Faster

I sat and listened to my guts gurgle, like mad, and before I started fasting, I would have taken that as a sign that I was hungry. Most people don't realize, that often when you "feel hungry" you're simply thirsty. There have been a bunch of realizations I have stumbled across since starting intermittent fasting, real eye openers... i DON'T need to eat all the time, I WON'T slow my metabolism by NOT eating. The Hanger ISN'T real (it's in your head)... are just a few.

I've been at it right at a month now. Intermittent fasting. 19:5. Fast5. Whatever a person calls it, I'm not eating all day, every day anymore, and it's wonderful.  Monday-Saturday I do the 19:5. That is 19 hours fasting, then a 5 hour window in which I can eat.  The normal schedule is 3p-8p is my eating window, the rest of the time is simple clean fasting. Water, tea, and coffee, (all unsweetened) are my drinks of choice, and I'll have a zero calorie,  Pickle Ice midday to keep my electrolytes up. The Sun->Mon fast is at least 24 hours. as I'll eat a lunch at 12p-1p ish but then nothing again after lunch until Monday's window opens back up at 3pm.

This all started thanks to Eric at the Dad Bod Project  over on the Bookface. We were in a different group together, and he shared his YouTube channel about his lifestyle changes to make sure he would be healthy for his kiddos. I watched, and at first I was dumbfounded by not eating for any amount of time.... I mean it went against every single thing I'd been taught since I started paying attention, and trying to actively lose weight.... "this is crazy, I could never do that... it wouldn't work anyways" all things that ran through my mind...

Like I eluded to in the last post, I jumped in, right in the deep end of the Intermittent fasting life, and I haven't looked back. A month in... what's changed?? What hasn't changed??

Since my last post what's the same... I'm still not tired. Lethargy, from not eating, hasn't been an issue in the least. I'm not hungry, in that I haven't gotten those painful hunger pangs like when I was eating throughout the day. I get  a "normal" hunger twinge closer to my normal window opening, but even on the Sun->Mon 24+ hour fast, it's nothing but a thing.

Now for the what's different... I'm down about 13 pounds. I've had a few people they can see it in my face already, which is grand. I literally lost 13 lbs, by doing nothing...Another plus for me is my energy level was in waves before, After listening and reading info, on top of info, I think it's caused by the surges in insulin released EVERY time a person eats. Up and down up and down all day...  Since I'm not eating throughout the day my body has stabilized that energy curve to a nice level line, at a place I can have great functionality.

If you want more information, you can start at the beginning of Fast-5 D.I.E.T.  ...watch that video. If you're on Faceyspace, check out FastClub ~An Intermittent Fasting Support Group  its a great space, with  a bunch of great folks on this journey to find the best way to make themselves healthy, all while still enjoying those little things in life... like cheesecake.

Here is my "typical" week, in a graph:

                    9 days is 216 hours, out of that I was fasted 181.5 hours, right around 84%

I am a fan of this. This is maintainable. This is flexible.This is (one of many) styles of intermittent fasting. Cliche as it may be, it's not a diet... it's a "lifestyle change" D.I.E.T. "Did I Enrich Today"