Archive for March, 2009

Intermittent Fasting 24 Hour Diary

Friday, March 27th, 2009

As promised , here is an example of a day using intermittent fasting. I have logged what I eat, when I started the fast, and when I ended the fast, and what I had to eat at the time.

Wednesday 25th March  .

6.30pm. Just finished my evening meal with the family.  Meal  Fish Pie, made with a mash potato topping and served  with green beans, broccoli .  Desert was Fresh Pineapple, with Grapes, and a desert spoon of Greek yogurt.

7pm just finished a cup of tea with milk plus a chocolate penguin biscuit, and now will start my fast.

9pm.  Cup of camomile tea  while running pay per click keyword reports in google.

 

11pm had a pint of water, it is important to drink plenty of water while fasting , many times people mistake dehydration for hunger, usually when you feel thirsty your body is already telling you , that you are dehydrated.

00.30 Am. Yes I am a night owl, A second cup of Chamomile Tea,  while reading a book on beer recipes, I  keep promising myself I am going become a whiz at brewing beer, but currently have only mastered the drinking part !.

 

01.15 am. Time for bed. I am now just over 6hrs into my fast, but have not had any feelings of hunger this evening.

 

8.30 am  Wake up and as it is Thursday, go and do my weigh in, another 2lbs lost. I start my day with a pint of water while reading the blogs and news sites I check every morning. I always start the morning with water as again our bodies dehydrate overnight.  Even if I am not on a fasting day, I never seem to be hungry first thing in a morning, today is no different.

9am Time for my first double espresso of the day.

9.30 Going for a 10.am  physiotherapy session on my right shoulder, this is from an injury to it last year.

10.30 The physio is 3 miles from where I live, so I am now going to walk back. I enjoy walking as a way to relax, but also it is an easy way to get some exercise.

 

11.10 am  Arrived back from walk, had a pint of water, and making my second espresso of the day. I still have not had any feelings of being hungry, one reason for this is the fact I have been busy all morning.

 

11.30 Time start writing my Intermittent Fasting Weight Loss update for the blog, and then on with my normal daily  internet marking work .

 

1.30 Just had my first stomach grumble. I went and got a pint of water, and also made a green tea. I now know from experince that the feeling of hunger will pass within 15 minutes . I think this is one of the main changes I have had from using intermittent fasting, In the past I would be diving into the refrigerator at the first signs of stomach rumblings.

 

3.30 A 15 minute break from the computer to do some body weight exercises. 

One Leg Get Up  12 each leg for 3 sets  Here is a picture of how to do a one leg get up 

Prisoner Squats  3 sets of 15.

Reverse Lunge  3 x 15

I do each set one after the other.   Now you know why I don’t bother with the gym. If the weather is good I go outside for this, but it sucks this afternoon !.

End of the routine, I get another pint of water, and make a green tea. then back to the laptop.

 

5pm. I am making Chili tonight for the family, my wife will be home around 5.45  so to save her doing it, I am doing my child friendly version. Child Friendly Chili Con Carne is just a milder chili, and uses baked beans instead of red kidney beans.

5.30pm Problem with cooking is you feel hungry, so it is time to break the fast. The chili is done and simmering on low, so I toast a hot cross bun, spread some butter on top,  make a cafe latte and sit down for 15 minutes.  So fasting time was twenty two  and a half hours, perfectly acceptable.

 

6.45pm time for dinner. Chilli served with Wholegrain Rice. Other during the time I was making the chilli, the only other time I felt hungry was at 1.30pm.  I did not have anything after the Chilli as I was full, so this was last meal of the evening.  

This is a typical weekday of what my daily flexible fasting routine is like. For anyone just starting out using Intermittent Fasting, I suggest you start with either one or two days per week, a good book for this method is Brad Pilon’s  Eat Stop Eat

For a low cost body weight workout book, try Workout Without Weights

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Intermittent Fasting Week 12

Thursday, March 26th, 2009

It is exactly 12 weeks today since I first started using Intermittent Fasting to reduce my weight. This week I lost 1 kilo ( just over 2lbs) . I now weigh 90 Kilos, or 198.4 lbs, In only 12 weeks I have broken the 200lb mark, I have lost 15 kilos or 31lbs something I did not expect to do for another 4 weeks.

The fat loss from using Intermittent Fasting has surprised me.Remember, at no time during the last 12 weeks have I not eaten what I wanted to eat, no food is off limits. Notice I say ” fat loss ” because the weight I have lost is body fat, not muscle mass. Our focus is to burn body fat for weight loss, not to lose muscle mass.The more body fat you have, the less likely you are to lose muscle, so it is possible I will lose a small amount of muscle as I get leaner.I have,and continue to use body weight exercises to maintain muscle so I am not concerned in this area. I have noticed over the last month, my body shape changing, even though the weight loss has been slower during this period, the physical changes have been much more noticeable. I will have my body fat percentage taken at the end of the month at the same time as having my body measurements done. I did take photos at the start of this year, and also after 6 weeks, so there will be some photo evidence too.  I have decided that this first 12 weeks will be called stage 1 of flexible fasting programme. Once I decided to become a retired dieter, I had to find a way to control my weight without feeling I was restricted, Intermittent Fasting has allowed me to do that. Depending on how much weight you want to lose, you can  work intermittent fasting around your own lifestyle to ensure get the results you want.  At the start of this journey I made a target of losing  4 stone/ 56lbs, or 25 kilos. From my starting weight of 105 kilos, this would mean I will be around 80 kilos, so I have 10 kilos to go, however, over the next 12 weeks I will use body fat, waist measurements, and how my clothes fit, rather than just what the scales say.

Over the next 12 weeks I will document more about the type of exercise I am doing, trust me it is not much !, I am not one for the treadmills, though I do like to get outdoors and walk .

So my original target was to lose the weight over a period of 12 months, based on steady weight loss of  one or two pounds per week. I now feel even at a fat loss of one pound per week I will manage this by September at the latest. So my goal is now to be in shape by the time I turn 45 on Tuesday September 8th 2009 .

So the highlights of the last 12 weeks of  using Intermittent Fasting For Weight Loss :

I have consistently lost weight every single week for 12 weeks, no plateau, no weight gains, just pure fat loss every week.

I have more energy, no tiredness in the afternoons, when using Intermittent Fasting.

I have noticed a significant improvement with my Asthma  symptoms.

Unlike a diet, Flexible Fasting fits around my lifestyle, I don’t fit my life around Intermittent Fasting.

Tomorrow I will post a typical fasting day for me.

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Fasting Weight Loss – Eating Window

Friday, March 20th, 2009

One of the questions I get  asked is how long do I fast for. I thought the best thing I could do is show my flexible intermittent fasting  times. This should give some idea of how you can use flexible fasting within your own lifestyle. The time quoted is when i finished eating, not when I started my last meal, again this is just my own take on things.

Thursday 12th March  Intermittent Fasting start time 7pm.

Friday 13th March. Fast ended at 7pm at Pizza Express . left restaurant at 8.30. did not eat again that night, as I was stuffed !.

Saturday 14th March. A normal day, had breakfast at around 10 am. and then ate as I wanted through the day.

Sunday 15th March.Ate breakfast and lunch as normal  Started Fasting at 7.30pm Sunday evening after our main Sunday family meal.

Monday 16th March. Ended Intermittent Fasting at 6.15pm.  On weekdays I now fast  evening to evening, so I started fasting again at 7pm.

Tuesday 17th March Intermittent Fasting Ended at 6pm.  New Fasting period from 7pm

Wednesday 18th March Intermittent Fasting ended at 7pm.   New fasting peroiod started 8pm.

Thursday 19th March . Intermittent Fasting ended at 6.45pm . New Fasting period  commenced 7.30 pm

Friday 20th March. I finished fasting today at 4.30pm with a cafe latte and a toasted hot cross bun with butter |!.

So as I write this, am going into Friday evening, and my next fast will not be untill around 7.30pm Sunday evening.

The details above are typical. As you can see, my shortest intermittent fasting period was the one I finished today at 21 hrs. You can also see I completed one full 24hr period without food. If you are new to flexible intermittent fasting for weight loss, this is just one way that you can use it. I have found for me this suits my lifestyle, but that does not mean this example is best for you. The main benefits for fasting for fat burning is between 18 and 24hrs , so you don’t have to be exact every time. If you are only fasting one or 2 days per week, which is what I would suggest if you are just starting out, then I see no reason not to do a full 24hrs . I started using Flexible Intermittent Fasting to lose body fat at the start of this year. I started with 2 fasts per week. It is only because I found it easy to do, and noticed that from doing the fast that I was not missing eating during the day that I adapted my eating window  accordingly. To lose body fat we have to reduce the calories we eat. For me this is the easiest way I have found to do it.

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Intermittent Fasting Week 11

Thursday, March 19th, 2009

A 1lb fat loss this week, I now weigh 91 kilos, or a shade over 200lbs. Considering my weekend indulgence I am pleased to see that fasting for fat loss has continued . I said last week that I expect fat loss to continue between one and two pounds per week now. Though the rate at which I am losing weight has slowed down, I can see a far greater change in recent weeks when I look in the mirror, and also in my clothes. I think when you are looking to lose body fat, there comes a point where you need to go more by what you see in yourself than what the scales are telling you. I may have only lost 2lbs in the last 2 weeks, but I am now another notch lower on my belt. I have not done any measurements recently, I decided to wait until I had completed 12 weeks, but I know I am going in the right direction, and that is all that matters. The biggest plus point I take from this week  , I can see how using flexible fasting as part of my lifestyle has enabled me to control my weight, even on a week where I ate more than usual, and more of the things I don’t normally eat, I still  not only kept my weight in check, but have continued to see a further reduction. I know each week i repeat the same thing, but even after 11 weeks I continue to find no problems in using flexible intermittent fasting to lose weight. If you are still unsure if intermittent fasting is for you, I can only suggest you give it a try. I think you will be surprised how easy it is once you decide to do your first fast.

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Fasting For Fat Loss

Monday, March 16th, 2009

As I write this I am  just over 20 hours into my first fast of the week. I ate what I wanted over the weekend, but I have to be honest and say that by yesterday, I was feeling bloated. I even went for a 5 mile walk yesterday afternoon because I was feeling too full and hoped i could walk it off.

It was my Daughters 13th Birthday this weekend,  so I have eaten differently than I would on a normal weekend, the important thing is my body is telling me so !.  I certainly enjoyed the weekend , but I can also say that I looked forward to  fasting because I did not feel as good as I usually do.

Again I think this is one of the great things I have learnt about intermittent fasting for fat loss, I can now identify how eating certain foods affect me, so while I was happy to eat them and enjoy it, I am certainly more aware of how eating them made me feel.
I have not felt hungry today, I do not find that eating a greater amount of refined carbohydrates cause me to get more hungry , this may be different for other people but certainly increased hunger is not a problem for me, as I say the effects on me were to feel very bloated and uncomfortable. I did a body weight workout this afternoon  at 18rs into the fast, which was great . Only now do I start to feel that I am getting back to normal after the weekend indulgence.
I  do not regret eating what I had this weekend,I enjoyed what I had, and once again it means I do not feel I was restricted in any way at all. I look on it that it has helped me realise that certain foods cause me discomfort, not only that but I feel that today’s fast has been of real benefit. I think since I started using intermittent fasting to reduce my weight over 10 weeks ago, this is one of the first fasts I have done where I see the true benefit of using it within my lifestyle. I was actually looking forward to starting the fast last night.
We all have weekends like I describe here, what I am happy about is that last night I wanted to start fasting, because of how I felt  within myself, not because I felt guilty from blowing some kind of diet and thinking ” I had to get back on it “. I think the best way I can explain it is,  that after 2 days of party food , my body told me I had overeaten, and I was able to recognise it. I also knew what  to do redress the balance.

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Mindless Eating and Eating Triggers

Friday, March 13th, 2009

Over the last 10 weeks of using Flexible Intermittent Fasting to lose weight, I have become more aware of certain mindless eating habits I had, which I no longer do, or at least are more controlled. I think of many of them as eating triggers. Let me give you an example of one.

If I drink coffee with milk and one sugar, I will not just drink it on its own, I will put it with a chocolate biscuit, something  like a 2 finger kit kat. Same would apply with a cup of tea with milk, I always put something with it. For me simply changing to black coffee is all it took to change this habit, I don’t have the same desire to eat something with a black coffee. I am quite happy to just drink the coffee.Changing from tea with milk, to a herbal or fruit tea also has  had the same effect. I estimate based on drinking on average 4 to 6 cups of either tea or coffee per day I was consuming 600 calories per day from mindless eating. Even taking this over 5 days as on weekends I do enjoy my cafe lattes I have  saved  around 3000 calories per week , just by making one simple switch.I know now that the only reason was doing it was habit, not because I was hungry, or even really wanted a biscuit, but just because that is what I did.

This is one of the areas that using intermittent fasting has helped me to change some mindless eating habits. During your fast, you only consume liquids with zero calories, so water, black coffee, black or herbal tea . I became aware on the days I was fasting that I was not missing the sugar snack at all. I am not saying you would have to be using intermittent fasting to find this out, we are all different, but in my case it did.

The main reason we gain weight is because we simply under estimate the number of calories we eat, this one example I give here , shows I was consuming at least an extra 3000 calories a week , that I now don’t miss. If those 3000 calories are above my base level of calories, I am gaining over 3lbs per month .Take a look at your own daily eating habits, do you see anything there that you are doing because of mindless eating ?.

To lose weight we have to eat less calories than we do now, if we become more aware of what or why we eat, then this process becomes easier. You do not need to give up the foods you love to lose weight. Intermittent Fasting once or twice per week , not only helps you reduce your calories but will also help you become more aware of your own eating triggers, so you can adjust these on the days when you are eating normally.

We all know we are meant to eat plenty of fruit and vegetables, but in my own experience  it is the calories from mindless eating that are the problem, not the overall way I eat. The problem with going on a diet is we follow the plan for a few weeks, but then we stop , and the same mindless eating habits remain. Funny how as a Retired Dieter I have lost more weight not been on  a diet , than I ever did going on one. Feel free to let me know your thoughts in the comments. Comments are moderated only to stop spam.
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Intermittent Fasting Week 10

Thursday, March 12th, 2009

Fasting to lose weight continues to be easy for me. I have now completed 10 weeks and it has become a part of my regular lifestyle without any difficulty. This week I recorded another loss of 1lb. I do expect fat loss to continue at between 1 and 2lbs per week now.

I have continued with a flexible fasting plan that means I have an eating window of about 2 hours, but I eat normally on a weekend, with Saturday been the day I eat whatever I want. I am not calorie counting, but I would say that I am certainly more calorie aware. An example of this would be that I had some wine gums , On checking the packet I noticed that one wine gum was 20 calories, so eating 10 was 200 calories.I have always eaten wine gums, but eating them on top of my normal meals was no doubt contributing to my weight gain.

To lose body fat we have to consume less calories, one of the biggest problems we face is we simply under estimate the calories we eat. Intermittent fasting takes away a large part of this problem, because we are not having to make food choices. In my case I have found what works for me to lose body fat. The meals I was eating during my normal working week, were mainly habit. I have shifted my meals and of course my calorie intake to the time of day where I enjoy it,namely the family evening meal where we all sit down together.

Using I.F. through the week, I have noticed one of my previous bad habits has gone. I am talking about my late night snacks. In the first place I was not eating the late night snack because I was fasting. As time has passed, I just don’t do it any more, how much of this was mindless eating ? I don’t know, but when you start using intermittent fasting, you do become more aware of what true hunger is. Looking back I would not be eating the snack because I was hungry, but more because I no longer felt stuffed. Now having experienced a genuine empty stomach, and a true feeling of hunger, I find I say to myself, am I hungry ? why am I wanting to eat this ?.

I know I keep saying it every week, but Intermittent Fasting is not a diet, it is a lifestyle, let me try and give an example of why I say this. Tomorrow ( Friday ) It is my daughters birthday, she wanted to go to Pizza Express   we are booked for 6.30 so I will break my fast there. I will have pizza, I will have some red wine, and I will have a starter and some garlic bread, I am looking forward to it, not thinking ” I wonder what I should choose so I don’t blow my diet “. I am not on a diet, so there is no need to worry !. Trust me, doing the fast from tonight knowing I am going out for dinner tomorrow night is all the motivation I need. Can you imagine a visit to a pizza restaurant if you are on a low carb diet such as Atkins or South Beach ?. I would be looking at the menu for what I was allowed to eat, and not what I wanted to eat, I don’t think I need to tell anyone the difference of going into a restaurant knowing you can have what you want, as opposed to making the ” sensible choice ” If you are going out for a special occasion I believe you should enjoy it, and not be worrying about what you should be eating. It took me to become a retired dieter to realise this, but I am glad I did. If you are still unsure if Intermittent Fasting will help you reduce you weight, then all I can say is, you won’t know before you try.

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Intermittent Fasting Week 9

Thursday, March 5th, 2009

Steady weight loss has continued this week, with another loss of 2lbs. I am very pleased with this weeks weight loss because  I was at a party at the weekend I did not hold back !. I ate what I wanted, and had a few glasses of red wine.This is why I love intermittent fasting so much, I just enjoyed the party, One of the interesting things was hearing women at the party say they things like ” I will go back on the  diet tomorrow” or even not eating certain foods because of ” the diet ” , I must admit I did get some strange looks when they heard how much weight I had lost, yet had lots of varied foods on my plate, and even went back for more. I continue to follow my own flexible fasting plan , where I have a small eating window through the week, and eat normally on a weekend. My eating window is quite short,  realisticly it is only the one evening meal, but I would say it is between 5.30 and 7.30 . This fits in with my weekly lifestyle very well, and I am not finding any problems staying with this. Remember if you are new to intermittent fasting I suggest you first start with only one or two days per week. I think it is important to first get in tune with your  own body and understand your own eating habits and triggers. One of the reasons diets fail is because none of us are the same, we all have different lifestyles, and commitments. A good friend of mine who is now also doing intermittent fasting , has many business lunches, so my routine of fasting would not suit him, we are all different. A diet that tries to lay down the rules of what we must do is always doomed to failure. Plan your diet around your life, not your life around you diet. I keep saying that intermittent fasting is not a diet, but a lifestyle, I know it seems a bit of a cliche, as all the diet books love to say they are a lifesyle too, it is good marketing, but  with I.F  it truly is a lifestyle, you are just using it to eat less, you are not told you can’t eat carbs, or you must only eat brown rice, with Intermittent Fasting, you continue to enjoy the foods you love, you just eat less. 

What I have found over the last 9 weeks is, It is very easy for me to resist  food during my fasting time, knowing that  if I really want it, I can have it during my eating window. Again most times for temptation in my case would be at the time of evening meal anyway, so for me there is no reason to feel restricted in my food choice. I keep saying it. but even after 9 weeks I have not had any cravings for any particular food at all, and I am sure this is because I know that nothing is off limits.

So 9 weeks into using Intermittent Fasting I am now half way to my weight loss target. My total weight loss is now 28lbs. or 2 Stone to any Brits reading !. I set the target to lose the weight over 12 months, based on 1lb per week average and expecting to lose some weight fast at the start. To be at 28lbs after only 9 weeks is way beyond my expectations. If I continue to lose body fat at the rate of either one or two pounds per week , I will be happy with this. I should say at this point the weight is a guide more than anything, as I get closer to my goal weight, I will use my clothes , the mirror, and my body fat percentage as a more accurate guide to where i am at.

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