The New Years diet fred (No Tims allowed)

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

This thread has been RESURRECTED!

Decided in mid-March that I don't want to be fat so I've been on a diet since then.

Started off just being eating healthy but not following any sort of diet. I then switched to intermittent fasting about a month ago and I'm enjoying it.

Lost 14KG so far (just over 2 stones) and I'm not missing anything when it comes to food. I was stuck at the 12KG mark for a week or two so switched my first meal (about 12pm) from a carb heavy meal to protein heavy meal and that has helped a lot.

Also cut down my Coke Zero consumption by at least 50%, I'm down to 1-3 cans (it's rarely 3 though) and I'm drinking a hell of a lot more water.

Haven't really done much exercise yet but I think I'll get a gym membership soon and use it to swim at the very least.

[Lewis]

Go on lad.

[Shindig]

Best of luck.

[Spikey M]

What's your goal weight 'how? What do you weigh now? Good work so far.

[Giggles]

You're only in your 30's though aren't you? Easy money.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

What's your goal weight 'how? What do you weigh now? Good work so far.

Not sure yet and far too much still.

[Offshore Toon]

Do it properly or don't bother resurrecting the thread.

[Lewis]

How much Coke Zero were you necking?

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

How much Coke Zero were you necking?

1.3-2.2L a day or so.

[Baz]

Why is Coke Zero bad for you?

[randomlegend]

Makes you more prone to type 2 diabetes (provokes similar responses to sugar). There's also some evidence linking them to fatty liver disease.

[Ian]

Good work Mahow, I have similarly been making efforts to be less if a chubber and I'm around the same as you down so far. Mostly just calorie counting but I'm upping my exercise again too.

[Lewis]

Why is Coke Zero bad for you?

Must be a fiver a day habit by the sounds of it.

[Manc]

IF really is a cheat code.

[Boydy]

Makes you more prone to type 2 diabetes (provokes similar responses to sugar). There's also some evidence linking them to fatty liver disease.

Is that actually true? Any time I've ever looked into it the studies all seem to conflict.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

IF really is a cheat code.

Surprisingly easy to adjust to as well.

[randomlegend]

Is that actually true?

To be fair the evidence is poorer than I thought. The meta-analyses find correlation but recognise there's likely to be bias and the studies are generally of poor quality.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8402166/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7014832/

[Manc]

Surprisingly easy to adjust to as well.

Super manageable. I've found it a great way to manipulate my sleep schedule also.

[Lewis]

You have to wonder how many kids have been getting the wrong treatment because their parents didn't request a quick Google to be sure.

[randomlegend]

You have to wonder how many kids have been getting the wrong treatment because their parents didn't request a quick Google to be sure.

I'd always google it first at work, dw mate.

[Boydy]

To be fair the evidence is poorer than I thought. The meta-analyses find correlation but recognise there's likely to be bias and the studies are generally of poor quality.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8402166/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7014832/

Obvs you probably shouldn't be drinking litres of that crap every day anyway, tbf. I generally stick to one can a day with dinner these days. Maybe two cans on the weekends when I'm going a bit wild.

SSRIs and insulin resistance, now, that's another story. I was always fucking hungry on that sertraline shit.

[Don]

Has TTH got any fatties left that don't feel suitably ashamed of themselves? I don't wish to take all the credit but I've been doing the dirty work on here for far too long.

[Ben]

To be fair the evidence is poorer than I thought. The meta-analyses find correlation but recognise there's likely to be bias and the studies are generally of poor quality.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8402166/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7014832/

Naturally most studies are going to set calories at 1:1 which is why there's little evidence of its effectiveness. But IFs main benefit is that it effectively eliminates a meal and snack time's worth of calories because most people who do it aren't going to make up for that missed meal by eating two meals when they're allowed to eat. It's just a calorie reduction system, really, but you can still eat good food instead of the other bobbins going about like Slimming World.

[Kikó]

The thing I've always taken from intermittent fasting is your consciously aware of what you're not eating so you're making an active decision to try and change your lifestyle. That's usually most of the battle - making a change in habit.

Impressive work 'how.

[Spikey M]

I never have breakfast (unless I'm on holiday), so I've been Intermittent Fasting since before it was cool.

[Yevrah]

It definitely works, but I can’t recommend highly enough adding some exercise once you’re down to a respectable weight.

[Lofty]

So on IF do you still have 2000 calories of food just in an 8 hour window?

[Spikey M]

So on IF do you still have 2000 calories of food just in an 8 hour window?

IF is simply defined eating windows. It can range from 12 hours fasting (12:12) to 16:8 to one meal a day. You could add calorie restrictions to that aswell if you wanted to, but it's not part of it per se.

[Ben]

So on IF do you still have 2000 calories of food just in an 8 hour window?

That's why scientific evidence surrounding it is sketchy. If you eat 2000 in 8 hours vs. 2000 in 24 hours, it's still 2000 calories, so the difference is negligible, if at all. By restricting your eating window, if you're not meticulously tracking calories, you're naturally going to consume less. So while IF definitely works for weight loss with a lot of people, it's probably not for the reasons they think.

[Kikó]

It definitely works, but I can’t recommend highly enough adding some exercise once you’re down to a respectable weight.

Especially if you are losing a lot of fat and want to make sure you tighten the skin rather than have droopiness.

[Spikey M]

That's why scientific evidence surrounding it is sketchy. If you eat 2000 in 8 hours vs. 2000 in 24 hours, it's still 2000 calories, so the difference is negligible, if at all. By restricting your eating window, if you're not meticulously tracking calories, you're naturally going to consume less. So while IF definitely works for weight loss with a lot of people, it's probably not for the reasons they think.

The same is true for Keto and probably other diets too. For all the talk of Ketosis and Autophagy and blahblahblah, the main thing going on is that it’s hard to hit 2000 calories when you can't eat pastry, potato, pasta, rice, etc and you're calling cheese on crushed cauliflower "pizza".

[Ben]

The same is true for Keto and probably other diets too. For all the talk of Ketosis and Autophagy and blahblahblah, the main thing going on is that it’s hard to hit 2000 calories when you can't eat pastry, potato, pasta, rice, etc and you're calling cheese on crushed cauliflower "pizza".

Exactly. I tried keto for a while about a decade ago. Fucking hard work getting my 2800 maintenance calories, no matter how much I love steak and eggs.

[randomlegend]

Naturally most studies are going to set calories at 1:1 which is why there's little evidence of its effectiveness. But IFs main benefit is that it effectively eliminates a meal and snack time's worth of calories because most people who do it aren't going to make up for that missed meal by eating two meals when they're allowed to eat. It's just a calorie reduction system, really, but you can still eat good food instead of the other bobbins going about like Slimming World.

The conversation was about whether diet drinks/artificial sweeteners are linked to type 2 diabetes not about IF.

[CJay]

Calorie counting is crap.

Get some Tim Spector in your lives and reap the benefits.

Make your own own food
DonÂ’t eat stuff out of individual packets
Eat vegetables, lots of them
Extra virgin olive oil
Exercise

Life really is as simple as that.

[Spikey M]

I don't know who Tim Spector is but I don't think he invented healthy eating tbh

[Ben]

Wasn't he the guy who was the face of that Zoe COVID map? Depends on your goals but calorie counting is most definitely not crap if you need to refine your weight gain/loss alongside a dedicated gym routine.

[Ian]

Calorie counting is crap.

It's been helpful for me so far. Mostly just as a method of keeping myself in check rather than the minutiae of it being particularly relevant.

[Lofty]

Calorie counting essentially means you can eat whatever and lose weight if you stick to your targets. A college professor in the states did it eating all processed crap to prove you could lose weight in deficit. Obviously there are other issues with it but purely on the maths calorie deficit = loss (unless you have a health condition that screws that).

[Yevrah]

So on IF do you still have 2000 calories of food just in an 8 hour window?

No, it's just a fancy way of saying you're starving yourself.

At least that's what I thought it was anyway.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I think some people take IF to the extreme and they do starve themselves.

I'm on the 16:8 and I wouldn't consider that starving yourself. I don't feel hungry late at night and I generally only get hungry about an 30-60 minutes before my meal times.

I was pretty much doing 2 meals a day anyway but I was snacking a lot, especially late at night which I've obviously stopped doing.

I've even shifted my times around on some days when I needed to. For instance I drove with family to Belgium for a night and ended up eating on day at 7am and then again at 3:30pm (UK times) and I was fine.

[Spikey M]

Fasting is starving yourself, it's just that IF falls on the mild end of the spectrum. There are ALOT of people with eating disorders that started out on Intermittent Fasting and progressed onto longer fasts. As with anything, there is an awful lot of bullshit on Social Media about this stuff and it can and does get taken to extremes.

[Offshore Toon]

Yeah, I've done 60 hour fasts before. Once you get an app and start chasing numbers, who knows where you'll end up.

[CJay]

It's been helpful for me so far. Mostly just as a method of keeping myself in check rather than the minutiae of it being particularly relevant.

In terms of being aware of what you’re eating it can definitely be beneficial, like a food diary type thing. But calculating that one meal is 300 calories when it could well be 200 or 500, depending on various factors, is a bit pointless.

[Boydy]

In terms of being aware of what you’re eating it can definitely be beneficial, like a food diary type thing. But calculating that one meal is 300 calories when it could well be 200 or 500, depending on various factors, is a bit pointless.

You're not doing it on a one meal basis though are you? You'd be setting yourself day a 2000 calorie limit every day and while calories on the nutritional info on food packaging isn't always 100% accurate you'd be assuming those inaccuracies even out. And if you're not losing at 2000 a day you can go down to 1800 a day and see what hapoens etc. Calorie counting does work.

[CJay]

Just because you are calorie counting doesn’t mean you’re eating a healthy diet.

A calorie isn’t just a calorie - intake and BMR will vary wildly from person to person and from food type to food type. Genetics also play a big role. Just because there are 100 calories in meal 1 doesn’t mean your body has consumed 100 calories from that meal. It’s an inherently flawed idea. It works to a point because it’s restrictive in nature, but long term I bet people aren’t keeping the weight off. Hence why this thread is at page 14.

Hit me up with some studies, RL.

[Spikey M]

Take it to the Conspiracy thread lad.

[Baz]

I asked AI about intermittent fasting and it’s come up with a plan to fit around my day:

Toggle Spoiler

Based on the information you provided, here's a weekday intermittent fasting plan that you can follow:

1. Time-Restricted Eating (16:8 Method):
- Start your eating window at 12:30 PM and end it at 8:30 PM, allowing an 8-hour eating period.
- During the fasting window, you can consume calorie-free beverages such as water, unsweetened tea, or black coffee.

2. Morning Routine:
- 06:30 AM: Wake up and hydrate yourself with a glass of water or herbal tea.
- 07:00 AM: You can have black coffee if desired, as it doesn't break your fasting state.

3. Workday Schedule:
- 08:45 AM: Begin your work.
- 12:30 PM: Break your fast with a healthy, balanced lunch.
- 03:30 PM: Have a light snack, such as a piece of fruit or a handful of nuts.
- 06:00 PM: Start preparing your dinner.
- 07:00 PM: Enjoy a nutritious dinner with your family.

Remember, during your eating window, it's important to focus on consuming balanced meals that include lean proteins, whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and healthy fats. Portion control and mindful eating can also be beneficial for weight management.

On weekends, you can follow a more flexible eating schedule and return to your regular eating habits. However, it's still essential to make healthy food choices to support your weight loss goals.

Additionally, incorporating regular physical activity into your routine, such as walking, jogging, or strength training, can complement your intermittent fasting plan and contribute to overall health and weight management.

Please keep in mind that individual responses to intermittent fasting can vary, so it's important to listen to your body and adjust the plan accordingly.

I do a rough version of that anyway, only with more snacks, so I might try to be stricter and follow this.

[Lofty]

Take it to the Conspiracy thread lad.

That's what a Big Calorie shill would say.

[Ian]

, but long term I bet people aren’t keeping the weight off. Hence why this thread is at page 14.

That's more because people don't stick to it because ultimately the sort of person who just likes eating crisps all the time probably don't have the motivation/ discipline / whatever to keep it up.

Saying "don't follow diet plans just exercise more and eat better" isn't going to work any more than telling somebody who's depressed to try looking on the bright would. If the people doing it were tedium junkies who love jogging and kale they wouldn't be trying to lose weight.

[Spikey M]

Boxers and bodybuilders use calorie tracking and macro's to play their bodies like a fiddle. They would not be able to achieve their goals by following whatever Tim Spector has been trotting out.

"What do you mean I'm overweight? I haven't eaten anything from a packet!"