Hey y'all! Anyone and everyone is welcome to jump in and join us.

This is the Intermittent Fasting DAily Menu/Results/Accountability Thread. It's where a few of us (or many) are going to log in and encourage each other while we experiment with our own IF plans. You can list or talk about anything--not just your food. I look forward to adding in HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) and core exercises to my walking plan while practicing IF. So expect to hear about that too. hehe I expect some of us will talk about the known IF side-effects like insomnia, circadian rhythm disturbance, etc. It's all good! Let's hack this IF mofo! mkay?

There is not any 1 specific IF plan--there are so many to choose from, so this is a BYOIFP (bring-your-own-IF-plan) and join the fun! This is the thread where we'll post our daily menus and maybe some piccys at times! We can discuss progress, issues we might notice, look at how we may want to refine our own personal plans. I do think you should be healed from surgery and have your doctor's and RD's blessings to try something like this and you should do a ton of research and reading about Intermittent Fasting.

IF isn't only about weight loss, it's about taking specific measures to limit either quantities, calories, macros, or sometimes only consciously altering eating windows/schedules in order to effect metabolic change and reduce inflammation and improve health markers.

Ok, let's do this thang!!!

I hear ya on ordering from a menu. If I can pick the place, then I can find something (usually) semi-healthy that's still somewhat appealing (ie What is anything NOT a grilled chicken salad for $500 Alex?)! *snort* Dayum, now pimiento cheese sammys sound so dang good!!!

I honestly don't know up from down right now @sillykitty. The research has all been done on people with normal anatomy. And that's the research that comes out of the calorie restricted labs. Dr. Krista Varady also talked about this in her ADF book.

BUT, I'm not sure if we actually fall into this bracket. You know? I "hear" we're different by virtue of our anatomy. But my RD isn't treating me that way. She wants me to be at 1200-1500 cals like I was pre-op. And I'm like, well crap! I can't even get to 850cals on a consistent daily basis without gaining now! So I don't know what the fork is up. I think my thyroid has shifted more out of whack and I need a fix for it.

But if you hear other people on other forums talk, they say that "starvation mode" and down ramping of metabolism doesn't apply to WLS peeps. I honestly don't know. I have no idea if I've tanked my metabolism or not? Cuz I already had thyroid issues. I see people here all the time who did 600-800 cals to lose, then in maintenance are eating 1200-2000 cals (some more!) And it doesn't seem to have affected them? Others, I see gaining at those caloric levels.

I do know that in this first week of IF, I was able to eat higher cals on my UDs while keeping my DDs no more than about 50-100 cals less than most of my other average days and I've lost this 5lbs of weight. Dr. Varady and Dr. Johnson amd Dr/ Moseley of the 5:2 Diet claim that alternating days of doing DDs no more than 2-3 consecutive, helps protect from down ramping. But I think it's one ginormous guess when it comes down to it?

Yikes on the G2! What a pisser! But wooohoooo on the 4 hour window of IF. You are hungry today cuz of the G2. So you are just gonna have to muscle through it and maybe focus on eating protein when you feel hunger to help get you over that sugar hangover hump. ((hugs)) LOL, on easier at home. *sigh* Can we just say, ain't nuttin' easy about this sh*t? ROFLMAO!

I do better when I know where I'm going before hand and can look at the menu online. I tend to stick to healthier options if I do this. If I don't know where I'm going then in the heat of the moment I cave with the time pressure to pick something to eat.

Can I just b***h about something ridiculous real quick though. A lot of times I don't choose the healthiest option, I really want because of the serving size and price. Fresh fish, I love fresh fish. But I'll order the french onion soup, or some random appetizer, or a shrimp and pasta dish instead, because even though it's not "my money" (it's my company's money) it just seems so wasteful to order a $45 dish and eat 2 oz of it. Ok, not super relate-able to most people, so I'm hopefully burying it in this thread.

I have to admit, I do sometimes worry I have wrecked my metabolism. And as I get further out it will become harder to keep my cals low and I'll struggle with regain . On my vacation, 12 days and the 4.5 lb gain, my cals weren't ridiculous, between 1,000 - 1,700/day (very generous estimates too). So that scares me as what my future may look like. But also think, is that just because I went from 500 cals to free for all eating overnight, and if I ramp up slowly will my body cope better? Ugh, who knows.

I'm not worried too much about the G2, it's low sugar, only 30 cals per bottle, so I estimated I had 8 cals from 25% of the bottle. I only wonder if it deactivated the benefits of IF (if they exist). If they hunger is caused by anything I'd guess it's the late night hummus and pita bread

22 minutes ago, sillykitty said:

I do better when I know where I'm going before hand and can look at the menu online. I tend to stick to healthier options if I do this. If I don't know where I'm going then in the heat of the moment I cave with the time pressure to pick something to eat.

Can I just b***h about something ridiculous real quick though. A lot of times I don't choose the healthiest option, I really want because of the serving size and price. Fresh fish, I love fresh fish. But I'll order the french onion Soup, or some random appetizer, or a shrimp and Pasta dish instead, because even though it's not "my money" (it's my company's money) it just seems so wasteful to order a $45 dish and eat 2 oz of it. Ok, not super relate-able to most people, so I'm hopefully burying it in this thread.

I have to admit, I do sometimes worry I have wrecked my metabolism. And as I get further out it will become harder to keep my cals low and I'll struggle with regain . On my vacation, 12 days and the 4.5 lb gain, my cals weren't ridiculous, between 1,000 - 1,700/day (very generous estimates too). So that scares me as what my future may look like. But also think, is that just because I went from 500 cals to free for all eating overnight, and if I ramp up slowly will my body cope better? Ugh, who knows.

I'm not worried too much about the G2, it's low sugar, only 30 cals per bottle, so I estimated I had 8 cals from 25% of the bottle. I only wonder if it deactivated the benefits of IF (if they exist). If they hunger is caused by anything I'd guess it's the late night hummus and pita bread

Oh wow, okkkkkk DEF the late nite hummus and pita! I missed that before! If all you had was that tiny amount of G2. Pfffff. That ain't even enough to deactivate the IF in my HO.

I 10000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000% agree about seeing the menu/planning ahead of time. I plan that meal first from the menu and plug it in, so I know what to do with the rest of the day. LOL! What a goober, right? If it's on the fly...then FM!!! It's very very difficult in that case and triple that if it's Asian or Mexican. *sigh*

And yes, I completely get and understand the whole ordering off the App menu or the side menu of the add-on menu. It totally torks me! I WANT an entree! But I've really gotten to where I hate leftovers from restaurants and I used to love them. And I feel so guilty ordering a full size entree. To make matters worse, Mr. F. and I have different food preferences especially now. And I get tired of his stuff. Plus he hates to share. He will eat every last morsel on his plate and if I ask to share, he gives me like a bite or two. LOL. And then I get angry. So yeah, I try to find cheap alternatives and usually do just fine. But still...gah! It's just complicated. Right?

I don't know what to say about the metabolism. I also share this fear big time! It's hard to think you are taking in very many cals given your quantities. So the 4.5lbs gain is a stumper. Could that be more travel edema and salt/alcohol/flying rather than real weight gain due to diet?

I DO think that increasing calories slowly is easier on us rather than doing it all at once...I've done both and felt like the gradual worked better for me without stalls/gains. The other way, I for sure pack on about 5-10lbs then stall for a few weeks. Then I "may" get back to losing, or maybe I won't. What is strange for me this past week with the IF is that normally, if I eat 1000cals or more, I will be guaranteed to wake up with anything from a 2-6lb gain overnight. That didn't happen here, even on the nights I had a glass of wine and the bread. I'd wake up with maybe 1 to 1 1/2lbs overnight? Maybe? Sometimes, the scale just stayed the same. Then when I would do my DD, the next day I'd either be the same or I'd be down a bit. If I do UDs that are fairly low carb/no wine, then I just start racking up the losses without gains on the UDs. That's been my pattern with JUDDD in the past and it's looking like that may be my pattern again?

29 minutes ago, FluffyChix said:

Plus he hates to share. He will eat every last morsel on his plate and if I ask to share, he gives me like a bite or two. LOL. And then I get angry.

I don't know what to say about the metabolism. I also share this fear big time! It's hard to think you are taking in very many cals given your quantities. So the 4.5lbs gain is a stumper. Could that be more travel edema and salt/alcohol/flying rather than real weight gain due to diet?

I'm dating someone right now who's good with sharing ... I never thought it would be such an important "pro". New check list: employed, 2 or less baby mamas, clean criminal background check, good sharer.

I thought the same thing with the gain, I don't think travel edema, the trip wasn't too much different than what I do most weeks. Not salt, overall the food in was not overly salted, actually the opposite. But alcohol is very possible. I've had very little alcohol in the last 6 months, and certainly not alcohol everyday, and certainly not beer.

It wasn't all true gain either, as you can see, I had a pretty steep drop in weight once I returned

Caught up now... Well I can testify that scales are stupid and don't pay too much attention to them (went to the doctor and was weighed)

ive been sick so that means hydrating big time, soup, vitamin c, etc.

Now I'm at 165.4 now (so 5lbs in a week of fasting/ minimal eating hahaha whatever lol) if I was a person weighed constantly I'd go crazy. But I know that the soup was salty & carbs help you retain water, and life goes on especially since my clothes fit the same...

Up and down the scale goes... Makes no sense at all, not paying it any attention

Edited September 11, 20187 yr by GreenTealael

10 hours ago, GreenTealael said:

Caught up now... Well I can testify that scales are stupid and don't pay too much attention to them (went to the doctor and was weighed)

ive been sick so that means hydrating big time, Soup, Vitamin C, etc.

Now I'm at 165.4 now (so 5lbs in a week of fasting/ minimal eating hahaha whatever lol) if I was a person weighed constantly I'd go crazy. But I know that the soup was salty & carbs help you retain Water, and life goes on especially since my clothes fit the same...

Up and down the scale goes... Makes no sense at all, not paying it any attention

Awww sweetie! It's totally about being sick, the sodium in broths, and cold meds! Ugh!! So sorry you're sick and those pesky pounds came on board. But yeah...the scale drives me crazy when it's bad to me, and excites/motivates when it's good to me. Me=Mental!

Glad you went to the doc and are fixed up with stuff to help you feel better!!

That is an impressive weight graph girl!!! Mine doesn't look anything like that lol. But that sharp rise looks more like an event that caused a big water spike--like travel or something weird. I get those when my edema flares up. Ugh!

20 hours ago, sillykitty said:

It wasn't all true gain either, as you can see, I had a pretty steep drop in weight once I returned

@sillykitty

Yesterday was a tough day. I had a lymphedema flare in my arm and it's very painful when that happens. On top of that I was so busy, and had to try to work with one arm elevated on pillows and only using one hand on the computer. Oy! Try being a one-handed graphic designer. So. Slow.

It was a great IF day. I tried having just a quick cottage cheese/fruit breakfast with some fiber cereal. We were out of Grk yogurt. And I tried pineapple (fresh). Big mistake. I was starvin marvin until the afternoon. But then started feeling so bad that I lost every speck of appetite. So ended up only having protein coffee for dinner and didn't get all my protein in for the day. Oh well. One day isn't the end of the world.

I didn't take pics of my egg puff. You guys know what that looks like!

B1-Coffee + Miralax + Colace

B2-Cottage Cheese with Bing Cherries and Pineapple

L-Egg Puff (ew, turk saus crumbles, mushrooms, spinach, onion mix, lt cheese wedge)

AS-BH Turkey + Asian Salad Mix (just the greens part--no dressing or toppings) + WF Italian Dressing

D-protein coffee

Here's my food log for the day - 500 cal DD (under on cals and protein)-Click to enlarge.

Giving up meat again for a bit, same old problems, it sits too long in me (TMI sorry)

Vegan/vegetarian meals coming as soon as I am well again! F- NYC!

@GreenTealael Hope you start feeling better soon. I agree, the scale seems to have a mind of it's own!

@FluffyChix I still can't figure out how you make 400 cals look like so much food, and such attractive and delicious food. I had the same cals as you yesterday. I ate part of a leftover kebab, chunk of cheese & a protein shake, my pics would have been so sad next to yours!

Sorry about the lymphedema, hopefully it subsides today.

You lost 5 lbs in a week, so your graph can't be looking too shabby.

It would certainly be nice if that gain could be contributed to alcohol and/or beer. I mean I drank beer everyday for 11 days or so. That is not something I would ever do IRL. So if that's all I'd have to do to avoid gains, then I have it made! Ha, ha, wishful thinking, right?!? At the end of next month I take another 10 day vacation. This one will be wine, pasta & gelato, and a lot of walking. We'll see what that does to the scale.

Yesterday turned out better than expected. I woke up hungry, so I had low expectations of being able to do IF. But I pushed through the hunger by hydrating. But when I finally did eat, it set off my hunger monster. It makes me think that on days I have minimal hunger if I should just do protein supplements, and not eat anything that actually tastes good. Hmmm .....

Woke up super early, no hunger so far. We'll see how today goes. I have dinner plans tonight, so to do IF I'll need to push my first meal out until mid afternoon. We'll see ....

BTW a video about the earlier IF eating window

Edited September 11, 20187 yr by GreenTealael

Here's my chart of the last 180 days. You can see I drop to a new low then uptick. So it's very stair-steppy. LOL. Drives me bonkers even though I know to expect it now!

My stuff looks like a lot of food, cuz, well...it is! That's what my RD couldn't figure out either. She's like, "You can't satisfy your nutritional needs on 500-600 calories per day. It just can't be done!!!" I asked her why I had to add fat from external sources, when I was sitting on a mountain of fat on my ass that I was trying hard to lose? She couldn't answer that question. Then she saw my food pics and has been quite about my cal count ever since! LOLOLOLOL! That's pretty much the biggest things I've cut out besides grains/legumes. I eat adequate low fat protein (4oz of shrimp=80cals. LOL!), a ton of veggies--almost no cals, I eat a little fruit--almost no cals, eggwhites--50 grams is like 25cals, I eat fake cheese (2% or ligheter--low cals, like 25cals for a wedge of light HEB laughing cow, I eat FF and low fat dairy, very few nuts unless I can squeeze them into my cals for the day. Very low on beef and high cal items. And if I can keep myself from it--I stay away from full fat, lovely, yummy rich cheese! 1 ounce of cheese can set you back anywhere from 100-200 cals for 1 ounce!

Plus I take pics very close up. I have a crap, old phone, and it takes grainy photos plus I shake. LOL. So it helps to balance my arms on the table and take a close shot. Smoke n' mirrors baby, Smoke n' mirrors!

Edited September 11, 20187 yr by FluffyChix

@GreenTealael I think you really have to follow what you know to be true for yourself and your body! ((hugs)) So sorry you're puny, and am hoping you heal quickly!! Having the #2 trains off-schedule is no stinking fun. I struggle with that too. You know, being vegan/vegetarian for years, it is entirely possible that you lack some of the enzymes for digesting meat-sources protein. I know that happens for beef, I'd think it would also be the case for other things as well? I look forward to your menus/pics!!

Thanks for the link! I am gonna go listen to it asap!!!

@sillykitty Gosh I used to love beer--biergartens--etc! And man it would pack on the pounds overnight! I think you've figured it out. I bet Italy will be better--maybe even with the pasta! You can drink way more beer than you can eat pasta! So that may save you! Your vaca sounds so fun! Damn I wanna come work for you and be your assistant!!! Or a minion!!! Please don't not take pics cuz of me!!! This isn't the Fluffy Show! This is our IF journey girlie!!!!!

I think as long as we hit our protein needs, we'll probably be fine? LOL. It's a crap shoot right? Please take those vitamins!!! It felt good not eating dinner last night. Never thought I'd say that one. But I just really couldn't manufacture any desire to so the coffee with PP in it hit the spot. Even though Mr. F. was eating the leftovers I made for him. Love those re-imagined dinners! Hehe! I don't think I'm gonna push for 3 squares on IF days either. I will just push for protein mins.

Today is an UD and I am not hungry right now. And am busy working. So I don't quite know when my first meal will be. I'm gonna try to sneak in a walk before I break my fast though. (Odd how I don't mind the plain decaff with Miralax...)

Wait, when are you going to Italy @sillykitty lol suddenly I don't feel sick anymore... lol @FluffyChix

58 minutes ago, GreenTealael said:

BTW a video about the earlier IF eating window

Very very interesting! Thank you for sharing this @GreenTealael! I'm gonna have to go dig up this study and read it. Kinda eye opening about the ADF stuff too! What I don't know is how I can implement it into our lives. Cuz Mr. F. doesn't get home early and wants to eat between 7:30 and 8pm. And I don't want to further hilight the differences in him eating and me by eating without him, then not eating at night. So I have to get more answers and figure this out!

BTW, I love this guy and just subscribed to his channel! He's easy to understand, entertaining (handsome) and obviously walking the walk!!! TY!