Intermittent Fasting (July 2018 Update)

It has been more than a coupla months since I started doing intermittent fasting. This post is actually a bit overdue since I initially intended to post an update after a month. So how has it worked for me so far? 🤔

See that photo above that? That is not a stock photo I got off Google image search. That’s the photo I took of the weighing scale (and also my humongous toe 😝) when I measured my weight earlier at the clinic; the reason for which, is because my eyesight is so bad, I couldn’t clearly see the numbers on the scale. 🤣

I was a bit surprised when I discovered that I now weigh almost exactly 45 kg. or 100 lbs. 😲 I did mention in my prior post that I intended to maintain my weight at 47-48 kg. This is way beyond what I was targeting–not that I’m complaining of course.

So what’s the catch?

I still feel hungry about an hour or two before lunchtime, but I’ve learned to manage my response to the hunger and now it doesn’t bother me as much. I just drink more water, or if I feel more hungry than usual, I make myself another cup of coffee (my second cup of the day). Oh, and I’ve stopped using artificial sweeteners for my coffee. At my coffee consumption rate, they’ll be doing more harm than good so I make do with plain old sugar. It makes for a not-exactly-zero-calorie coffee (which kinda defeats the purpose of zero-calorie intake while fasting) but I figure it’s still better than scarfing down bread right before breaking my fast at lunchtime.

How about cheat days/nights?

Oh yeah, one reason why I was surprised at the numbers on the weighing scale earlier. The past week, I had seven (7) consecutive cheat nights (the seventh empty box is on the next page though). Lost control that badly, but I do not regret any of the food I ate because, you know, #matakawforever. 🐷 But I’ve been back on track the past coupla days now and I plan on continuing to stick to my eating plan for as long as I could until the next cheat night.

Anywho. I was wholly expecting to see that I’ve gained weight from all that binge-ing and indeed I do feel slightly thicker around the waist, but it turned out that I was wrong and I actually lost weight. Amazing, eh? 🤩

So what’s next?

They say it takes 21 days to form a habit. I’ve been doing IF for a heck of a lot longer then 21 days now, and yeah, it’s actually become a habit to start and stop eating at certain times. Though I’ve more than hit my target weight, I will still continue doing it nonetheless.

Did I learn anything from doing Intermittent Fasting?

Yes. For one, I discovered that despite my thinking otherwise, I actually do possess discipline somewhere in my body after all. 💪🏽 Wouldn’t you know it? For the longest time, I thought I was but a slave to my impulses and that I can only say yes to what my earthly body dictates. Used to be like this: Hungry? Body says eat, so I do, no matter that it’s the middle of the night. Now, I can proudly say that I can curb that urge to binge. Well, most of the time anyway, but it’s still better than before.

Would I recommend it?

First of all, I have no medical authority whatsoever to, like, seriously shove this down your throat recommend this.  Best take my words with a grain of salt. That disclaimer aside, if diets do not work for you and you’re otherwise healthy, I don’t see why you can’t try doing IF too. Except if you have ulcer–the hunger could exacerbate that so I would caution against that.