OnlyHermes Doing the Math

This topic contains 19 replies, has 6 voices, and was last updated by  Onlyhermes 4 years, 9 months ago.

Viewing 20 posts - 1 through 20 (of 20 total)

  • I thought it might be a good idea to start a thread in “Personal Stories” since I have such a loooong way to go. My intention is to keep myself motivated and check on my attitude…

    Goal: 110 pounds

    My March 29th weight was 278. (Aargh!!!)
    Bust 55″ Waist 54.5″ Neck 16.25″ Calf 18.75″

    My current weight is 264/65/66
    Bust 52″ Waist 52″ Neck 15.5″ Calf 18″

    Total Pounds Lost: 13-ish 🙂

    Doing the math to figure out how my current ADF plan compares with a straight 1200 cal/day diet so I can stop debating with myself about this. Here’s the math:

    BMR of my current weight is 1755. If I take in 1600 cals/day for 15 days (Zero calorie fasting on alternate days), that’s 24,000 calories. If I burn 1755 per day for 30 days just staying alive, that’s 52,650. 52,650 – 24,000 = a 28,650 calorie deficit. Divided by 3,500 per pound, that’s 8.18 pounds I might expect to lose each month. Or, 11.194 if I use TDEE. These numbers might change if I add cream to my coffee on fast days, etc.

    If I were to go on a traditional 1200 cal/day diet, I would take in 36,000 calories for 30 days, for a deficit (52,650-36,000) of 16,650. 16,650 divided by 3500 = 4.757 pounds per month. So the argument for this WOE is that I can eat 400 more calories on my eating days and still lose 8-11 pounds per month (on paper anyway) vs. 5 pounds per month on a traditional diet. On a traditional diet, I would get to eat every day, but it is possible that my energy output would slow to 1200 to match my consistent calories in. According to Dr. Fung, it is harder for my body to settle into a rut with the feast/fast method. He also believes that metabolism increases when fasting, in addition to various health benefits. We’ll see as time goes on.

    Your maths is too complicated,just keep it nice and simple.I was 325 lbs when i started the 5-2 diet on the 30th of December, i now weigh 304 lbs, i eat below my TDEE on non fast days and on fast days Monday and Thursday i have 800 calories,the best way to loose weight is to drop 2lbs a week max.

    13lbs in one month is awesome @onlyhermes! Keep up the great work! I wish I had measured myself at the start. I think sometimes it’s an even better way to see your results. Both my husband and I have been doing this and we both have crazy swings in weight in our daily weigh ins but I can see the weight dropping off of him even when the scale says he has gone up for instance. Thankfully, even without measurements, we have belt loops… Don’t care what the scale says, his belt is proof.

    It’s so funny you did the math. It’s totally something I would do!!! It’s just nice to know, and it’s a solid thing to keep in mind when the scale doesn’t cooperate. The math doesn’t lie. It is bound to work. One day at a time… Onward and downward 🙂

    Yesterday I began my new plan with 1600 LCHF calories on an “eat” day. I also tried something different and ate breakfast. Wow, what a tremendous difference in my mood. I felt better all day with no panic about calories or urge to binge in the evening. In fact, I saved a cup of coffee with cream and a square of chocolate for evening and didn’t really even need it. I had 3 T. full cream in my coffee with DH in the morning, and breakfast around 9 am. The cream in my coffee had no effect on my level of ketosis.

    I started the fast day (water, coffee, tea only) today with black coffee, but it is good to know that coffee with cream is an option this afternoon if I need it. It appears that a handful of pork rinds also has no effect on my ketones, so that is also an option, but we’ll see how the day goes.

    Yesterday’s weight touched on a new low, at 263.5, but after the eat day I bounced back up to 265 of course. Hoping to finish April with a good 15 pounds gone. It will be thrilling if I can actually eat 1600 calories on an eat day and lose weight.

    Congrats @brads27 on your loss, that is fantastic! 🙂

    Thanks very much @emma1202 for the kind encouragement. I really appreciate it. It is good to know that others also bounce around but continue to succeed. Sometimes I think I must have incredibly low self-esteem. After so many years (even when I was thin) of constant struggle with food/dieting/weight, I must believe on some level that this process only works for other people. Lolol! Stupid, I know, and as you said, the math doesn’t lie. 🙂 Onward and Downward!

    Good job, Onlyhermes!!! Why worry about ketones? Just stick to eating what you are supposed to and not eating on your Fast Days. So much more simple. Keep up the good progress.

    Thanks very much @fasting_me! Ketones are just data for me as I figure out the parameters of my new WOE. Ideally, I’d like to have only water/coffee/tea on fast days for the weight-loss boost and the health benefits, but it’s good to know that I can fall back on coffee with cream or a few pork rinds in the afternoon of a fast day without derailing fat burning. I have previously had very much of an all-or-nothing mindset when it comes to weight loss. If I couldn’t be “perfect” then it was an excuse to binge or go off the plan completely. Knowing that I’m still burning fat even if I can’t do a perfect water fast day is hugely beneficial. 🙂

    Today is a controlled day at 1600 cals again. Down a half pound to a new low of 263 from yesterday’s FD.

    Hooray!

    Closing out April with some thoughts on this WOE. I’ve noted the following improvements:

    -I’ve lost about 16 pounds. I’ll note May’s starting weight on the 1st.
    -My skin looks better every day. My face is so soft I really need to stop touching it! 🙂
    -Fasting days are no problem now that I’ve worked out how to do eat days.
    -Eat days are not stressful now that I’ve allowed 1600 cals LCHF and eat breakfast. This was one of the best decisions I’ve made about this WOE so far and has probably made the biggest impact on my steady success since April 24th.
    -All of the symptoms which I had supposed were related to high blood sugar are rapidly disappearing and I feel like my body is repairing itself.
    -I am eating a wider range of foods/nutrients than I ever have, and my eating-disordered brain is not freaking out about that.
    -When I get hungry I’m reasonably hungry, when I am full, I stop before I’m uncomfortably full. Those natural cues used to go almost totally unnoticed or unheeded because I either starved myself or ate constantly.
    -I have tremendous amounts of energy most of the time. I used to feel sick and lethargic constantly.
    -For the first time ever, I don’t think about food all day. I make a general plan for the day, and then forget about it until it is time to prepare it and eat it. This in itself, is unheard of. I never had a day where I was not constantly obsessing about what I was going to eat, when I could eat, or what I just ate.
    -I will not go so far as to say that I am recovered from my eating disorder, but in just a month I can say that life has “normalized” and I feel positive and stable. I am, as they say, cautiously optimistic. 🙂

    Thanks! @fasting_me. BTW, I love your recipes and meal combos on the other threads. You always give me the best ideas.

    Wow! You are making nice progress. Keep up the good work!

    Thanks @diverdog!

    Stats May 1: Weight 261

    More successes in April:

    -Lost 17 pounds
    -Cleared out closet and got rid of anything unflattering and bought clothes that fit. In April I only wore neat, body skimming, attractive clothes that I like.
    -Settled on a terrific haircut and color
    -Did my hair and makeup daily and always looked nice and neat.
    -Found a signature scent and started wearing it daily.
    -Did my makeup every day.

    Goals for May:

    -Weight 253
    -Use my new Fitbit and move more.
    -Take off my makeup nightly and use skin care products daily.
    -Drink 8 glasses of water a day.
    -Be kind to myself.

    The Obstacle is the Way

    Reading a great book by Ryan Holiday, “The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph.” It has changed my thinking about obstacles and difficulties. In the book he makes the case that often the obstacles we face individually (and collectively) contain within them the map to our success. We get stronger, smarter, savvier and build the skills that we need to overcome the obstacle and propel us toward our goals. Obstacles are gifts in disguise and hold within their own solution. They test our resolve, commitment, love and creativity. They even let us know if we have the right dream by confirming how much we actually care about it.

    At the gym for example, we envision a body that is sleek and strong. The obstacle to our minds and our muscles is the weight we have to lift. In lifting it, we become steadily stronger and actually look forward to the next higher weight, i.e.,the next “obstacle.”

    In the past when I tried to lose weight, I viewed the obstacles as unwelcome. I fought against them and tried to avoid dealing with the them, but I never actually overcame them. I tried to fake my way around them (diet pills) or make bargains with crazy diets that would invariably backfire.

    What I now believe is that the obstacle is the way. The obstacle has its own wisdom. As I struggle to overcome the obstacles presented by a change in diet, I must work to find an eating plan that is both effective, healthy and sustainable. That involves tremendous introspection, attention, thought, study, experimentation and connection with others who have walked a similar path. I now realize that surmounting the obstacle builds precisely the skills that will ensure my longterm success.

    Note to self: Incorporating Halo Top (or probably any simple carbs or sugar alcohols) was a bad idea. Not only did it cause a bump (albeit temporary) on the scale, it wasn’t very tasty and it made yesterday’s fast day more difficult. I’d rather use that 360 calories for something more satisfying and nutritious. Doing the math…For 360 calories I could have had 4 more ounces of steak and 2 squares of dark chocolate; or a handful of nuts, a cup of strawberries with homemade whipped cream and an extra slice of bacon in the morning.

    Awesome job @onlyhermes! You are doing great! And thanks for sharing your note to self :p Steak and chocolate do sound much better!!!

    Lol! Thanks @emma1202! I’m leaving myself a trail of bread crumbs (or pork rinds, as the case may be 🙂 ) so in case I get lost on this long road I can find my way home. Maybe it will help some other poor lost soul too someday. When I first started, I must have read every post on this forum. Everyone here is so kind, and it was very helpful that so many people had already paved the way.

    The remarkable thing is for me, the girl who could eat four or five candy bars without even inhaling between them, to be at this place saying I’d rather have real food than junk food. This is a miracle happening. 🙂

    I love it! That’s real meaningful change!

    You are off to such a great start Onlyhermes. I like what you said about obstacles, it reminds me of why I was putting off restarting 5:2 for so long because I saw it in a negative way, when actually its retraining my brain, exercising self control, so that in the long run I can be healthier and happier with those tools in my belt. Your change in mentality has happened really quickly and you should be proud of how many of your old habits you have managed to get rid of already 🙂

    Thanks @abop! Very wise words. Lol, paraphrasing Winston Churchill who supposedly said that Americans always get it right in the end, we just try everything else first. 🙂 I think the reason I’m learning so quickly is that I’ve tried pretty much every other method under the sun. I think there’s a very strong possibility that I was at the end of my rope. I was feeling so terrible, there was really no alternative except die of food-related illness and complications or change. So there’s a certain amount of urgency to my discovery process.

    I’m very impressed with this new group of doctors and scientists like Tim Noakes, Jason Fung, Valter Longo, Krista Varady, Michael Mosley and others. It says a lot when someone is willing to buck the status quo and put their professional reputation on the line in order to tell the truth. I wish that Robert Atkins was still alive to see some of his theories about diet and vita-nutrition being proven correct. They may not have every aspect nailed down yet, but I believe they are putting together important pieces of the puzzle. I do think Tim Noakes is correct that there is a lot of money behind keeping the masses eating as they are, getting sick and needing medication. I imagine that some of these companies spend a fortune funding research intended to obfuscate and confuse people.

    Reading Jason Fung’s book made a huge impression when he said that if you try to simply calorie-restrict you may lose weight initially, but you will be fighting a highly precise and regulated body system and you will eventually lose the battle. He made me realize how elegant and determined hormones are, and how dumb I have been not realizing that I must work with my body. It isn’t just some awkward and not very smart system that I can wrestle into doing my will. I need to approach nature more humbly and politely because I cannot be successful unless I start to respect and revere my body and its inherent wisdom and magnificence.

    I am shocked at how easy this WOE has been now that I’m working with my body. Learning what havoc sugar creates in my physiology has ushered in a huge change in my eating. 257 today is 21 pounds gone so far. A long way to go to my goal, but for the first time I have no doubt I’ll get there. 🙂

    Weight loss Update

    March 29, 2018 Weight: 278
    Bust 55″ Waist 54.5″ Neck 16.25″ Calf 18.75″

    May 12, 2018 Weight: 253.5
    Bust 52″ Waist 51″ Neck 15″ Calf 18″

    Loving my new Fitbit! I’m not getting in 10,000 steps a day yet, but I’m definitely moving more, and I get up and do something when it buzzes me that I’ve been stationary too long. The sleep monitor is helpful and I have an alarm set that tells me to go up and get ready for bed. In general, I’m putting good habits in place that support and enhance my general wellbeing. I work from home so I used to schlump around in old clothes, now I shower, dress well and do my makeup every morning. It’s nice to feel ready for anything now. When a friend drops by I no longer have to apologize for how I look. Settling in to this new way of life. 🙂

    Several data points now that eating simple carbs makes fast days much harder and give me a kind of hangover.

    So far so good.

    Today’s weight: 244.4.

    I’ve lost 33.6 pounds since March 29. I probably would be down more, but I took a couple of months hiatus. Weirdly, my target measurements have not changed much since April. 1 inch off the waist, 1 inch off the bust and 1/2 inch off the neck and about 1/4 inch off the calf. I must be losing somewhere though because I’m down another jeans size and my clothes fit better in general. My body has a mind of it’s own, so I’m not going to worry about it. Just stay the course. I got a B12/lipotropic shot last Thursday. I have no idea if it will do anything as the reports vary wildly, but in the past week my weight seems to be sliding ever downward, losing about a pound a day. I really need to drink way more water. My skin looks better and I know its good for me. It’s funny though that when I fast, I have to force myself to drink because my inclination is not to drink. I wonder why that is. In general, this WOE is getting easier and easier. I’m extra motivated to have good numbers for a full blood workup October 11.

    Weight 213. Total lost- 65 pounds.

Viewing 20 posts - 1 through 20 (of 20 total)

You must be logged in to reply.