Need some weight loss help ?  Well I hope I can pass on some pointers from my ongoing weight loss tips series that help get you get where you want to be. This weight loss blog is now 3 years old.  It started  January 1st 2009, and in the beginning, it was my own way of documenting my personal weight loss journey.  Since that time, I have not only lost the weight I wanted to lose, but have remained in my ideal weight range for over 2 years, but it was not always this way….

Prior to becoming a Retired Dieter in 2009 I battled with the same issues  as millions of other people trying to lose weight . I would start a diet, lose some weight, falter, and gain it back.  I would say it took me 16 years of riding this diet  roller coaster before I figured out diets as we know them simply don’t work.  Do a search at Amazon.com for diet books, see how many show up promising the best way to lose weight , then ask yourself , why are there so many diet books, but the population continues to get fatter ?

Benjamin Franklin said that “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” Yet every year, this is what we do with trying to lose weight. We pick yet another diet, stop all the things we like, then a few weeks later, it all comes crashing down. We get frustrated, we feel we have failed, and we gain back what we lost and more, only to then try another  new diet later in the year, maybe to be in shape for the beach, the bikini diet anyone ? Then once that one fails we slip back to our old routines, waiting for the next new year resolution and the search for  ” fast weight loss ” starts again.

We are only 6 days into the  New Year, but as I write this, my blog traffic is at a record high. Last January was the same. Every new year we start with good intentions of losing weight, and in the vast majority of cases, the results don’t last.  So if you really want to lose weight, and you want that weight loss to be permanent, then is it not time to break with usual diet routines that have failed you in the past  ?  Dare I say it, maybe it’s time to become a Retired Dieter too ?  and learn what really matters when it comes to losing weight and keeping it off.

I have said on a number of occasions on this blog that weight loss is simple, its just not easy.  Let me explain what I mean by that.

Weight Loss Is Simple =  If you burn more calories than you take in, you will lose weight. A calorie deficit however you create it will bring about weight loss. It really is that simple.

Weight Loss Is Not Easy =  Means you have to find a way of creating that deficit that works for you long term. On top of that, you have family gatherings, social events,  fast food companies advertising to you all day long on tv and radio, all of which are combining to disrupt your weight loss efforts. There is no point making it even harder then, by choosing a diet plan that then tells you that you need to cut out foods , or food groups you like. We have been there and done that, and we know how it ends.  So let’s change it.

I have come a long way in 3 years. I am no longer obese, and I am finally liberated from dieting and stressing about what I should or should not eat.  I now think more than ever, I can help others do the same.

What interests  me, is looking back over the last 3 years I know what I did worked, and how it worked ( the calorie deficit ) but what I am now trying to get a greater understanding of are the reasons behind why it worked.  More than ever, the last 3 years have shown me that losing weight has more to do with the mental aspect than anything else. Let me elaborate on the mental side of things. Here are things that have changed for me that have more to do with the mentality of weight loss or weight control.

1.  I no longer think that if I don’t eat at least 3 meals a day this will have some detrimental effect on my metabolism

2.  I know that if I was busy and miss lunch, I can wait for dinner and save those calories, I no longer panic thinking ” I missed lunch I better eat something now ”  - Again that is mental and it was how I would think in the past.

3.  When you see positive results ( In my case losing 70lbs ) you have more mental strength to ignore the countless people who tell you that how you are trying to lose weight or control your weight is wrong. In my case, this mental strength is even stronger today, it is far easier to be strong in my belief on weight loss, when most people who start this debate with me, are in worse shape then I am, yet think they know better.  Again when I started out 3 years ago, those early weeks, were tough, it’s why I now advise anyone starting out to keep the fact they are trying to lose weight private. Weight loss opinions from family and friends are one of the main obstacles you have to overcome when it comes to losing weight.

4.  I no longer feel guilty about eating foods I enjoy. I don’t obsess over food anymore. Again, this is a mental change, but let me explain what I mean in more detail.

We can’t get away from the fact, that as humans, we like foods that contain fat sugar and salt. Our favourites most likely contain all 3, though you would probably not know it . I still hear many people say ” I should not be eating this ” or ” this is bad for me but I like it ” . You can read everywhere that  Sugar is bad for you, Salt is bad for you,  Fat is bad for you, but the simple fact is those 3 things in one form or another are in just about everything we eat, and you can’t get away from it. Want a low fat yogurt ? then the fat will have been replaced with sugar to make it taste good. Unless you are going to create every single thing you eat at home in a strict way, the chances of you avoiding the so called bad foods are just about zero.

Food companies spend billions on creating and marketing foods that contain all 3 , so from a mental stand point you have to learn how to manage it, saying you should not eat them isn’t the answer, it’s a fight you can’t win. Only by changing how you think about the foods you eat can you overcome this unhelpful  mental issue of good and bad foods. As John Barban is fond of saying ” The Poison Is In the Dose ” . OK well it was actually Paracelsus who said “All things are poison, and nothing is without poison; only the dose permits something not to be poisonous.”  But John used it in the diet context. My point is, that we can’t get away from eating these foods, but we can limit the dose. In my view, that is a far better mental attitude than trying to kid yourself you can give them up and “eat healthy”.

I am not a scientist, doctor  or a psychologist, I have no deep understanding of biology  but I am aware that how I look at food, and how I eat has changed. I still eat the same food, it is not like I stopped eating anything that I enjoyed in the past, but there is no question there has been a change. My own view  is that  Intermittent Fasting has to be a major reason for this. I don’t just mean from the point it helps me  in restricting  calories,although that is certainly a factor, but perhaps more in the possibility it helps reset chemical changes in the body or the brain. As I stated earlier,I am not qualified in any way to know if this is the case, but what I do know is the one constant tool in the last 3 years for controlling my weight has been Flexible Intermittent Fasting. This, at least to me means the theory is plausible. I think the science community call it a hypothesis ! So the idea that  I.F.  helps reduce the cravings for foods will be something I will be looking into more during the coming year. As I say, I know what I do works, I have now just reached a point where I would like to know in more details why it works.

So at the start of this  new year, are you going to make a change ?  From a personal point of view I am also making a few changes,and setting some new goals, but more about some of those in a post next week.

If you are new here, then feel free to go through the archives, you can see read from 3 years ago if you have the time. The other thing to do if you want weight loss help, is sign up in the top right hand corner for help and advice in losing weight from someone who has walked that road. If you want to learn more about  fasting to lose weight, then check out  my posts on eat stop eat .  Let’s make this the year of change.

If you are still in doubt about what I write here, or think fasting for weight loss is some kind of fad , consider this…  I am not doing this post after 1 week, 1 month or even after 1 year. I am posting this view based on 3 Years actual experience. That is 1 year of losing weight ( well it took 10 months as it turned out ) and 2 Years of maintaining a healthy weight range. You think maybe, just maybe I might be on to something ?  If you think I am wrong, then Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers are waiting to take your money…. AGAIN.

If you liked this post, and feel it help or motivate others, then please re-tweet, and share on facebook etc.

I welcome comments and debate, but if you are just going to post a comment to get a link to a weight loss site for diet pills,colon cleanse  or the usual same old crap, don’t bother, as it won’t get approved, I do check all links. so save your time and mine. If you run a genuine site and post a good comment, it will get approved.

No matter if you are fasting to lose weight or  just looking to use intermittent fasting to help control your weight, the important thing  is to use it in a way that best  fits with your personal lifestyle.

I have used I.F now for two and a half years, and I would say the main reason I have continued to use fasting  to manage my weight is because I don’t have any set rules for when I should be fasting. I find the traditional  one day on and one day off  way of fasting far too restrictive for me.  Today for example I am going to a Barbecue, I know I can fast tomorrow, and enjoy today, but with alternate day fasting, what would I have done if this was my fasting day ?.  To use a form of calorie restriction ( in this case I.F.) and make it part of your permanent lifestyle  you need flexibility to make it work.

Over time I have played around with how I fast, though I would say even now, my base plan is still  eat stop eat , however I would still say I have created my own personal way of doing  I.F.

One of the big changes in how I eat is , that even on a non fasting day, I will often still miss out a meal. Other than dinner with my family on an evening, I don’t really have a set meal time. I may eat something  late morning, and then not eat again before dinner, or at other times, I may not eat  before early afternoon.

The difference fasting has made in my life is a greater understanding of  when I am actually hungry, and not just eating because it’s lunchtime.

We are all different, but creating your own flexible fasting routine for what best suits your lifestyle will bring you the results you want.

As today  marks the mid point of the year, it means I have now been a retired dieter for 18 months.

On Jan 1st 2009 I stepped on the scales and was 231lbs. today 18 months later, I am 165lbs. No diet, no rules to break, just a clear understanding of what my daily calorie needs are, and a simple process to stay within those limits month to month.

Learning how to finally control my weight  after all these years can only be described as liberating.  The day I stopped listening  to all the diet bullshit was the day I finally was set free from food guilt.

The diet companies want you to eat more, but the real answer is actually to eat less and enjoy the foods you eat. No need for diet pills, magic shakes , specialist meals. Just learn how many calories you need ( it is less than you think )  and find the way that works best for you to restrict the calories you eat. For me that was intermittent fasting,  and now 18 months on, it will always remain as my way of controlling my weight, it is now part of my life.

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What a difference a normal week makes. With last weeks weight gain I was expecting this to even out this week and that is exactly what happened.  The scales show a 3lb drop, so last weeks 1lb gain is no more. While I do not believe for one moment I have lost 3lbs of fat ( no way was my calorie deficit that low ) I am of course pleased that I am back on track.

So today I weigh 170lbs  a little over 77 kilos, or 12 stone 2lbs.  I should point out here that although the scales dropped 3lbs this week, if you look over the last 11 weeks of my six pack quest journey , I have  dropped 5lbs over 11 weeks.  With one week to go on my original abs target I think I may come up a little short. The problem may not be that I don’t hit the 7lbs I set to lose, but more the fact I think I  have slightly underestimated how much I need to lose to get the abs showing properly. My guess today is I probably need to go lower by another 2lbs than my original target of 7lbs. So more likely I need to end up at 166lbs and not 168 as I initially thought. I am learning there is no exact science to it, but I do at least know I am going in the right direction, it just may take slightly longer than I thought to get there. More on the abs goal next week though.

I do want to be honest here, cutting down my weight from 175lbs to 170lb has been much tougher. There is no easy way to say it, to lose body fat now, I have to watch the amount of calories I eat far more than I did last year.  I had managed to keep my weight controlled for over 2 months, but after about 10 weeks of maintenance , I found I was not cutting back enough on what I was eating in the first few weeks of my new abs quest. I did lose a little body fat, but the fact was, in order to  lose the amount of body fat I had targeted, then I was going to have to restrict the amount I was eating, not easy when I am trying to stick to the retired dieter principles of weight loss of not giving up the foods or drink I love.

It would be easy for me to say I am not going to drink beer for 2 weeks, but that is not what my way of losing weight is about. I want to still drink beer and lose weight while I am doing it, I have to do it this way to prove what it is possible. Could I have stopped drinking beer and got the abs quicker ? … Yes absolutely, but I would be as miserable as hell, and in my world, that just isn’t worth it.

My point is, I will be able to show that you can get and keep yourself in shape, and still enjoy the food and drinks you love. The skill is fitting them into your weekly calorie allowance. For me it is beer, for others it is chocolate, for some it is ice cream, we all have our favourites, and if you are wanting to lose weight, the last thing you should do is give them up.

It Really Is About Calories In V Calories Out

So what does my weight loss which is now over 60lbs show ?

Weight loss is not so much about what you eat, it is more to do with how much you eat. We all ( me included) tend to underestimate how many calories we eat, and we also tend to overestimate how many calories we need, or how many we burn through exercise. Focus first on just eating less, the problems caused by overeating are far greater than consuming too much of one macro nutrient.  The problem is consuming too much in general, not just too much sugar or fat etc. If you are overweight, then you are overeating. No matter how the fancy diet goo r00s dress it up, the solution is  undereating , the trick is to find how best to undereat for you and your lifestyle.

Have a question , want some help ? send me an email retireddieter[at]gmail.com, or leave comment.

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Well after  3 meals out in the last 7 days , I paid the price on the scales this week. I had gained one pound putting my weight at 173 lbs.  I still did my fasts as normal, and ate less on the days I was not out, but I don’t doubt for a moment that have  consumed 3,500 calories above my requirements this week  to gain that extra pound, no excuses from me, this is just one of those weeks where due to social engagements I have eaten and drank more than usual.

With no extra major social gatherings this week , I expect to see the gain corrected and things be back on track by next Friday.

Fasting For Weight Loss –  Why Calories Still Matter

Fasting For Weight Loss

One of the pleasures I get from this blog is the personal messages I get from  people who are also becoming retired dieters, even some of my friends who long thought I was nuts to be using intermittent fasting to lose weight have been converted and are now quietly incorporating 24 hour fasts into their weekly schedules.

One thing that keeps coming up is  ” Dave I fasted twice this week but I didn’t lose any weight ”

Even when using fasting for weight loss, you need to understand the amount of calories you consume is important. Taking a 24 hour break from eating is a great way to burn body fat during that 24 hour period, but if  you then break the fast and consume more calories than your body needs, you will not lose weight.

So let me make it clear….

When Fasting For Weight Loss  Calories In V Calories Out is what matters

To lose weight you need to consume LESS calories than your body needs. Intermittent fasting is just a tool to help you do that, but unless you are eating less than your daily requirement, you will not lose body fat. Yes you will burn fat during the time you are fasting,  but if you then eat above your required calories, you will just replace the fat you burned.

As a retired dieter I don’t refuse the foods I love, I just make sure I eat less calories.

One problem for most people is they don’t know how many calories a day they need , we then also under estimate the amount of calories we consume.

Let me give you an example based on my current measurements.

Fasting For Weight Loss – Working Out Your Calorie Needs

Using a simple Resting Metabolic Rate ( RMR ) calculator , you can work out your daily RMR/BMR . Go there and enter your details to find your own BMR number …  please ignore any weight loss fad diet ads that may display.

In my case, as  a 45 46 year old male with a current weight of 174 lbs  and a height of 5 ft 10 inches, my BMR/RMR is about  1730 calories a day. That number is based on me doing nothing and staying in bed all day. As my work is Internet based, and my office is at home, in my case this figure would not be far off. Only adding exercise to my daily routine will increase the amount of daily calories I need. Sitting in a chair at a computer screen all day does not burn too many calories.  So in my case 1700 calories a day is what I try and work with.

As I work from home, I do take a daily break from the laptop and take a walk.  If we use the equation of 1 calorie per  kilo of body weight  per kilometer distance travelled, this would burn extra calories as follows.

174lbs = approx 79 kilos .   so walking 1 kilometer would mean I burn around 79 calories. If I do a 5 mile walk that is 8 kilometers  so that is 632 calories.

As I mentioned in this post about my six pack abs mission I look at my calories over 7 days, not daily. I eat more on a weekend, and reduce the calories on the weekdays when I am working.  12000 calories a week is what I try to work with. The intermittent fasting just helps make this easier to do.

Again we come back to the basic process that weight loss is not complicated. If you want to lose fat, then you need to be in a calorie deficit. This can only happen by eating less calories than you need, or by increasing the number of calories you burn off with exercise.  Intermittent fasting helps you eat less.  Even something as basic as walking gets you burning more calories. Use bodyweight exercises to maintain muscle, and you are on the right track. No gyms, no fancy diet plans, just a simple, no fuss  way to lose weight.

In A word ?  Eat Less Move More Eat Stop Eat and Anything Goes Diet are my suggested ways to reduce calories for weight loss

Any questions about fasting for weight loss ? please leave a  reply in the comments

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As I have  used Intermittent Fasting for weight loss and weight control, I find I am asked  a number of questions  about fasting for weight loss. It has been a while since I posted any frequently asked questions about Intermittent Fasting, so now seemed as good a time as any to post some.

As always if you have any questions that are not covered here, feel free to put them in the comments section, our you can mail me at Dave [@ = at] retireddieter.com

Q  Does Intermittent Fasting Slow Down Your Metabolism

A No, you are only taking a break from eating for a period of 24 hours. Studies show that periods of fasting for even 72 hours have no effect on your metabolism. The diet industry loves to talk about metabolism, but the truth is your base metabolic rate really does not change. I think the best example I can give here is my own weight loss success . I continued to lose body fat using intermittent fasting without any metabolism issues.  Claims that your metabolism slows down if you don’t eat for a few hours is a myth.

Q  Is Juice Fasting  The Same As Intermittent Fasting ?

A  No , if you drink a fruit juice, you are still consuming calories. I actually find the term Juice Fasting misleading, as you are not fasting at all. It would be quite possible to drink more than your normal daily calorie limit from fruit juice, though hardly satisfying.

Q What Do You Have During Your Fasts ?

A I have black coffee, the real stuff, no instant ! I drink green tea and fruit teas,  Twinings green tea with mango is one of my favourites. I also will drink diet drinks like Pepsi Max, though I tend to mainly stick to hot drinks.

Q Do You Count Calories

A No I do not count calories in the sense of looking at every meal , but I would say I am aware of the approximate number of calories I eat. The problem with diets is we tend to underestimate the number of calories we consume, and this is one reason weight loss can be a problem. The days I fast make it easy to cover my calorie miscalculations.  I would suggest that if you are just starting to use intermittent fasting for losing weight, then keep a food diary for at least 7 days first. It will give you a good insight into where and when you use consume  most calories. Also you need to get an understanding of your resting metabolic rate. A bmr calculator will give you a guide to many calories you actually need.

Q Do You Do Your Workouts While You Are Fasting ?

A  Yes I have done my bodyweight workouts on days when I am fasting, In my own experience I do not find any difference between working out fasted or when I have eaten, and I doubt you will be surprised to hear I don’t go in for the ” you must eat after a workout ”  advice.

Q When My Fast Is Over What Should I Eat ?

A  Just eat as if the fast never happened. For example if my fast is from dinner to dinner, then I just eat that evening meal as normal. I eat as I normally would, no special rewards because I fasted, just the regular meal.

Q  Will Intermittent Fasting Burn More Belly Fat ?

A Intermittent Fasting for a 24 hour period does burn more fat, but you can not spot target where on your body the fat is burned.

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If I look at the questions I am asked, I think ones about what I eat when I break the fast, and what I eat on my normal eating days seem to be the most frequent.  I also noticed around some of the other blogs I follow, that they are getting the same thing. Brad Pilon did a post last week of a typical eating day for him . I also noticed John Barban talking about his own eating routine and morning coffee .  It fits well with what I was talking about in my Weight Loss Tips post, about not thinking of foods as good or bad, but to just enjoy what you eat.  So as I just finished a fast, I thought I will post some pictures and some information about what I had when I finished my 24 hour break from eating.

With having 2 kids, often meals in the week are based around what they will eat too, so the meals I mentioned here are a good example of that. Monday evening , my last meal before starting my fast was minced beef and jacket potato with a selection of vegetables. I did not have a desert, but I did have a 3 pieces of cadburys dairy milk chocolate with a cup of tea. Then it was into the fast.

Breaking the fast on Tuesday evening 24 hours later, this is what I ate.

I had 2 burgers in one bun ( Tesco Finest British Beef Burgers ) The bun was a malted grain bap ( also from Tesco)  There was a slice of mature cheddar on the burgers. And a  half dozen  British chunky chips ( oven baked ) Notice there is a touch of green on that plate and a bit in the bun itself, a token gesture, but it is still salad  The picture may not make it clear, but the burger was large, there is 2 quarter pounders in there, and it is on a big plate, trust me it was more than enough to eat.

Fasting For Weight Loss- Breaking The Fast

I followed that up with a cup of tea a slice of  this   Cinnamon and Nutella cake my wife baked , very nice it was too.

I would not normally look at the calories, but for this post I have done so as best I can.

The burgers were 185 calories each

The mature cheddar 80 calories

The Malted Bun  240 calories

The Chips     around 80 calories

Some Ketchup and Mayo on there I guess another 60 calories

That is a total of around 830 calories

The cake they say is about 360 per slice, but is for only 12 slices, and I have divided into twice that amount, which would mean about 180, but just to be on the safe side I will estimate up and say 250

So there we go, my calorie intake is somewhere in the region today of 1100 calories. As I write this  I am still feeling very full from the  meal this evening so I think the only thing i am likely to have before bed tonight is a cup of tea or 2, so I would say I am not likely to have more than 1200 calories today. As I pointed out earlier, I don’t really count calories fora meal like this normally, but if I started gaining weight, then I would certainly look more closely but I tend to have a good idea of what calories are in the foods I eat.

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I am on my final fast for the year as I write this post.  The fast will end at around 6.30 tonight, and that will be my last one for the holidays. I also decided to check my weight today before the holiday festivities start. Even after a weekend wedding and a Sunday where I spent most of it avoiding the snow sitting in the pub, I still at my start of year  target weight of 12 stone 7lbs  or 175lbs  - 79  Kilos.

I have now stayed at this weight for  2 months, also showing that intermittent fasting will not only help you lose weight, but also be a fantastic tool to help you maintain the weight you want to be. As a retired dieter of course, even after hitting my target weight, nothing really changed. It wasn’t as if I was really doing anything different during the 10 months I was focused on losing body fat.

I have continued to fast twice per week, the only thing I would say I have done differently in the last 2 months is to be a little more indulgent on weekends.  For me that usually revolves around a beer or two, so in the last couple of months I will be more likely to have a couple of drinks on  a Sunday lunchtime than when I was looking to get the weight off.  Looking back though I have to say the eating and drinking is just not something I think about, I just do what I feel.

I know over the Christmas holidays I am likely to gain some weight, but no way am I going to worry about it. The holidays are a time to enjoy, and that is what I will do, safe in the knowledge that  fasting after the feasts will get me back to where I want to be.  I don’t know who said it, but  one phrase I like that has stuck with me is this one

It’s Not What You Do Between Christmas And New Year That Matters, But What You Do Between New Year And Christmas

I agree with that statement 100 %  , It is not about one weeks over indulgence over a holiday period, it is about 51 weeks of slightly over eating every day that causes the problem. Intermittent Fasting is now my way keeping me where I want to be, and also allowing me to enjoy food without any worries.

I will continue to write this blog as I think it is also important to show people not only can you burn body fat with intermittent fasting, but I.F. also helps you control your weight. Diets fail because they are restrictive. My first goal as a retired dieter was to show you I can  lose the weight without going on a diet, 2010 will be about showing I can keep the weight off just as easily. I have set myself a new personal goal for getting the 6 pack. I am doing this because I want to see how easy it is for a 45 year old former fat guy to achieve it. I think I need to lose about another 7lbs to get there, so that will be the first objective over the first quarter of 2010. Intermittent fasting will of course be my weapon of choice to get there !.

I hope that this blog provides inspiration for others out there to take the plunge, and become retired dieters too. Food was never meant to be as complicated as the nutritionists make it out to be.  There are no miracle diets, no new revolutionary ways to do it, if you truly want to lose weight, you just need to eat less, and find a simple way of doing it. I  can tell you after 12 months ( Yes 12 months not 12 weeks ! ) of using  I.F  that this is the way to do it.

Enjoy the holidays, and make sure you also become a retired dieter in 2010.

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Just a quick update as I have not posted any intermittent fasting updates since hitting my target weight back in October. I am still doing 2 fasts per week, Sunday evening to Monday evening, and usually Thursday evening to Friday. I have just continued with my usual routine, and was pleased to see that not only am I keeping the weight off, but had lost another 1lb. This means I am 12 stone 6lbs or 174lbs – 79 kilos.

Fasting Time

Intermittent Fasting At Holiday Time

As we enter the holiday season, I am interested to see how my weight changes, I have noticed these days that I am more aware that when I have had a heavy couple of days socially, that I offset it with days where I eat less, and that really is what has changed for me this year. I now don’t look at the Holidays with dread of breaking a diet, because I retired from dieting a year ago. Now I will simply use my flexible eating process to help control my weight over the Holidays

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