It’s no secret, I’m uncomfortable with my weight. I think the majority of woman can agree with me. My struggle is I LOVE FOOD. Again, most women would agree. I knew I had to make a change and knew that I needed to find an option that would be “easy” for me stick with.
I always say I’m a habitual quitter. I have no consistency and lack discipline, I know this. So I also knew I needed something that was going to fit into my lifestyle, something that would be easy and allow me to basically eat what I want as I am an exceptionally picky eater. I basically needed something that required minimal effort to see results. The answer, Intermittent fasting.
**Full Disclaimer. I am not a health expert, nor do I have any medical background. This is solely my first hand experience implementing intermittent fasting in my daily routine.**
What is intermittent fasting?
Intermittent fasting is, as the name entails, a form of fasting. Out of a 24 hour period, you fast for so many hours and then you eat for so many hours. That is the only restriction. You can eat whatever you want during the eating hours. There are many configurations regarding eating hours versus fasting hours. I choose to do the 16-8 option, where I fast for 16 hours and eat for 8. I basically just skip breakfast in the morning. Other options include 14-10 (fast for 14 hours, eat for 10 hours), 5-2 (eating for 5 days and fasting for 2 days), etc.
A great way to track this is to use the BodyFast app. Once you fill out your profile and select to type of fast you would like, the app will alert you when it is time to fast and when it is time to eat. You can adjust your eating times and fasting times according to your schedule. For example, I fast from 9 pm to 1 pm and eat from 1 pm to 9 pm since my lunch break at work is at 1. Below is a snapshot of what my dashboard looks like.
According to several articles and the BodyFast App, there are other benefits to intermittent fasting besides losing weight. I will let you look into those on your own. I am using this solely as a weight loss tool. There is also scientific data about what happens to your body when you fast, but again, this is solely my review of the practice, not the workings behind it. You can find more information regarding how it works at https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/intermittent-fasting-guide
The Struggles
Obviously when you are used to eating three meals a day and snacking whenever your heart desires, there are bound to be struggles. Honestly though, the struggles were not as bad as i had expected. Normally, if I don’t eat for a prolonged period of time, I tend to get sick. This was my primary concern when starting intermittent fasting. I went into day one expecting to quit due to this, but I didn’t. I felt the hunger pains that I was expecting, but to counteract them, I just drank water. The water helped curb my hunger and got me through to my eating period.
The weekend after I first started fasting, we went on a road trip. I get car sick when I don’t eat before a car ride so I had to make adjustments. I’d call these cheat days. But as it turned out, even though I had breakfast those days, I felt less hungry throughout the day.
The Results
I am now almost two months into this intermittent fasting journey. I have to admit that I was expecting more drastic results than I have experienced, but I am still pleased with the results. I started my first intermittent fasting on August 5th and since then I have lost 10 lbs. I have not worked out during these two months and I have not changed any of my eating habits. I have had several cheat days, mostly on the weekends or when I have a day off from work. Considering that, I feel that 10 lbs is an accomplishment.
Me seeing the numbers start to move on the scale has given me the resolve to continue with the intermittent fasting and to start being more active. I think and hope that if I continue with the practice, I will continue to see results, especially if I add in being more active. I’ll keep you updated as I continue on this journey.
Tell me– have you ever tried intermittent fasting? Leave a comment below!
