My lovely evening out for dinner with my cousin went wrong. My meal was horrid and starter sized – I was upset. After looking forward to this and having got over all the hurdles re actually going out I was gutted – result - eating !!!! BIG SIGH.
So hoped the next day would be better and it was up to a certain point then I had a nibble which turned into a monster, BUT I was trying to justify my self by saying I was still in a 3 hour window.
A window so does not work for me.
So hoped the next day would be better and it was up to a certain point. I went looking for new clothes, nothing fits as I have got so big, my reflection in the changing room was awful, my skin is dimpled as my body is so fat compared to what it used to be – but to cheer myself up just one date !!! BIG MISTAKE then the rest followed. BUT I tried to justify that it was ok I was in a window !!! BIG SIGH another failure - so I ate more.
I hoped today would be better BUT IT HASN’T BEEN. Another failure !!!
I am now chewing gum and wondering will life re food ever get any better.
I know I can’t do another long fast – that hasn’t worked on the many occasions I have tried and it just gets me down.
I was feeling so calm re OMAD so am gutted.
Windows don’t work.
So back to OMAD for another go. 1 plate with no exceptions.
Was thinking last night – the bigger I have got physically the smaller I feel emotionally.
Now I know when I was underweight I was not in a good place emotionally either BUT there has to be a balance.
Please Please Please - give me the strength to break this monster once and for all.
Hi, zmck. I am new here, but I can relate with what you said and know it will get better! I am just starting out myself so we can use each other for support and accountability.
It's been going well so far for me, so I hope to continue progressing. I was trying to make my meal at night, but I have been feeling real hunger midday, and that seems to be working best for me. After I eat my midday meal, I am not truly hungry until the next day.
Hey, Z, sorry to hear you've been struggling. I use different dishes to portion my food. I use one of our large bowls for soup and a very large bowl for salad. Normally, my entree is bowl-compatible and in that case I use a heaping small bowl to contain the meat/veg on a small serving of starch (brown rice, red lentils etc). Once in a while, I use a standard plate instead if the meal just isn't a bowl-type entree. I weigh my nuts and have a standard portion of chocolate. But it did take me a months to go from no window down to OMAD, and to figure out good portion sizing. Things were a bit rough for me at first too as I got used to the eating schedule. I hope things click for you soon!
Hi, Britt, glad things are going well for you! It's supposed to be healthy to eat your dinner mid-day so if that works for you, go for it! I have nudged my meal time a little earlier so that I normally start around 4:30.
We had stir fry chicken with crimini mushrooms and watercress last night (I was *really* in the mood for those mushrooms as soon as I saw them in the grocer). Leftover Mexican taco salad tonight (no tacos or chips, lol, but black beans for starch). =)
I relate more with being overweight.
But the awakened hunger I know very well.
What I'm hearing is that your hungry and you keep eating.
That actually sounds normal.
People have ways the brain senses when the stomach has enough food volume. Some are sensitive and some are not.
So when we're omad, or window eating less than 8 hours.
It's important. To understand this.
How it works and which you are.
Had to go back to the doctor for a BP check, as she had changed my meds 6 weeks ago. I had lost 7 lbs, but actually I probably lost all of that within the last two weeks, as I had really buckled down on the low-carb protocol.
Not sure exactly why - probably a combination of fasting and low-carb - but my BP plummeted mid-week last week. I'd been taking it regularly to make sure the new meds were working okay (they were) but had slacked off for several weeks. I felt a bit light-headed Wednesday afternoon but thought it was probably just some low blood sugar. Still, to be on the safe side, I decided to take my BP Thursday afternoon. 1 pm reading was 97/75 and 5 pm reading was 85/67. Wow, that's concerning! Even MORE concerning was the fact that at 7:00 p.m. when I (attempted) to get up from the sofa to go clean the kitchen, I almost passed out! Was extremely dizzy and light-headed for awhile. No telling how low it had gone by then - I was too afraid to check it! So I stopped taking the medicines and monitored my BP for the rest of the week and weekend, which stayed in the normal range. I only took meds this morning because my diastolic # was 89, a bit high.
Explained all this to the doctor, told her I'd lost weight and was doing low-carb, but I didn't mention the IF. She's cut the meds in half and I am to monitor BP for a month and then just send them to her (so I don't have to go back in).
In reality, it's probably the fasting itself that dropped my BP. I know it does, but I didn't realize how dramatically far down it can go. Because I took the full dosage of meds this morning before my 1:00 p.m. appointment, my BP tanked again. As I was running errands, I went into Walgreen's and walking across the parking lot I once again felt faint, but when I got inside it got so bad I had to grab one of the carts just to make sure I didn't fall! Fortunately it did subside and I was able to get what I needed and get home.
At 5:00 p.m. it was 90/49. No wonder I felt faint.
So when you are fasting, be aware that it can drop your blood pressure.
On a more positive note, I finished my longest fast yet - 48 hours! I couldn't believe how easy it was! I actually just sort of fell into it; I had eaten about 3:30 Saturday afternoon and was full, so naturally I didn't eat supper. I got up Sunday morning and went to Mass, and when I got home I just wasn't hungry. So I thought...humm, I wonder if I can go all day without eating? And I did. Got up this morning, did some work, and then headed for the doctor's office. Got out of there about 1:30 p.m., ran some errands, and then ate another late lunch again. I did get fairly hungry this morning, but I just ignored it, and it pretty much went away.
My lovely evening out for dinner with my cousin went wrong. My meal was horrid and starter sized – I was upset. After looking forward to this and having got over all the hurdles re actually going out I was gutted – result - eating !!!! BIG SIGH.
So hoped the next day would be better and it was up to a certain point then I had a nibble which turned into a monster, BUT I was trying to justify my self by saying I was still in a 3 hour window.
A window so does not work for me.
So hoped the next day would be better and it was up to a certain point. I went looking for new clothes, nothing fits as I have got so big, my reflection in the changing room was awful, my skin is dimpled as my body is so fat compared to what it used to be – but to cheer myself up just one date !!! BIG MISTAKE then the rest followed. BUT I tried to justify that it was ok I was in a window !!! BIG SIGH another failure - so I ate more.
I hoped today would be better BUT IT HASN’T BEEN. Another failure !!!
I am now chewing gum and wondering will life re food ever get any better.
I know I can’t do another long fast – that hasn’t worked on the many occasions I have tried and it just gets me down.
I was feeling so calm re OMAD so am gutted.
Windows don’t work.
So back to OMAD for another go. 1 plate with no exceptions.
Was thinking last night – the bigger I have got physically the smaller I feel emotionally.
Now I know when I was underweight I was not in a good place emotionally either BUT there has to be a balance.
Please Please Please - give me the strength to break this monster once and for all.
Thanks all for being there.
I am SO sorry for your struggles :-(
I am wondering...are you familiar with Intuitive Eating? It's something that I practiced (and I do mean "practiced") for a couple of years on and off, and I'm really still a strong believer in its principles. I finally had to come to grips with the fact that I needed to lose this weight for health reasons, so that's why I finally decided to try IF. And that's when I found Dr. Jason Fung.
But Intuitive Eating might be something you want to try. Unlike you, I have never suffered from an eating disorder - my excess weight is simply post-menopausal weight gain that needs to be dealt with once and for all.
I think IE is a good thing for people who have suffered from eating disorders. Now, I will tell you, you cannot look at it as a weight-loss tool; sometimes it's promoted as such, but that's really not what it's all about.
There is an Intuitive Eating support thread here in this section. You might want to drop in there and see if you think it would be helpful for you. There are also lots of resources online; a google search will pull them up for you.
Your words that I have highlighted in red really caught my eye. IE helps you to make peace with food; it sounds as if that may be what you need more than anything else.
I used to eat next to nothing. How did I do that ? Why can’t I find the self-control I used to have ?
On to OMAD…
I like this whole philosophy, I like the simplicity, but my last 2 weeks have been troublesome.
I need to make some tweaks as OMAD is too broad, and I think this has been leading me to go off the rails.
I can’t have gluten – I am in a whole family of coeliacs / gluten intolerants.
Even worse for me is dairy – I puff up / bloat and retain water – it is not nice.
The problematic words for me since OMAD have been – “eat anything you want” (within reason).
This has led me to experiment / loosen the rules – dairy ALWAYS creeps in 1st – it can’t - it just wrecks my body and it is invariably attached to sugar which is just as bad.
I can’t have the same foods as other people – my body just can’t cope – I have to stop trying to reintroduce so…
NO GLUTEN
NO DAIRY
NO SOY – it messes up my already messed up hormones
EASY ON THE NIGHTSHADES – I live in an autoimmune family
NO SUGAR – it turns me into a monster (that includes honey)
I have learnt these things over many years which all ended up with me eating PALEO.
I don’t know if all the restrictions have led to me having an eating disorder or if it has been the emotional rollercoaster I have been on the last 10 + years.
BUT I do know that OMAD sits well with me and PALEO sits well with me so I just have to practice this long enough to make it happen.
I can’t keep going back to the same foods that have made me so sick in the past.
I have to HEAL (which is why I tried to water fast).
I have been trying to think back to when the mess really happened when the bulimia morphed into binge eating.
I think it boils down to one word. I was at the doctors she weighed me and was cross she said one word – EAT – so I did. Looking back if she had said something else would it have made a difference, if she had said don’t go for a run have a bath instead would self-care have started instead of self-destruction. I DON’T KNOW.
Anyway on to today.
Another new day another new start – I wish.
Put on clothes that no longer fit, felt embarrassed looking at myself in the mirror, felt embarrassed that my kids look at me now as if to say “Mum what are you doing to yourself”.
Just knuckle down and get on with it – all I have to do is NOTHING for 23 hours – how hard can that be !!!!
Southern Maven - thank you for the kind words and advice I will look into
Omad isn't a formal diet.
My bet is many nutritionist would take issue with uptake.
However if you get your doctors blessing and perhaps a therapist that specializes in eating disorders to give the blessing . Then we're go to go. I personally can't do omad.
I'm an intermittent faster. IF.
I TOO struggled with the whatever I want. Aspect.
I find in my reading. And understanding that's a flaw.
Nutrition does so much for us, eating only to satisfy hunger can lead to many types of poor nutrition.
Omad is exactly the edge of poor nutrition. But if your getting all you need in 1 meal then it's still on the good side of the edge.
I will always advocate for 2-3 meals a day for uptake purposes.
So I'm here to be an IF but be respectful to the omads. I mean it .
So with only meal a day if not nutrition dense you could be in pickle. I can't give professional advice. So I'm here for peer support.
If we're over eating the typically we get plenty of nutrition.
Thus why binging isnt all bad. It happens. And we get plenty of nutrition during the binge. I don't understand cravings , but it's terribly complex . In a few days I post a picture of cravings solutions.
It's just a jpg of
if you crave this , what you really need is that.
When crave stuff it's because of malnutrition of one of the minerals .
When bit comes to minerals I read and read and read.
I decided I'm going all the way . I want to be on optimal nutrition for rest of my life, but since I'm obese , I need to settle for adequate nutrition.
I decided I want my minerals would be from formerly living foods.
Not from rocks and corals like in some supplements.
This wasn't as hard to research.
Making a list of the top 15 sources of each vitamin and mineral we need.
A short list develops.
The nutrition dense foods can then be cross referenced with other filters.
Pre and probiotics
Anti oxidants.
Anti cancer
Anti fungal
Immune boost
Synergistic combinations
Electrolyte
Gluten free
.
After many more filters . I still had more foods to choose from than I could fit into a 14 week menu.
However I wasn't used to eating them.
I was a hamburger, pizza, spaghetti, Salisbury , cheap food eater.
But I was obese, I need to make the switch to these food I don't have a taste of liking for.
What I discovered after reading about how to change eating habits.
Children sample foods about 20 times before they approve of the flavor. This still applies to adults.
While fasting , or calorie restriction, my formula is 600 calories In 36 hours. I get so hungry , that the remaining foods on my nutrition dense list . They could taste Luke tree bark and I'm so hungry I would eat it no matter the flavor.
But the good news for me, was the more I sampled it. The more I acquired the taste for it.
Fish, broccoli
Walnuts , blueberries
Anti cancer salads
Immune boost salads
Protein drinks
Uneasoned vegetables.
After all that I summarize, that on adequate nutrition, flavor shouldn't be the priority . Because we will adapt to nutrition dense foods no matter what it tastes like. But most of it isn't all that bad.
.
I can't stress enough eating fish.
Fish, iodine, selenium
Broccoli ,
They help with splitting DNA correctly when our cells divide.
And if we're on Marco protein restrictions . The cell division is slowed. This also the same formula for repairing DNA or recognize DNA that needs to be recycled or destroyed due to errors. Some food combinations either fog if you will , the natural process to detect errors in DNA , or inhibits the opportunity to repair the identified errors.
Yes food does that.
Some foods cause errors, some cause those error to keep surviving.
It when we fast , that the protein is no longer driving cell division. The body turns from grow mode and switchesvto heal mode.
Heal mode if you excuse my layman terms is just another way saying recycling from within due the lack of external nutrients , it recycles nutrients from withing. This the DNA repair mode darts around the 27 to 32nd hour. How long were in the mode or condition. It's a mix of good for healing , bad because we're becoming malnourished for the functions. Especially immune boosting.
The extreme protein restriction , almost no study show that we will stay on it long term.
I am on weight loss Trek for now, but with switch to DNA repair fasting when approach 200lbs.
My last contact with those who were on the DNA Trek were saying they didn't have enough fat to stay on trek while on maintenance.
So the way I see it.
Wether I'm under weight or over weight the Trek I want to be on is the DNA repair mode. And that takes fat under the skin . So fats are not evil after all. Too much yea, 11 cancers directly from obesity. But depending on which foods were eating, Wether were fasting regularly, making the become accustomed to entering the DNA repair mode frequently. So yo-yo is OK I'm just guessing.
Only the yo-yo needs to be in the range where underweight isn't vulnerable to malnutrition and overweight are not suseptable to cancer and age related diseases.
So this is what my week looks like.
Monday 600 cal. Nuts and berries
Tuesday 1800 cal protein shake, health salad, fish broccoli
Wednday 600 cal. Nuts and berries
Thursday 1800 protein shake health salad, fish broccoli
Friday 600 cal. Nuts and berries
Saturday 1800 protein shake, health salad chicken broccoli
Sunday 1800 protein shake, health salad, steak broccoli,
This is a 1200 calorie 7 day average with 18 nutrition uptakes
This is geared for weight loss to 120 lb goal.
This isn't perfect but is tweakable .
Longer fasts should still observe 1200 calorie 7 day average.
Southern Maven:
That’s fantastic news your BP & weight is down.
I did look into intuitive eating, not sure it will help me, think the problem is with the word “eating”.
I am slowly coming back to the conclusion that I just can’t eat – my body just doesn’t process / metabolise food and needs a huge amount of exercise to burn any food off.
I just about get by with taking levo each day; it keeps my heart rate up and my brain fog down.
I just have to reconcile in my own head that some people can eat and enjoy food and some people can’t – I CAN’T.
I do feel a bit sad about this as food is such a part of culture / society / family / celebration – but for me it has been torture, it is not so much the eating but the aftermath.
I know I can’t go back to my previous exercise regime; it was far too hard on my body and is not sustainable long term.
I hope OMAD on a paleo diet will help and will be long term, and I guess I can throw in the odd period of fasting to further remove me from the battle with food.
As I said I am feeling sad about this BUT NOT SURPRISED as I have battled with / without food all my life.
BIG SIGH!
1 plate of paleo food each day – NO EXCEPTIONS.
Yesterday was a good day – I am counting my blessing until the next hiccup.
And it is roast chicken dinner tonight.
Pang:
Omad may not be a formal diet but I must say I find it a breath of fresh air.
I think it sits well with me on a light note because it is simple.
It also sits well with me on a dark note because it meets my emotional not eating needs and eating needs – anorexia v binging – which actually for me has been a good transition and I am sure the dark side will eventually be replaced by the lighter side if I get enough time at it.
I don’t think Omad has to be lacking in nutrition, I am doing mine paleo, so it is all about nutrient dense foods, what puts me into nutrient deficiency is the portion size I need to get by – I don’t need much food at all which is where a lot of my issues come from.
You can eat a plate of food – I can eat a saucer of food.
At least with Omad I can put 3 saucers together to get one plate which is good for me emotionally and takes the bad look of my previous eating habits.
Agree with you I couldn’t do protein restriction and it certainly wouldn’t go down well in my house – my boys like food with bones – THE BIGGER THE BONE THE BETTER – but I don’t know how you do a protein shake – would you not just prefer to eat the meat / fish etc.
So today just keep calm and do NOTHING for 23 hours
I'm not here to talk anyone into doing anything...I believe that each person has to do what is best for him/her.
I'm into hour 42 of another fast. I am absolutely astounded at how easy this is. I think one of the reasons it is so easy is that I feel so good while doing it. The lack of bloat is probably the most significant difference I feel while fasting. Almost makes you want to never eat again!
During the rough patches of hunger (and they have been minimal, as I am LCHF when eating) I keep in mind that I am being a fat-burning machine. I also know that when I'm fasting, my insulin is low. After all, insulin is the KEY when it comes to weight loss, as obesity is a hormonal imbalance. It has nothing to do with calories, exercise, will power, or anything of the sort.
There are so many long-held "truths" about weight loss that simply, well...aren't. True, that is. It's a shame that so many people want to put their heads in the sand and deny it, but if all these "truths" were indeed fact, why do most diets fail in the long term? Simple. They are not attacking the root cause of obesity, which is insulin resistance. Lower your insulin and you can lower your weight. And insulin isn't lowered by counting calories, exercising, grazing all day, and eating a low-fat, low calorie diet. It's reduced by fasting and a LCHF diet. It's that simple.
I probably won't be posting much any more here, as I am heading on more of an extended fast path rather than OMAD or shorter periods of fasting (all of which I think are great, btw). I don't want to derail or encourage/discourage anyone as they follow their own journey. I have another great group on FB that is much more into extended fasting so I will be spending more time there. Oddly enough, outside of the commonality of extended fasting, their eating protocols do vary quite a bit. Still, it's definitely a non-judgemental group. (it's quite large, actually)
Good luck to everyone here.
Last edited by SouthernMaven; 03-29-2017 at 09:21 AM.
Hi again.
Glad no ones taking opinion as criticism.
I try not to have more than 20 portions of animal fat per month.
The protein shake I have is geared for muscle recover from lifting. But yes , I can have a big juicy steak once a week and I love it. With broccoli tomato, olive oil and spinach with lions tigers and bears oh my! God I love eating on Sunday.
And yes omad is no rule on type of food.
But but but . Neither does 5:2 or 4:3 . But the first thing that happened to me was a binge .
I determined to figure out why. Or at least if there is a connection between depriving myself then the need filling myself. I mean I really didn't need a book for that. Right?
But yes I mean no. Hmm that was unclear.
Food keeps me alive, bad food not so much.
Even less bad food even less as much.
So what do?
Do I listen to the craves or do silence them in advance?
What does mean to have cravings that. Trigger binges.
I had to get past that.
There's not only chemistry in my gut. There's 70% of my immune system. So I for sure don't want be poking my immune system with sweet talk giving it everything it wants but nothing it needs.
I love to eat. I have poor sense of smell so I can eat anything.
I'm not sensitive to much. My wife can tell me what my Co workers had for dinner yesterday. It's bizarre the differences.
She's a slave to fats. I'm a protein eater. She's sick and dying , it's food related. So I'm kind of really paying attention, if food can makes us sick. Then is possible it can make us healthier?
I guess yes. I can make healthy foods taste great and enjoy them just as much as the comfort stuff. After awhile the challenge wasn't a challenge. I would rather eat the stuff if given the choice.
But.
It's tailored to fit me and my schedule. So I had to find other ways to do stuff with her than Food . It was like breaking up her. But I love her so . Just there In All the other ways. But food . NO! To clear. I don't to die because I don't eat healthy foods. I. Fact I want to live longer because I eat healthy foods. So it's not me it's her!
Stick a piece of broccoli on her plate and she jumps like a cat snuck up on by a cucumber. Reeow! Claws at me and hisses.
I just blow her kisses .
Seriously though. Omad is just fine and dandy . Not eating healthy food. Now that's the killer if there ever was one.
Just looking at the statistics. Unhealthy food. Is biggest killer second only to the mosquitoes.
Unhealthy food causes more death than smoking and alcohol combined!
So what I'm trying to say. Is Both omad and IF has gaps in nutrition uptake. Don't think that less junkfood is helpful. I would guess that if you're going eat junk food , eat alot of it would be much much much better than , only little junk and nothing else.
About the protein shake vs Angus Porter house .
I don't like steak for breakfasts. Especially if means no coffee .
My coffee has whey protein concentrate in it. Plus dark cocao, and cashew milk. So my shake is stronger than an energy drink and healthier than anything else in the whole anything kingdom.
I use it to precisely adjust and tweak my protein grams over seven day period. I will never go without my protein choffee .
I feel so good after drinking it I work without pain. But the steaks no I still feel chronic unceasing pain when I eat steak.
But once a week , the steaks sate me enough to fast,fish,fast,fish,fast. 5 days of fish and fasting. .
I probablyvshoyld nt type when I'm so sleepy.
Zzzzzzzz
I ended up binging on Monday
I realized that I was still focusing on eating as little as possible. For the rest of the month (April), I am giving myself the permission to eat until full, not worrying about trying to eat as little as possible just to avoid getting a headache. I know weight loss will be a lot slower this way, but I think this will also help me not to binge.
Britt, often times I get a headache if I am not drinking enough or if I am low on salt.
Southern Maven, I hope you change your mind, or at least stop in once in a while. I think I will be doing longer fasts in the future and I appreciate reading about your experience.
Hello Everyone Else!
Still doing well on OMAD. Learning a lot from reading about others experiences and the different types/times.
