So…intermittent fasting. Has anyone else tried this?? Anyone who knows me well won’t believe for a second that I’d even consider it but for like 6 months now I’ve been kinda stuck at my original weight goal. Something I’d said for months that I wanted to bump by like 5 pounds so that 130 would be the high end of that normal fluctuation of a few pounds from one day or week to the next. Actually, the plateauing/stuck thing didn’t worry me too much because I was staying right around my goal weight. Then I hit the 1 year mark of tracking my progress and sorta started slacking and slowly inching in the wrong direction. Cold weather (hate the gym), lack of time (too tired to get up at 6), burnt out…excuses excuses. I figured the weather would warm up and then I’d be able to start walking outside again. It’s so much easier to get up at 6 am and lace up the tennis shoes when it’s 55 and sunny. But it’s Michigan and 40 degrees and windy is so not my scene.
So a little over a week ago I was listening to a podcast and the topic was intermittent fasting. Something I’d heard about on the same show about 6 months ago and a few times since. It sounds scary but basically to some extent we all do it when we sleep each night. The trick seems to be adding hours to that window of time where you aren’t eating so your body starts to work on the stored up fat. At least that’s how I understand it at this point. 🙂 So I started limiting my eating hours to about 10-11 hours of the day almost 2 weeks ago now. 10-11 hours seems like plenty of eating time but if you have breakfast at 7:30AM that means you’ve gotta be finished with dinner by 6:30 and no snacks after that. It’s baseball season in our house so dinner sometimes doesn’t start till 7:30.
Close friends and family will never believe this but I decided to see how long I could wait before having breakfast so that I could still have dinner with Chris and the kids. Some of those friends and family might even be surprised to hear that I gave up the carnation instant breakfast routine over a year ago sooooo “I can do hard things”. 😀 Anyway, all this to say…by last Friday and Saturday I’d made it to 11-11:30 before eating breakfast. Yesterday I made it to 12:30 before having a smoothie after church! I think I’ve gone for 2 short walks all week (not 7 like I was doing last year at this time). I’ve done nothing else different as far as what I’ve eaten, in fact I might’ve polished off 3 bags of Brookstone chocolate covered fruits of various sorts over the past week. They’re small bags. Don’t judge. 😀
Here’s the kicker, chocolate covered fruits and all, I’ve lost 5.7 lbs. since April 7th. After 6 months of being stuck right around 130. For that same 6 months I’ve said that my ultimate goal would be to hover around 125 (instead of hovering around 130). That being said, I’ve kinda liked seeing the “Woohoo” message each time I’d dip below 130 so I’ve been putting off making that 125 lb. goal “FitBit official” (which is kinda like Facebook official but different). 🙂 Yesterday, when I hit 127.1 lbs. on the scale, I decided the 125 goal was officially attainable and I made the change in Fit Bit. This morning I’m even closer to that goal at 126.7!
I’ll still get back to walking a) because I love it (in good weather) and b) because I’ve discovered that 130 lbs and regular workouts fits differently in my jeans than 130 lbs and not working out. I’ll also occasionally be eating breakfast before 11 because I know for me that any plan that doesn’t have at least some flexibility is one that I won’t stick to for more than a week.
All this to say, if you’re looking for something new to try, this podcast does a good job of explaining the theory behind intermittent fasting and there are 2 more from this month with way more info on it. If there’s anyone on the planet who’d be likely to fail at this, I can assure it’d be me but I’ve been shocked at how quickly I’ve adjusted to it.
Just had to share because I’m a little shocked at how effective this intermittent fasting thing has been. If you try it let me know. And if you’ve been doing it please share any little tricks that make it easier. So far drinking water and tea instead of eating has helped. And not going to the coffee shop before noon. :o)
Intermittent Fasting Flexible Dieting and Macros with Dr. Sara Solomon – Part 1 (show notes)
Reverse Dieting, Fasted Workouts and Intermittent Fasting with Dr. Sara Solomon – Part 2 (show notes)
The 8 Hour Ab Diet with Melissa McAllister: A Little Known Secret for Turning Your Body into a Fat-Burning Machine (show notes)
