Intermittent Fasting

By Twin 2

I am on a weight loss journey.  My goal is to lose about 40 lbs.  That is a lot.  I can’t believe I let myself get to the weight of where I am today but I did and now I have to deal.

I have signed up for Weight Watchers (I have done this before and it worked but never stuck to it for too long). 

I am also trying Intermittent Fasting.  I have never heard of this before until one day I was listening to Chalene Johnson’s Podcast (please listen to her podcasts she has one of the best out there) and her guest one day was Dr. Sara Solomon and talking about her success with intermittent fasting.  It sounded pretty easy and made sense so I thought I would give it a try.  What is it you ask? 

Here is a link that will tell you all about it and you can sign up for free tutorials (which I recommend if you are interested).  You will get emails and even get some of Dr. Solomon’s HIIT workouts.

http://www.drsarasolomon.com/category/intermittent-fasting/

What is Intermittent Fasting?

Intermittent fasting (IF) is not a diet. You still eat your normal amount of food, you just eat it in a smaller time frame, referred to as your eating window. It is simply a plan telling you when you can eat and when you cannot eat. Since you spend more time fasting than you do eating, it gives your body a chance to tap into its stored fat for fuel.

Why is Intermittent Fasting Better for Satiety and Fat Loss?

When I was eating 6 small meals a day of 150 to 250 calories each every 2 to 3 hours, I was always hungry, cranky and cheating on my diet.  I never shed any fat because my body was never burning my stored fat for fuel.  Think about it: I never gave my body a chance to burn my stored fat for fuel because I was constantly stuffing my face from 6 am until midnight, which meant I was only burning the food I was shoveling into my face! And because I was always hungry, I would snack in between meals, which made me even fatter (because my insulin levels were chronically elevated). 

Intermittent fasting is a great strategy if you always feel hungry following the 6 meal-a-day plan.  Why? Because you will feel more full by trying to cram in all your calories during a narrow feeding window, rather than spreading them out over 17 waking hours.  For example, if you are on a 1500-calorie a day diet and you eat 3 meals during an 8-hour window, this means you get to eat bigger portions (~500 calories) at each meal (promoting satiety and preventing dietary indiscretions). But if you eat those 1500 calories all day long as six 250 calorie meals, you will never achieve satiety. These small meals will tease you, leaving you hungrier than a hostage in a holdup situation.

This made sense to me and sounded easy enough.  I chose the 16/8 method which means I fast for 16 hours and eat for 8.  I chose to consume all my calories between 10:30 am and 6:30 pm.  At first this was a little hard in the mornings because I enjoyed eating my breakfast at 7:30 am when I got to work with my coffee.  After almost two weeks of trying this out I don’t mind it at all.  I also sometimes don’t eat until 11:00 am or so.  During the fast you are permitted to drink water, green tea, oolong tea and black coffee.  If necessary, you can chew sugar-free gum.

I still have not mastered the black coffee but have cut back on what I put in it.  I am down to very little milk in it and a tiny tiny bit of sugar or even some stevia which I am allowed to have.

"Fast" Tip:

Oftentimes you may think you are hungry, but in actual fact, you are just thirsty. Both hunger and thirst are controlled by the hypothalamus. That explains why you often misinterpret thirst for hunger. So when you feel hungry, drink a glass of water. You can drink as much calorie free liquids as you want during your fasting phase.

I find I am snacking less.  I usually eat the same breakfast/lunch/supper but I find I only snack once a day (if at all) now instead of twice as I eat my breakfast at the time my first snack used to be.  That has allowed me to cut out one snack altogether.  Maybe someday I will start eating at noon and have a shorter eating window.  Dr. Solomon does the 20/4 method and eats for 4 hours (usually between the hours 5pm and 9pm).  She said she always used to go home after work and sit on the couch and eat her face off so now she can do it without feeling guilty.

I’m not sure how this will actually work and am still trying to iron out the kinks and find out what works best for me but so far it has eliminated my eating in the evening.  Eating at night was the norm and now knowing that I can’t eat after 6:30 pm has eliminated the eating in the evening (I may have had a slip up once or twice).

My next goal is to work out in the mornings in a fasted state (rather than work out after I eat in the evenings). 

 

I was down a few lbs last week but after this week of retirement parties/lunches I put it back on.  I’ll try again. I'll keep you posted on my progress.