quote:

Originally posted by apprentice:
I'd like to say that intermittent fasting is getting way easier, but..



Beneficial sure, but not any easier with practice.

It’s gotten easy for me after only a couple of weeks. It’s surprising since I’ve always had a food addiction and found it most difficult in the evening in the past. Now I usually eat around 0500 and stop by noon. I’ve gone 24 hours fasting with no problems but I usually only do 16. The zero app keeps track of the time for me.

quote:

Originally posted by apprentice:
I'd like to say that intermittent fasting is getting way easier, but..

What is your nutrition like? Have you done low carb/keto and stuck to it long enough (2 weeks +) to get past the "carb-flu" symptoms and adapt to it?

I can go dinner to dinner and not even notice it, typically on busy days. My body just chugs along happily burning fat...and I actually eat a decent amount of carbs these days, it is just my body knows not to bother me if it has to do without them for many hours or even days.

I personally wouldn't try IF if I was still "carb-addicted."

Same here. I can go out on a Friday night and have a couple of slices of thin crust pizza and a couple of beers. Fast til lunch Saturday and I’m right back in. Early on if I had done that, it would take me three days to get back in.

Military and VA:

Virta Health Partners with U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to Help Veterans with Type 2 Diabetes 5-16-19

Innovative treatment for Vets with Type 2 diabetes 4-25-2019

New military study: “Remarkable” results among soldiers on a ketogenic diet 3-19-2019

Extended Ketogenic Diet and Physical Training Intervention in Military Personnel. 3-16-2019

Prior to the isolation of insulin by Dr Banting, a strict ketogenic diet (with severe caloric restriction) was the ONLY treatment for diabetes (mostly Type 1). But rather than adding insulin to a treatment regimen that was partially successful, the diabetic community switched wholesale to insulin as the glorious, one, true answer. While still problematic for Type 1, an insulin centric treatment, has better results than for Type 2 as it replaces the missing insulin of a damaged pancreas.

But with Type 2, the problem is insulin resistance to already very high levels of insulin. Adding more insulin overcomes the resistance, but only until the body develops even higher levels of insulin resistance. Doctors respond by increasing administration of insulin and the cycle repeats. This is why diabetes is considered a progressive disease.

While not always the whole solution, a major part of the solution is a VLCHF (Very-Low-Carb, High-Fat) diet. It brings down blood sugars, lowers insulin levels and consequently reduces insulin resistance over time. Does it result in a 100% restoration of insulin sensitivity? Perhaps not. Once resistance is "learned" by the body, it is hard for it to be "unlearned".

Easy? No. Not for me anyway. Fighting carb addiction and keeping to a VLCHF diet is a recurring struggle for me.

Fasting is another part of the solution. It gives the body a period of no dietary derived blood sugar and thus reduced insulin needs and consequently reduced insulin resistance.

Personally, I find successfully coming off fasts longer than a day to be extremely difficult. I end up eating carbs, then eating more carbs, then binging. Getting back on the VLCHF diet wagon is then very difficult for me. So I try to stick to the VLCHF and a restricted daily eating time. You have to find what works for you.

While I have had my ups and downs weight wise, my A1C has tested 5.3 to 5.6 (occasionally better) since 2012, shortly after I was diagnosed with diabetes. I am currently down about a 100 pounds with another 100 or so to go.

quote:

Originally posted by Strambo:

quote:

Originally posted by apprentice:
I'd like to say that intermittent fasting is getting way easier, but..

What is your nutrition like? Have you done low carb/keto and stuck to it long enough (2 weeks +) to get past the "carb-flu" symptoms and adapt to it?

I can go dinner to dinner and not even notice it, typically on busy days. My body just chugs along happily burning fat...and I actually eat a decent amount of carbs these days, it is just my body knows not to bother me if it has to do without them for many hours or even days.

I personally wouldn't try IF if I was still "carb-addicted."

Not sure what is meant by carb-addicted.

Maybe I am, but I do believe I have been making much healthier diet/lifestyle choices overall than I used to. Also, I've never been what anyone would think of as overweight. For perspective, I quit smoking a bit more than a year and a half ago and while I have gained about 10 pounds, my jeans (32x32 if anyone is that curious) still fit about the same and my exercise tolerance is much better.

My version of intermittent fasting is once, sometimes twice a week, eating less than 50 calories for at least 16 hours. Which means if I slip up in the morning of my fast with 1/4 teaspoon of sugar in my coffee I'm not going to jump off a bridge from shame and failure.
The intent is to give my gut a weekly rest and maybe achieve some autophagy in the process.

Yes, it is easier than it used to be. No, I don't yet look forward to it with baited breath six days out of the week thus the above posted gif of Monty Python's self flagellating monks.

I have some fat that hides my abs and whatnot. Sure, it would be great to get rid of it, but it is such a relatively small amount that I can't get motivated if I have to go much more restrictive to do so.

And holy shit, I've been here for 15 years!

Congrats on 15!

By carb addicted I just mean that your body is used to having carbs for quick energy, Carbs are greatly preferred as a survival mechanism. If you have carbs, the body is going to take the easy way out and burn them and save the fat. Fat is harder to break down.

So, if/when you switch to a truly low carb diet (or no cal, thus no carb fast), the body reacts to that negatively. It still wants carbs and is resistant to breaking down fat for energy. It feels kinda like flu-like symptoms. Sluggish, hazy, maybe headaches and just mildly "off."

After that 1-2 week adjustment period, the body just gives up and burns fat without protest. Your head clears and energy levels off like a slow and steady train, whether you are eating or not. Thus, post adaptation fasting is pretty easy.

Myself, I went form a junk American diet with 300+ carb grams per day to "Paleo" for a month (not deliberatly low carb though) and my avg. daily carbs dropped to 90g. I had 1.5wks of "carb-flu" and then I was good.

Now, I can eat lots of carbs or none or no food at all and my energy levels stay pretty steady (unless I really overdue the carbs!)

Got myself down to the point I could not only get into 34" waist jeans comfortably, for the first time in a couple years, but even get my PPS M2 in an IWB Kydex holster in there, too!

Wanted to get a bit more sun in while doing the lawn the other day, so I put on one of my old form-hugging tank tops. "Hmmm... Not bad. I can rock this." I thought. Wife agreed.

Got to thinkin' I'd been meaning to try an Under Armour compression shirt of some type for some time. Maybe...?

Yeah... no. I had hoped to look closer to



than

Reviving the thread, wondering how everybody's doing with their plans and goals?

As for myself: I've gained some decent muscle definition; have mostly lost the "moobs," belly and love handles; am definitely into 34" waist jeans (with room for an IWB carry); am hovering right around 19% body fat and still dropping (slowly), and my weight is now right around where I like it to be: 185 lbs.

Can't quite pull off a UA compression shirt, yet, though

This is despite the occasional cheats with alcohol, snacks and, yes, massively sugary stuff , and occasionally blowing off the workouts. The key word there is "occasional."

quote:

Originally posted by apprentice:
I'd like to say that intermittent fasting is getting way easier, but..



Beneficial sure, but not any easier with practice.

I intermittent fast on days where I did not do strength training the day before and won't be doing so on that day. That means once or twice a week--depending upon my workout schedule. I don't even necessarily do it every week.

I've found it only mildly challenging.

Kinda let my diet go when I went on vacation in June and I’m just now getting back into the proper eating and exercise routine. Some days are better than others.

quote:

Originally posted by Leemur:
Kinda let my diet go when I went on vacation in June ...

I did that last year. You're getting back in the saddle faster than did I! We came back from vacation in early May and I didn't get back into it until Oct. 1st. Paid for that, I did.

Not only did I abandon my workouts all that time, but my diet went to hell, too. E.g.: I ran through an entire jar of chocolate covered raisins from Costco in about two months.

By the thundering silence I suspect you and I aren't the only ones who fell off the wagon

Since you asked, I'm still on my same routine. I've adjusted the amount of sets that I consider a work out downward from 24 to 16. Not as sore in some of my joints now, and I'm just aiming to maintain weight etc. at 165 pounds.

Sunday is my typical fast day (16 hours) and I give myself extra credit if I work out before eating that day.

By my count I've been at this for 1 year and 8 months this week.

I plan on my vacations as being back off weeks for exercise and nutrition. So it isnt falling off the wagon, just part of my planning.

Have a business trip all next week, this week will be more intense workout-wise and I wont feel like I have to do anything next week, planned recovery. Nutrition wise ill just not go crazy.

I really enjoy seeing this thread revived. I've been on a health journey for some time now trying to reverse sedentary ways and off set some of the aging effects I've noticed since last year.

As I started creeping up on 50 I noticed my usual physical activity just wasn't keeping my weight/health in a comfortable range.

Then last year I had a mis-diagnosed appendix issue, not the Doc's fault, it presented as a gall bladder issue and I ended up losing around 30 pounds because eating hurt my belly. One appendectomy later I was feeling better and eating again. I regained the 30 pounds...mostly as fat. I felt terrible. Mind you, this didn't happen all at once. After 6-8 months of noticing my flagging energy and slowly increasing weight I knew what previously had worked for me was no longer going to cut it.

Like many here I knew weight control begins with food. I took what SF collective had to offer, did some reading (Obesity Code is an excellent read!) and cobbled together a plan.

I changed my eating habits and reduced my carbs so that my only real source of carbs come from fruits and veggies rather than processed wheat/four/sugar and adopted what I've come to know is now called an intermittent fasting food schedule. Basically that means I only eat between 11am and 7pm (mostly)

I began working out with an early emphasis on aerobic activity (get out and get that heart rate up!) and alternating in some weight training. (Legs!)

I am now within 10 pounds of my goal weight and I feel MUCH better!

Getting older isn't for sissies.

Just wanted to toss this tidbit in. I had been struggling with weight gain. I'm 36 with a 5 and 1 year old so they are a large part of it. I haven't been able to go to the gym but a few days a month. Even with muscle loss, I dropped from just at 220lbs to hovering around 201-203lbs. It turns out I have a dairy allergy that my doctor never even thought of. I've had chronic sinus infections and stomach issues I didn't even realize I had. I cut dairy out and dropped 15-18lbs in a few months. It's something to consider.

quote:

Originally posted by Strambo:
I plan on my vacations as being back off weeks for exercise and nutrition. So it isnt falling off the wagon, just part of my planning.

So do I, as a rule. But, in my case last year and Leemur's this year, we failed to get back to it after returning from vacation.

Here's another thing: When I went on vacation last year I spent an inordinate amount of time sitting. In the airports and planes, both ways, of course. When visiting. At restaurants. In cars. Etc. After a week of that I was becoming increasingly stiff and in pain. One trip to a gym, complements of a nephew-in-law, and I was all fixed up. So this time I'm bringing a set of exercise bands. Going to ask my fitness buff nephew-in-law to acquire a mat for me.

I’ve been killing it in the gym and have seen massive strength increases. Knocking on the door of a 500lb deadlift probably within a month.

I had been killing it in the kitchen as well. Daily calorie totals between 1700 and 2100, half of that from good protein.

But it wasn’t showing much on the scale. Weight was coming off at a snails pace. Coming from a guy who last time, at this stage, lost 7-12 pounds a week I was really frustrated with my half pound a week.

Obviously I making some progress because my clothes fit a little better and every week my max weights in the gym go up, but the scale just doesn’t move. Over the course of months.

I decided I may not be eating enough and about 2 weeks ago bumped my caloric intake up to 3000.

I’ll give it 2 more weeks before I step on a scale again. In the meantime, I’m just concentrating on weight lifting goals for motivation.

quote:

Originally posted by thumperfbc:
I’ve been killing it in the gym and have seen massive strength increases.
...

But it wasn’t showing much on the scale. Weight was coming off at a snails pace.

Stop looking at the scale as a metric. Muscle weighs twice as much as fat per unit volume. That means you have to lose fat mass at a greater rate than you gain muscle mass to realize a net weight loss.

The above applies even more so if you're using creatine, which causes the muscles to store more water.

I use waist size (because guys tend to lose fat around the waist last), perceived muscle definition (fat hides muscle definition) and, as confirmation of those two, the Omron body fat analyzer at the gym.

^^^^

Yes, what ensigmatic said. Throw away your scale (or at least only use it as one, but not the primary metric.)

Take measurements....if you are losing inches, you are losing fat, period. It doesn't matter if the scale goes up, if you lost even 1/4" around your waist, you lost some fat that week.