Intermittent fasting?

Oh yeah for sure. Meal prep is the key. I'm in the same boat.... ground salt, pepper grinder, herbs really help. It's awesome what tastes good to me now vs. tons of sauces /dressings, etc.

Yep !!!!!!when we don't prep in advance is when the trouble starts. Honestly, I don't think I'm alone when I say a majority of the time it's about will power. I don't think scripted diets or programs work out in the long run as it's really hard for people to sustain that level of discipline. I'd rather not think about it too much. That's why I think just not eating processed food is probably the solution most people need.
Unfortunately, our food pyramid and culture is not really built around that. Although ,I have to admit, it is getting more popular and mainstream. It's a sharp contrast when traveling through Europe several times where it was extremely easy to eat this way, as there was fresh food readily accessible whenever I went out in town be it a large city or countryside village.

 

“Diets” are hard IME because they aren’t satiating.

There is almost zero evidence that meat is bad for you and a lot more evidence that it is extremely healthy.

Red meat nourishes every part of the body, muscles, blood, skin, brain. You just feel healthier. Skimping on quality protein is a sure fire way to feel run down. Look at work of Don Layman who has researched protein deficiency in great detail

 

Agreed. And in my experience MOST people aren't aware that the old research on dietary cholesterol having an effect on our blood cholesterol is basically bunk now. Additionally, a lot of those same people aren't aware that dietary cholesterol isn't the cholesterol measured in the blood. Even many doctors don't know this. Plus research has proven many times that cholesterol can be lowered (if we aren't talking about people who are predisposed to producing excess cholesterol no matter what) through exercise and weight loss.

This part is just me, who is not a scientist of any kind, but...if the brain's primary source of energy is glucose but during a ketogenic diet runs on option 2, which are ketones, then why would anyone consider a ketogenic diet (have been around far longer that the currently popular "keto" diet) to be superior to one including carbohydrate?

Plus..who wants that keto breath?

 

The brain can run on ketones just as well as glucose.

Your body will also convert some protein into glucose through gluconeogenesis. The body knows what to do. If the brain was going to die without eating carbs, then humans wouldn’t live for a week without food. We would die within 24 hours. The body knows to break down body fat into ketones.

Keto breathe can happen on any diet. When your body burns fat, your breathe is how you get rid of anything from the fat you dont use. This is the smell, your fat being burned. You just burn off fat much quicker on keto diet

 

I'm aware it runs fine on ketones, but my non-scientist brain just asks me why it chooses glucose first. Or maybe it doenst choose. I dunno.

 

Modern day people are eating glucose constantly. We are flooding our systems so it goes for the easy fuel

 

My wife and I have been doing a variation of the alternate day fast. Since Jan1 of this year, wake up day 1 have eggs and sausage for breakfast then eat low calorie healthy meals. Day 2, have oatmeal for breakfast, then low calorie food the rest of the day, the fast starts after diner day 2, say 9pm of day 2. Wake up day 3, nothing to eat all day, go to bed with nothing to eat. Wake up day 4 and eat eggs and sausage for breakfast.

So our fast last about 34-36 hours. Depending upon what life throws at us, like dinner with friends or family we may eat 3 days in a row then the long fast. It seems that the fast day always gets our "head" back on when we find our self snacking to much.

I have lost 42.5 pounds from 209, she has lost 30.75 from 192.

I should also say we walk 2 miles 5-6 times a week and we take metamucil a couple times a day. I want to loose another 5 pounds, wife wants to loose another 25-30 pounds

It's working great for us

 

To those who are fasting what if any physical activity are you doing while fasting?

 

I hit the gym and lift in my fasted state. I read doing so increases testosterone and cleanses the blood. I break my fast after my workout with orgain (plant based) protein along with a few other things added as my first meal. Yes, I do eat meat. The plant based protein I take has a healthy dose of protein and fiber that whey protein does not have.

 

I was very surprised to find I had had no lack of energy and very minimal strength loss when working out in a fasted state of 12 hours. I honestly wouldn't care a bit to work out with more hours fasted. My energy was great and I didn't have any feelings of low blood sugar, etc. Since regularly fasting 1 hours my energy is always great unless I'm running on a few days in a row of less than 6 hours sleep.

 

@JRODinSoCal compare the bioavailability of plant based protein to eggs, whey protein, and beef. The plant based proteins are extremely inefficient in our digestive system

 

If we are talking plant based protein vs whey based protein powders, then both have their pros and their cons. The plant based product I use has fiber, which whey proteins do not have. Antioxidants which whey proteins do not have. Whey based protein has cholesterol. On the other hand plant protein doesn’t have all the amino acids whey protein has. At my age, I feel the plant based protein is more beneficial to me. Keep in mind, I still eat beef, chicken, fish, and eggs in moderation.