I'm Chloe and have lurked here for quite awhile. I enjoy reading the success stories and sympathize with everyone's struggles.
I'm 51 (almost 52) and gained weight after I got married. My husband and I were living in Texas and became addicted to Tex-Mex food. Also, we drank too much wine. Additionally, I began eating three meals a day whether I was hungry or not.
In high school, I was slim at 118 pounds and 5'3-1/2". Back then, I skipped breakfast because food made me gag that early; school lunches were horrible. I'd come home, eat some cookies and watch Dark Shadows. Then, it was time to eat supper. I'm from the south and we ate large suppers - lard biscuits, fried chicken, fried potatoes, gravy, etc. None of us were overweight. In fact, there were only two overweight girls in my high school! Times have changed. Only if we knew why we're getting fatter. No one really knows. There is no solid science to say why.
There sure is science to prove why so many of us are prone to diabetes though. Our ancestors did not eat all day long nor did they eat every day. For some of us, we need less fuel for our mitochondria cells because we are close to our hunter-gather ancestors. The excess fuel causes inflammation and hence diabetes. So, the solution is to eat less but it's very difficult when food is available 24/7 for most of us. We are wired to eat when food is available. I have a theory that the more we eat, the more we eat. And the less we eat, the less we eat.
I have tried many diets, even zero carb. Physiologically, I can't stick with most diets. My body rebels (usually) after a few days of calorie reduction. I'm a martial artist but I can tell you exercise will not make the fat go away necessarily; intense exercise can make you eat more. We burn 500 - 1,000 calories in my classes. I should have disappeared by now if exercise was that great for weight loss.
I finally decided to go back to the way I ate in high school - one main meal a day. I did a lot of research. I wasn't too surprised to find that the 5 - 6 meals a day thing is not based in science. It works for some people though. But I would have to count calories if I were to do that and I'm done with the dieting mentality. No more counting calories, no counting carbs, no portion control or eating small amounts, or grazing, or whatever.
So, I snack on some protein when I get hungry during the day. The hunger is very mild. Sometimes, I just get a gurgle at the times I would normally eat. But not real hunger. No nausea. In fact, my hypoglycemia went away. According to the Warrior Diet, it is recommended you eat fruit or veggies when a little hungry, but also protein shakes if you want. It's the big guys that can down a 300 calorie shake for breakfast and call it a snack, lol. I will say that fruit made my hunger worse, so I stopped doing that and now eat a cheese stick or a low-carb Slim-Fast (because they're convenient)
I use a lot of good fats in my evening meal, eat some whole grains, 2 - 4 oz. lean protein, about 2 cups of steamd veggies, and dessert. I take in about 1400 calories in that one meal, sometimes it's less. Sometimes, I do eat fast food and choose a cheeseburger, fries, and a frosty. I don't do that too often because I want to maximize my nutrition.
I worried about my metabolism slowing down. That's so dumb. I plan to stay on this diet forever. And there are studies (animal, including primate) that show a slower metabolism may be better for health and longevity. However, no one on the diet has reported a slower metabolism. People are getting cut and lean on it. Me included!!!
If the slower metabolism/starvatin mode (two different things) were true, the prisoners at Auschwitz would have blown up like refrigerators. Those dear people starved to death on 600 - 700 calories a day. I haven't seen any photos of fat concentration prisoners.
I have more energy during the day, too. I guess that's because my body is not busy digesting food and is accessing fat stores for energy.
It took about two weeks for me to stop thinking about food all day. But the body is amazing and can be trained to just about any eating pattern.
Hello there!!!
I just found out about this diet yesterday. I read a bit about it online and I really like its theory.
It seems like something I am willing to try once I get to maintenance.
Right now I am losing with ESE, but I also heard some people do good with Fast-5.
How long have you been doing The Warrior Diet? Did you get the book?
I probably shouldn't say I folllow the Warrior Diet because I don't buy organic stuff. Also, I sometimes eat during the day instead of after working out. Another thing, I don't eat for four hours either. Just the one meal (plus a few snacks during the day). And that's plenty.
I had some false starts with the Warrior Diet. I tried to do it off and on for about a year. I never really got hungry but I got bored waiting to eat. Then, I'd eat too early and be hungry 5 hours later. I'd end up overeating calories.
I've been doing it solidly for about 5 months now and had lost 25 pounds last time I checked. Believe it or not, I have almost given up the scale. One reason is the scale has a tendency to fluctuate a lot for me on the Warrior Diet. I retain fluid easily. The scales basically lie. My clothes get looser and looser. One day, I will weigh again.
I do have The Warrior Diet book. Ori Hofmekler has come out with another book that is supposed to be more science-based. The first Warrior Diet book is kind of romantic and maybe the science is not supported.
I know a lot of people are having success with Eat-Stop-Eat. Rusty Moore of Fitness Black Book does ESE though he did the Warrior Diet for awhile.
I also downloaded the Fast-5 book and like that plan, too.
Rusty says ESE works very well. He says he fasts two times a week and eats 3 - 4 meals a day the other days. He said he was tempted to eat too much junk on the Warrior Diet.
I can totally understand what you mean. I too, was born and raised in New Orleans and we ATE ATE ATE, and I never gained a pound. It all changed around the time I hit my 30th birthday though.
I wish I could get into some form of martial arts. That would be such an awesome workout!
ChloeG
I will be honest with you.
I don't do 100% ESE. I not even have the book. I do what I could learn on its website and some things I read online.
The reason why I like ESE is because I can’t live without sugar or treats (at least for few occasions).
So ESE works fine with me. I fast 1 or 2/week (I’ve done it 3 times when I cheat really bad on weekends) and on the weekends I eat whatever I want.
I don’t want to live like this forever, but for now it is working for me.
That’s why I said I might try The Warrior Diet once I reach my goal.
I am always adapting my diet and trying something new whenever I few I am bored. But I realize that I’ll have to find something to stick to.
Maybe it will be ESE (I just need to figure out a way to eat less junk on the weekends). But as everyone says here: Small steps, right???
Do you mind to let me know how is your plan?
Thank you
Bele
I can totally understand what you mean. I too, was born and raised in New Orleans and we ATE ATE ATE, and I never gained a pound. It all changed around the time I hit my 30th birthday though.
I wish I could get into some form of martial arts. That would be such an awesome workout!
Welcome and good luck to you!
Jeff
Funny how those 30th birthdays turn things around! Well, not so funny.
Martial arts (I do Tang Soo Do - think Chuck Norris) is definitely a good workout. I am no athlete, was always last picked for the team and I hated sports. But this is different. It's an art and you are competing against yourself. It's also very mental. Being overweight, I wasn't sure how I would do. I had been doing a lot of walking up and down hills when I joined (over two years ago) and was in better shape than I thought. I have seen people come in and puke or pass out during their first trial class. The key is pacing yourself. The instructors will get every last ounce out of you but you have to learn to pace yourself and modify. The workouts can be brutal but I swear it is so much different because I'm doing this for myself. I can do push up after push up in class because of the positive atmosphere. At home? Forget it, lol.
I exercise for the health benefits. Even though I'm still overweight I have a heck of an hourglass figure and am muscular. When I'm at goal weight I won't be a skinny-fat with a muffin top. Heart disease and diabetes run in my family so I have a good reason to work out.
Finding something you like is key. I wanted to run but I have flat feet, bunions, hammertoes, etc. Even if I were a stick figure, I'd still get shinsplints and foot fractures. I'm glad I found Tang Soo Do, though we have to do laps in class sometimes - that's not too bad. I thought about rollerblading but I don't have the coordination for it...and nowhere to rollerblade here really.
Thanks for the welcome and good luck to you too, Jeff!
ChloeG
I will be honest with you.
I don't do 100% ESE. I not even have the book. I do what I could learn on its website and some things I read online.
The reason why I like ESE is because I can’t live without sugar or treats (at least for few occasions).
So ESE works fine with me. I fast 1 or 2/week (I’ve done it 3 times when I cheat really bad on weekends) and on the weekends I eat whatever I want.
I don’t want to live like this forever, but for now it is working for me.
That’s why I said I might try The Warrior Diet once I reach my goal.
I am always adapting my diet and trying something new whenever I few I am bored. But I realize that I’ll have to find something to stick to.
Maybe it will be ESE (I just need to figure out a way to eat less junk on the weekends). But as everyone says here: Small steps, right???
Do you mind to let me know how is your plan?
Thank you
Bele
Hi Bele,
I am just like you. I get bored with diets. I think everyone does. Also, cutting out foods, whether it's sugar, brown rice, or meat, spells disaster for a lot of people. There really aren't any evil foods (except maybe transfats - are they even a food???).
I don't think there is anything at wrong with trying different diets. I have for years. I never gave up. I think that is the key. I mean you could lose on Atkins, get sick of Ranch dressing, and go to a vegan diet and keep losing.
The weekends can be very hard. If I eat off plan, it's usually on the weekends. I decided that is part of life. What's weird is I don't really gain weight when I eat more on the weekends. I'm not sure that's really overeating. When I was thin, I ate like a pig on the weekends. We'd have family barbecues, a big Sunday dinner, ice cream and popcorn on Saturday nights. Weekends were like one continuous celebration - Easter, Christmas, Thanksgiving, fourth of July... I don't eat like that now, but I have a tendency to eat extra meals on the weekends.
Generally, what I do is:
10:00 am - coffee and a string cheese
1:00 pm - low-carb Slim-Fast or a whey protein drink with a banana; sometimes a small hunk of chicken
Sometimes, I drink a low-sodium V-8 to make sure I'm getting enough veggies.
3 - 4 pm - main meal -
. homemade spaghetti and meat sauce (made with lean beef); garlic bread; a spinach salad with olive oil and vinegar (sometimes bleu cheese dressing); low-fat ice cream with bananas and chocolate syrup or some dark chocolate and a cookie or two.
.homemade chicken fried rice; pecan tart
.Subway tuna sandwich with a ton of raw spinach; baked chips; coookie
.homemade pizza with plenty of veggies and olives; dark chocolate
.ramen noodles with veggies and chicken. I cook the veggies and noodles in the microwave and dump the water after noodles are done. I throw away the packet of seasoning and stir in some soy sauce and teryaki sauce. Still high in sodium and will make the scales go up. Some kind of dessert.
.beans and rice on a flour tortilla; salad with dressing; chocolate cake
,baked potato with Smart Balance and vegetarian chili; frozen fruit thawed a little and some nuts
Just some examples ^
I try to eat plenty of veggies at that one meal. I eat everything but with an eye on saturated fats and cholesterol. I actually try to eat more tuna and salmon these days. I often eat frozen fruit and a piece of dark chocolate for dessert.
Not all my meals are perfect but I love a lot of healthy foods and try to focus on those, more of a MediterrAsian diet I guess.
I'm new to the boards too, so welcome to a fellow newbie! Glad you're no longer lurking!
I'm currently doing the Eat Clean diet, which advocates the 6 mini meals a day. I'm glad that you found something that works for you, because I dont think I'd have the will power to only eat once a day! Good for you, if you can do it, dont feel hungry and are still losing weight! That's awesome!
I think eating clean is a great idea. I did try 6 meals a day but it made me hungrier and it also upset my blood sugar. It kept my blood sugar going up and down, up and down so that I ended up with hypoglycemia. I felt like I was forming bad habits, too - I felt like I was eating all the time and when not hungry. Also, I felt like a slave to dieting because I had to count calories. Too bad there isn't just one clear diet that works for everyone and then we wouldn't waste out time struggling so much!
I just found this thread. I hope you're still around Chloe!
I've been eating once a day since June and I love it. I would like to connect with others who do this.
I first started eating like this because I was stressed out one week because of this project I was working on. When I eat I get tired and I couldn't afford that. And if I try to eat when I'm stressed I just get sick and I REALLY didn't want to deal with that, so I didn't eat until dinnertime for the whole week. I was worried I was going to gain weight, but at the end of the week my jeans were fitting better so I kept doing it. At first I got hungry and weak during the day, but after the first few weeks I adjusted.
I don't have the Warrior Diet book but I've heard of it. I came across it one day after I was scouring the internet for people who eat like this after I decided I like it. The concept totally makes sense to me. I came to the same conclusion about our ancestors only eating once a day and still having the energy to hunt wild boar while I was eating constantly and I had no energy at all. Go figure!
I don't eat at all until dinnertime. Usually between 1-3 AM for us but we go to sleep around 6. I don't eat anything during the day but I do drink coffee when I wake up. Black coffee, of course. If I do happen to get hunger pangs at all, I just drink more water and it goes away. I've found that I don't get hungry until I eat so if I don't eat all day I don't have to worry about getting hungry. Brilliant!
Another bonus is that I'm not tired and bloated all day like I was before when I was forcing myself to eat when I wasn't hungry. I've also found I crave more nutritious food since my body knows I'm only going to feed it once a day. I still eat junk food once in a while, but I can't 2 days in a row. If I eat fast food, the next day I'm craving REAL FOOD and the thought of more junk food grosses me out. haha It's pretty awesome actually.
I've steadily lost weight since June and it doesn't feel like a diet at all. I don't ever want to go back to eating more than once a day. The few times I've tried to eat earlier (like when the bf's family had a 6 o'clock dinner - which is lunchtime for our schedule!) and so I made myself eat and I felt awful the rest of the day. Now I just tell people I'm not hungry if I have to go to something like that - though most people know about my new way of eating.
I haven't changed my ticker since I came on here since I didn't weigh myself until I joined in September and I haven't seen a big jump in the scale though I HAVE seen a loss in inches, and an increase in strength and endurance. But I started daily strength training in September too - and that could totally be a factor.
Hi Chloe!
SOunds like you're off to a fantastic start with a great plan that works for you - the support you need is here.
Glad to have you join us! There are lots & lots of different groups and forums - I'm sure you'll find some that will keep you motivated, inspired and entertained! There's also info and first hand advice on different eating plans and exercise to help choose the right ones for you and get through the ups and downs.
There are bunches of people here with more to lose and some with less - the bottom line is that we all have to do it a day at a time. The good thing is that we'll have lots of company along the way.
I've only been here a few months myself, having NEVER been part of an online forum. What has been so eye-opening is how much it has helped me. Whenever I feel overwhelmed or defeated, I just log on and read some of the success stories, complete with their before & after photos - or read about others still dealing day to day with their challenges - and before I know it, the time has flown by and so have all the thoughts of cheating or giving up.
So welcome - you 've found the right place - join in by inspiring us and being inspired!
Warrior Lady
I'm glad you're not lurking anymore. Welcome! 
