You might think that exercise is the best way to lose weight, and you would have heard your friends talk about going to the gym to lose weight. I thought so too that exercise was key to weight loss too until I saw this video by the Vox in 2016.
It turns out that weight loss is mostly through your diet. Sure exercise burns calories, but it also leads to compensatory behaviors and a bunch of other things that don’t get tracked in the whole process. But it’s still surprising that most people still don’t know about this concept.
Understanding Caloric Deficit
Weight loss or management is a simple measure of calories in vs calories out - being in a calorific deficit is what matters.
You can achieve this calorific deficit in multiple ways — calorie counting, portion control, prescribed meals, or intermittent fasting.
Choosing Intermittent Fasting
I chose to try out intermittent fasting, which was all the rage in my friend circle.
Intermittent fasting is nothing but restricting the time window of eating instead of restricting the number of meals or the calories.
My goal was lose fat, while maintaining muscle mass. Here are my observations while doing IF.
The Time Window Challenge
I started with a 14hr IF cycle going up to 17hr. It always felt that I was running against the clock to get all my calories in within the window.
What IF forces you to do is to delay or skip breakfast for a bit. And mostly helps you eat your last meal (dinner) earlier and cut out any late night binging.
Breaking Night-Time Habits
I ended up cutting off late night snacking which also ended up improving my sleep quality since digestion affects sleep. When hungry at night, I just end up drinking chamomile or green tea. It does calm my hunger pangs.
I used to earlier exercise at night, which no longer was possible, since I needed to eat a protein laded meal so IF will be helpful to get my exercise in either in the morning or just before dinner.
Behavioral Changes
Another thing I noticed is that I often go to the kitchen late at night, not really hungry, but in search of something to snack on. I caught myself doing this a fair few times, and IF is helping me avoid this bad habit. I've been drinking more water/liquids as a result of IF because that's allowed during fasting time.
Results
I got some immediate positive effects of IF:
- some weight reduction to 69kgs
- resting heart rate reduced to 50 is a big drop
Final Thoughts
Like with any good habit, consistency is key. I have been able to do IF occasionally but it takes more willpower to follow the practice. But it’s still very useful when I do want to lose those extra kilos and get more healthy!