Like so many people in 2020, I’ve gained the ‘quarantine 15’. I’ve tried to keep busy and active but when you’re home all day, food seems to call out to you all the time. So, after two months back in the US, decided I really needed to get rid of not only the weight I gained, but continue to loose weight to really healthy level. My lofty goal is 70-75kg (154-165lbs). And my friend Ginny inspired me to give a real try with ‘intermittent fasting’.
Intermittent fasting has been in the news a lot in last few years, but in a nutshell, it’s limiting when you eat instead of what you eat. Without going into a lengthy explanation, I’ve basically been living as a guest of my brother and his wife since being evacuated from Nepal in late March. While I can ask for certain things when my brother goes shopping, I’m trying to be the least kind of burden on my family by eating what they eat. So, for me right now, I can’t really control what I’m being served. But I can control more about “when” I eat than “what”.
This is called “attempt #2” because at the beginning of May, I tried to do intermittent fasting. It didn’t really work because I was using food as a reward for loosing weight (kind of defeats the purpose, don’t you think) and it was discouraging on those days I didn’t loose weight even when fasting. So, decided to do a little more research and be a little more practical (and logical, if that is possible).
New Reference
Another source I’ve used and enjoyed is “Intermittent Fasting Basics: Your Guide to the Essentials of Intermittent Fasting – and How It Can Work for You” by Lindsay Boyers, CHNC. I was able to get an ebook from my local library. I like it because it is short and sweet, no lengthy explanations on anything. Just quick snipets of information to get started (I wish more books were written like this on everything).
Exercise-Activity
The book cautions about doing fasting and exercises, at least in the beginning. But if I have to make major changes in my life to accommodate fasting, then it really isn’t worth it for me. So, I am will continue to be as active as I was before. I’ve even started training for a half marathon. If my workouts/activity have any adverse effects during my fasting, I will be sure to mention them.
Schedule
| Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
| 24-hour fast | AM fast | AM fast | AM fast | AM fast | AM fast | “cheat day” |
SUNDAY: My week will start with with a 24-hour fast. Basically, after Saturday’s dinner, I won’t eat until Sunday evening, and then only a little bit. I usually do a short run on Sunday morning on an empty stomach anyway so this shouldn’t be too different. Just got to keep myself busy in the afternoon so I don’t think about food so much.
MONDAY-FRIDAY: On Monday through Friday, I’ll be following a 16:8 Intermittent Fasting schedule, meaining I will have an 8-hour window to eat, between noon and 8pm and fast for the other 16 hours. This allows me to be socialable and eat with my brother and sister-in-law every evening which is important (for household harmony). And I’m usually busy in the mornings with running, exercise, and work so hopefully it won’t be too hard to not focus on food.
SATURDAY: Saturday I usually run long, so it’s important to eat afterward to help heal and build up the body after an extended effort. So this will be my “cheat day”. I don’t really like that word but couldn’t think of anything better. Most of you will understand what I mean. It’s not really cheating, but just a day where I’ll eat without fasting.
Month-long Weight/Fasting Progress
| date | day | fasting | weight | loss/gain | net loss/gain |
| 5/18 | Monday | AM fast | 90.3 kg / 199.1 lbs | – | – |
| 5/19 | Tuesday | AM fast | 90.2 kg / 198.9 lbs | -0.1 kg | -0.1 kg (1) |
| 5/20 | Wednesday | AM fast | 90.0 kg / 198.4 lbs | -0.2 kg | -0.3 kg |
| 5/21 | Thursday | AM fast | 89.8 kg / 198.0 lbs | -0.2 kg | -0.5 kg |
| 5/22 | Friday | AM fast | 89.6 kg / 197.5 lbs | -0.2 kg | -0.7 kg (2) |
| 5/23 | Saturday | 89.4 kg / 197.0 lbs | -0.2 kg | -0.9 kg (3) | |
| 5/24 | Sunday | 24-hour fast | 88.9 kg / 196.0 lbs | -0.5 kg | -1.4 kg (4) |
Notes
- I read that the biggest problem people have with intermittent fasting is that because they “think” they are starved, they try to squeeze more eating into their eating ‘window’ which kind of defeats the whole purpose of the system. You are supposed to just eat normally, just skipping a meal, in my understanding. There must be a calorie deficit or you won’t loose weight.
- For me, I found that if I make a normal-size lunch (and dinner) and then sit down to eat it, I do better. But if I kind of eat and snack while I’m making lunch, I tend to eat more, and eat even after I’m finished. And to be honest, after a few days, I don’t really feel that hungry when my 16-hour fast is over.
- After not eating in the morning all week, I wasn’t really that hungry in the morning. Had a light breakfast and even a light lunch. But I knew I needed food because I had run a hard 10k race this morning.
- After a week of skipping breakfast, skipping breakfast and lunch didn’t seem that hard. But I did my best to keep myself busy so I wouldn’t be thinking about food too much. The last hour before eating dinner was really hard, and I kind of overdid grabbing a bite to eat before we even sat down. Next time, I’ll go for a short walk/ride right before dinner so I can eat with everyone instead of sucking down a bunch of junk.
Second Week
| date | day | fasting | weight | loss/gain | net loss/gain |
| 5/25 | Monday | AM fast | 89.7 kg / 197.8 lbs | +0.8 kg | -0.6 kg (1) |
| 5/26 | Tuesday | AM fast | 90.2 kg / 198.8 lbs | +0.5 kg | -0.1 kg (2) |
| 5/27 | Wednesday | AM fast | 90.3 kg / 199.0 lbs | +0.1 kg | 0 kg (3) |
| 5/28 | Thursday | AM fast | 90.0 kg / 198.4 lbs | -0.3 kg | -0.3 kg |
| 5/29 | Friday | AM fast | 88.9 kg / 196.0 lbs | -1.1 kg | -1.4 kg (4) |
| 5/30 | Saturday | 88.6 kg / 195.4 lbs | -0.3 kg | -1.7 kg | |
| 5/31 | Sunday | 24-hour fast | 88.7 kg / 195.6 lbs | +0.1 kg | -1.6 kg (5) |
Notes
- Well, after my 24-hour fast, kind of went overboard on eating and lost over half of the gains from the week. Not good. Definitely have to be more disciplined with eating after that long fast.
- Two days in a row of bad decisions have wiped out the gains I made last week. It is so important to be consistent and get into a routine. Hopefully I can do better this week.
- Talk about discouragement! I thought I did everything right that day but then I still gained a little. Not sure why. Not much I can do but keep trying and watching what I eat even more.
- Not sure why I lost so much in one day. I don’t think I changed my eating habits too much but maybe it has more to do with what kind of foods I’m eating. Whatever, I’ll take it. And that puts me up with where I was at the end of last week.
- I wasn’t surprised that a gained a little bit on my cheat day, especially because we had a huge birthday celebration dinner that evening. But that’s reasonable. For my Sunday 24-hour fast, I planned to be out of the house in the afternoon so I don’t get tempted by the refrigerator.
Third Week
| date | day | fasting | weight | loss/gain | net loss/gain |
| 6/1 | Monday | AM fast | 88.6 kg / 195.4lbs | -0.1 kg | -1.7 kg (1) |
| 6/2 | Tuesday | AM fast | 88.9 kg / 196.0 lbs | +0.3 kg | -1.4 kg (2) |
| 6/3 | Wednesday | AM fast | 89.3 kg / 196.8 lbs | +0.4 kg | -1.0 kg (3) |
| 6/4 | Thursday | 89.2 kg / 196.6 lbs | -0.1 kg | -1.1 kg | |
| 6/5 | Friday | AM fast | 89.0 kg / 196.2 lbs | -0.2 kg | -1.3 kg |
| 6/6 | Saturday | 88.1 kg / 194.2 lbs | -0.9 kg | -2.2 kg (5) | |
| 6/7 | Sunday | 24-hour fast | 88.7 kg / 195.6 lbs | +0.6 kg | -1.6 kg (6) |
Notes
- With the 24-hour fast and all the activity I did on Sunday, I would have thought I was expecting to loose a lot more. But I was so hungry that I might have overdone it when I ate dinner. No one was here so I was eating leftovers. If we had had a sit-down dinner, I probably would have been better at watching what I was eating.
- Note to self: do not eat mindlessly out of a pizza box during a long online Zoom gathering!
- Extremely discouraged! Maybe exercise combined with intermittent fasting just isn’t for me.
- Just didn’t want to fast this morning. I guess we need days off for everything.
- I have no idea why I lost so much. My eating seemed pretty much the same and even activities were not extensive, just walking and bit of bike riding. A mystery.
- Will try something else.
Other Resources
I’ve collected a few recently published articles on the internet to pass on to you if you’re interested in more information about ‘intermittent fasting’.
Intermittent Fasting for Runners
- What’s the Deal With Intermittent Fasting for Weight Loss?
- Is intermittent fasting good for runners?
- How to Start Intermittent Fasting As a Runner
Other Information about Intermittent Fasting
- How to begin intermittent fasting – Medical News Today
- Intermittent Fasting: 4 Different Types Explained – Cleveland Clinic
- Intermittent Fasting: Beginner’s Guide
- Intermittent Fasting: Transformational Technique – TEDx
Zero to Ultra 