While I am far from being “overweight”, I do feel that I could benefit from losing a couple pounds, toning up, and getting back in shape. Before I had my son, I was about 115 pounds. I gained about 30 pounds over the course of my pregnancy, most of which I lost after my son was born. Unfortunately, the birth control that I was put on caused significant weight gain in a short amount of time. By the time I got off of the medication, I had gained back my pregnancy weight. I had also gained much more muscle mass in my upper body from carrying my son around for the last two years. I lost about 12 pounds in about two weeks after stopping the problem medication but there is more work to be done. My hope is that intermittent fasting can help me achieve my goal.
Week two
I am preparing to begin my second week of intermittent fasting and as I do so I feel that I need to make some changes to my plan. Last week, I discussed signing up with the BodyFast App which helped me choose which fasting plan was right for me and sends me notifications announcing eating hours and fasting hours to help keep me on track. So far, I have been able to stay within my eating hour and fasting hour time limits. Though, I feel the need to make some tweaks for the upcoming week.
Changing my fasting plan
Last week, I chose to fast from 7:30 pm until 9:30 am the following morning(changing it from 6 pm to 8 am but I prefer to eat my breakfast a little later and my dinner much earlier). I am then allowed to eat between 9:30 am until 7:30 pm. As I have found out, that really isn’t a challenge for me. In fact, before trying the intermittent fasting, I typically would have breakfast around 9 am and dinner around 6 pm. So, there hasn’t really been a change aside from my awareness of when I am eating. So, as I prepare for the new week of intermittent fasting I think I am ready to challenge myself with a longer fasting time period and therefore a shorter eating time period. Currently, I am signed up for the 14/10 (14 hours for fasting, 10 hours for eating). I think I might push myself to try the 16/8 (16 hours for fasting, 8 hours for eating).
Keeping track
After beginning the intermittent fasting last week, I ordered myself a bathroom scale to help keep track of my progress. I haven’t lost or gained any weight this far but I am optimistic for the future!
Changing my diet, drinking, and exercise habits
I haven’t changed my diet, drinking or exercise habits yet, either. So, for the last week I have continued to eat practically anything that I want, whenever I want as long as it was during my “eating hours”. But, as I mentioned in last week’s article, intermittent fasting will not provide the results one wants if they do not change what they are eating as well as when they are eating it. So, this week I plan to put more thought into my food by cutting down on unnecessary calories (like added butter, cheese, etc) as well as reducing my portion sizes.
I will also be more mindful of my drinking habits. Admittedly, I love chardonnay and enjoy a glass or two…or three in the evenings with my husband. After a long day of working, studying, housework, cooking, and chasing after our two-year-old, we will wind down with some wine together. But, this is not conducive to the intermittent fasting and it is not a good source of nutrition. Going forward, I plan to cut down on my wine intake as well as restrict it to my “eating hours”.
Finally, I have not started adding a workout regime to my life. I have always done minor stretches, dance parties, and playtime with my son, but nothing that is constant, structured, and meant to target my “tune-up” areas. This week, I plan to begin a yoga routine and hopefully work my way up to pilates and other workouts that I can do at home.
