These things are just marketing ploys and they are fast. People see results immediately and don't think about the long term effects or sustainability.

Fine. But please stop recommending this to people. May as well buy them a can of snake oil or take them to a chicken pox exposure party.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, these are all really helpful suggestions. Thank you. As for the tracking, I do it well for a few days or even weeks but then I have a string of days where I am busy, or forget, or have something that is difficult to log (recipe or food at a restaurant) and then I give up. I tend to have an all or nothing approach which I realize isn't helping... I need to reframe and not think of these slip ups as complete failure.. and just hop back on the wagon when I fall off.

I’m the 20:4 IF poster and I honestly don’t track, but I was already in keto when I started IF. I just try to keep it generally low carb, but I also live my life. I find with fasting most of the day, I think about food a lot LESS. I refused the idea for a good long while thinking it was stupid and I could never give up meals but after reading the Jason Fung books I am a total convert.

Yes, we all know you "live" you life. You eat only in 4 hours a day, god forbid your kids want you to enjoy ice cream with them outside of your eating window! I am sure you are enjoying so much life. And you post here obsessively, I mean many of us do, but rare few claim to be enjoying life while eating only small amount in a 4 hour period, and already being in keto and eating barely any carbs. Your idea of enjoying life is very messed up!

I agree. Eating for only 4 hours a day is crazy. Unless you binge and then purge it. I’d be starving.

Different PP, but eating lunch at 2 pm and dinner at 6 pm is not crazy at all. Thinking that you absolutely need to eat around the clock is.

NP, but if you can't see the difference between eating for only four hours a day and eating around the clock, then I don't know what to say. I mean, how does anyone get any physical activity if they only eat for four hours a day? I can't fathom being able to work out at all, let alone hard, with that kind of restriction.

NP here. You don't need to eat right before or after you exercise. I do IF and also fast. There's a whole subset of weightlifters and atheletes who fast and do fasting workouts. There is a theory that growth hormone is higher while fasting, so you can actually put on more muscle with fasting workouts.

If you're really worried or feel you need to eat before or after working out, then plan your meals around when you exercise. But it's definitely doable.

Different strokes for different folks - if you don't think you can do IF, then don't do it. But it works for many people including me. I've lost 21 lbs in a little over 2 months doing low carb (not keto), IF, and exercise. I found Dr. Fung's books to be very helpful.

But there's a million different diets out there. So choose one that you like and can sustain- that's the one that will work for you.

I'm not on a diet at all; that wasn't my point. Eating only four hours a day is incredibly restrictive. Normalizing that and other such extreme diets isn't healthy, not if we view health holistically. Are there people with specific physical conditions that require dietary restriction, sure. But eating only four hours a day to be skinny? To what end?

Moreover, I'll be damned if my kids learn this kind of body obsession from me.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, these are all really helpful suggestions. Thank you. As for the tracking, I do it well for a few days or even weeks but then I have a string of days where I am busy, or forget, or have something that is difficult to log (recipe or food at a restaurant) and then I give up. I tend to have an all or nothing approach which I realize isn't helping... I need to reframe and not think of these slip ups as complete failure.. and just hop back on the wagon when I fall off.

I’m the 20:4 IF poster and I honestly don’t track, but I was already in keto when I started IF. I just try to keep it generally low carb, but I also live my life. I find with fasting most of the day, I think about food a lot LESS. I refused the idea for a good long while thinking it was stupid and I could never give up meals but after reading the Jason Fung books I am a total convert.

Yes, we all know you "live" you life. You eat only in 4 hours a day, god forbid your kids want you to enjoy ice cream with them outside of your eating window! I am sure you are enjoying so much life. And you post here obsessively, I mean many of us do, but rare few claim to be enjoying life while eating only small amount in a 4 hour period, and already being in keto and eating barely any carbs. Your idea of enjoying life is very messed up!

I agree. Eating for only 4 hours a day is crazy. Unless you binge and then purge it. I’d be starving.

Different PP, but eating lunch at 2 pm and dinner at 6 pm is not crazy at all. Thinking that you absolutely need to eat around the clock is.

NP, but if you can't see the difference between eating for only four hours a day and eating around the clock, then I don't know what to say. I mean, how does anyone get any physical activity if they only eat for four hours a day? I can't fathom being able to work out at all, let alone hard, with that kind of restriction.

NP here. You don't need to eat right before or after you exercise. I do IF and also fast. There's a whole subset of weightlifters and atheletes who fast and do fasting workouts. There is a theory that growth hormone is higher while fasting, so you can actually put on more muscle with fasting workouts.

If you're really worried or feel you need to eat before or after working out, then plan your meals around when you exercise. But it's definitely doable.

Different strokes for different folks - if you don't think you can do IF, then don't do it. But it works for many people including me. I've lost 21 lbs in a little over 2 months doing low carb (not keto), IF, and exercise. I found Dr. Fung's books to be very helpful.

But there's a million different diets out there. So choose one that you like and can sustain- that's the one that will work for you.

Exercise.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Going low carb (Keto) helped me to break the cycle of mindless snacking and eating for comfort. But I weighed a lot more than you do, Op, and my choice was either to drop the weight or keep gaining and almost certainly develop type 2 diabetes.

I keep things pretty strict throughout the week and allow myself some wine on the weekends and extra calories (like pork rinds with nacho cheese dip or a Quest pizza).

There was a time when the thought of not eating bread, pasta, rice, sweets seemed very extreme to me. But now that my diet is centered around lean protein and veggies I look and feel so much better. I doubt I would have modified my diet like this if it was just a matter of taking off 15 pounds, though. The problem is that when you don't take it seriously those 15 pounds can turn into 20, 30 or 40 pounds seemingly overnight. Next thing you know you've got 50+ pounds to lose and some very real health issues looming over you.

I love mac and cheese, don't get me wrong, but that is something that I have once or twice a year now. Starchy/sugary carbs are no longer a dietary staple for me.

I could have written this post. Keto is really helping me break my food addiction. Serious question: if we aren’t supposed to eat for comfort, what do you replace it with? Nothing seems to hit my domaine triggers like food does. Which, I suppose, is why I’m fat with no other addictions.

I've started watching Youtube videos to unwind. Watching a good fashion haul try on or a clean with me video is relaxing and entertaining to me. I'm getting a better sense of fashion and how to organize my home, too.

You might take up knitting, crossword puzzles, learn how to play an instrument or whatever else helps you to unwind.

Anonymous wrote:Going low carb (Keto) helped me to break the cycle of mindless snacking and eating for comfort. But I weighed a lot more than you do, Op, and my choice was either to drop the weight or keep gaining and almost certainly develop type 2 diabetes.

I keep things pretty strict throughout the week and allow myself some wine on the weekends and extra calories (like pork rinds with nacho cheese dip or a Quest pizza).

There was a time when the thought of not eating bread, pasta, rice, sweets seemed very extreme to me. But now that my diet is centered around lean protein and veggies I look and feel so much better. I doubt I would have modified my diet like this if it was just a matter of taking off 15 pounds, though. The problem is that when you don't take it seriously those 15 pounds can turn into 20, 30 or 40 pounds seemingly overnight. Next thing you know you've got 50+ pounds to lose and some very real health issues looming over you.

I love mac and cheese, don't get me wrong, but that is something that I have once or twice a year now. Starchy/sugary carbs are no longer a dietary staple for me.

I could have written this post. Keto is really helping me break my food addiction. Serious question: if we aren’t supposed to eat for comfort, what do you replace it with? Nothing seems to hit my domaine triggers like food does. Which, I suppose, is why I’m fat with no other addictions.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, these are all really helpful suggestions. Thank you. As for the tracking, I do it well for a few days or even weeks but then I have a string of days where I am busy, or forget, or have something that is difficult to log (recipe or food at a restaurant) and then I give up. I tend to have an all or nothing approach which I realize isn't helping... I need to reframe and not think of these slip ups as complete failure.. and just hop back on the wagon when I fall off.

I’m the 20:4 IF poster and I honestly don’t track, but I was already in keto when I started IF. I just try to keep it generally low carb, but I also live my life. I find with fasting most of the day, I think about food a lot LESS. I refused the idea for a good long while thinking it was stupid and I could never give up meals but after reading the Jason Fung books I am a total convert.

Yes, we all know you "live" you life. You eat only in 4 hours a day, god forbid your kids want you to enjoy ice cream with them outside of your eating window! I am sure you are enjoying so much life. And you post here obsessively, I mean many of us do, but rare few claim to be enjoying life while eating only small amount in a 4 hour period, and already being in keto and eating barely any carbs. Your idea of enjoying life is very messed up!

I agree. Eating for only 4 hours a day is crazy. Unless you binge and then purge it. I’d be starving.

Different PP, but eating lunch at 2 pm and dinner at 6 pm is not crazy at all. Thinking that you absolutely need to eat around the clock is.

NP, but if you can't see the difference between eating for only four hours a day and eating around the clock, then I don't know what to say. I mean, how does anyone get any physical activity if they only eat for four hours a day? I can't fathom being able to work out at all, let alone hard, with that kind of restriction.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, these are all really helpful suggestions. Thank you. As for the tracking, I do it well for a few days or even weeks but then I have a string of days where I am busy, or forget, or have something that is difficult to log (recipe or food at a restaurant) and then I give up. I tend to have an all or nothing approach which I realize isn't helping... I need to reframe and not think of these slip ups as complete failure.. and just hop back on the wagon when I fall off.

I’m the 20:4 IF poster and I honestly don’t track, but I was already in keto when I started IF. I just try to keep it generally low carb, but I also live my life. I find with fasting most of the day, I think about food a lot LESS. I refused the idea for a good long while thinking it was stupid and I could never give up meals but after reading the Jason Fung books I am a total convert.

Yes, we all know you "live" you life. You eat only in 4 hours a day, god forbid your kids want you to enjoy ice cream with them outside of your eating window! I am sure you are enjoying so much life. And you post here obsessively, I mean many of us do, but rare few claim to be enjoying life while eating only small amount in a 4 hour period, and already being in keto and eating barely any carbs. Your idea of enjoying life is very messed up!

I agree. Eating for only 4 hours a day is crazy. Unless you binge and then purge it. I’d be starving.

Different PP, but eating lunch at 2 pm and dinner at 6 pm is not crazy at all. Thinking that you absolutely need to eat around the clock is.

Exercise and eat about 1000-1200 cal per day Monday to Thursday

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, these are all really helpful suggestions. Thank you. As for the tracking, I do it well for a few days or even weeks but then I have a string of days where I am busy, or forget, or have something that is difficult to log (recipe or food at a restaurant) and then I give up. I tend to have an all or nothing approach which I realize isn't helping... I need to reframe and not think of these slip ups as complete failure.. and just hop back on the wagon when I fall off.

I’m the 20:4 IF poster and I honestly don’t track, but I was already in keto when I started IF. I just try to keep it generally low carb, but I also live my life. I find with fasting most of the day, I think about food a lot LESS. I refused the idea for a good long while thinking it was stupid and I could never give up meals but after reading the Jason Fung books I am a total convert.

Yes, we all know you "live" you life. You eat only in 4 hours a day, god forbid your kids want you to enjoy ice cream with them outside of your eating window! I am sure you are enjoying so much life. And you post here obsessively, I mean many of us do, but rare few claim to be enjoying life while eating only small amount in a 4 hour period, and already being in keto and eating barely any carbs. Your idea of enjoying life is very messed up!

I agree. Eating for only 4 hours a day is crazy. Unless you binge and then purge it. I’d be starving.

Anonymous wrote:Americans are literally the only people who are anti-fruit and think that fruit makes you fat.

Yet the American diet is one of the worst out there, with obesity on the rise, and people constantly on "diets" who somehow, can't find a normal, sustainable way to eat. Coincidence? Absolutely not.

Lol. I am American and do not understand the anti-fruit people.

OP, I’m like you, I hate counting calories. It totally stresses me out and I end up eat lots of prepackaged foods with exact calorie counts. I need to loose 20lbs, but knew I couldn’t count calories. And Keto sounds like torture. And cheat days just made me crazy because all I would think about is food and all the things I would eat on my cheat day. And 18:6 IF, no way. I just can’t go that long without something. And I need food in my stomach at night or I can’t go to sleep. I had to find something easy and that I could do forever.

I just started 5:2 diet. It’s been super easy and in 3 weeks lost 4.5 lbs. I’m sure some of that is water weight, but at least the scale is trending downward.

So 5 days a week, eat normally. 2 days a week 500 calories a day. It’s great because for 5 days, I don’t think about food or diets, I just live my life. Then on Tuesday and Thursday, I eat a lot of bone broth (Buy cartons)with frozen spinach (squeeze the water out to get an accurate weight, then add to bone broth) or Souper Girls Tomato Basil with collagen powder added plus apples and babybel’s mozzarella cheese.

I do get hungry at time, but I know it’s only one day. I went grocery shopping on a fasting day and immediately went into “I must eat it all” mode, but then remembered I’d be able to eat whatever I wanted tomorrow and the craziness cravings went away.

I use MFP to track calories on two days. But now that I have mostly the same foods, just put together in different order, it’s been super easy to track. And Happy Scale to track weight (it smooths out the daily fluctuations).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, these are all really helpful suggestions. Thank you. As for the tracking, I do it well for a few days or even weeks but then I have a string of days where I am busy, or forget, or have something that is difficult to log (recipe or food at a restaurant) and then I give up. I tend to have an all or nothing approach which I realize isn't helping... I need to reframe and not think of these slip ups as complete failure.. and just hop back on the wagon when I fall off.

I’m the 20:4 IF poster and I honestly don’t track, but I was already in keto when I started IF. I just try to keep it generally low carb, but I also live my life. I find with fasting most of the day, I think about food a lot LESS. I refused the idea for a good long while thinking it was stupid and I could never give up meals but after reading the Jason Fung books I am a total convert.

Yes, we all know you "live" you life. You eat only in 4 hours a day, god forbid your kids want you to enjoy ice cream with them outside of your eating window! I am sure you are enjoying so much life. And you post here obsessively, I mean many of us do, but rare few claim to be enjoying life while eating only small amount in a 4 hour period, and already being in keto and eating barely any carbs. Your idea of enjoying life is very messed up!

Sorry, I am not sure to whom you are referring but I have posted on this thread exactly twice before this, and I’ve actually never commented on another thread on this forum about intermittent fasting. Not that I need to defend myself, because OP asked for advice and I gave it based on my experience, but I mostly only do this on weekdays and I work full time - so no, I’m not out enjoying ice cream with my kids during the day but I wouldn’t be doing that anyway most days.

Ok, sorry. I thought you were the ocd Jason Fung pp. She is relentless.

I put it aside and make sure I gain no enjoyment from food. For me it was the only way.

I eat for fuel now and don't care anymore. Was never a foodie anyway but it's not a security blanket anymore. I get my power from ignoring it

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's funny that people here think 1200 calorie is a very low calorie diet. Whereas by definition it's 800 or less.

I am 9:20. I lost eating 1550. 800 would literally leave me starving. Bodies and activity levels differ, you can’t generalize like that.

Seriousuly? 800 calories?

One chicken breast 231 calories, five cucumbers 75 calories, = 300 calories
One potato 135

So far 435.. HUGE Dinner.

Whole cauliflower - 146 calories who can even ate that much of food! still you are now at 590 roughly..

Still 200 to go!

So as you see there is TONS of food that is feeling and does not have that many calories, just mix them with those that do have calories.

Whatever has calories usually make you not hungry - things like meat or potatoes

whatever does not - fills you like crazy but does not keep for long so you mixt the two groups wisely and you are good.

Looks like we've been struck by the mom who cooks "an entire bag of spinach" for her family of 6, then questions why her husband orders pizza after dinner.
https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/465595.page
4 years later, I hope your now-adult sons have escaped your abuse and are enjoying basic nourishment.

I can't believe that thread was 4 years ago.