Day Twenty: timing and experimentation

There are quite a few schools of thought in the diet world that claim that when you eat is as important as what you eat. Debate has raged over whether it is healthier to eat three regular meals a day, or graze 5/6 smaller snacks instead. Accepted wisdom is that the earlier in the day you eat, the better - we are constantly urged to ensure we have a good breakfast to set us up for the day. I worked with a personal trainer for a while (honest) who convincingly argued that carbohydrates should be avoided in the evenings to prevent weight gain. I could see her logic - she asserted that if we eat carbs while we are active (awake) they get converted into sugar and used up straight away. If we eat them then go to sleep, they get turned into glycogen and triglycerides - i.e. fat, which we have to work harder to break down the next day. 

Personally, I've always thought that it's the total amount you eat versus the amount of energy you expend that counts, regardless of timing or content. But even in the intermittent fasting world there are many different approaches - people who eat nothing for 16 hours and then all their calories in the following 8 hours; people who fast every other day, or 3 out of 7 days; people who eat all their fast day calories in one go and those who spread them throughout the day. Michael Mosley eats his as 2 meals - breakfast and dinner. However, as with so many aspects of this strategy, he doesn't insist that his way is the best way for everyone else. 

In a recent interview for the Sydney Morning Herald (bless the internet), Mosley addressed some of these questions, including the old favourite, the breakfast issue:

"Everyone needs to eat breakfast"

Not true, Mosley says.

He mentions studies where some people, when they are forced to eat breakfast, actually put on weight. "It depends on what your body likes to do," he says.

Which is why Mosley ultimately believes in becoming your own guinea pig. Depending on our own physical make-up and routine, we reap benefits differently. It's a matter of absorbing the information and trying it on for size.

http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/diet-and-fitness/michael-mosleys-five-biggest-health-myths-20130920-2u3vb.html

In the spirit of self-experimentation, I looked back over my recent blogs to see if there were any patterns emerging. I noticed that fast days at home tend to be much easier than those in the office. I had put this down to the fact that I am more active on office days, so expend more energy. As a result I tend to eat more earlier in the day on office days, leaving me struggling in the evening. Conversely on a work at home day, I don't eat anything until lunchtime. But then I thought, maybe it's the different eating pattern that makes the difference in how I feel, rather than the change in energy output?

Yesterday, Day 20, I decided to try not eating in the morning on an office day. (My Wednesday work event was cancelled so I could fast as normal, yay!) I really wasn't sure how it would go, as I had to be in early and alert for a workshop, and walk a mile or so around London between meetings in the morning. As it turned out, apart from a wobbly moment when I was assaulted by the sight of a tray of bacon sandwiches at the workshop, it went really well. It was probably the easiest office fast day I've had so far. I felt great all day, not at all hungry even into the evening and at bedtime. Today, the day after, I still feel great and have bags of energy.

So there we have it. Apparently I am not a breakfast person - not on fast days anyway. There was, in fact, a bacon sandwich in my life this morning. I will repeat this experiment over the coming weeks and see if the success repeats.

I've now completed 10 weeks and am due to weigh and measure on Sunday. I have a feeling that the rate of loss has slowed down considerably and am no longer confident of averaging at a rate of a pound off per week. If this is true, I will try to contain my disappointment and keep soldiering on. 

A colleague at work today told me that another colleague had asked her if I had lost weight as I was looking really good. Yay me! As long as I'm heading in the right direction, every week is a success, even if it takes me longer than I was hoping.