Intermittent Fasting: Day 5 including weigh in

DAY 5:  INTERMITTENT FASTING

19 JANUARY 2017

OVERALL:
Today was a little different in that I felt hungry from about 8am and on.  Yesterday I didn't get hungry until about an hour from my breakfast.  Although  a little frustrating, I still felt good overall.  Energy and mood are staying high and happy!   

Although I overate at lunchtime by accident (not from eating too fast, just not paying attention to satiety levels), I felt great once the overeating symptoms passed about an hour after.  Overall, this was a very productive day. 

I even had excess energy to go for a spontaneous walk after dinner!

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FOOD & ACTIVITY DIARY:

6:15am:     Wakeup

8:00am - 12pm:  Homebrewed green tea:  Ginger, cinnamon, goji berries

Felt very hungry all morning long, starting at about 8am! 

 

12:00pm - 1:00pm:   

• Green Smoothie (1 Date, 1 Green Banana, 1 Kiwi, Collard greens, Almond Milk)
• Salad of Mixed Greens, herbed goat cheese, basil olive oil, balsamic vinegar
• Tastes abnormally yummy!
• South African Bobotie (Ground beef/lamb, mango chutney, peach jam, onions, tomato sauce, spices, milk, eggs, etc.)  About 1cup worth

           Feel like I have overate and a little stuffed

 

2:45pm:  6 Larger Neco Wafer Valentine's Hearts

 

 

 

I AM BURNING UP HOT.  I don't know if its me, or my building's thermostat.  No one else is complaining of the heat, so it must be me.

 

The feeling of being too full didn't last much longer than an hour.  In fact, I felt much better and higher energy after the uneasiness settled.

 

 

5:30pm: 

• Pad See Eew Thai Dish:     Rice Noodles, Beef, Soy Sauce, Oyster Sauce, Gai Lan (Chinese Broccoli).  
• I ate over 2 huge full plates, and did not feel like I overate at all!

6:10pm - 7:05pm:

• Went for a neighborhood walk, which includes hills. 

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RESULTS:

.8lb Loss! 



Intermittent Fasting: Day 4 Includes weighin

Here we are, at Day 4!  I almost feel guilty counting the first 2 days, but we will go with it for the sake of keeping track of my trials and tribulations ;)

Here is my food/beverage intake for the day:

8am - 12pm:  Homebrewed green tea:  cinnamon stick, goji berries, green tea

12:10pm:  South African Bobotie (sweet and spicy).  1/2 cup blueberries.   Couple sips of my blueberry/banana smoothie (lavender buds, cinnamon, cardamom, almond milk, etc.)

2:30pm:  Finished my blueberry/banana smoothie - about 1 cup

5:45pm:  Salad (mixed greens, herbed goat cheese, jalapeno stuffed olives, balsamic vinegar, basil olive oil);  chicken and broccoli Alfredo stuffed shells. 

                     ~1cup Fruity Kombucha

7:30pm:  Organic grass fed yogurt with granola, maple syrup and 4 Hershey kisses


Overall:  I continued to be mindful during meals to not overeat, slow down, chew properly and put eating utensil down between bites.  I did not feel like I overate at anytime. 

WeightLoss:  .2lb  **

**  I weigh in the next morning, update the previous day's blogpost, then post to the blog. 

Intermittent Fasting: Day 1 through 3

I decided to try Intermittent Fasting after reading so many amazing testimonials like:

• Less hunger, sugar cravings, etc.
• Enhanced cognitive functions:  focus, motivation, etc.  
• Higher energy
• Less meals to prepare and eat
• And I've even heard people being more connected with love and emotions of others

I am focusing more on the amount of time I am eating, not as much on the quality of the food.  I can only do one at a time starting out, so I chose to change the amount of time I am eating.  Then I will shift to choose better foods, which I believe will come naturally with the shorter eating window. 

Day 1 (1/15/2017):  Idea was to only eat between 12pm and 6pm.  I ended up eating 12pm to about 10pm.  I broke my fast with Chinese buffet, overate, and felt awful.  I continued to eat badly through the day, to include cookie bars, candy, etc.  It did not stop until about 10pm.  Also had major headache all day.

     - Gained .5lb from this day


Day 2 (1/16/2017):  Again, started the day with the intention of only eating between 12 - 6pm.  I ended up breaking my fast with Roy Rogers, to include a small ice cream sundae.  I ate very fast, and too much.  I barely remember eating the meal to be honest.  I continued the day with eating cookie bars and candy pieces, all the way through 9pm.  Major headache continued.

     - Gained another .5lb this day

Day 3 (1/17/2017):  I decided to focus more on being mindful.  And since today is the first day at work since the weekend, I thought it may be harder.  Boy was I wrong, I found it easier.  I instantly felt more motivated to do my work, and even less stressed to be there!  This is a major positive compared to last week's work days.   Still had a headache, although I am now realizing it is due to my back and neck pain, not the way of eating.  Which makes sense because it seemed too early, even for me.  Headache was gone by the end of the day, unless I moved my neck a certain way and than it would hurt instantly for a few seconds.  Definitely my neck/back alignment!

8am - 12pm  Drank my homemade green tea concoction:  Green tea, ginger, cinnamon stick, goji berries. 


12pm - Broke fast with Bobotie (South African dish with ground meat, chutney, jam, spices, etc.) and Collard greens (cooked in coconut milk and curry powder).  I also had a few slurps of my blueberry/banana smoothie (dates, almond milk, lavender buds, cardamom, cinnamon).  I focused on eating slowly, putting down spoon between bites.  End result was feeling awesome afterwards.  I did not overeat and in fact, felt rather satisfied the remainder of the day. 

5:30pm - I focused on being more mindful again as I ate my second meal which consisted of 2 grilled chicken thighs, sautéed spinach, salad (Caesar dressing, cheese, olives) and BBQ sauce (the really sugary unhealthy type).    Still felt great after eating.

7:45pm - Organic yogurt with organic granola and organic maple syrup. 

***  This day proved to be very positive with a 1.4lb weight loss!!!  ***

Check out the other positives of doing IF to see if it would work for you! 

So overall, this IF method seems to be looking good.  Only time will tell of course, but its a good start. 

Intermittent Fasting - Day 4 - FINAL Day

I woke up with GREAT Difficulty.  IF did not help on my first day of my period and that "groggy, I can't get enough sleep" feeling I get every month.  

But, I started out this morning with full intention on continuing IF, with doubt that I should be.  I didn't eat my first meal until 11:45, and couldn't even wait another 15 minutes for my eating period.  And what is 15 minutes really?

So I ate my lunch, which was satisfying.  Then something happened.  All those chocolates, jelly beans, trial mix, etc. started looking REALLY good.  And I caved.  I caved hard.  

I left work, stopped at a store and happened to see Sugar Free chocolate covered almonds.  So I caved on those too.  I was so stressed out about going to my TOPS meeting and weighing in, that I ate those things all the way to the meeting, where I showed a 3 pound gain.  NO surprise there.

So I believe it is safe to say that I DO NOT belong on an Intermittent Fasting strategy.  I will continue to eat when hungry, and no other time.

I feel good having done this experiment, because that is another "what if" that I can scratch off my list.  

Been there, done that.  

Intermittent Fasting: Day 3 Results

7:00am:   Woke up with ease

8:30am:   Fatty Coffee (Coffee, heavy cream, butter & coconut oil)

10:00 - 12:00pm:     2 more cups of fatty coffee

12:30pm:     Started with a romaine lettuce salad with blueberry fayre cheese, oil & vinegar.
Ate leftovers from yesterday:  Chorizo patty, cheese, chipotle mayo, 1/2 avocado, sauteed cabbage.

I felt very full.  I actually felt that I ate too much.  Started to feel tired, unmotivated, etc.  My mind is telling me that I should eat more in a smaller timeframe.  I am going to try and slow it down so that I can make sure I am chewing adequately and not overeating.

5:15pm:     Boneless/Skinless Chicken thighs cooked in duckfat and bacon grease, seasoned with thyme, rosemary, savory, etc.  A homemade gravy was made with left over grease and heavy whipping cream.  Broccoli  with butter.   2 Fat bombs

Felt very satiated.  I did not feel that I overate.  BUT, I wasn't that hungry and knew I had to eat anyway because it was getting late and I had to leave for an event.

I did not feel hungry the rest of the night.

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My Mood:  

Again, it is very frustrating the first part of the day being so hungry.   I am questioning continuing this experiment.  It doesn't feel right physically or mentally.  

I stress out very quickly, and IF seems to be adding to that problem.  


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RESULTS:  (Weighed in Thursday, March 06, 2014 @ 5:30 am)

LOST/GAIN = 0.00  (Stayed the Same)

Another day without good results.  

Is IF right for me?

Intermittent Fasting - Day 2 Results

Day 2 Results:

Waking up this morning, I felt it much easier to get out of bed than usual.  I typically can sleep an easy 9-10 hours without hesitation.  I actually could not fall back asleep after waking up at 6:55am.  Normally, I can fall asleep VERY quickly after waking up this early (on a non-work day of course).  Maybe because I had an empty belly before going to bed?  

I am home today since schools are closed due to the 5+ inches of snow we got. Temperatures haven't gotten high enough to melt the snow yet.  

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6:55am:     Woke up

9:00am - 10:00am:  1.5 American size cups of Fatty Coffee (coffee, coconut oil & grass fed butter)   I felt MUCH fuller this time and could not finish my 2nd cup. 

10:50am:     Very Hungry.  Drank a glass of water. 

12:45pm:    Ate a salad with the following:  Romaine Lettuce, Broccoli Sprouts, crispy bacon, blue cheese crumbles, blue cheese dressing, avocado oil, and balsamic vinegar.    Also ate 2 chocolate/coconut fat bombs and a few little slices of aged cheddar.  

5:30pm:     Ate Dinner as follows:  Hamburger patty, ground chorizo patty, monterey jack cheese, 1/2 avocado, sauteed cabbage, chipotle mayo & green chiles.  

8:00pm:    I was so hungry I almost caved and ate some pork rinds.  But I stuck with it and didn't eat anything.  

10:45pm:  It took a little while to get to sleep, but not as bad as Monday night.   


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My Mood:   

Its very frustrating being so hungry in the a.m.  I'm also hungry about an hour before lunchtime, which is frustrating.  An hour before dinner, I am also very hungry.  And although I can eat something at that time, it would spoil my dinner, and then I'd be even hungrier in the evening.  

In the evening, I am going to bed VERY hungry.  I'm not sure how else I can get more food in my system without overeating and being uncomfortable.  Not sure that IF is right for me at this point.  But it is only the 2nd day, I still need time to adjust.  

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RESULTS:  (Weighed in Wednesday, March 05, 2014 @ 6:55 am)  

LOST 0.4 Pounds

I was hoping to see a bigger loss for the 2nd day, especially following 2 large gains.  Hopefully day 3 will be much better.  

Intermittent Fasting - Day 1 Results

Yesterday (Sunday) I did not do as well as I should have.  It all started with Famous Daves Restaurant, and ended with chips and root beer.  

In addition, I believe I am starting my "shark week" a week early.  Not sure yet, but it is possible.  

So with those two things batting against me, I thought this would be a perfect week to attempt a 7 day experiment on Intermittent Fasting (IF). 


I know IF is not for everybody, so what works for someone else may not work for me.  There is only one way to find out.

What will I be doing?

I will be fasting for ~18 hours every day, starting at about 6pm and ending the following day at 12pm noon.  I will only eat in a 6 hour window from 12pm noon through 6pm.  The times will fluctuate with my schedule, because sometimes dinner takes longer than planned ;)

I will weigh in every single morning and report it on that day's results (not the next morning).  So.... bare with me, as my posts will be a day behind.  But you can see why and excuse my tardiness, right?  I hope so ;)

The idea with IF, is that the body needs time to re-adjust the hormones, clear the colon, keep insulin levels in check, etc.  Its a natural reset that happens every day.  

I found a great site for an understanding of what I am doing, and why: 
 A Beginner's Guide to Intermittent Fasting

I will be reporting what I ate and when, as well as how I felt throughout the day.  

My hypothesis (this is an experiment after all), is that I will adjust very quickly, with only a day or two to adjust to not having breakfast.  I will then have to focus on slowly eating so that I don't overeat and that my food gets chewed properly, since I will be hungrier than normal.  I also feel that I will lose a higher amount of fat this week, than I have in the past few weeks, especially compared to the "week before my periods" of the past.  

So here it goes.... 

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8:00am:     Woke up

9:00am - 11:00am:  2 American size cups of Fatty Coffee (coffee, coconut oil & grass fed butter)

12:15pm:     I started to get hungry enough to make lunch.  

12:30pm:     Ate a salad with the following:   Romaine lettuce, broccoli sprouts, crispy bacon, blue cheese crumbles, blue cheese dressing, salt and pepper.  

I love eating my salads on a plate vs. a bowl.  There is something more appealing about the way it looks on a plate.  

2:00pm:     Ate 2 Chocolate/Coconut Fat Bombs

5:30pm:     Ate Corned beef, cabbage, a little slice of parsnips, and 2 little slices of carrots.  I feel EXTREMELY full.   Completely forgot my photo.  Sorry, I was a little hungry, but not hungry to forget the photo.  

7:50pm:   VERY hungry.  

10:00pm:  Attempted to go to sleep.  I had a hard time, felt very alert and awake.  I have read this could be a side effect to IF for some people, but this is also how I feel when I start my menstruation, so its hard to tell right now.  

11:45pm:  Finally fell asleep.  I fell asleep a few times from 10pm to 11:45, but the puppy kept waking me up.  

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My Mood:   

I was not so hungry I could eat my own arm, which is what I thought would happen.  Today was rather easy to get through.  Although, I do not recommend watching the Food Network on the first few days of trying this experiment.  

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RESULTS:  (Weighed in Tuesday, March 04, 2014 @ 6:55 am)  

GAINED 1.4 Pounds

(Keep in mind, I feel that I am starting my menstruation 1 week early, which is VERY unusual)