[NPV]

After 3+ years of observing my progress on the weight loss front,l and general fitness and wellbeing, the family has decided to "institutionalise" Intermittent fasting I never had to actually talk to convince them, just seeing my progress helped them make the decision. Obviously, they had apprehensions from the time I started following this regime especially about hunger pangs, gas, binge eating, weakness, etc.

I managed to get into the IF routine quite easily taking small steps (that's just me), and now after these 3+ years it helped the family take the plunge quickly and adapt very easily.

So far, I was doing 5 days of IF (all weekdays) and now that has changed to all of us following IF for 6 or 7 days each week (need that little bit of randomness/unpredictability in our lives)

We love our south indian breakfast items (of course in small quantities), so that now becomes our dinner at 7pm.
As a family, we had already adopted a low carb lifestyle over the last few years.

[dhanushs]

Hi Everyone,

So, this is my second stint of going into absolute Keto to reduce weight. The first stint got me down from 102KGS to ~85KGS. Then for about 3 years, I've avoided rice alltogether, tried to incorporate low carb and IF lifestyle and managed to stay ~85-88KGS. However, lot of untimely carb snaking and drinking increased the weight again to 92.5KGS, followed by the decision to start Keto again.

Well, my question might seem weird.

It's been just 3 and a half weeks and I've already lost 9.5 Kilos. Currently at 82.9KGS. Assuming around 3-3.5kilos is water, I've lost 6-6.5 kilos of fat. One KG of fat being 9000 calories, I'm losing around 15-16,000 calories a week, which is more than 2,000 calories a day.

I dont lead a particularly active lifestyle. BUT, am i missing something here? Is this good or bad? Most important question - How do I not jinx this! I plan to take the weight down to ~68-70KGS.

[Sheel]

Any of you guys tried apple cider with lemon & warm water? Okay to have this 2 or 3 times a day?

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by Sheel

Any of you guys tried apple cider with lemon & warm water? Okay to have this 2 or 3 times a day?

Just that, no solid food?

I have done something like with maple syrup back in 2003. It is known as lemonade diet. Lost 10kgs in 10days. No weakness during the time, I even exercised. But it is not sustainable, once I switched back to solid food, all the weight came back.

It is good for losing weight quickly for some event like wedding or some interview. But you can't keep it up for more than 2 weeks if you want to live a normal life.

[Sheel]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Just that, no solid food?

No weakness during the time, I even exercised. But it is not sustainable, once I switched back to solid food, all the weight came back.

It is good for losing weight quickly for some event like wedding or some interview. But you can't keep it up for more than 2 weeks if you want to live a normal life.

No no, absolutely not. I am over any fad diet / regime. This is for the first drink in the morning and once or twice during day time and one glass before going to bed.

(Below) Am elaborating a bit as to what I am having as I find it sustainable.

I am having my nuts (walnut / raisins / almond) in the morning. If I am going to work, then a very light breakfast (mostly 2 idlis or poha) or sattu. In lunch I take a bit of carbs in form of a small bowl of rice (along with pulses / green vegetables / eggs / paneer / chicken or fish).
Evening is usually a bowl of steamed green vegetables with maybe one roti (made of 6 or 7 different flours).

On few Sundays, I have a biryani & kebab dinner & skip everything the next day till lunch.

[AZT]

Originally Posted by dhanushs

I dont lead a particularly active lifestyle. BUT, am i missing something here? Is this good or bad? Most important question - How do I not jinx this! I plan to take the weight down to ~68-70KGS.

You have diet in check, since you are not active you said I would suggest also incorporating some physical activity. Weight loss is basic calorie in - minus calorie out so if you start burning more, you will not jinx your progress with the occasional cheat day or vacation cheat week.
If gym is not your cup of tea, you can think of cycling or skipping. Also try and bump up protein intake in case you're not tracking that. Your progress is great and you seem disciplined in diet.

[dhanushs]

Originally Posted by AZT

You have diet in check, since you are not active you said I would suggest also incorporating some physical activity. Weight loss is basic calorie in - minus calorie out so if you start burning more, you will not jinx your progress with the occasional cheat day or vacation cheat week.
If gym is not your cup of tea, you can think of cycling or skipping. Also try and bump up protein intake in case you're not tracking that. Your progress is great and you seem disciplined in diet.

My question is that with an inactive lifestyle, how is 2000+ calorie deficit possible?

[AZT]

Originally Posted by dhanushs

My question is that with an inactive lifestyle, how is 2000+ calorie deficit possible?

It is excessive but then your resting metabolism rate could be high. I have a friend who lost 6 kgs in a month going zero carb and zero sugar. Fat also negligible in diet, mainly fiber and protein. He was working out as well but this was a lot of loss and he was just 82.5 kgs so not that heavy.

If you think you’re losing more than you should then definitely get some tests done post consultation. If you’re healthy otherwise eg. no gut issues, hairloss, insomnia, weakness etc then I think you’re good to go. Any deficiency or problem usually does show a symptom. Sorry can’t be of more help.

[amvj]

Any suggestion for good and simple weighing scales? I don’t want to measure fat or app based ones. I am looking non-Chinese ones.

[Juggernaught]

Originally Posted by amvj

Any suggestion for good and simple weighing scales? I don’t want to measure fat or app based ones. I am looking non-Chinese ones.

https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B07...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Have been using this for a couple of years now and it's good. I know you aren't looking an app based scale but in this case, I find it's better to have and not use rather than not have and feel the need later.

Also in my experience, a lot of the analog weighing scales gather dust inside the glass pane after a point of time which make it harder to read. This will not be the case with digital scales.

[Caffeinated]

Originally Posted by amvj

Any suggestion for good and simple weighing scales? I don’t want to measure fat or app based ones. I am looking non-Chinese ones.

I've been using this one from Equinox for 3+ years. Its not delicate like glass, and although it has kind-of leather look, its hard plastic. This colour ensures that it doesnt look dirty with repeated use.

Equinox Personal Weighing Scale-Digital EQ-EB-6171L https://www.amazon.in/dp/B01DM504LY/...ing=UTF8&psc=1

[am1m]

Went for an annual health checkup after a gap of 2 years. Cholesterol levels have shot up drastically. Since I've always been a physically active person and thought I was in decent shape, it was especially hard for me to hear the doc say things like "Any higher and I'll need to prescribe medication" and "Try and get at least 30mins of walking a day"!

But thinking about it I realized that while the activities I do might be good for strength and other physical development, it wasn't doing anything particularly good for the heart. I'd see peak activity for a few minutes with lots of rest and breaks in between.

And after years of making fun of people who obsessed about what they ate, I'm going to have to admit that my diet was anything but healthy. I always thought that I could eat what I want and just work it off later.

Obviously, an entry into early middle-age, the undeniable belly fat accumulation (while the rest of me remains skinny) and 5 kilos extra because of months of inactivity, including three months continuous due to lockdowns, monsoon, and a knee injury- have all shown me otherwise!

So lessons learnt - Skinny doesn't mean fit. As you get older, diet counts more than physical activity and you lose your metabolism advantage. Some physical activity daily over years counts for a LOT more than periodic bursts of intense activity punctuated by months of inactivity!

Making a few diet and lifestyle changes, due another lipid profile test in three months to see the effect.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by am1m

Making a few diet and lifestyle changes, due another lipid profile test in three months to see the effect.

And note the quoted intent: This has to be permanent! And then only this works. Its a very strong line. Also realisation of the problem is 60% of the solution. The rest 40%? Well you sweat it out! All the best.

[graaja]

Originally Posted by am1m

Making a few diet and lifestyle changes, due another lipid profile test in three months to see the effect.

Can you share more details on what diet and lifestyle changes you have made?

Also as ampere has pointed, any change you make in diet and lifestyle should be for life. So choose a change that is sustainable.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by graaja

Can you share more details on what diet and lifestyle changes you have made?

Still in the process of making these changes, just went for the health checkup last week and got the cholesterol numbers that made me take these steps.

Basically, going to do what the doc ordered and everything she said tallies with what I've read on this thread and with your useful advice in the other fitness thread.

I'm sure most of this is very basic and obvious stuff to most people on this thread. But like I said it's a bit of a shift for me because I have always been of the "I can eat anything, and I can/am always work(ing) it off anyway because I'm an active outdoors guy!" mindset. And before this knee injury, I've been a pretty active person.

*Cutting out cheese- I love cheese and used to munch slices and cubes as a snack.
*Cutting out chocolates- had got in to the habit of eating something sweet after lunch and after dinner.
*Cutting out anything deep fried- I used to always get 2 vadas instead of idlis for breakfast, will now stick to idlis.
*Increasing vegetable intake- we always do have a couple of vegetable dishes at meals, but I'd usually just take very little.
*Eating different fruits- there are always fruits at home, but I would eat only oranges since I like those and avoid apples. Will eat more and different fruits.
*Eating different nuts and dry fruits- again, the only nuts I'd consume were cashew, that too fried and salted! Now it's going to be plain almonds, prunes and peanuts.
*Restricting my meat consumption to only chicken and fish- no red meats.
*Going back to being as active as I was before- the past 5 months and past 3 in particular have been a downer. But my knee seems to be better now, so going to raise my activity levels till I'm back to where I was. Nothing additional, nothing drastic.

The good thing is have already given up soft drinks about 3 years ago and quit smoking more than a decade ago. My wife is having the last laugh. When we used to go for checkups, her numbers used to be worse than mine but she made most of the changes required slowly and steadily while I didn't because I was the "outdoor activity guy" while she "only" walked or did yoga. Her fitness parameters have improved, mine have gone down! Again, goes to show that as far as physical activity goes, a little bit done consistently is better than intense peaks and inactive lulls.

Originally Posted by graaja

Also as ampere has pointed, any change you make in diet and lifestyle should be for life. So choose a change that is sustainable.

Absolutely, that's sound advice! That's why I'm not going to try anything drastic like trying any high-intensity workouts or going completely vegetarian, or something like that. I know those I will not be able to sustain beyond a few weeks.

Any thoughts, suggestions are welcome and thanks for all your advice on this and the other fitness thread!

PS: There is an outside, small chance that my bad cholesterol levels are because of a supplement I've been taking for my knee over the past month. It has glucosamine and according to what I've read on the Net, there is anecdotal evidence that it does push up levels in the short term. Nothing proven by a well-designed study but either way, will know in three months when I go for my next lipid profile test, since I'm supposed to take this supplement for three months more anyway. But that doesn't explain the belly fat, that is undeniably the result of a bad diet and becoming inactive. And I don't think my cholesterol levels were great before either. Either way, eating healthier is a good target/outcome, regardless.