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Another Diet Forum > General Discussions > General Discussions > fasting ( not eating completely for some days) problems |
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kenny1999 Senior Member 
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First I have only learnt English for a few years so please understand my English expression is a little bit odd hi Nir and many other helpers, let me be short and straightforward. I am 30-year-old man fat at belly, overweight BMI, 173cm in height and 80kg most of the time. I don't actually look fat, and people think I am good, but I'm only fat at waist and have a big spare tyre, I know it's a big health warning and I am determined to get rid of it. I like to eat a lot and a lot of junk food. I don't exercise as well. I think exercise is not a problem. I pretty know that I can play basketball or soccer for 10 hours without feeling bad, but I also know for years that I can't endure not eating things I like. In recent months I have become ''healthier''. I have largely reduced intake of junk food, but I think that's not enough. I still don't have my family yet so I always dine out. When there are heavy steak and light vegetables, salad I always can't pick a healthier choice. When there are coffee and milk tea, I can never pick pure water to drink. I know somehow I am unable to control myself, especially when it comes to eating. I pretty believe that no exercise would be successful without diet. After a deep thought about myself, I realize that I am a kind of person who cannot live in the ''middle'', I can either be ''ON'' or "OFF'. For example, when I was still a smoker, I couldn't control the number of cigarettes I take every day, but when I decided to quit it in 2012, I could quit it without much discomfort, but when I was still smoking, I just can't control myself. Drinking is the same thing for me. I used to drink a lot without self-control. I know I am a kind of person who can either do something to its 'full speed' or 'stop' at all. I think diet plan , recipe, most of the common strategies don't work for me. I think I should try fasting (ban all food). Because when my "engine'' starts every day, it can't stop. When my stomach starts to work, it always feel ''not enough'' ''not enough'' I know I lack self-control ability. Does anyone have any ideas on how to reduce this hateful spare tyre on my belly? Does anyone have any advice on fasting? If I practise long-term fasting and eats only on Wenesday and Sunday, will that cause any long term health problems? Luckily, I work with pens and computer only. I don't need to spend a lot of energy for my work. |
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Nir Senior Administrator 
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In the other thread You put up a link to a video that talks about muscle loss as a result of "dieting" (without appropriate exercise) and how it can lead to yo-yo dieting and ending up fatter. Now you are asking a question about fasting for half a week. I think I have read that there is some muscle loss in the early parts of a fast as the body breaks down some muscle for protein. (There is a longer discussion about fasting and its problems elsewhere on the forum, it is not something to be entered into lightly!) Regarding your idea of having an 'addictive personality', first of all I will say that I relate to that personally and that I have visited Overeaters Anonymous myself and they talk about "abstinance" although this does not mean that you stop eating, you just stop eating in a way that is unhelpful to you. I do recommend you look into it. Ultimately you will either decide that you are an addict that requires the solution that Overeaters Anonymous offers, or that your problem is simply habitual and you are capable of creating and maintaining a different habit. As you state yourself, you recognise this is a problem for your health, again I want to recommend this video that comes at this from the health angle https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4katnfHzXA |
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kenny1999 Senior Member
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Nir wrote:In the other thread You put up a link to a video that talks about muscle loss as a result of "dieting" (without appropriate exercise) and how it can lead to yo-yo dieting and ending up fatter. Now you are asking a question about fasting for half a week. I think I have read that there is some muscle loss in the early parts of a fast as the body breaks down some muscle for protein. I meant... I have a great "inertia" (tendency) to keep something going on. I know myself very much, I am a kind of person that When I eat something, I feel SO HARD to stop eating more. But when I stop to eat at all in a day, I can really go through the whole day without eating anything at all. I can't be in the 'middle' . Sorry do you understand my English? For example, I've just be back from a restaurant I often go. There are plenty of choices from the healthiest to the worst one. There were vegetable noodles and steak french fries. I spent 10 min struggling NOT to order steak french but I was failed. You might laugh I'm like a kid. But I am not kidding I am having hard time going through this. But, I COULD work the whole day (when I need to) without eating a slice of bread, no problem for me. Last edited on 7 Jul 2014 03:02 pm by kenny1999 |
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Nir Senior Administrator
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There is nothing wrong with eating just one meal per day if that is your preference. > I have a great "inertia" (tendency) to keep something going on what you really need to do is to harness this. Imagine if you could translate this "inertia" into a really good habit of only eating healthy foods, which happily you won't be able to break because you are so used to it. Use "inertia" as a positive. |
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kenny1999 Senior Member
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Nir wrote:There is nothing wrong with eating just one meal per day if that is your preference. hi, as I check the calorie value on http://www.fatsecret.com/calories-nutrition "Food search" It looks like that a lot of food's calorie can be checked. But how about the same food cooked with different method? For example, chicken wings are one of my favourite food. According to the nutrition information, it's 81 calorie each. http://fatsecret.com/calories-nutrition/generic/chicken-wing-ns-as-to-skin-eaten How about if it's cooked with different method? what likely to be the different in ranges? |
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Nir Senior Administrator
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http://www.fatsecret.com/calories-nutrition/search?q=chicken+wing Yes it will make a difference if the chicken wing is baked or fried or grilled (and also whether you eat the skin or not). There is a search function on that website, but the results seem a bit confusing, don't they! one listing suggests the calories would be the same "baked or fried" which is not true. so lets look at a better website: http://nutritiondata.self.com/foods-chicken%20wing005000000000000000000.html (chicken, wing, cooked) with skin, fried with batter (324 calories per 100 grams) with skin, fried with flour (321 calories per 100 grams) with skin, roasted (290 calories per 100 grams) with skin, rottisserie (266 calories per 100 grams) with skin, stewed (249 calories per 100 grams) no skin, fried (211 calories per 100 grams) no skin, roasted (203 calories per 100 grams) no skin, rottisserie (197 calories per 100 grams) no skin, stewed (181 calories per 100 grams) so, to eat fewer calories from chicken: 1) removing the SKIN makes a big difference (about 30% less calories) 2) stewed/grilled is better than roasted/fried (maybe 15%-25% less calories) 3) chicken breast is less fatty than wings (for example no skin, rotisserie, chicken BREAST is 148 calories per 100 grams, compared with wings at 197 calories per 100 grams - 25% less) with such a calorie-dense food (up to 324 calories per 100 grams) you need to be aware of the portion size, because you could eat many calories in a short space of time. (those pages also gave figures per wing, but the weight of the wing varied so it was less useful for comparisons, but click the link and check it out further) The other thing to consider, seeing as you are making this change partly for health, is whether chicken will increase your health or not. Last edited on 7 Jul 2014 07:15 pm by Nir |
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kenny1999 Senior Member
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Nir wrote:http://www.fatsecret.com/calories-nutrition/search?q=chicken+wing thank you i ll take a look at it. I am going to sleep very soon. Can you please help with my another thread about confusion with calorie terms?> |
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Sassykat Distinguished Member 
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Hi Kenny. I am interested in intermittent fasting and I am currently doing it. There are quite a few books available on the topic on Amazon.com. There are some studies about the health benefits. Here is a study about intermittent fasting and muscle loss: http://www.ergo-log.com/rapid-weight-loss-without-losing-muscle-combine-intermittent-fasting-and-cardio.html I've been doing strength training a long with the fasting. For me, I believe it is important to only fast 2-3 days a week to prevent nutrient deficiencies and loss of muscle. Also since you are giving up food on some days it is important that you get enough good nutrition on the days that you do eat, but I do believe that occasional treats are ok and they also help you not feel deprived. Last week I fasted Monday and Wednesday having only coffee and water. The rest of the week I ate "normally", but lets be truthful, I did eat some junk. This week I will be fasting on Monday (yesterday which I already did) and having a low calorie day of 500 calories on Wednesday and Friday. Another thing I am doing is on an "eating day" I am waiting until 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. to eat my first meal. This is a strategy to help me not over eat. On days that I eat lunch and dinner I make sure each meal has a good amount of protein and a good amount of vegetables. I do usually have dessert, but I try to include fruit with it. So far I am doing well with this strategy. I feel well and it is helping me lose weight. I would recommend reading some different books on it if you are interested. I am also taking a whole food multi vitamin and Ubiquinol ( a COQ10 supplement). In the past I have experienced symptoms of anemia and so for me I think it's very important to make sure my nutrient intake is high and also that I am keeping up with my exercise. The body is very good at adapting to keep up with the demands placed on it. So if you are using your muscles, then your body will see them as necessary and maintain the muscles so that they can keep functioning, but if you are fasting many days in a row and being sedentary, chances are you will lose muscle strength. |
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kenny1999 Senior Member
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hi Sassykat I actually tried to practise fasting for once. I think I had overlooked about my ability. I don't understand why. I am quite fat thus I should have a lot of fat to burn, but by the end of the day of my first fasting, my arms and wrists 'shaking' automatically. I knew I had to eat something. Then I made a quick cup noodle. At that time, I was like going to faint, but it was less than 24 hours of fasting. In fact, it was only 20 hours.=_= |
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Sassykat Distinguished Member
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That sounds like it may be your blood sugar being out of balance. I had that issue too when I first started, but the fasting over time actually can improve this. One way to do this is to start out with smaller amounts of time and slowly increase how long you go without food until it is a 24 hr period. Another trick you can try is going from 2:00 p.m. until 2:00 P.M. for a fast. So if you did that, you would eat (hopefully low glycemic foods) until 2:00 P.M. and then eat nothing until 2:00 P.M. the following day at which point you could resume eating. That way you are having some food each day, but you are also getting the benefits of doing a 24 hr fast. When I first started out I would take a digestive supplement enzyme that has pancreatin in it, on an empty stomach or with a cup of coffee about mid day and that would help stabilize my blood sugar and help me not feel hungry. There are some really good books on intermittent fasting that include the studies showing the health benefits. They are interesting and I find it to actually be easier than any other diet I've tried, including counting calories on a daily basis. But ultimately you have to do what's best for you to ensure that you are able to stick with something long term. |
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kenny1999 Senior Member
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hi Sassykat What I've learnt from the recent fasting and diet (it should be a week only) is that I could reach some point of time when I really SO WANT to eat that I forget all the goals, motivations, and anything, but eat something immediately. Whenever I touch my fat belly I do really hate it very much and want to get rid of it quickly. I could then feel guilty about eating in an uncontrolled way. there's a lot of contradictions and depression during the process. I think a lot of time I don't really need to eat, but the willpower of eating dominates things. I know I won't die even if I don't eat for a week, but I know it is not possible for me in the meanwhile. Last edited on 11 Jul 2014 10:13 pm by kenny1999 |
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Sassykat Distinguished Member
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I have never fasted more than a day and a half continuously. I prefer 2-3 fast days a week so that I can have treats occasionally on the other days when I eat normally. I understand if you choose not to do intermittent fasting. I wish you the best of luck with whichever strategy you do choose. And remember that weight loss is in most cases a long journey. Little bits of progress will add up over time so just keep persevering and be patient. You will achieve your goals as long as you keep moving forward and don't let yourself get discouraged. Nir and Nancy are both awesome with counting calories and can offer invaluable support for any of your questions.  |
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