Intermittent Fasting
This is probably just a honeymoon period, but I am feeling pretty good about intermittent fasting. I chose a 16 hour fast to begin with. I can only eat between 10:00 AM and 6:PM. I divided my day into 5 eating times to try and keep my hunger and blood sugar levels even. But, as long as I am only eating during my scheduled 8 hours, there is a lot of play. My current schedule is Breakfast at 10:00 AM, Snack 1 at 12:00 PM, Lunch at 2:00 PM, Snack 2 at 4:00 PM, and Dinner at 5:30 PM. I plan my meals the day before and strictly adhere to my 1,400 calorie food budget. Funny thing is that the hardest time of the day is wake up to breakfast. Historically, my worst time to stay true to an eating plan has been between 5:00 PM and midnight.
Some of the research on intermittent fasting suggests that the average person will lose weight with it, even if they don't reduce calories. I don't know about that. I do know, that by scheduling what and when I eat and outlawing any food at all during the demon hours between 6:00 PM and going to bed. I did have a two pound weight loss right away. Historically, any new eating program gives me a 10 - 15 pound loss in the first two weeks as my body lets go of an over abundance of water bloat.
Right now, my thoughts are to stay on this plan for a whole month and re-evaluate. If I am doing well with it, I might up the fasting portion to 18 hours. I think I can wait until 12:00 PM for breakfast. If I do that, the schedule would be breakfast at 12:00 PM, Snack 1 at 1:30PM, Lunch at 3:00 PM, Snack 2 at 4:30 PM, and dinner at 5:30 PM. The end goal is to lose the weight I gained when I hurt my toe (and when my NOOM app stopped working right), shed the holiday season bloat I allowed myself to put on, and to finally get to my original goal of 230 pounds. Yes, I know that will not get me to a "skinny" place, but that is not my goal. I want to feel goo physically and mentally. For that to happen, I will need to feel comfortable in my clothes again become an "average-sized" man of my age.