Bella's diary

[Bella1986]

Hello!

This is my first time on this website and I'm glad to meet you all.

My weight started to go up rapidly three years ago; because of all the stress in my life, I ended up eating all sorts of junk snacks and drinking energy drinks nonstop while I was working or studying all night or even driving.

9 months ago I decided to take action after my weight entered the overweight category; but since I had no knowledge about how to lose weight, it became a very slow and rather disappointing process.

At this stage of my life, I still experience the same amount of stress as before, but I've also gained some knowledge about how my body works so I'm hoping from now on I can manage to lose weight efficiently.

As of now, I wish to lose 22 pounds as fast as possible. The method I wanna try is Intermittent Fasting, 5:2 plan. I've started it for a week now but I have to say fast days are really really difficult for me.

On fast days I eat a breakfast equal to 500-550 calories and for the rest of the day, I only have water, tea or black coffee. I find it so difficult to stop myself from having something to eat. Hunger doesn't really bother me but it's like this habit of always eating something tasty won't go away. It's all about habits I guess.

I sit by the computer all day long and have absolutely no physical activities. Can't change this though because I have to finish my studies in a few months and there's not enough time.

Things I think I should work on now are:

1) sticking to 5:2 plan and recording the results for at least one month
2) decreasing my stress level by daily meditation and time management (writing a to-do list first thing in the morning)
3) getting enough sleep

 

[Cate]

Welcome to the forum, Bella. I have tried 5:2 on & off, with mixed success. I tried waiting until afternoon to have anything when I would have a very light soup & then a small meal at about 5.30. If you were home studying it may be easier. I know a lot of people, who are unable to exercise, have had a lot of success with it.
Drink plenty of water as well & make sure you are getting enough nutrition. Half the time we think we're hungry when we really need water.

 

[Bella1986]

Welcome to the forum, Bella. I have tried 5:2 on & off, with mixed success. I tried waiting until afternoon to have anything when I would have a very light soup & then a small meal at about 5.30. If you were home studying it may be easier. I know a lot of people, who are unable to exercise, have had a lot of success with it.
Drink plenty of water as well & make sure you are getting enough nutrition. Half the time we think we're hungry when we really need water.

Thank you, dear Cate. I really hope to get good results from 5:2. I'm not sure how much time should be without meals on a fast day, what's your opinion?

I agree with you about water, it helps a lot. Also, green tea with different herbs (for flavor) inside it is magic.

Today I did a lot of meditation and it sure helped with my mood and not thinking about food. I'm gonna meditate before sleep as well.

I didn't manage to write a to-do-list, will try again tomorrow.

 

[Cate]

Bella, I found most of the information on The Fast Diet website. It's the original Michael Mosley, UK one. I was in their forum for a while too & asked lots of questions. Most people tried to stretch the fast as long as they could on the 2 "fast" days by not having anything at all until noon & then having just a light broth & a reasonable meal for dinner. You only have 500 cals on fast days & eat to your TDEE on the other 5. There is a simple calculator on their website to work out your TDEE.
Well done on the meditation

 

[Bella1986]

Bella, I found most of the information on The Fast Diet website. It's the original Michael Mosley, UK one. I was in their forum for a while too & asked lots of questions. Most people tried to stretch the fast as long as they could on the 2 "fast" days by not having anything at all until noon & then having just a light broth & a reasonable meal for dinner. You only have 500 cals on fast days & eat to your TDEE on the other 5. There is a simple calculator on their website to work out your TDEE.
Well done on the meditation

Hi dear Cate, I hope you're doing well.

Thank you for your message. After reading your response, I did more research and found it logical not to have my 500 cals until noon on the fast days. As a matter of fact, it seems that the body provides enough energy for us during the first hours of the day so no need to start eating right after waking up. I might try this every day for a while and see if it makes any changes.

I also calculated my TDEE as you said. It's not as much as I wished it would be... only 1,400 calories... now I think all my life I've been eating the wrong amount of calories..

 

[Bella1986]

Meditation is going well. Today I got to this feeling of being grateful for the awareness I got over my body during the past months. and I wished to have the same improvement over other aspects of my life.

 

[Cate]

Hi, Bella. I am doing very well, thank you. I think most of us have been eating too many calories for most of our lives
I'm glad meditation is helping you. Being more aware & grateful sound so simple, but most people struggle with it. I am becoming more at peace with myself & the world around me. It is something you really have to concentrate on, especially with the world the way it is now. 2 weeks ago I had to tell myself to breathe! We will always have stress in our lives, but we need to learn to let it wash over us & not absorb it. I'm going to take up Tai Chi again soon. It's has a similar effect to meditation. Cheers, Cate.

 

[overlandflyer]

hi Bella... you've commented on my diary so i know you know i intermittent fast every day so when i say you "only" fast 2 days a week, i hope you realize where i'm coming from... but if i could suggest you try to cut out carbs those fasting days either completely or severely restrict them. that combined with even some light exercise should get you into a low insulin to glucagon ratio faster during your fasting hours and should improve your results. i even do that occasionally on my everyday fast... today i had some roasted chicken and steamed broccoli... no grains, breads, and zero sugar today.

remember that the body's daily requirement of carbohydrates = zero.

 

[Bella1986]

Hi, Bella. I am doing very well, thank you. I think most of us have been eating too many calories for most of our lives
I'm glad meditation is helping you. Being more aware & grateful sound so simple, but most people struggle with it. I am becoming more at peace with myself & the world around me. It is something you really have to concentrate on, especially with the world the way it is now. 2 weeks ago I had to tell myself to breathe! We will always have stress in our lives, but we need to learn to let it wash over us & not absorb it. I'm going to take up Tai Chi again soon. It's has a similar effect to meditation. Cheers, Cate.

Hi dear Cate. You're absolutely right, the most simple concepts seem to be the key to a content life. Meditation is going well for me and now I can feel my mind is slowly getting strong at being present in the moment and not getting involved with the past or the future. I can clearly feel that I'm more focused and distractions don't bother me as much as they did before. I hope you start Tai Chi soon

 

[Cate]

That is so good to hear. I might go to Tai Chi in the new year I think xo

 

[Bella1986]

hi Bella... you've commented on my diary so i know you know i intermittent fast every day so when i say you "only" fast 2 days a week, i hope you realize where i'm coming from... but if i could suggest you try to cut out carbs those fasting days either completely or severely restrict them. that combined with even some light exercise should get you into a low insulin to glucagon ratio faster during your fasting hours and should improve your results. i even do that occasionally on my everyday fast... today i had some roasted chicken and steamed broccoli... no grains, breads, and zero sugar today.

remember that the body's daily requirement of carbohydrates = zero.

Hi. sorry, I don't know your name, what can I call you?

Thank you for sharing your experience with me. After reading your response I did more research on carbohydrates. what I learned is that we do need complex and natural carbohydrates like the carbohydrates found in whole grains, vegetables, legumes,.... but we might not need refined carbohydrates like flour, cereal, bread, pasta,... I think you might find this interesting:

https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/hsph-in-the-news/eat-moderate-amount-of-carbs-for-health/
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/carbohydrates/

I found the reason for this matter quite logical. Nature has prepared the food for us in perfect packages of different nutrients if it's barley or wheat, for example, we don't need to break them and just consume the flour, but we shall let our body do its work on it and slowly break it. so the problem isn't carbohydrates in my opinion, on the contrary, they are crucial for our well being. It appears that what causes the problem is changing the shape of carbohydrates or the way we are so used to eating them.

 

[Trusylver]

@overlandflyer is correct, carbohydrate is not a required nutrient, while many carby foods have essential vitamins and minerals, they are not the only source of those vitamin eg. organ meat (kidney, liver brains etc.)

The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Volume 75, Issue 5, 1 May 2002, Pages 951–953,Is dietary carbohydrate essential for human nutrition?

for some brain functions which make use of glucose then Gluconeogenesis (abbreviated GNG) is a metabolic pathway that results in the generation of glucose from non-carbohydrate carbon substrates such as lactate, glycerol, and glucogenic amino acids.

 

[Bella1986]

@overlandflyer is correct, carbohydrate is not a required nutrient, while many carby foods have essential vitamins and minerals, they are not the only source of those vitamin eg. organ meat (kidney, liver brains etc.)

The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Volume 75, Issue 5, 1 May 2002, Pages 951–953,Is dietary carbohydrate essential for human nutrition?

for some brain functions which make use of glucose then Gluconeogenesis (abbreviated GNG) is a metabolic pathway that results in the generation of glucose from non-carbohydrate carbon substrates such as lactate, glycerol, and glucogenic amino acids.

Thank you for sharing dear

 

[Bella1986]

Funny day today. I was down and couldn't get my mind off tasty foods. Ate lots of fruits and vegetables but I wasn't satisfied a bit. Finally soaked some chia seeds, added five dates, two crushed walnuts and a spoon full of cocoa powder... it was heavenly. so future me, if you felt down give this another try. Let's see if it also can improve my concentration and focus.

 

[Cate]

I had a similar day yesterday, Bella.

 

[Bella1986]

I had a similar day yesterday, Bella.

Hi, dear Cate. Hope you're doing great

I realized something about myself within the past two days. I started my day by eating lots of boiled lentils; Surprisingly I felt absolutely full and satisfied and didn't go to that sad mood where I constantly think about food. so I think I'm gonna avoid getting hungry in the morning for a while and see how it works.

Cheers

 

[Bella1986]

Funny day today. I was down and couldn't get my mind off tasty foods. Ate lots of fruits and vegetables but I wasn't satisfied a bit. Finally soaked some chia seeds, added five dates, two crushed walnuts and a spoon full of cocoa powder... it was heavenly. so future me, if you felt down give this another try. Let's see if it also can improve my concentration and focus.

Second try of chia seeds dessert: Today I first made coffee and used it to soak the chia seeds. never do that again :l

Next try I'm gonna soak chia seeds in water and then rinse the excess water. then I'll add cocoa powder and let the mix cool. Finally will add dates, walnuts and perhaps dried apricots.

 

[Cate]

I'm much better, thanks hon. A decent breakfast seems to boost my mood too & helps me not to obsess about food. We have to find what works for us.

 

[Bella1986]

December 21st was an absolute success. I had one meal (boiled lentils and greek yogurt at noon) + one chia seeds dessert (in the afternoon) and I didn't feel I need to eat anything at all for the rest of the day.

Also getting stronger with meditation. Really starting to enjoy and appreciate it.

Thinkin to find some physical activity that suits me and my life.

 

[Bella1986]

December 22nd was a lovely fast day. Had one meal (boiled unhulled barley and mung beans + two fried eggs) for the whole day.

Kept the fast for 24 hours and didn't feel like eating. Looks like legumes and whole grains can keep me full for a long time.

I'll start keeping track of waistline size soon.