Intermittent fasting

[sundaymorningstaple]

As for the diet, based on my own experience the best way to go is not to mix high carbs with high fat so I just avoid grains, rice, noodles and obviously high sugar (sucrose) content food, but I don't particularly avoid fatty ingredients. Another thing I notice, it is important to have a good breakfast every morning and eat more, rather than eat less less later on skipping breakfast. Somehow such breakfast seems to accelerate metabolism.

I have a Vegetable Omelet every morning without fail (1 & 1/2 egg (wife get a quarter of the omelet) with slice of Tomato, couple of strips of capsicum (red/green/yellow) and one medium sized white button or swiss brown mushroom thinly sliced thrown in the eggs and fried (normally in a non-stick pan but I generally use a very light spray of lite Olive Oil just to keep the egg outer from drying out.

[Lisafuller]

Nope, you can't.
As far as I know the principles of intermittent fasting is also sensory deprivation for anything that can make your body think you actually eat something that contains sugars. This includes all sweeteners based drinks but also anything that has distinctive flavors, that may be mistaken for fruits or similar food. For example, no flavored tea or coffee even without sugar.

And drinking even the zero coke type is very bad. I used to drink like 1.5-3l of it each day and ended up with some stomach problems. Cokes are very acidic. Better look for more healthy alternatives.

Is that so? So is intermittent fasting something that primarily works psychologically?

It is more over the line, you see or smell something tasty and your body starts to produce saliva. If I remember correctly insulin secretion is mentioned that is triggered even with artificial sweeteners and flavoring stuff. So not really psychological. Not sure if this is all true but seems to make sense.

I don't follow this diet, my wife does, but what I can tell, this is the first diet that works for her for over 10 years, and she tried many many different. She follows rather extreme routine, something like 30h fasting 18h eating but she clearly sees the progress.

That’s so interesting! How long has she been on this diet?

[Lisafuller]

On second read, I’m a little curious, if it was a low carb diet, but not high in fat, am I right to assume most of what you consumed was fruit and veggies? Or am I missing something.

Fruits (not all though - sadly couldn't eat Avacado!! ) Basically all green leafy vegetables but nothing that grows beneath the ground or grains. (starches) Plenty of protein sources like poultry (skinless of course) fish (but not all) and meat (primarily beef, but not fatty beef, wagyu out of the question. Sirloin also out of the question. I had steak 3 x a week (eye-round as it virtually fat free). Even today that's the steak I eat. Pork/Ham cannot. Eggs also can (but while on the diet only 1 egg a day. The only thing I was allowed to eat that was processed (e.g., canned) was Tuna but it had to be in brine/water, not oil. There was enough variety that there are recipe books that were produced that were diet friendly. No special foods, no pre-prepared meals, nothing needed other than the fresh food shelves at NTUC. Or whichever market you like to splurge on.

SMS, no pork at all? I mean, even occasionally? Not that I am any big fan of it, I eat almost entirely poultry, beef or so called "mutton" (meaning goat meat), but pork spare ribs and some sausages are kind of hard to replace
Chicken and turkey ham is on the other hand a good substitute.

As for the diet, based on my own experience the best way to go is not to mix high carbs with high fat so I just avoid grains, rice, noodles and obviously high sugar (sucrose) content food, but I don't particularly avoid fatty ingredients. Another thing I notice, it is important to have a good breakfast every morning and eat more, rather than eat less less later on skipping breakfast. Somehow such breakfast seems to accelerate metabolism.

I personally hate turkey ham, it’s got a very firm texture which I’m not a fan of and hardly any flavor. As for the point about breakfast, I have to agree. I’ve noticed that eating even a small meal in the morning helps to keep me full for much longer and I end up eating a fairly small meal for lunch later on in the day. Contrast that with not eating anything in the morning, I end up starving later in the day and gorge myself on a humongous meal when I get the chance.

[Lisafuller]

Been doing intermittent fasting with Low carb focusing on chicken , beef, eggs and sea food for around a month and could shed off 9 lbs.. one beer in a couple of days, brown bread once in a while,
Watermelon as a substitute for sweet cravings but I do eat cake/chocolatesonce in a couple of days.

Another good snack to manage sweet cravings is a bit of dark chocolate, or apple slices dipped in a little peanut butter or honey.

[Lisafuller]

x9200, Pork/Ham products were verboten during my diet due to the fatty nature of the meat - so never went back to eating pork - The only thing I really miss is a couple rashers of good bacon at breakfast to go with my veg omelet. After the diet I basically stayed on the same regime except for increasing the weight (how much in a given meal) but a lot of what I had to give up I've never returned to in the 14 years since. Rice, Potatoes, Carrots, most grains, white bread, corn, etc. (However I do, when out, occasionally eat some white [(but in the form of a hamburger roll which is the only time and I rarely eat out. I do eat the occasional beef meat pie so there is some pastry shell but that usually normally only 1 per week. My help just set my dinner plate in front of me as I'm typing this (140 gm Toman [common name: snakehead] fried in lite olive oil & 140 gm +/- of Kailan (boiled without any seasoning/salt etc). I've long learned that food without salt has unique flavours in of themselves that is usually cover up or disguised with soy or salt which I no longer use. That's it for my evening meal, along with an Earl Grey Tea (black).

So you still have your food weighed? That’s commitment if I’ve ever seen it. Completely agree about salt, I rarely include it when cooking at home, and never add it to food I order while eating out. I believe I taste the natural flavor of the ingredients much better when it’s not overwhelmed by seasoning. Really jarring when I go back to the US and see other diners around me adding salt to their food without even tasting it first.

[Lisafuller]

As for the diet, based on my own experience the best way to go is not to mix high carbs with high fat so I just avoid grains, rice, noodles and obviously high sugar (sucrose) content food, but I don't particularly avoid fatty ingredients. Another thing I notice, it is important to have a good breakfast every morning and eat more, rather than eat less less later on skipping breakfast. Somehow such breakfast seems to accelerate metabolism.

I have a Vegetable Omelet every morning without fail (1 & 1/2 egg (wife get a quarter of the omelet) with slice of Tomato, couple of strips of capsicum (red/green/yellow) and one medium sized white button or swiss brown mushroom thinly sliced thrown in the eggs and fried (normally in a non-stick pan but I generally use a very light spray of lite Olive Oil just to keep the egg outer from drying out.

One thing I’ve found myself enjoying is steaming my food - fuss free, easy cleanup and keeps the ingredients fresh and piping hot, all without needing to introduce any oils.

If veggie + eggs are a combo you enjoy, you might want to try making a veggie chawanmushi (Japanese style steamed egg). I toss whatever veggies I like (finely chopped) into my chawanmushi dish (you can use any dish, or even a ramekin) with some beaten eggs, water and a dash of mirin and steam for a couple minutes. Really fresh and tasty.

[sundaymorningstaple]

Lisa, that sounds interesting. Might have to try that but first I need to buy a steamer,, I reckon. It's one of the few things I don't have here, the other being the notorious counter top electric deep fryer which I got rid of many years ago. My cooking skills are slim but farmhouse basic. My wife has been suffering from dementia and is steadily worsening the past 2 years so she doesn't cook any more and my helper is from Myanmar so her cooking is okay/edible. She does decent Chinese though but I don't eat but very little Asian food due to the prevalence of rice/noodles/soy products, etc., etc.

[x9200]

Lisa, that sounds interesting. Might have to try that but first I need to buy a steamer,, I reckon. It's one of the few things I don't have here, the other being the notorious counter top electric deep fryer which I got rid of many years ago. My cooking skills are slim but farmhouse basic. My wife has been suffering from dementia and is steadily worsening the past 2 years so she doesn't cook any more and my helper is from Myanmar so her cooking is okay/edible. She does decent Chinese though but I don't eat but very little Asian food due to the prevalence of rice/noodles/soy products, etc., etc.

I think I found the way to make the konjac noodles (I think I mentioned them number of times) taste acceptable. They work nicely with local food if they are marinated first with vinegar and soy sauce. Just wash the noodles with excess of water, strain it, sprinkle some vinegar an soy sauce over them, mix by hand to have all the noodles coated and leave it for an hour or so.

I just had laksa with such noodles where I also replaced fishballs (lots of carbs) with crabsticks (little carbs). It tasted pretty good and was hard to say there were konjac noodles inside.
Also tried the same approach for classic stir-fried noodles with veggies and chicken and that also tasted pretty good.
It should also work without soy sauce.

PS. Sorry to hear about your wife SMS.

[x9200]

x9200, Pork/Ham products were verboten during my diet due to the fatty nature of the meat - so never went back to eating pork - The only thing I really miss is a couple rashers of good bacon at breakfast to go with my veg omelet. After the diet I basically stayed on the same regime except for increasing the weight (how much in a given meal) but a lot of what I had to give up I've never returned to in the 14 years since. Rice, Potatoes, Carrots, most grains, white bread, corn, etc. (However I do, when out, occasionally eat some white [(but in the form of a hamburger roll which is the only time and I rarely eat out. I do eat the occasional beef meat pie so there is some pastry shell but that usually normally only 1 per week. My help just set my dinner plate in front of me as I'm typing this (140 gm Toman [common name: snakehead] fried in lite olive oil & 140 gm +/- of Kailan (boiled without any seasoning/salt etc). I've long learned that food without salt has unique flavours in of themselves that is usually cover up or disguised with soy or salt which I no longer use. That's it for my evening meal, along with an Earl Grey Tea (black).

Have you seen any relation between your (for example) levels of cholesterol and eating some more fatty food? I tried this high fat high protein diet for a year or so and had all the blood test results ok so for me is the combination with high carbs that do the damage. But I understand if you prefer to keep it completely out your diet seeing that otherwise it all works well.

[sundaymorningstaple]

I get a full blood workup every 6 months without fail. (At 75 it is a good habit to keep) Cholesterol has been great all those years since 2008. For me, while I occasionally, as noted, east some starchy foods, its not the norm for me. I don't miss it, and by not going back to it, my health is good and I reckon if it works for me, and I don't have to 'watch' it, it is basically just easier. Fortunately I'm not a "foodie" as it were so almost never go to restaurants or order food, but just cooks at home. At 75 I'm not trying to impress any strumpets so no need to eat the foods bad for me just to look good and make the strumpet have to use her phone for photo of food. LOL

[Lisafuller]

Lisa, that sounds interesting. Might have to try that but first I need to buy a steamer,, I reckon. It's one of the few things I don't have here, the other being the notorious counter top electric deep fryer which I got rid of many years ago. My cooking skills are slim but farmhouse basic. My wife has been suffering from dementia and is steadily worsening the past 2 years so she doesn't cook any more and my helper is from Myanmar so her cooking is okay/edible. She does decent Chinese though but I don't eat but very little Asian food due to the prevalence of rice/noodles/soy products, etc., etc.

I remember the old deep fryer, before air fryers became a thing. Honestly, though, you can make this in the microwave. Just cover the top with saran wrap and poke a few holes with a fork, then microwave for a minute at a time to make sure it doesn’t overcook. Should be done in three minutes tops.

I’m sorry to hear about your wife, my late grandmother had dementia, and it was really heartbreaking when she couldn’t even remember things like her own name, whether she had eaten, or even her children. I hope your good memories of old times take away any pain of the present.

[Lisafuller]

Lisa, that sounds interesting. Might have to try that but first I need to buy a steamer,, I reckon. It's one of the few things I don't have here, the other being the notorious counter top electric deep fryer which I got rid of many years ago. My cooking skills are slim but farmhouse basic. My wife has been suffering from dementia and is steadily worsening the past 2 years so she doesn't cook any more and my helper is from Myanmar so her cooking is okay/edible. She does decent Chinese though but I don't eat but very little Asian food due to the prevalence of rice/noodles/soy products, etc., etc.

I think I found the way to make the konjac noodles (I think I mentioned them number of times) taste acceptable. They work nicely with local food if they are marinated first with vinegar and soy sauce. Just wash the noodles with excess of water, strain it, sprinkle some vinegar an soy sauce over them, mix by hand to have all the noodles coated and leave it for an hour or so.

I just had laksa with such noodles where I also replaced fishballs (lots of carbs) with crabsticks (little carbs). It tasted pretty good and was hard to say there were konjac noodles inside.
Also tried the same approach for classic stir-fried noodles with veggies and chicken and that also tasted pretty good.
It should also work without soy sauce.

PS. Sorry to hear about your wife SMS.

So you just soak the noodles, not cook them?

[Lisafuller]

I get a full blood workup every 6 months without fail. (At 75 it is a good habit to keep) Cholesterol has been great all those years since 2008. For me, while I occasionally, as noted, east some starchy foods, its not the norm for me. I don't miss it, and by not going back to it, my health is good and I reckon if it works for me, and I don't have to 'watch' it, it is basically just easier. Fortunately I'm not a "foodie" as it were so almost never go to restaurants or order food, but just cooks at home. At 75 I'm not trying to impress any strumpets so no need to eat the foods bad for me just to look good and make the strumpet have to use her phone for photo of food. LOL

Good, if you’re getting the all clear at your physicals, do whatever works. One thing you should take special note of as you get older is prostate cancer. A close friend of mine got diagnosed about a week ago, a perfectly healthy guy (62 y/o), and completely asymptomatic (as prostate cancer usually is). He would’ve never known, if not for his check ups.

[sundaymorningstaple]

I get a full blood workup every 6 months without fail. (At 75 it is a good habit to keep) Cholesterol has been great all those years since 2008. For me, while I occasionally, as noted, east some starchy foods, its not the norm for me. I don't miss it, and by not going back to it, my health is good and I reckon if it works for me, and I don't have to 'watch' it, it is basically just easier. Fortunately I'm not a "foodie" as it were so almost never go to restaurants or order food, but just cooks at home. At 75 I'm not trying to impress any strumpets so no need to eat the foods bad for me just to look good and make the strumpet have to use her phone for photo of food. LOL

Good, if you’re getting the all clear at your physicals, do whatever works. One thing you should take special note of as you get older is prostate cancer. A close friend of mine got diagnosed about a week ago, a perfectly healthy guy (62 y/o), and completely asymptomatic (as prostate cancer usually is). He would’ve never known, if not for his check ups.

You are right. It's been on my to do list for a year or two, but thanks to covid I stayed as far away from hospitals as I could. I had a full lower abdominal MRI & examination done about 10 years ago at 65 and all was clear (but I'd had a bout of uric acid kidney stones which I ultimately passed (ouch) but was the reason for the MRI to check out everything.

[x9200]

Lisa, that sounds interesting. Might have to try that but first I need to buy a steamer,, I reckon. It's one of the few things I don't have here, the other being the notorious counter top electric deep fryer which I got rid of many years ago. My cooking skills are slim but farmhouse basic. My wife has been suffering from dementia and is steadily worsening the past 2 years so she doesn't cook any more and my helper is from Myanmar so her cooking is okay/edible. She does decent Chinese though but I don't eat but very little Asian food due to the prevalence of rice/noodles/soy products, etc., etc.

I think I found the way to make the konjac noodles (I think I mentioned them number of times) taste acceptable. They work nicely with local food if they are marinated first with vinegar and soy sauce. Just wash the noodles with excess of water, strain it, sprinkle some vinegar an soy sauce over them, mix by hand to have all the noodles coated and leave it for an hour or so.

I just had laksa with such noodles where I also replaced fishballs (lots of carbs) with crabsticks (little carbs). It tasted pretty good and was hard to say there were konjac noodles inside.
Also tried the same approach for classic stir-fried noodles with veggies and chicken and that also tasted pretty good.
It should also work without soy sauce.

PS. Sorry to hear about your wife SMS.

So you just soak the noodles, not cook them?

I cook them, but marinate them first. This helps to remove/suppress this rather distinctive seaweed like taste.