Soldato
Can anyone point to any useful videos or guides on timing of calorie intake and impact on weight loss? I’m curious on the latest thinking.
*** Big Fat Weight Loss Thread ***
- Thread starter AndyCr15
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I was recently discussion this with someone. Personally, I can't see why 400 cals eaten at 6pm is going to have less effect than 400 cals eaten before bed. Surely it's all about totals not timing.
It hardly matters for the regular person, just focus on total calories across the day/week and that's it. Doesn't matter whether you're whole day fasting, intermittent fasting, eating one meal a day or 6 meals a day, the end result is always the same - calories in vs calories out, you can't cheat thermodynamics.
Agreed, the only difference that late calories might have is interrupting sleep due to digestion - which in turn reduces good sleep and increases cortisol. There is some thought that cortisol increases weight gain and over eating but needs more research.
I eat late all the time, maybe an hour before bed, weight is still dropping off weekly.
Caporegime
There's probably some level of metabolic impact but I doubt it's a particularly important effect.
I definitely sleep better if I've eaten late/a lot. My stomach will wake me up during the night if I'm hungry...
I'm good as long as it didn't have cheese in it, that really throws my sleep offI definitely sleep better if I've eaten late/a lot. My stomach will wake me up during the night if I'm hungry...
Caporegime
I'm good as long as it didn't have cheese in it, that really throws my sleep off
If it doesn't have cheese in it, is it really a meal?
Soldato
I used to sleep badly after eating late at night. Now I’m not quite as bad (although haven’t been out for a late poppadom hurling curry for a while), but I suspect that dropping significant weight has made my reflux better!
Timing is important in the context of amount of calories in. If you’re limiting the opportunity to eat with IF, you’ll eat less.
The other thing I’ve found is that if I’m eating later in the evening when I’m tired and watching TV, the temptation is to eat ALL the snacks. Eating earlier allows me to be more focused and aware of what I’m eating.
Timing is important in the context of amount of calories in. If you’re limiting the opportunity to eat with IF, you’ll eat less.
The other thing I’ve found is that if I’m eating later in the evening when I’m tired and watching TV, the temptation is to eat ALL the snacks. Eating earlier allows me to be more focused and aware of what I’m eating.
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i don't know, I automatically do IF as I don't eat breakfast, I wouldn't struggle to eat twice my body weight in 8 hours
Honestly, time wouldn't be a limiting factor. I can eat A LOT before I start to actually feel like I should stop. It's been my main problem and the reason I have to count calories.
This ^^I wouldn't struggle to eat twice my body weight in 8 hours
Soldato
Posting to hold myself accountable and to get some input from others as my habits/routine are shocking.
Essentially i need to "do a Feek" in terms of weight loss and I have a long way to go. I was really motivated at the start of the year and then issues with family and a few other things it got pushed to the back burner. Over the year i've not really made any effort other than change some of the food i eat, my exercise is very minimal and my meal times/habits are shocking and arent good for me. Typically I eat 1 sometimes 2 meals a day which is know bad for me and i eat primarily at dinner, dont bother with lunch and occasionaly have breakfast.
So far this year though im down 2st 11lb (nearly 17.7kg, not that you can tell!) but in all honesty this is probably only down to me passively consuming less calories than i need compared to my "advised BMR." I think my weight has been more in the forefront of my mind this last few weeks and the need to do something about it.
For fun.. spot when i was ill
Essentially i need to "do a Feek" in terms of weight loss and I have a long way to go. I was really motivated at the start of the year and then issues with family and a few other things it got pushed to the back burner. Over the year i've not really made any effort other than change some of the food i eat, my exercise is very minimal and my meal times/habits are shocking and arent good for me. Typically I eat 1 sometimes 2 meals a day which is know bad for me and i eat primarily at dinner, dont bother with lunch and occasionaly have breakfast.
So far this year though im down 2st 11lb (nearly 17.7kg, not that you can tell!) but in all honesty this is probably only down to me passively consuming less calories than i need compared to my "advised BMR." I think my weight has been more in the forefront of my mind this last few weeks and the need to do something about it.
For fun.. spot when i was ill
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I'm not sure what 'doing a feek' is... (a quick search says he's not posted in this thread) and I'm not sure what you're asking for input about? Are you actually looking to slow your weight loss and get healthier?
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@Zenduri I know from your posts on our discord you enjoy to cook and do some impressive dishes. On that basis, you definitely have the time to prepare good quality food.
As a jumping off point, i'd suggest getting your daily calorie count worked out and then start measuring the amount of calories you are consuming on a typical day. It's tedious and boring but it's weight loss 101 and without that foundational knowledge, any other steps you take will largely be redundant.
You're also entirely WFH so i'd set an alarm for at least once a day to get out the front door and go for a walk for 20/30 minutes.
Also with regards your Feek comment, are you maybe thinking about NightSt@lk3r - he's absolutely brute forced exercise over diet but for most people, that's entirely unattainable - sure he does 40k+ steps some days.
As a jumping off point, i'd suggest getting your daily calorie count worked out and then start measuring the amount of calories you are consuming on a typical day. It's tedious and boring but it's weight loss 101 and without that foundational knowledge, any other steps you take will largely be redundant.
You're also entirely WFH so i'd set an alarm for at least once a day to get out the front door and go for a walk for 20/30 minutes.
Also with regards your Feek comment, are you maybe thinking about NightSt@lk3r - he's absolutely brute forced exercise over diet but for most people, that's entirely unattainable - sure he does 40k+ steps some days.
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Yeah, it's definitely a balance of the two (watching what you eat and getting out and exercising). If you do nothing at the moment, as @SixTwoSix says, start by getting out for a 'brisk' walk at lunch time maybe.
Man of Honour
It was a while ago now but Feek lost a lot a weight from absolutely pounding out a serious amount of walking IIRC.
A nearly 3st loss is good going though and will almost certainly be noticeable but not if you're just looking in the mirror now with nothing to compare against.
I look at myself now and think "nothings really changed even though Ive lost approx. 50lbs since my heaviest" now when I look at myself now and compare it to a progress picture from when I first started the difference is actually massive.
A nearly 3st loss is good going though and will almost certainly be noticeable but not if you're just looking in the mirror now with nothing to compare against.
I look at myself now and think "nothings really changed even though Ive lost approx. 50lbs since my heaviest" now when I look at myself now and compare it to a progress picture from when I first started the difference is actually massive.
Soldato
Ahh sorry, see here >>> https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/threads/ive-done-it-im-half-the-man-i-used-to-be.18633763/
I dont know what i really want re input i guess im trying to hold my self accountable to some degree by posting. If anything i want to speed up the weight loss but in the proper way as i need to exercise and develop better eating habits as i know these will be the 2 things that will influence my weight the most. I have much much more to lose before i even think about slowing my weight loss. If im honest with myself i should have a list of medical issues for my weight but i've somehow dodged 99% so far and as im getting older im getting a bit of a twitchy bum about how much longer i can keep rolling the dice. I guess one question i might be asking is does anyone have any advice for changing my wild and random eating times. One thing i do need to reign in is my portion sizes on my Dinner as im not typically eating for the rest of the day the portion sizes are larger.
As @SixTwoSix said (ta babes
) i do like to cook and i consider myself to be a reasonable cook. I work 4 days a week but long days so i tend to try and batch cook something for those days or stick with meals i know i can knock up in 30-40 mins but it can get a bit boring and repetitive and i go through phases where i'll go all out with my cooking to not really being bothered and falling back on staple dishes. At the start of this year i was calorie counting everything having set myself an aggressive target under my supposed BMR. While i know i need to calorie count it got really soul destroying weighing every ingredient and logging it when i cook then calculating a total meal calorie intake. If anyone has any advice or tips on how to take some of the tediousness out of this it would be greatly appreciated.
Whilst some of us have dropped a lot of weight, real fast, I would warn against it. You need to think about changing your lifestyle rather than 'I need to drop X lbs in Y weeks' as when you get to the end, you could be in danger of going back to what you did before. If you can change your lifestyle, you're weight will then adapt and come into alignment with that new lifestyle.
For example, I'm lucky in that I found an exercise that I really enjoy. I cycled a lot when I started, I cycle a lot now. Does the weight keep dropping off? No, because I now have the body of someone who cycles a lot. The process happened quickly because I did drop calories to a lower point than most would, but only by a small amount (1,900 cals for a few months), so it was reasonably sustainable. (Now I aim between 2,200 and 2,700 cals) If I get injured and can't cycle, I'll be in trouble, but while I'm enjoying the new lifestyle, the weight stays in check.
If, on the other hand, you aim for 40k steps a day and 1,350 cals. Yes, the weight will drop off, but maintaining those two levels is unlikely and I would be worried your weight might start drifting back up.
Does that make sense?
Obviously, I'm not an expert and others will have a different view perhaps
For example, I'm lucky in that I found an exercise that I really enjoy. I cycled a lot when I started, I cycle a lot now. Does the weight keep dropping off? No, because I now have the body of someone who cycles a lot. The process happened quickly because I did drop calories to a lower point than most would, but only by a small amount (1,900 cals for a few months), so it was reasonably sustainable. (Now I aim between 2,200 and 2,700 cals) If I get injured and can't cycle, I'll be in trouble, but while I'm enjoying the new lifestyle, the weight stays in check.
If, on the other hand, you aim for 40k steps a day and 1,350 cals. Yes, the weight will drop off, but maintaining those two levels is unlikely and I would be worried your weight might start drifting back up.
Does that make sense?
Obviously, I'm not an expert and others will have a different view perhaps
Soldato
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- 29 Sep 2010
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This is the problem with human nature, people set goals which are far too big, so then to achieve these unrealistic goals they set unrealistic lifestyles because they want to achieve that goal in as quick a time frame as possible.Whilst some of us have dropped a lot of weight, real fast, I would warn against it. You need to think about changing your lifestyle rather than 'I need to drop X lbs in Y weeks' as when you get to the end, you could be in danger of going back to what you did before. If you can change your lifestyle, you're weight will then adapt and come into alignment with that new lifestyle.
For example, I'm lucky in that I found an exercise that I really enjoy. I cycled a lot when I started, I cycle a lot now. Does the weight keep dropping off? No, because I now have the body of someone who cycles a lot. The process happened quickly because I did drop calories to a lower point than most would, but only by a small amount (1,900 cals for a few months), so it was reasonably sustainable. (Now I aim between 2,200 and 2,700 cals) If I get injured and can't cycle, I'll be in trouble, but while I'm enjoying the new lifestyle, the weight stays in check.
If, on the other hand, you aim for 40k steps a day and 1,350 cals. Yes, the weight will drop off, but maintaining those two levels is unlikely and I would be worried your weight might start drifting back up.
Does that make sense?
Obviously, I'm not an expert and others will have a different view perhaps
It shouldn't be 'I need to lose 4 stone' etc, lose 1kg, then do that again, etc.
Big fan of James Smith who talks a lot of sense when it comes to weight loss in general for those that don't follow his social media stuff.
Soldato
Well, for the first time in 9 years I'm under 13 stone! 12 stone 11lb 8 ounces, to be exact.
I've been hovering between low to mid 13 stone for 2 years, doing lots of training (triathlon) and I managed to get to 13 stone 1lb prior to my last event, but couldn't shift that magic 1lb.
After the event the reduced training intensity resulted in me going quickly up to 13 and a half stone.
The key to my success is... Not eating an evening meal!
I've traditionally eaten dinner with my partner in the evening after work, where we sit at the table, eat and discuss our day.
I'd go to bed in the evening with a belly full of partially digested food, then get up and eat breakfast in the morning.
Now, with the new regime, I have breakfast and lunch as usual, but at dinner time I have a snack, a sachet of cous cous or a pack of super noodles. The Ainsley cous cous is tastiest, I've found. A small yoghurt for dessert and that's me done eating for the day.
This really works for me. I might need to increase my breakfast and lunch intake when i step up training again, but I really feel that I'm fuelling my body for the physically active part of my day and laying off food when I'm inactive.
12 and a half stone and fully trained for a triathlon would be fantastic for me. I'd still be one of the chunkier competitors carrying man boobs around the course and being constantly overtaken by skinny whippets, but at half a stone lighter it would make things easier!
I've been hovering between low to mid 13 stone for 2 years, doing lots of training (triathlon) and I managed to get to 13 stone 1lb prior to my last event, but couldn't shift that magic 1lb.
After the event the reduced training intensity resulted in me going quickly up to 13 and a half stone.
The key to my success is... Not eating an evening meal!
I've traditionally eaten dinner with my partner in the evening after work, where we sit at the table, eat and discuss our day.
I'd go to bed in the evening with a belly full of partially digested food, then get up and eat breakfast in the morning.
Now, with the new regime, I have breakfast and lunch as usual, but at dinner time I have a snack, a sachet of cous cous or a pack of super noodles. The Ainsley cous cous is tastiest, I've found. A small yoghurt for dessert and that's me done eating for the day.
This really works for me. I might need to increase my breakfast and lunch intake when i step up training again, but I really feel that I'm fuelling my body for the physically active part of my day and laying off food when I'm inactive.
12 and a half stone and fully trained for a triathlon would be fantastic for me. I'd still be one of the chunkier competitors carrying man boobs around the course and being constantly overtaken by skinny whippets, but at half a stone lighter it would make things easier!
A lb or two did bounce back on after this, but I stepped off the scales this morning at 15ast 4.1, which means 10lbs since the end of August. At first I thought this was quite quick, but actually, it's about 1lb a week, which sounds quite a steady rate. Given I know how many times I've not eaten well at all, I'm very pleased with this.
I do worry a little that I get too obsessive though. Yesterday I snacked between lunch and dinner (300 cals of peanuts) and had the extra bits in the evening that I've been trying to remove and I felt like it had been a bad day... I mean, I guess it's not bad to keep an eye on myself, but at the same time, it was really nothing and I let it make me feel a little bad. Mind you, then I stepped on the scales this morning and felt good again, but I don't want my mood tied too closely to this. (Although tbf, it's not that big an effect on my mood) Do others in this thread have that issue?