1 meal a day | only lost 3 lbs in the 2 weeks | Help

[David.]

I understand intermittent fasting but eating one meal a day for an extended period of time isn't intermittent

It is essentially what you are saying doesn't work, in practice. Change one meal to a period you're allowed to eat. It is for sure not 6 "properly timed and spaced out" meals to prevent "starvation mode".

You starve yourself all day and eat 600 calories you're not getting fat or coming anywhere near properly satiated. Doesn't matter if it's one meal or if it's x amount of hours.

 

[Kouki]

@David. is 1000% right

There is no secret sauce, it is all calories in vs. out.

What macros work best for you and your lifestyle will vary. Don't stress about it. Low carb "works" by just depleting glycogen stores, eg water. If you starve yourself of carbs you will lose water weight very quickly. You will gain it all right back when you re-introduce carbs.

Eat a lot of nutritionally dense, high volume but low calories foods. Eg. most veggies. I like potatoes as a carb source, contrary to some peoples' beliefs they are very satiating.

Weight yourself every day and look for trends, don't judge results at milestone weigh-ins. Your weight can easily fluctuate by 5 lbs on a daily basis. At any given time you have many pounds of water and food-shit in you.

If you actually lost 3 pounds in 2 weeks then you are in a 500 calorie per day deficit which is a great place to be.

You might be comparing your weight loss to gimmick diets which make outlandish claims like "lose ten pounds in a week!" or whatever. These are not realistic, and/or they rely on losing a bunch of water weight via carb starvation, which is fake weight.

 

[Sir'Dom Pointer]

Eat raw meat like a real man.

 

[Zeus69]

I’m not overweight, but I added a pesky 5 to 10 pounds over the holidays. Starting in February, I began a 5/2 intermittent fasting plan. For two non-contiguous days of a seven-day week (I chose Monday and Thursday), I eat no more than 500 calories. The other days I eat my typical caloric share (usually around 2000 cal, sometimes more). I exercise at least five days a week, including weights, push-ups, sit-ups etc. I also use an elliptical for 30 minutes a day at moderate intensity during those days.

I’ve lost a solid 6-7 pounds on this plan.

 

[Cavatt]

Alcohol is calories. If I drink alcohol I will be 5-10lbs overweight. If I don't, I am 5-10 under.

My wife cooks and that is one thing that put me over. I can't not eat spaghetti. Too hard not worth it.

I don't really believe in almost anything to lose and gain weight. If you heat non factory food, you will gravitate towards your natural weight. They paid prisoners to lose weight if they were heavy and gain weight if they were too thin. Everyone pretty much met their goals, but when they stopped paying everyone went back to normal.

I think if you don't have something obvious contributing to your weight like drinking too much or drinking a ton of soda, there isn't a lot you can do. You will return to the mean.

 

[sportscoach]

One thing you also have to take into factor, is we have a famine gene, you could say, where if you don't eat a lot, your body will actually store more fat...

Cutting calories isn't everything. It helps to control calories, but if your body isn't taking in proper nutrients then you really won't lose weight properly.

You would be better off having 4x300 calorie meals than one 900 calorie meal per day...

So something like oats with a fruit medley and eggs for breakfast...

Then second meal something like a Vegan Protein Shake (Garden of Life, Raw Organic Meal is really good in my mind. It's sugar is higher than I would like, but it's got a lot of good in it). A little dairy or almond milk with it, isn't a bad thing at all (if not sweetened). Whichever your body likes...

Then later like a mix green salad with olive oil as the dressing and grilled chicken/shrimp/fish... You could do a steak once/twice a week as long as it stays within the calories

Then next meal, like mix veggies dipping in a healthy hummus and/or peanut butter...

If you need a snack, you could snack on an apple with peanut butter or walnut, peanuts etc...

Aka, you want to cut out added sugars as much as possible. You can have fruits, but have a small amount of a bunch in a sense. You want proteins in every meal, but you don't want the same ones, so a mix of something like what I mentioned above.

You want to lower carbs, but not cut them out 100% hence why something like the oats in the morning and fruits are okay as a snack (as long as you don't over indulge).

Try something like that for awhile and see how your body feels... Losing weight isn't everything, it's your body fat% that matters...

 

[Kouki]

One thing you also have to take into factor, is we have a famine gene, you could say, where if you don't eat a lot, your body will actually store more fat...

Cutting calories isn't everything. It helps to control calories, but if your body isn't taking in proper nutrients then you really won't lose weight properly.

You would be better off having 4x300 calorie meals than one 900 calorie meal per day...

So something like oats with a fruit medley and eggs for breakfast...

Then second meal something like a Vegan Protein Shake (Garden of Life, Raw Organic Meal is really good in my mind. It's sugar is higher than I would like, but it's got a lot of good in it). A little dairy or almond milk with it, isn't a bad thing at all (if not sweetened). Whichever your body likes...

Then later like a mix green salad with olive oil as the dressing and grilled chicken/shrimp/fish... You could do a steak once/twice a week as long as it stays within the calories

Then next meal, like mix veggies dipping in a healthy hummus and/or peanut butter...

If you need a snack, you could snack on an apple with peanut butter or walnut, peanuts etc...

Aka, you want to cut out added sugars as much as possible. You can have fruits, but have a small amount of a bunch in a sense. You want proteins in every meal, but you don't want the same ones, so a mix of something like what I mentioned above.

You want to lower carbs, but not cut them out 100% hence why something like the oats in the morning and fruits are okay as a snack (as long as you don't over indulge).

Try something like that for awhile and see how your body feels... Losing weight isn't everything, it's your body fat% that matters...

Bruh your first sentence is a myth

Also peanut butter is a pretty terrible food for weight loss too

 

[sportscoach]

Bruh your first sentence is a myth

Also peanut butter is a pretty terrible food for weight loss too

Not really, your body will slow your metabolism down if you are barely eating...

Also it depends on the peanut butter... If you avoid the ones with sugars added, it won't effect your weight loss. Peanut butter though is higher in calories, so you want to understand the serving sizes...

 

[David.]

Not really, your body will slow your metabolism down if you are barely eating...

Also it depends on the peanut butter... If you avoid the ones with sugars added, it won't effect your weight loss. Peanut butter though is higher in calories, so you want to understand the serving sizes...

Kouki is right on both points.

 

[sportscoach]

Kouki is right on both points.

Is Peanut Butter Bad for Weight Loss? | Livestrong.com

Regardless of whether you prefer creamy or crunchy, eating peanut butter can support your weight-loss efforts. The calorie-dense spread helps keep hunger away.

www.livestrong.com

Honestly, peanut butter doesn't hurt you are all, as long as you are keeping your calorie count correct and aren't eating the ones with added sugars. Peanut butter has a lot of good nutrients in it that the body needs, it's just easy to eat to much. You can always go with just nuts instead, but you gotta live a little and nothing wrong with having peanut butter on celery or carrots...

I also sincerely don't believe in eating once a day either, but every body is different. My weight/body fat% was always better when I split my calories up between many meals and not just one. I also come from a family that has diabetes, so it's better I avoid eating once a day. You have to take that into account when deciding a diet.

Now I understand fasting and how it works, but I'd rather do the you can eat from this time to this time while fasting between this to this time.

 

[David.]

Is Peanut Butter Bad for Weight Loss? | Livestrong.com

Regardless of whether you prefer creamy or crunchy, eating peanut butter can support your weight-loss efforts. The calorie-dense spread helps keep hunger away.

www.livestrong.com

Honestly, peanut butter doesn't hurt you are all, as long as you are keeping your calorie count correct and aren't eating the ones with added sugars. Peanut butter has a lot of good nutrients in it that the body needs, it's just easy to eat to much. You can always go with just nuts instead, but you gotta live a little and nothing wrong with having peanut butter on celery or carrots...

I also sincerely don't believe in eating once a day either, but every body is different. My weight/body fat% was always better when I split my calories up between many meals and not just one. I also come from a family that has diabetes, so it's better I avoid eating once a day. You have to take that into account when deciding a diet.

Now I understand fasting and how it works, but I'd rather do the you can eat from this time to this time while fasting between this to this time.

Bro you're suggesting an incredibly calorie dense food fed to starving people to pack in mass as a weight control food. There is never a scenario where it's better than just like, broccoli or even corn, even though you'll hear a million things saying "fats and proteins will keep you fuller longer". It's all low calorie volume eating.

As mentioned up thread, intermittent fasting is essentially a different version of "not 6 meals spread out" and works fine to lose weight

Macros and micros really are nowhere near as important as people would lead you to believe. There is absolutely no consensus answer to even the question of how much protein to take in. And it's way less important than even that because muscle.memory is a fact of life. You could absolutely crash cut and lose muscle and not eat protein and vegetables only and still just gain your muscle back once you start back with a surplus

 

[sportscoach]

Bro you're suggesting an incredibly calorie dense food fed to starving people to pack in mass as a weight control food. There is never a scenario where it's better than just like, broccoli or even corn, even though you'll hear a million things saying "fats and proteins will keep you fuller longer". It's all low calorie volume eating.

As mentioned up thread, intermittent fasting is essentially a different version of "not 6 meals spread out" and works fine to lose weight

Macros and micros really are nowhere near as important as people would lead you to believe. There is absolutely no consensus answer to even the question of how much protein to take in. And it's way less important than even that because muscle.memory is a fact of life. You could absolutely crash cut and lose muscle and not eat protein and vegetables only and still just gain your muscle back once you start back with a surplus

You still got to get all your nutrients in your body even if you are on a low calorie diet. What I said above, I have personally done and lost a ton of fat weight on and eventually I put weight back on since I was exercising with it and was putting on muscle.

My point was more to the point of, you still have to get the nutrients your body needs and that's not the best food for low calorie diets. That I agree on, but you still gotta find a way to get those nutrients in you. Your body still needs the carbs, fats and proteins with the natural vitamins and minerals. So you have to find a way to get all of that if possible. If not, find a way to supplement it in.

 

[KI4MVP]

Just want to reiterate something I mentioned earlier in the thread. A scale that measures body fat is a better tool than a scale that measures weight. You don't want ot lose muscle mass and think you're doing good losing weight. Losing fat while adding muscle mass can make the weight loss go slower while the fat loss is actually going faster.

 

[KI4MVP]

The issue with eating or not eating fat is typically when fat is removed in food, it's replaced by processed carbs. If the bottle says "low fat", stay away from it. Fat slows down the absorption of of carbs, thus helps keep blood sugar down. Removing fat and adding processed carbs speeds up the absorption of carbs, and adds more of them, which causes higher blood sugar levels, thus more insulin to get released, which stays in your system longer than the processed carbs do, which drives down blood sugar and makes you hungry sooner. This cycle of short term blood sugar spikes followed by excess insulin causes metabolic syndrome, which in turn causes type 2 diabetes as well as blood pressure and cholesterol issues. It's one of the worst health things we do to our bodies.

Also, excess insulin makes it harder for your body to actually utilize the stored fat.

There are situations where knowing all of this can let you make adjustments in eating to compensate. Go out to eat Mexican food and they bring you a bowl of chips and dip. Eating too many of those is going to drive your blood sugar up.

If you replace the dip with fresh guacamole (order sliced avocado and pico and make your own if they bring the mush many resturauants do instead of fresh), and while you'll end up eating a few more calories, you can do away with the sugar spike.

Everyone's body behaves a bid differently, the best way to know how your body works is get a continuous glucose monitor and see your reaction to different foods. You can also mitigate spikes by exercising before they come when you know they're coming, but that's hard to do when you're eating chips before a meal.

Certainly you'd be better off eating a bowl of broccoli than a bowl of chips. But I know that if a bowl of chips is in front of me, I'm going to eat it while I wait for the meal. So I get guac to eat with it. I've done the continuous glucose monitor test on myself and it made a massive difference.

 

[Criznit]

I have had very good luck with cabbage myself. Gotta like it though.

Also to the OP, personally for me I think cheese (I love it) slows my digestion way down.

Keep your fruits and veggies in as natural state as possible, especially fruits. Don't rob your body of burning calories by smoothing up your bananas, etc.

And finally I had friend lose a shitload of weight eating those lean cuisine meals. 2 a day. Of course 90% of his conversation was about being hungry, but it worked for him and he has managed to keep most of it off.