How much food do we really need?

Like everyone else I get frustrated with lack of progress; both in getting my weight to where I want it to be, and then maintaining. Having said that, I shouldn't be frustrated, because I know exactly what I'm doing wrong when my weight doesn't change for the better; so, I try experimenting with different approaches and tactics.

What is readily apparent is that I (like everyone) really don't need much food coming in, even when doing a high degree of physical activity. I know there are many stores of readily available fat inside me, just waiting to be used as a source of energy.

There were two specific days at my cottage where I got caught up with work and cleaning, along with long swims and kayaking. As it turned out, I moved from one activity to the next without any thought of food. It wasn't till about 8pm that I thought I should have something, but even then, my hunger response wasn't huge, so I had very little to eat.

The point I am trying to make is that most of us are not eating out of real hunger. Also, if we can keep ourselves busy, there is far less signaling from the brain to snack inappropriately. This led me to try, during the week, to change my eating patterns. As a few of my patients are doing, I began eating two meals per day, trying to not snack for 12 hours during the day along with no snacks after supper, waiting only for my breakfast the next day.

After a while, I got quite used to this, and found myself with far fewer cravings, and more energy to do my workouts.

This is a slightly different way to introduce 'intermittent fasting' as a tool. So, instead of a 24 hour fast one day a week, I was introducing 12 hour fasts each day.

All of us should look to continually try something different. Often we get bored doing the same thing every day, and when we plateau, it's a good time to fiddle either with a new pattern of eating, or to critically re-examine all of our portions and snacking.

I do believe all of us can learn to eat less. We need to train our brains that it is not necessary to eat constantly throughout the day. For now, I will continue the two meal a day plan, so long as it's working, but I will be prepared to change again, should I begin to stall, or cravings return.

You can do it. Don't ever give up!

Dr. Doug