Sometime last week, I saw this post about intermittent fasting (IF) when a friend posted it on our group chat:
⏰Intermittent Fasting⏰
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⏰Intermittent Fasting isn’t really a diet but more of an eating strategy. By restricting the…Posted by Roballenfitness on Sunday, January 28, 2018
Now, to start off, I recently lost some weight starting when I had braces, and then got sick on and off for about a month last year. From my heaviest weight of ~54 kg, I went down to around 46-47 kg at the lightest. Currently, I’ve gained a little bit and now weigh around 47-48 kg. I plan to stabilize and keep my weight that way.
So you may be thinking, why would I need to bother with any form of diet or eating plan if I’m already happy with my current weight? Two words: matakaw ako. No shit. I may be a picky eater, but what little food I do like, I can eat in volumes. Like, gimme a whole pizza and I probably won’t stop eating unless (1) all of it’s gone, or (2) I already feel this-close-to-puking-full, whichever comes first. Also, I tend to snack when bored–and candies and junk foods are not exactly thin-waistline-friendly.
So anyway. I looked up intermittent fasting on Google and there’s a shit-ton of info posted about it. It’s really not a diet per se, but more an eating strategy. And apparently, I can eat as much as I’d like of whatever food I want and still lose weight somehow? Color me interested!
There are several ways to go about it, but upon assessment of my eating habits and lifestyle (naks!), I decided that the 16/8 method (16 hours of fasting and 8 hours of feasting) is the most viable for me. This means that in a day, I only have a window of eight (8) hours to eat while the rest of the sixteen (16) hours, food is strictly off-limits. The 16-hour fasting is actually not as brutal as it seems at first glance when you consider that about 6-8 of those hours are spent sleeping.
Now, to decide on the time for that 8-hour feasting period. I am not a morning person, and that also goes to say that I am not a breakfast person either. On the rare occasions that I do eat breakfast, I get hungry much sooner than if I did not eat.
My most staple meal of the day is lunch, so I decided to start from there. Break time at work starts at 12:00 noon, and more often than not, I eat as soon as I could. That gives my until 8:00 at night for my feasting period. Dinner for me is mostly optional, depending upon my mood and what food are available, so that’s not a big deal. What worries me is my tendency to snack when bored or hungry–which knows no time. Which further means that on any given night, I might find myself having cookies or chips all throughout the night. And that’s what I’m trying to control with this IF thing.
Intermittent Fasting and the Bullet Journal
And because #BulletJournalIsLife, I had to put this plan to paper somehow. Which actually was pretty easy to do, with just a couple of simple trackers: (1) NO food before 12nn, and (2) NO food after 8pm.
And wouldn’t you know it, I actually got through my first week without any setbacks! You’ll notice that instead of a ×, I put in a 9 on Thursday night. There was an event that night and I had dinner past 8:00 PM so I started my fast an hour later at 9:00 PM. To make up, I had my lunch the next day an hour later as well at 1:00 PM instead of 12:00 NN.
But how was it, really?
The truth is intermittent fasting wasn’t all that easy, especially the first coupla days. I got hungry, which I wasn’t really used to since I used to snack whenever I felt any hunger pangs. I ended up practically binging that first lunch, with the usual rice and ulam plus a serving of siomai. And then come nightfall, I had to resist nibbling on cookies or whatever snack I usually eat while at home. My discipline (or the lack of it, as I initially thought) was sorely tested.
Feeling hungry was my biggest enemy. I drank copious amounts of water to try to slake some of the hunger pangs. Coffee was allowed, but technically only black coffee. But as much as I love the stuff, I love my cream and sugar with it as well. Great Taste Double White is my go-to coffee these days, and it’s pretty damn sweet even for instant coffee. So I bought a jar of Nescafé Gold instant coffee and a liter of fresh milk to drink (with very little sugar) in the morning during my fast. Not as good as plain black coffee, but in any case, I reckon it’s better than the Great Taste Double White (which I still drink in the afternoons by the way).
On the brighter side, I did notice that I didn’t feel as bloated in the morning when I wake up as when I “snacked” the night before. My waist, while not completely toned down (that would be impossible in just one week with no exercise), did lose some of that fluffy feeling.
So, is intermittent fasting a sustainable weight-loss strategy for me? Let’s just say that for now, I think I can stick with this eating strategy to stabilize my weight. Beyond that? Maybe, or probably. I’ll post updates in a month or two.
When I found out about intermittent fasting. I felt relieved. I’m not a breakfast person and I always thought I’m compromising my health because it’s supposed to be the most important meal of the day, but I don’t feel hungry in the morning and whenever I try to eat breakfast, I get massive hunger pangs by 10am–yung nagpapawis ng malamig levels na parang sobrang baba ng sugar ko. But when I don’t eat, I don’t experience that hunger. I can last til lunch. However, I struggle with late night eating the most with this IF thing.
Hi Rae! Yeah, late night eating is the hardest for me as well. Especially now that there’s chocolates at home, courtesy of the BF. Ugh. SO hard not to eat any. T_T
Btw, how long have you been doing IF? Any benefits you’re now reaping?
On and off since August 2017 and regularly since 2 months ago. I removed added sugar from my diet so I can’t solely credit IF for my weightloss. I feel lighter, less bloated, and my mind is clearer–those I credit to IF.
Cool! Hope I could keep this up and reap the same benefits as well. But I won’t be cutting out sugar anytime soon. 😅
I was diagnose with dextroscoliosis and because I am slim, it is quite noticeable. I received an advice that perhaps I should better gain weight so I can still hide the slight curve at my back. At the back of my mind, I asked myself if I really have to gain weight, I know that gaining weight is easy but losing weight is not. I also love to eat and it is really a daunting task to say no to foods when what I really wanted to do is to say more yes on it. It really requires discipline and whenever I feel like I want to eat more, I just try to divert my attention on other things.
I’ve heard of intermittent fasting and yes I think it does work. Well, that is according to my sister who started doing it like almost 2 weeks now. And I think she lost around 2 kilos already. I’m doing the keto diet and its working for me so far. I can’t do the IF as I am still breastfeeding so need to munch on to something most of the time minus the carbs. Goodluck on your diet!
This is exactly like the 5/2 diet. Eat for 5 days and fast for 2 days in a week. I could never ever do this. I just watch what I eat, make sure I eat fesh produce and don’t eat out too much. Everything in moderation I say!
A Few of my friends are actually doing this intermittent fasting and am very curious how it’s actually done, and good thing you shared this in your post. Know I’m much more knowledgeable about this term. Thanks for sharing.
Honestly, I would want to try this. Sadly, I’m breastfeeding thus I always feel hungry. There were a few times though that I was able to control myself from overeating. Many times, however, i crave for something and husband would be so kind to give what I want.
Perhaps I would succeed if i put extra effort and dedication.
Oh, it’s actually not advisable to do IF while breastfeeding.. but perhaps you could try it once you’re done breastfeeding the baby. 😊
This post has raised my hopes of getting slimmer 🙂
I think this habit will curb unnecessary eating habits. Unearthly hours eating usually increases weight. But I can never control it. Lol!
Guess what? I have heard about this kind of fasting way from my friends before, however have not tried myself personally. thanks for your personal sharing here, very detailed one. Enjoyed reading it, am gonna try myself, not for weight loss purposes, but it’s useful to detox my body with it 🙂 cheers, siennylovesdrawing
Wow! Your maximum weight was 54kg? I think I reached nearly 70kg but, thankfully, I shrunk down to 52kg. As a food blogger before who always had the mindset that food unfinished is a waste, I would finish the food even if I’m super full already. I tried intermittent fasting and I ended up binge eating. A trainer friend of mine also told me that those kind of eating strategies will make gain weight more. The best way to lose weight is to eat as normal and just accompany it with exercise. However, it isn’t feasible with those who have a hectic schedule like I do. So I just wear a Japanese patented technology that helps burn fat, shift fat to the right places, detoxify, improve blood circulation, and improve metabolism. Now, I’m so happy that I can finally wear bikinis in time for summer. I think I’ll reach the ideal weight for my height, 50kg, soon.
Intermittent fasting is a good way of healing your body. Here in India, we don’t fast for days but , say, once in six months, we embark on a ten day fasting. This does not mean that we don’t eat food at all; we do but the food is entirely different from the normal diet. It makes us feel light and mentally relaxed.
I tried intermittent fasting, too, for about a couple of weeks and it definitely worked on the losing weight part. But I had a hard time with it because I am a breakfast person and I would get headaches if I don’t eat in the morning. And also, since my first big meal is lunch which I take at work, I almost always end up going to the toilet after lunch. And I didn’t want that. I’m thinking of starting it again but this time I’ll flip it and make dinner the meal I skip as it’s easier for me to not have dinner.
Yup, I would suggest that if you wanna give IF another try. You can totally customize your feasting hours based on your biological clock. I would totally shift my hours and skip dinner IF I was a breakfast person by nature. But I’m not, and on the contrary, it’s the easiest meal for me to skip given my nocturnal body clock.