Hi, This is agreeing with me, though my calories still average 2500 since I began on July 19th. There lots of healthy fats and fiber in those calories: 26.8% fat and 73 g fiber, and sodium is reasonable at an average of 1777 mg/day.
if you wake up and don't eat until 7am then you are starving yourself for 15 hours, this is not at all healthy. i'd recommend eating more regularly!!
I've just posted about following a similar system. I don't strictly deny myself food after 4, but I treat it as a lunch-type meal and have my main meal at lunchtime (though sometimes as late as 3-5pm). Where I would've eaten an evening meal, I now snack on fruit or eat a crab-free, very low fat meal (such as fish & veg or another, smaller salad). In a nutshell, I'm avoiding filling myself full of carbs I won't burn off during an evening in front of the TV. All foods are low fat and I'm restricting carbs during the day (occasional treats of bread roll or baked potato with my big salad lunch)
This has worked really well for me. I've lost 17lbs in 2 months and it still seems to be coming off steadily. Another 25lbs minimum to go (ideally 32lbs+)
Are you sure you're getting enough calories, impish? Because unless you're having a very calorific breakfast, it's very unlikely that a "big salad lunch" and snacking on veggies in the evening is giving your body all the nutrition it needs. Especially since a healthy diet can't really be very low fat and very low carb. Where do the calories come from?
On a lighter note, your typo amused me. I eat crab-free meals a lot. :-)
LOL... well... they I can't remember the last time any of them contained crab!
I eat quite a bit of cottage cheese and fish. I couldn't tell you what my calorie intake is, but I'm eating plenty and not feeling hungry. When I've tried to calorie count, I've not lost any weight. I've only lost it in the past when I've lost my appetite and been extremely low on calories.
When we eat out, I tend to have steak and salad. I do cheat alternate weekends (when we have his kids), and had pizza & salad last week... but had a very upset stomach the following day.. which I suspect could have been a reaction to the sudden intake of carbs AND fats, which my body has got used to not having. At Sunday lunch at my parents', I eat more or less normally (potatoes, meat, veg, gravy), I just take smaller portions of the less healthy foods and encourage Mum to offer fresh fruit desserts rather than the toffee puddings I love so much!
Not all the "healthy" food I eat is without sins (such as the fruits) and I do allow myself some carbs during the day... just not in the evening. People are in a habit of throwing carbs onto every meal, and I was clearly eating far more than I needed for my energy consumption.
For me, the answer is to have a change of eating lifestyle that's not really hard to maintain, as I know it has to be a way of life I can tolerate forever. With this system, I follow a basic rule, but allow myself to break it occasionally.
hmmm...I dunno about the after 4 thing I did that for years and it worked for me then but would never work now. but I guess it just depends on your schedule and personal habits though I think it's a bit long to go without eating.
And just thought i'd point out that 73g. of fiber is WAY too much. There is such thing as too much of a good thing. You really shouldn't go over 40g per day TOPS. There is also a such thing as a fiber ball obstruction and I don't think you want me to go into too much detail with that...
This is why I find an adaptation of this works better. We're so accustomed to having a light meal at breakfast and lunch and regarding dinner as the main, and largest, meal of the day. I've just switched things round. I eat as much as I can at lunch and treat dinner as a light meal/snack. If I am hungry (eg if work demands have interfered with putting together a large, healthy lunch), I eat more at dinnertime, but ensure it's low carb/fat.
I'm finding this really easy to follow. I'm allowing myself treats and meals out, but eating plenty of salads, fruit & veggies & avoiding heavy carb & fat-filled meals in the evening.
I think I might feel a bit deprived and demotivated if I strictly refused myself anything after 4, but I see 4pm as a cut off for carbs.
Original Post by ragindrage:
And just thought i'd point out that 73g. of fiber is WAY too much. There is such thing as too much of a good thing. You really shouldn't go over 40g per day TOPS. There is also a such thing as a fiber ball obstruction and I don't think you want me to go into too much detail with that...
While 73g is a heck of a lot of fibre, I regularly eat more than 40g with no problems. Still go to the bathroom just fine so I'm pretty sure there's no fibre ball going on! You just need to make sure you balance out the fibre by drinking a lot of water.
Original Post by impish:
I've just posted about following a similar system. I don't strictly deny myself food after 4, but I treat it as a lunch-type meal and have my main meal at lunchtime (though sometimes as late as 3-5pm). Where I would've eaten an evening meal, I now snack on fruit or eat a crab-free, very low fat meal (such as fish & veg or another, smaller salad). In a nutshell, I'm avoiding filling myself full of carbs I won't burn off during an evening in front of the TV. All foods are low fat and I'm restricting carbs during the day (occasional treats of bread roll or baked potato with my big salad lunch)
You won't burn off anything else either while sitting in front of the tv, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't eat. It also doesn't mean you shouldn't eat carbs just because you aren't going to exercise... you could eat carbs at midnight and lose weight if your calories still balanced out.
I might also add that vegetables and fruit are carbs.
And that fruit is *not* sinful.
I know fruit and veg are carbs.... so I have LOW carb.... this and the sugars are why I consider them a little sinful (bearing in mind I'll sometimes have a lot of fruit). What I'm strictly avoiding is the fats and the high carb side on a meal, such as potatoes, pasta, bread, rice etc.
I just don't have the time (or inclination) to go out exercising after a long day at work. Despite great intentions, I just have to accept that I'm just not motivated enough to be doing something that bores me in the little spare time I have. Once I admitted this and adjusted my diet & eating schedule to reflect it, the weight started to come off.
I'm a busy type and rarely sit for long during the day. I've just added a roller-skating session into my lunch break after moving into a new building with a smooth surfaced car park. I plan to resume horse riding once I get to a weight I'm willing to admit to the stable! So I'm not averse to doing stuff...I just don't want to spend my evenings in a gym.
Given the success I've had, I know for a fact that either dramatically reduced carbs or reduced food intake later in the day (or a combination of both) DOES work.
I'm eating pretty much exactly the same foods I was last year for 3 months, during which lost only 2 lbs (fruit for 2 meals and a sensible dinner). In the last 7 weeks, I've lost 17lbs. The food intake is virtually the same, the main difference is WHEN I'm eating.
I'm not quite sure why not eating after 4 would aid in weight loss unless it was done in conjunction with a decrease in calorie intake? Your metabolism actually does not slow down at night so each period of 24 hours you burn the same amount of calories whether you eat them in the am or pm. But perhaps I'm not getting the point of it. 
I don't really know why it works... just that it does for me. I've always assumed it's to do with giving the body time to burn off what it's taken in... but to be honest I'm not too worried about the biology of it as long as it results in weight loss.
Obviously, creating a rule like this would eliminate snacks and naughty treats that people often get tempted by when settled for an evening... but I've never been a snacker and I don't like chocolate (probably the worst offender for wrecking a day's good work!).
I can honestly say I was working incredibly hard last year to ensure I ate nothing bad.. I was denying myself all the bad things I enjoy (and feeling pretty miserable about it), and replaced sandwiches etc with fruit and lost virtually nothing. This was the last of many concerted efforts to get the weight down (the previous year, my Dr had accepted that I'd been seriously trying without success and prescribed Orlistat, which seemed to be working in the short time I took it, but caused such distressing side-effects, I couldn't take them and still function outside the house!).
I feel like I'm denying myself less now than in recent, failed, attempts, but the weight is coming off. Granted, the loss has slowed a little over the past couple of weeks, but the great start is keeping me motivated.
Original Post by sabbitha:
Your metabolism actually does not slow down at night so each period of 24 hours you burn the same amount of calories whether you eat them in the am or pm. But perhaps I'm not getting the point of it.
I both agree and disagree with this statement. I have found that in the evening my heart rate slows down a great deal from what it was earlier in the day. Not only because I am less active, but also because my body is growing tired.
It's true that time of day has no effect on your metabolism, but rather how long you have been awake and active. After so many hours, the body becomes fatigued so it slows down, as a sign it needs it's 7-8 hour sleep to recuperate and start another day full of energy.
