I know this is a fad thing these days, but hear me out. I don’t really buy into a lot of what is out there about this, such as how it can hack your hormonally to maximize this or that. For me, I wanted to try it for one simple reason: a tool to provide some calorie restriction.
I’ve tried a lot of things over the years to control weight/calories. I’m not fat. 47 years old and 20% BF. I’m not lean either obviously. I’ve done Paleo, Keto, South Beach, 40/30/30, 40/40/20, Zone, etc. I’ve never been lean or obese. I like to eat big meals.
All that said, I don’t like consuming breakfast, at least not until I’ve been awake for 3-4 hours. Then I can overeat that meal if I’m not careful and ruin the whole day. Or I can eat just a little bit and then be starving again 2 hours later. I finally decided I tried fasting.
I started out skipping breakfast, and that works easy enough. then I started pushing lunch back to 1 or 2 pm. That worked pretty good too. Now I can occasionally (2 or 3 days per week) do OMAD or One Meal A Day.
Results? I’ve dropped weight easily and quickly. No hormonal trickery. I’m eating less. It’s “mostly” easy for me. I have a couple of small windows during the day were I feel like I’m hungry and want food. Usually mid morning first. I’ll have a 2nd cup of black coffee followed by some water and it goes away. If I’m starting by 1 or 2 pm, I’ll eat. Either a small healthy meal (more on that below) or a 2-scoop protein shake and a banana. Just depends on where I am and what I’m doing. If I’m engrossed with work or some other task that is keeping me busy, then I can easily just drink some water and make it until dinner to eat. Basically, I wake up most week days thinking I might do OMAD unless I see that it’s not going to happen that day. Eating something is a backup plan. Obviously my goal has been to lose fat. My waist started around 38", and is down to 36". My goal is to get down to 34", maybe less.
How I eat when I do eat took some time to figure out. I learned a couple of easy tricks from some online sources. First, I always eat my veggies first (unless it’s a cheat meal, which I only do maybe once per week). That’s almost always a big side salad with lots of cut veggies on top and some kind of low-calorie, non-fat dressing. The 2nd serving of veggies is often raw also, like a broccoli/cauliflower/carrot mix. I just eat them while I’m working on the computer. After that, I have to eat my protein next, which is a lean meat. Chicken breast, sirloin, fish, etc. Then and only then can I start with my carb source, which is usually rice or a baked potato. I won’t hold back on some butter and/or sour cream at this point to make it tasty, though I avoid drowning my carbs in fat.
Dinner is the same, except it’s usually larger in size. I try to get more protein in. I’m never hungry before dinner when I eat lunch, and I’m never hungry before bed regardless. I feel satisified. Eating the veggies first was the biggest trick in all this.
I don’t snack at all. I don’t feel the need to.
Beyond dropping weight (about 4 lbs the first week, and 2-3/week since then), the benefits I’ve noticed are:
- Mental clarity in spades. No brain fog, better concentration. No idea why. Don’t really care but I like it.
- Simplicity!!! No figuring out 3 meals a day plus snacks. No worry about lunch. Meal prep was also an issue for me. I could do great when I was displined about prepping meals ahead, but I easily fell of the wagon otherwise. Plus it just got old prepping food. Now even if I don’t have something ready for a mid-afternoon lunch (non OMAD days), I can easily have a shake and a banana and be totally fine until dinner.
- Digestive system seems improved. I’ve taken a PPI for years for stomach acid, typically Nexium or Prevacid. I can almost do without this most the time now. No stomach acid issues at all. No reflux. No stomach bloat. I feel light throughout the day. Bowel movements have always been regular for me, but there is even improvement with that. No upset stomachs ever, nothing. Not even after a cheat meal.
A word on cheat meals. I don’t binge. I don’t know why I don’t binge b/c I’ve always been a binger. Not really with deserts and such, but just too much food. Whole pizzas, a burger and WAY too many fries, or I’d clean my plate then finish my wife and kids, too. I do still try to follow my veggie rule when I cheat if it involves veggies.
Other things I’ve learned:
- I won’t die by not eating, or by not having 3-4 MPS events a day. I won’t lose all my muscle, or suddenly get weak in the gym. I’ve maintained all that pretty good while I’m cutting. Whatever muscle loss is going on is not very perceptible so far. I even work out in the mornings (not b/c that’s when I’m in a fasted state, but b/c that’s when I have the time to work out). Even that has been a really positive experience. Also learned I won’t die if I don’t have a post feed soon after.
- If it weren’t for BBM I’d probably believe all the bro science out there about intermittent fasting. I’ve learned to be skeptical of that stuff, but maybe I was too skeptical so that I almost didn’t try it? For me, at least while I’m trying to lean out a bit, it has been wonderful and easy. I can see how so folks might hate it. That’s cool too. I know Jordan has said it could be a tool for some to better achieve calorie deficit, and that has been the case for me.
Still to be determined:
- Obviously, can I really get to my ideal 33" waist using this. At my current rate of loss, I’ll need a few more weeks to get there. It looks like it’ll be easy at this point but we’ll see.
- Can I use this method of eating to maintain my weight, or maybe even go back on a muscle building phase? I like not eating breakfast, so I plan to try it. I may have to combine this with some form of macro counting to make it work though.
Anyway, just thought I’d share and see if anyone else had thoughts, suggestions, or questions.