Getting into shape

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haltz
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Re: Getting into shape

Post by haltz »

It's tough, but people all over the world do it every day and evolutionarily we should be used to it. I also found that it mentally gave me kind of an edge, although that was also partially being newly sober. My friend's dad used to say, "it's good to be hungry sometimes" and he was right.

Freed Roger
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Re: Getting into shape

Post by Freed Roger »

ZigZagCardsFan wrote:Has anyone here tried 'intermittent fasting.'

Basically the idea is that you consume all of your calories during an 8 hour window of the day. For me I'm thinking 11AM-7PM would be about perfect. I'm never really hungry in the mornings and I eat more out of habit. The problem is going to be cutting out any late-night snacking.

My question is, is there anything to it other than the psychological aspect that keeps calories down?
I have toyed with this some, but not enough for feedback. Some runners are known to do this, go out for run on empty. Become a fat-burner. I am sure there is some data or an article somewhere in this.

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JCShutout
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Re: Getting into shape

Post by JCShutout »

Freed Roger wrote:
ZigZagCardsFan wrote:Has anyone here tried 'intermittent fasting.'

Basically the idea is that you consume all of your calories during an 8 hour window of the day. For me I'm thinking 11AM-7PM would be about perfect. I'm never really hungry in the mornings and I eat more out of habit. The problem is going to be cutting out any late-night snacking.

My question is, is there anything to it other than the psychological aspect that keeps calories down?
I have toyed with this some, but not enough for feedback. Some runners are known to do this, go out for run on empty. Become a fat-burner. I am sure there is some data or an article somewhere in this.
I've basically been doing it for awhile, maybe 3/4 of a year or so. I don't remember when I started. Just having coffee (with butter) for breakfast 6/7 days/week. I find I don't get hungry much in the mornings anymore. Its also great because I eat very large meals 2x/day. I wouldn't do a big workout without eating though (or eating right after). That's why I have a small breakfast 1 day per week, when I train in tkd in the mornings. The rest of the week I train in the evenings.

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Re: Getting into shape

Post by Freed Roger »

JCShutout wrote: I wouldn't do a big workout without eating though (or eating right after). T
Definitely. The people I know that go on empty are doing it only on easy runs. stay slow and aerobic. Any big workout where you try to up your performance, should be fueled.

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ZigZagCardsFan
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Re: Getting into shape

Post by ZigZagCardsFan »

I've decided to give the whole intermittent fasting thing a shot. I'm eating during a window from 11AM to 7PM with most of my workouts coming in an 8PM-midnight window.

I figure this will give me enough fuel to energize me for my workouts and since I'm always busy at work from 9AM-11AM this shouldn't be too difficult.

I guess I'll give this a go for a month and report back with my findings.

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Jocephus
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Re: Getting into shape

Post by Jocephus »

the donut thread made me happy. some glorious donut pictures yet i was almost disgusted. er...they weren't that appealing...er, i recogonize that the temporary satisfaction of the donut will ultimately make me feel worse when i realize that the food would be in my system longer than on my taste buds. thats what i mean about recalibrating my brain towards food. in fact, just seeing the images was enough to be contented.

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Re: Getting into shape

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Once I stopped cheating, and just ate what was in my diet, within weeks I stopped craving sugar. People would bring donuts and stuff in to work and I could smell the sugar in the next room and it smelled like sugary chemicals. It just isn't appealing anymore. People think I'm making these big sacrifices, but outside of the time it takes to prep and cook food, its really not a sacrifice to not eat cake or pasta because even when I'm hungry it doesn't look good. Just keep telling yourself, its not food. It has the nutritional value of a paper crane. (Possibly less)

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Radbird
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Re: Getting into shape

Post by Radbird »

Finally over my cold so the slow grind of getting back into shape has begun. I have an appt with my new primary care doc in 6 weeks, hoping to have made some good progress by then.

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lukethedrifter
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Re: Getting into shape

Post by lukethedrifter »

JCShutout wrote:Once I stopped cheating, and just ate what was in my diet, within weeks I stopped craving sugar. People would bring donuts and stuff in to work and I could smell the sugar in the next room and it smelled like sugary chemicals. It just isn't appealing anymore. People think I'm making these big sacrifices, but outside of the time it takes to prep and cook food, its really not a sacrifice to not eat cake or pasta because even when I'm hungry it doesn't look good. Just keep telling yourself, its not food. It has the nutritional value of a paper crane. (Possibly less)

Big time disagree with certain parts of your food angle though I think you are right on in many ways.

Moderation is a thing. Treat snacks like snacks. Treat desserts like the treat they are. Pasta is delicious and perfectly good for you and a great way to eat other good things. I think this is where being a ‘food snob’ is a good thing. Example, most dinner rolls are crappy reshaped wonderbread so only eat really good bread and your diet has improved.

As far as cooking goes, it’s all about the mindset. Think of it as a burden and it is one.

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Re: Getting into shape

Post by JCShutout »

lukethedrifter wrote:
JCShutout wrote:Once I stopped cheating, and just ate what was in my diet, within weeks I stopped craving sugar. People would bring donuts and stuff in to work and I could smell the sugar in the next room and it smelled like sugary chemicals. It just isn't appealing anymore. People think I'm making these big sacrifices, but outside of the time it takes to prep and cook food, its really not a sacrifice to not eat cake or pasta because even when I'm hungry it doesn't look good. Just keep telling yourself, its not food. It has the nutritional value of a paper crane. (Possibly less)

Big time disagree with certain parts of your food angle though I think you are right on in many ways.

Moderation is a thing. Treat snacks like snacks. Treat desserts like the treat they are. Pasta is delicious and perfectly good for you and a great way to eat other good things. I think this is where being a ‘food snob’ is a good thing. Example, most dinner rolls are crappy reshaped wonderbread so only eat really good bread and your diet has improved.

As far as cooking goes, it’s all about the mindset. Think of it as a burden and it is one.
Moderation is a thing, but its not what most people think it is. It is the avoidance of excess or extremes. Humans need 20-25 grams of sugar per day max. That's literally a single piece of fruit and maybe a little extra sugar. (second fruit, honey, tomatoes?) Moderation is 20-25g sugar/day. Anything more is excess. Most people eat extreme emounts. A single can of soda has near 40g of sugar in it. That's twice the amount of necessary sugar. That's extreme.

Even a small amount of a donut or cake (or whatnot) isn't moderation, because it means you either get excess sugar in order to obtain the necessary nutrients one needs from fruits, or you get an insufficient number of nutrients. Looking up a single plain dunkin donuts cake donut is 9g of sugar. Almost half what you need in a day. That's one little plain donut without sprinkles or flavors or icing or filling. If you eat two plain cake donuts and no other sugar that day, you've replaced a nutrient rich apple or banana (etc) with a nutrient sparse donut... and that's only taking sugar into account, not unhealthy fats and all the other problems with a fried food, etc. What is a moderate amount of olive oil one should put in a car engine? Zero. What's a moderate amount of donuts one should really eat? zero.

Humans need nutrients. Breads and pastas, even at their best, are nutrient sparse, requiring more caloric consumption to obtain the same number of nutrients as a much smaller (caloric-wise) amount of meat, nuts, vegetables, etc. Its not perfectly good for you, its simply better than eating nothing.

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