For those looking for something actionable, you may want to head to the reddit board for intermittent fasting. It's a good way to lower your caloric intake and increase autophagy. People doing intermittent fasting often also eat a keto diet that is mentioned in the writing as well.
https://www.reddit.com/r/intermittentfasting/ https://www.reddit.com/r/keto/
Ephedrine or amphetamines, those work.
https://www.livestrong.com/article/296534-omega-3-as-an-appe...
Years ago I went to a medically supervised weight loss program, twice, and met a loooot of people of all ages, all with serious weight problems. A few found success with surgery, and maybe half of those kept it off. Of the half that did, they knew going in that they were ready for the hard work, but they were so big they needed a boost to get moving.
The people who used drugs never kept it off. The the people who thought the magic was in some special way of eating never kept it off. The people who committed to lifelong lifestyle change kept it off, and it didn’t seem to matter if it was Keto, Atkins, Paleo, or any permutation of potentially healthy lifestyles. The active ingredient is not the plan, it is the desire to commit to the plan with all of your being... for years, forever.
For me at least, it was also a matter of growing the fuck up, really taking responsibility for my negative patterns of thought and behavior, and relentlessly working on them in a positive way. It’s hard, but I went from barely being able to walk, to jogging up stairs.
Everyone is a bit different, everyone has different issues with food and exercise, and everyone probably has to use a slightly different approach. Still, some constants for me were the need to ditch fast food completely, and soda is now a very rare treat. More than that however, I had to slowly alter my mental habits about food, and really pay attention to how I felt, especially after an unhealthy meal. I basically tried to form new habits to take the place of old destructive habits.
Anyway, enough babble from me, I just wanted to add my own perspective as someone doing the work to live, and live well.
Edit: I forgot to mention what actually made me post this in the first place, that I found intermittent fasting genuinely helpful. In particular I tend not to have cravings until after I’ve had my first real meal, so I just start a bit later, and have a defined cut-off. I have something with plenty of fiber in the morning, and then just lay off until lunch. More protein with each meal, less sugar, and plenty of fiber, and normal portions.
And for any nutrition plan,ensure you get all your macros in your feeding window too. I've totally found that hunger is suppressed by IF though, but only after a week or so of doing it. Even if you did everything right, maybe it's just not for your body.
All of your post is good but this is the most important bit (IMO). The biggest scam the weight loss industry ever pulled on Western civilisation was the redefinition of "diet" from "what you eat" to "a temporary change in what you eat". To maintain a healthy weight you have to monitor your weight, and what you're eating, and adjust the latter in response to the former, forever. It's not a thing with an end. It's how you have to live.
Yeah, this is the part that people don't get when they talk about weight loss. They make it out like losing weight is the greatest thing, you'll feel better, have more energy, get more attention from the opposite sex, etc.
Truth is those benefits aren't guaranteed and are mostly exaggerated, but worse is the part they never talk about: what you're giving up to get there. Personally, I have to avoid (or leave early) social functions where free food will be available (you wouldn't believe how pushy people get, insisting that you eat), or that takes place at a restaurant (order a salad and everyone acts like you shot their dog). I have to suppress the urge to hit people who bring donuts to work. I spend three nights a week exercising and I eat a single meal a day of steamed vegetables and fake meat. I weigh myself every single morning and I make n effort to count every single calorie. And I have to do this for the rest of my life if I want to maintain where I am.
Weight loss is not a panacea, the tradeoffs aren't going to be worth it for everyone, and I really wish people would stop being such dicks about the whole thing.
> "I tend not to have cravings until after I’ve had my first real meal
Very much the case for me too, to the point that I can "forget" to eat all day so long as I really don't actually eat even a bit.
More importantly, though, I've found I can duplicate this effect to a great extent by strictly eliminating carbs from my first meal, and then a eating a proper square old-fashioned "dinner" in the afternoon. This has other benefits for me as well, the most noticeable being that I don't suffer grinding foggy sleepiness at midmorning or late afternoon. It also lets me be satisfied with a light supper later on, which is critical for my sleep. Big meals before bed leave me tossing and turning until early morning.
A sugary breakfast, on the other hand, will fuck up my whole day.
Also here's a good youtube video explaining it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dan8qtgQRi8
Is this just me? Or is this a thing that everyone has and just works through?
It took me maybe a week or two of not eating breakfast until it felt normal - but now I could never go back. I feel much more in control. Before if I missed breakfast i'd be a mess and my stomach would be making all kinds of noises in meetings. Another plus I can eat massive lunches and dinners to make up for what I didn't eat at breakfast. I've still been able to gain weight this way!
Does coffee count as breakfast here, though?
In 2016 a Nobel prize was given to Yoshinori Ohsumi for his work on autophagy. "After infection, autophagy can eliminate invading intracellular bacteria and viruses. Autophagy contributes to embryo development and cell differentiation. Cells also use autophagy to eliminate damaged proteins and organelles, a quality control mechanism that is critical for counteracting the negative consequences of aging. Disrupted autophagy has been linked to Parkinson's disease, type 2 diabetes and other disorders that appear in the elderly. Mutations in autophagy genes can cause genetic disease. Disturbances in the autophagic machinery have also been linked to cancer. Intense research is now ongoing to develop drugs that can target autophagy in various diseases." [1]
That said, Dr. Jason Fung says black is better but he allows creamer if needed so that people stick with their fasts.
[1]https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2...
Sugar / carbs => Insulin spike > insulin drop > hangry within 2-3 hours
Protein / fat => Smooth sailing for 4-5 hours or more, hunger is much less intense
Just my experience.
2.) This is exactly why people who do intermittent fasting are often eating keto, which is a low carb, moderate protein, high fat diet. Carbs spike your blood sugar. Then it comes crashing down and puts you in a relative "low", so your body craves more of that quick energy and boom you are hungry/want carbs again.
Fats and proteins on the other hand give you a more stable energy level by not spiking your blood sugar as much. You stay full. The reason for only moderate protein is because excess protein is also turned into glucose through gluconeogenesis.
For the record my boyfriend is a black hole when it comes to food. He's fairly muscular and active so he gets hungry pretty quickly. But if he eats keto macros he can handle 1 meal a day too. He actually gets a bit sick eating carb heavy meals now.
I've seen people do it without doing keto and still get weight loss success, but a LCHF diet of some sort is the most common diet I see. Also the article mentions specifically keto diet linked to longevity.
Read through the sidebar info on the keto reddit if you want an idea of where to start.
My advice is that starting out, I wouldn't get too hung up on the ratio. It's actually pretty hard to get 75% of calories from fat. IMO, the important part is to limit the carbs. If you're hitting something like 60% fat, 30% protein, 10% good carbs (mostly green veggies, maybe some berries), you'll still see most of the keto benefits in terms of fewer mood swings and cravings, ability to fast more easily, etc.
Healthy eating is one of those areas where a lot of people (myself included) let perfect become the enemy of good. Even moderate low-carb, just eating cutting out sweets and starches, can be enough for a lot of people to see waistline and mood stability improvements.
The discussion about carbs, keto, etc applies to some people, but for the truly skinny, that feeling of weakness is your body slowly starving.
1. Wake up
2. Make Breakfast
3. Go on with day
vs
1. Wake up
2. Go on with day.
Another thing to consider is that many people who don't feel like spending the effort to make breakfast will just buy something and eat it. Doesn't take much effort or willpower to stop at Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks on the way to work.