Calorie Restriction and Intermittent Fasting are two tools to reduce weight on a consistent basis. Both require adaptation. Learning to live on restricted calories and fasting become easier with time. The thought alone could keep most people from trying.
As we start to limit the calories in our meals and in our days, our metabolism does slow down. Our body gets used to less energy being consumed. Our appetite decreases. The intermittent fasting creates eating windows of time and sometimes we aren’t even hungry at meal time.
The Basics of Reducing Calories and Creating Eating Windows of Time
The first step in reducing calories should be the selecting of healthy foods and elimination of bad foods. We want to reduce sugar and flour in our diets. This eliminates most of the problem foods that would also increase insulin and exacerbate insulin resistance if we have it. Reducing excess carbohydrates follows eliminating sugar.
Carbohydrates turn to glucose and excess glucose is channeled to fat. If we have not been exercising, we have lost the receptors in the muscles that absorb the glucose in our body and keep it out of fat storage. The Keto diet is an obvious good choice for this process in that it reduces carbohydrates and therefore sugar.
Our diet then focuses on protein, good fats, good oils, nuts and seeds, and a minimum of fruits and vegetables. Getting to this point will create a whole new perspective on cravings and satiety. Without carbs and sugars, there will be fewer crashes and rushes for sugar. Our appetite will be much more manageable.
Selecting a time window for eating varies with everyone. I like the 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Others prefer to abstain in the mornings and have a last meal at 6 p.m. or 8 p.m. You might also want to leave a few hours between dinner and bedtime. I don’t snack in between the hours although my most difficult time is after dinner.
My goal is to lose a half pound to a pound a day. My metabolism fights all the way. It makes it more difficult to reduce calories and lose weight as the metabolism which burns most of our calories stops reducing services it provides to the body. I have lost 30 pounds in about 120 days and I am looking to lose 5 more. At that point I will be at 23 on the Body Mass Index which measures underweight, normal weight, overweight, and obese. 23 is the middle of underweight and the top of normal weight. See Calculator.
Once you have reached your target weight, staying there is the same battle. Now with a greatly reduced metabolic rate, the body will add quickly to normal eating. This is why everyone gains back what they lost. Exercise becomes crucial in maintaining our energy expenditure to offset our energy consumption.
In this process, you will want to have established an excellent exercise routine building strength, flexibility, and aerobic capability. I use a 35 pound weight, do various floor exercises and vary my aerobics between walking, biking, and surfing. My work schedule does interfere with my exercising, but we do the best we can.
At the other end, you are going to be healthier, feel better, look great, and much more recreational capability. How bad is that?
Read a good book to get ready.
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