For a background to this post see How I Plan to Lose 20 Pounds and Win the Bet.
Week #8 Weigh-In: -1. Total Loss: -8.
8 weeks, 8 pounds. Grinding away.
My knee rehab had a setback this week. Cycling for more than 5 minutes started to become uncomfortable, so I’ve scaled back. This means going into Week 9 I’ll be exercising less. Weight gain often happens when activity drops before appetite can register the change. Appetite always lags activity, but they are connected. Any fitness “guru” that argues that point is a fool.
I said I would return to food journaling if my weight loss stalled. It hasn’t stalled, but it is getting close. Today I got a better idea. I believe the most effective idea for fat loss is reducing my eating window. So starting today I will begin keeping track of my eating window and make that information available on this blog starting next week.
My goal will be to average an eating window of 10 hours and then adjust from there. That works out to a fasting window of 14 hours. An example would be 11:30 AM – 9:30 PM. Please don’t leave a comment saying how you need to go hours before your last meal and sleep. That Oprah nonsense has been disproven countless times. The best time for your last meal is whatever facilitates deep sleep. For my ectomorphic caffeine abusing body eating right before bedtime keeps me asleep longer.
I love my pho. I eat pho at least once a week. Often homemade.
Notes:
- I discovered I eat more cheese when I have more varieties in my frig. This week instead of getting my normal Kerrygold Cheddar block, I got three different cheeses from Trader Joes. The result was I consumed more cheese. Lesson learned. I’ll return to Kerrygold Cheddar until the bet is over.
- Competitor #3 is tied with me at 8 pounds lost. I have no updates from the other 2 competitors.
Bill
Apr 20, 2014 — 11:17 am
MAS, question about eating later, closer to sleep. I’m also an ectomorph but not a good night sleeper. I’ve never experimented with eating later. Do you eat dinner really late or do you just have some sort of snack prior to sleep?
MAS
Apr 20, 2014 — 11:21 am
@Bill – Both. Late dinner and a snack right before bed. If I don’t, I’ll get hungry enough to wake up in the middle of my sleep. Without good sleep, I tend to overeat the following day. So solving for fat loss first means solving for good sleep.
Stephan Raczak
Apr 21, 2014 — 11:10 am
Right on – bring on the late night meals. I usually consume my biggest meal of the day between 08:00-10:00 PM. To hell with all the people trying to convince me that eating late (in particular carbs) will stall your fat loss.
thomas
Apr 21, 2014 — 1:39 pm
“I love my pho. I eat pho at least once a week. Often homemade.”………………..
Pho real?
aa
Apr 21, 2014 — 5:02 pm
I’m always amazed at how often Kerry Gold is mentioned on N. American health/paleo/trad/ancestral sites. Nothing wrong with it, but over here it’s seen as an ok-ish, average, maybe below average, cheap butter. I guess we’re really blessed with dairy products in Britain and Ireland. My 2 cents.
MAS
Apr 21, 2014 — 5:11 pm
@aa – I buy KerryGold because Costco and Sam’s Club have it at a good price. A good cheese at a good price. The amazing cheeses cost more and I tend to eat too much too quickly.
BigTex
Apr 22, 2014 — 6:33 am
Stephan- besides your late night meal, what other times do you eat? What time do you generally go to bed?
Pauline
Apr 22, 2014 — 8:51 am
I would be interested to know if coffee is part of your eating window, or excluded. I have found having small breakfast (one egg/bacon) with coffee to start my day, stops the adrenal surge I get with first coffee in the am. But caffeine first thing with milk, will keep the hunger at bay for a while.
MAS
Apr 22, 2014 — 9:25 am
@Pauline – That is the trade off. I do consume coffee both inside and outside the eating window. I know drinking black coffee on an empty stomach is not good for stress hormones, but I need to focus on losing the 20# first. Then I can begin to ease back on the coffee. Right now coffee is serving me as an appetite suppressant.
Stephan Raczak
Apr 22, 2014 — 12:05 pm
@Big Tex – Going to bed between 23:30-24:00 on most nights. Waking between 08:00-09:00.
Now that I am dieting down to 7% BF, I fast till around 11:00-12:00. 2nd meal is around 15:00 (snack type). Pre-workout meal at 16:00. Workout done at 19:00 at the latest. Big post-workout meal after that.
I have stopped drinking a protein shake straight after my workouts. I’d rather wait for 1 hour or so and have a really big real food meal that I will look foward to. I will usually have the shake after the big meal.
Norlee
Apr 22, 2014 — 3:47 pm
MAS, you said at the beginning that you thought the first 10lbs would be fairly easy to shed. has it been as you anticipated or perhaps more difficult than expected?
MAS
Apr 22, 2014 — 4:19 pm
@Norlee – More difficult. I thought the first 10# would have happened quicker.
Anemone
Apr 23, 2014 — 5:29 am
I’ve started having a snack in the wee hours when I wake up and can’t get back to sleep. It works really well. Who knew? (Thank you for telling us.)
Sometimes dieting actually interferes with injury recovery, as the body has to prioritize. Hopefully you won’t have any major setbacks, but it’s something to consider. My source: http://www.youreatopia.com/blog/2012/11/23/phases-of-recovery-from-a-restrictive-eating-disorder.html
MAS
Apr 23, 2014 — 6:56 am
@Anemone – In this case, the excess weight is likely contributing to the slow healing. I’ve decreased calories, but increased nutrient density. Daily gelatin is one example.
Anemone
Apr 23, 2014 — 7:43 am
The calorie is the most important nutrient. If you don’t get enough (and I have no idea if you’re over minimums or not) then your body thinks there’s a famine going on and shifts resources around to compensate, survival being more important than being injury-free. Just something to keep in mind if this experiment doesn’t work. Hopefully everything will be fine.