Showing posts with label want. Show all posts
Showing posts with label want. Show all posts
How Many Meals a Day Should I Eat if I Want to Lose Weight
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
"There is no scientific evidence to prove that breakfast is any more important than lunch or dinner for adults. As a matter of fact, there is no scientific evidence proving three meals per day are any better than one."
Above is a quote from Brad Pilons book, "Eat Stop Eat" which can be found at:
http://www.eatstopeat.com/?vtid=eatblogeat&utm_expid=7760520-13&utm_errer=http%3A%2F%2Fbradpilon.com%2Fbooks%2F
When I found the above quote among the FAQs in Brads book it addressed a particular thought that I had been having about whether I could simply eat a good meal once a day and fast the rest of the time in order to speed up my weight loss. Also wondering if I could try that every day, or just a few times a week.
I had the idea to do that once before (which I blogged about) but I got waylaid by worry. I was worried that I would not be able to go that long every day without having a snack. That got turned into "two snacks" and soon it was three meals again, so I never actually tried it out.
Now that I have the experience of fasting "under my belt" I think I could actually do it. Without planning to, I did it yesterday (Saturday) and noticed I lost a few pounds this morning even though I ate two meals last night within a few hours of one another. As I thought about it, I dont think I went overboard on the daily calories, although I only made guess-timations on the calorie count.
Since I belong to the 5:2 Diet group on Facebook Ive been reading how the other participants are doing with their calorie counting and actually eating small meals on their fast days. They go for about 36 hours twice a week, on average, and eat 500 cals during their fast. Then on the other days they are supposed to eat "normally" but most of them count calories on those days, too, keeping it under whatever level they have calculated to fit their body and metabolism. They seem to lose an average of about a pound a week doing all this.
For myself, when Dr Robbins measured my bodys daily caloric burn on her machine it came to 2400 per day. This means that I could eat 2400 calories each day and I would not put on any more weight. She wanted me to eat 1800 calories a day and I went off the deep end when I tried calorie counting. I could not keep my intake that low and counting calories is such an offensive way to eat. I ended up gaining weight as I resisted the whole idea and quit doing it. (I blogged about that, too. LOL)
Brad suggests fasting for 24 hours straight with only water or calorie free drinks and then simply eating normally on the other days. "Eating normally" to Brad means not increasing your intake to compensate for the time that you spent fasting. This makes sense if your goal is to reduce your weekly calories and lose weight, along with all the other health benefits that come from fasting.
I tried those diets, too, that said you should eat 4 or 5 times a day and found that easier to take emotionally than calorie counting, but "many meals" turns out to be tedious to do in real life, also. Either counting calories, or eating many small meals in the day, turned out to be, for me, a lot of hard work, in addition to the rest of my life. I find that either method forces me to worry about food and eating all day long. Id really per to not have to think about that all the time.
On the other hand, the "Eat Stop Eat" program does seem to work for me and my daily life. It is so much easier to simply not pay attention to food during a fasting period and then look forward to having a good meal at the proper time, when I break the fast. Amazingly, I find, that I dont mind how I feel when Im not eating. Having an empty stomach is kind of a treat. Who knew? LOL
I find that when I resume eating that my body gets back all its old "feelings" again. It is a little bit odd to find out that processing food puts a "drag" on my body. I feel more sluggish and full and not so light and efficient as I feel when Im fasting.
Since Brad says there is no real scientific evidence that I have to eat breakfast or even eat three meals a day, let alone, four or five, I see no problem with simply holding out on my eating until dinner time each day and then have the meal I would really like to have.
I always fear that someone is going to get all scared that Im going to have 22,000-calorie Sumo meals but that is not what I am talking about. Im talking about a regular, ordinary, dinner with or without dessert as the occasion fits. And then stop eating for the day.
Under those conditions, even having another snack at the end of the day should not be a problem but Im not going to build that in. That is the mistake I did last time. I built in the snack then they got out of hand. I am kind of an odd duck. If I build it in, then it somehow gets translated into my mind that not only "I can" but eventually "I have to" and I dont want to trigger that response either. Ill just plan on eating normally, for me, and thats the end of it.
Sometimes I dont know if all this is just a "nice thought" or an actual "plan." It feels like a plan, at this moment so Im going to try it out and see how it goes. Im always flexible if Im nothing else, so Im not going to worry about it.
Another thing... on the 5:2 Diet facebook group page they have been talking about chia seeds so I got mine out and made up a batch. I used to take two tablespoons full like everybody always directs when you read about them, but I never really noticed any particular effect with that and it soon fell by the wayside. If I cannot see the benefit, I usually just leave it behind. Today, I filled a cup with the gelatinous solution of chia seeds in water and drank it down.
My belly feels as full as if Id eaten but I dont feel the drag on my body. Ill have to wait and see if there are any other side effects. Im hoping it will keep the plumbing moving along, too.
Anyway, thats where I am today.
Be back soon,
Marcia
excerpt from "Eat Stop Eat" by Brad Pilon:
What Patients Want From Their Clinicians
Friday, December 20, 2013
The time I spent at Medicine X really got me thinking more in that direction, and contextualizing my vision. Some of these might seem like basic tenets, but others are quite revolutionary.
When I advocate, I feel I usually do so, subconsciously, from some of these starting points... and I suppose they could apply to just about any other health condition. These are what patients want from their clinicians:
To Be Afforded Humanity... With:
- Respect and Freedom: As a partner in a journey of self discovery. An equal who is allowed the freedom to disagree, respectfully, and to make a different (informed) choice from what the provider would have chosen. Not as a civilian kept under the inflexible regime of the provider, nor as a subordinate, ignorant layperson, or petulant child.
- Dignity and empathy: As potential mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, sisters, brothers, significant others; people with potential hopes and dreams, fears and anxieties, just like them. Not as cold hardware to be tested, and prodded.
- Encouragement: As persons in need of perspective, and hope, from those who have the positive power to guide us into better health. Not recrimination, or scolding, whenever we fail at meeting a goal.
- Acknowledgement: As partners deserving of their full attention, concern, praise or recognition. Not ignored when we present our health concerns, or when we reach an important milestone in care, or when we work hard to achieve goals. It is, sometimes, incredibly hard to jump through some of the hoops and obstacle courses which you demand of us... so please, give praise and positive feedback when we achieve them!
To Be Afforded Effective Communication... With:
- Patient Education: As partners fully capable of learning, understanding, and being challenged and tested, we deserve to be taught about our health conditions, and how to manage them, either by our clinicians, or by referral to those who can properly educate us and guide us into better health choices. There will be levels of education which each patient can handle, but we can all handle something. Not being told you have x condition, and sent on our own, with nothing else to cope or fight back.
- Access to our data: As patients, and persons responsible for intimately managing a health condition, we should be allowed to know where we stand, with truth and honesty. Not to be left in the dark about ones condition, and progress... with only the provider being privy to the facts.
- Proper Feedback: As patients needing guidance, at times when we may not feel safe making our own decisions, by returning our calls, e-mails, or messages, promptly. Not by relegating our most important concerns to other, less informed health assistants or personnel, nor by ignoring our efforts to contact you. If you openly make yourself available to patients, please honor that commitment.
- The whole story: As partners and patients who need ALL the information (and proper diagnostic testing) when it comes to choices for treatments, medications, and tools. Not being limited to a clinicians predilections, or the predilections of the company that might be paying them to promote certain tests, procedures, drugs, or tools. [We will gladly listen to your predilections (and sometimes choose them), because after all -- you are the medical professionals -- but you must understand that we are the experts at living with our condition, and need ALL the variables to be able to make informed decisions that might impact the fate of our future health, and our families.]
To Be Afforded Quality Care... With:
- Continuous Education: As patients receiving exclusive care from a clinician or provider, we expect that they keep on top of new emerging technologies, new research, new data, and new approaches to managing illness. Not to take the minimal continuous education courses, and keep practicing on potentially outdated methods from when they first graduated medical school, which could fail to improve a health condition, or even make it worse.
- Embracing the researching patient: As partners, we expect to be embraced with respect when bringing in new data that can be studied, together, as a team. Not being chided for doing online research. Medical research is growing by leaps and bounds, so it would be impossible for a provider to keep on top of all the information on their own... so why not partner up? We could solve a puzzle together, rather than against each other. This is not about who has the diploma; its about who ultimately gets to live with the decisions.
- Referrals to Specialists: As humans who know and understand that not everyone has all the answers and information to everything, and that sometimes its best to embrace those who may provide additional insight or more specialized care. Not negating, out of ego or greed, the chance to expand ones medical team and "think tank," in order to find positive answers to puzzling health problems.
- Committed Advocacy: As advocates for one another, by being our strong voice to health insurance companies, government, and especially the media, or those who might be ignorant to our condition, and thus seek to curtail our needs, and cut down our most essential and basic of services, remaining true to the Hippocratic Oath. Not by remaining silent to our needs, or cowering to the all-mighty dollar, because a businessman, with no medical knowledge, coerced you.
For as many things as can be said about the healthcare field, and as much as times may change, I dont feel many are more important than these basic pillars, rights, and expectations. These are very essential, basic principles that we can all embrace and pursue in our futures. Often, we as patients can be difficult as well... and there should be some mutual expectations of cooperation, trust, and respect as "partners" and not subjugates. As the "Healthcare Street" is usually kept as a "One Way" road, I throw these out there as a sort of Patients Manifesto of Rights and Expectations.
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