OP - find your why. And please, do NOT let the why be you want to look good in a bathing suit. Your 'why' could be that you want to be around for your family longer, you want to be able to participate in activities without being out of shape, etc. It has to be individual and specific to you. IMO, wanting to look good for others or fit in clothes better, for an emotional eater, is not enough. At least, it was not enough for me.

Suggest you listen to the "pound this" podcast. Amanda lost over 100 lbs through traditional diet and exercise, and over her seven year journey since then talks a lot about process. She also has many guest speakers whose message may resonate.

Finally, find a way of eating that doesn't leave you wanting all the time. You have to change your relationship to food, but you can't do so if you are constantly hungry.

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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.

OMG thank you for posting this link. I am crying.

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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.

I would argue that feeling the need to eat at regular intervals, every single day of your life, is also an unhealthy mindset. Waking up and eating immediately spikes your blood sugar. Does that seem like a good thing to do? So many people are getting hung up on the "hours" of IF but the basic principle of it is if people actually only ate when they were hungry (and not when they thought they were "supposed" to), their body would look for large quantities of food in a shorter window. Obviously this is not the case for every single person out there (because what is??) but for a lot of people, based on hormones, insulin, etc., it is. Why is that so hard for you to accept? Why must everyone have the same body chemistry you do?

Oh good lord. You are reading so much into my post that wasn't there. How is the basic principle of IF that people only eat when they're hungry? That's just... only eating when you're hungry. No "hours" needed. Ideally, everyone would eat when they feel hungry. In that case, when and how much they eat would differ because (shocker) people are different. Also, in that case, we wouldn't need to call it something special other than eating.

Really, though, the more you write, the clearer it becomes that this issue is a big one for you.

Actually I’m a new poster. And I don’t know why you’re so offended to learn most people actually don’t get hungrier every few hours. And that’s exactly why I said the premise of IF is eating when hungry because it’s allowing your body to regulate its own insulin and will this show you that you naturally want to eat on a smaller window. Not sure what was so hard to comprehend about that. And I had already stated that everyone is different so you do you if that’s not how your body regulates. But nutritionally, there is nothing wrong or bad or restrictive about eating your intake within a few hours.

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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.

I would argue that feeling the need to eat at regular intervals, every single day of your life, is also an unhealthy mindset. Waking up and eating immediately spikes your blood sugar. Does that seem like a good thing to do? So many people are getting hung up on the "hours" of IF but the basic principle of it is if people actually only ate when they were hungry (and not when they thought they were "supposed" to), their body would look for large quantities of food in a shorter window. Obviously this is not the case for every single person out there (because what is??) but for a lot of people, based on hormones, insulin, etc., it is. Why is that so hard for you to accept? Why must everyone have the same body chemistry you do?

Oh good lord. You are reading so much into my post that wasn't there. How is the basic principle of IF that people only eat when they're hungry? That's just... only eating when you're hungry. No "hours" needed. Ideally, everyone would eat when they feel hungry. In that case, when and how much they eat would differ because (shocker) people are different. Also, in that case, we wouldn't need to call it something special other than eating.

Really, though, the more you write, the clearer it becomes that this issue is a big one for you.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

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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.

I would argue that feeling the need to eat at regular intervals, every single day of your life, is also an unhealthy mindset. Waking up and eating immediately spikes your blood sugar. Does that seem like a good thing to do? So many people are getting hung up on the "hours" of IF but the basic principle of it is if people actually only ate when they were hungry (and not when they thought they were "supposed" to), their body would look for large quantities of food in a shorter window. Obviously this is not the case for every single person out there (because what is??) but for a lot of people, based on hormones, insulin, etc., it is. Why is that so hard for you to accept? Why must everyone have the same body chemistry you do?

i want to eat everything, but stay slim and beautiful. Any suggestions?

Anonymous wrote:I really don’t want to give up gluten or any food group but am willing to cut back. I have tried logging calories on MFP and find it unsustainable over time. Any suggestions? I’ve started weight training and can do a 12-14 hour fast pretty easily. Has anyone tried Noom? I have about 10-15 pounds to lose.

I didn’t read all the replies but I think trying to do 30-60 minutes of cardio a day helps me need comfort food less. Also I never have my favorite snacks/worst cravings at home. If I had a family size bag of potato chips I would eat it in 1-2 days. So if I’m craving potato chips and haven’t had them in a month or two, I go to CVS and buy a single serve bag. If we have a lot of leftover cake from a dinner party I bring it to work.

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Anonymous wrote:The only thing that works for me is extreme dieting during the week and saving room in my diet for weekends and also emotionally-induced breakdowns

That is my tactic also.

+1. Works every time.

Anonymous wrote:The only thing that works for me is extreme dieting during the week and saving room in my diet for weekends and also emotionally-induced breakdowns

That is my tactic also.

Anonymous wrote:So eating once a day has been renamed intermittent fasting.

No, it's OMAD.

The only thing that works for me is extreme dieting during the week and saving room in my diet for weekends and also emotionally-induced breakdowns

So eating once a day has been renamed intermittent fasting.

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Anonymous wrote:The question was - what is so terribly restrictive about eating lunch at 2 pm and dinner at 6 pm? Is ut just the mere fact that you'll be skipping breakfast - aka course, 'the most important meal of the day'? )))

I've lost some weight with IF...I'm going to try 20:4 now! Thanks!

I wish you success in your weightloss journey!

I've lost 25 lbs through low cal, keto and IF but eventually stalled. Even though I am healthy BMI now but I want to lose some more lbs. So I am trying alternate day fasting.

I love food but fasting for 24-30 hrs is still quite easy for me. If I eat smth in the morning I guess my taste buds get stimulated and I want to eat more. But if I only drink my coffee with milk I am usually able to continue fasting until the next morning.

Research found that alternate day fasting really works and you don't lose lean mass, so I am going to continue. You can even eat 25% of your maintenance calories on 'fasting' days so I may indulge a bit in some fruits or cheese.

Anonymous wrote:I really don’t want to give up gluten or any food group but am willing to cut back. I have tried logging calories on MFP and find it unsustainable over time. Any suggestions? I’ve started weight training and can do a 12-14 hour fast pretty easily. Has anyone tried Noom? I have about 10-15 pounds to lose.

I find comfort in eating and cooking. Easily have kept 15lbs or more simply fasting 20+ hours a day.

I am doing a combination diet now that seems to be working for me. The weight is falling slowly but the dial is moving. I have been battling a lot of inflammation and pain for many years and I am doing pretty good with this regimen. I cheat with stuff I want to eat but only after I have eaten what I am supposed to eat. Eating my diet food fills me up and then when I eat other stuff, I am unable to eat more. I am filling up with lots of liquids. Averaging around 8-9 drinks throughout the day. .

I drink one glass of warm water with lemon juice-ginger and 2 garlic cloves around 7 pm.
Then 2 glass of celery juice (with water added) around 8 pm.
A glass of skim milk with 2 scoops of whey protein powder + soluble fiber and turmeric around 9 am.

12 noon - small chicken breast or kebab, 1/2 cup lentil soup, a big heap of sauteed veggies, with a twist of lemon juice, herbs, spices, feta. 1 glass warm water with lemon-ginger and 1/4 tsp inulin

3 pm - Bowl of cut fruits/ berries, plain yogurt, hempseed hearts, walnuts, raisins.

5 pm - lentil soup, chicken or fish or kebabe, sauteed veggies. 1 mango. Warm water with lemon and 1/5 tsp inulin.

6 pm - Yogurt lassi (not sweet) with a hint of roasted cumin and black salt.

I am also taking some supplements - multivitamins, iron (intermittantly), B-12, Melatonin and Magnesium. Also a few herbal supplements.