When I first posted about The Obesity Code, I indicated it was perhaps my most transparent post to date. We’ll this may top that – but I think my intermittent fasting journey is worthy of an update.
I read The Obesity Code in July 2023 and put its principles to work in August. To accurately set the scene, and to provide some context to what I think has been a pretty significant success (spoiler alert) for me with intermittent fasting, know that when I read this book, my husband and I had just started a month-long diet jump start. We were both cutting back on sugar, I was eliminating alcohol and he was eliminating sugary drinks.
In those 2-3 weeks, I had lost about 8 pounds but my body fat percent had gone up slightly.
When I started intermittent fasting, I started seeing positive results almost immediately by applying the principles learned in The Obesity Code.
- WIN: I achieved my original weight loss goal (20 pounds) in early November. I then decided to go ahead and lose an additional 5 pounds to give myself some “wiggle room.” I’m now solidly in that window: down 23 pounds.
- WIN: I immediately began losing body fat. By the time I hit my goal weight (which was an additional 12 pounds), I had lost 5.5% of body fat. To date, I’ve lost 8% body fat.
- WIN: I feel great. I’m not tired, and I haven’t had any issues with exercise. In the fall, I focused primarily on cardio. In January, I began splitting my workouts between cardio and strength training / muscle toning.
- WIN: The plan is super easy. I’m not counting or tracking food in any way. I don’t deprive myself of anything that I want during my window for eating*. In this way, I’m not exactly on plan. I also haven’t given up alcohol completely, but I have cut back. (This is actually less about diet and more about my quality of sleep, but that’s a for a different post.)
The hardest part of this lifestyle for me has been giving up snacking. When intermittent fasting, the point is to reduce the number of times during the day that you have insulin spikes. This happens most anytime you eat. So, even if you’ve got a six-hour window to eat, you eat at the beginning and at the end. You’re not constantly grazing during those six hours. I had gotten used to having a snack around 4 pm between lunch and dinner, so that is sometimes hard. I’ve managed by moving dinner up if I can and then maybe having something as I prep dinner.
Speaking of eating windows, part of the point of intermittent fasting is the “intermittent” part. It means, don’t eat on the same schedule day in and day out – your body will figure it out and adjust. Most days, I eat during a 4-6 hour window. Sometimes it is 8 or 2. In late September I felt like I was hitting a plateau, so I added a 36-hour fast, one day a week, for four weeks. That did the trick. (The longest I’ve fasted is about 40 hours (once), though I’ve been reading about the benefits of an extended fast, so I may try one in the next month or so.)
*I feel like this needs some additional context. It does not mean that I’m eating rich desserts and fried foods every day. I haven’t had fast food in seven months or more. I eat sweets (I’ll share my new fav below), but I don’t over-indulge. I’m not low-carb, but I’ve found that a cheese omelet is really satisfying. I eat pizza, flatbread, and pasta – but I don’t crave it everyday. I have found that a shot of apple cider vinegar or a couple of bites of sauerkraut before a higher carb dinner tends to counteract the negative effects of carbs.
My favorite dessert at the moment: Chia Seed Pudding with fruit and granola
To make it: 1/4 cup chia seeds, 1.5 cups of unsweetened vanilla almond milk, 1 tablespoon of honey. Put in a jar and shake until it mixes well. Shake every 15-20 minutes until the seeds are obviously well distributed & not clumping. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, but overnight is better. Serve 1/4 of this with a handful of berries (loving this with blueberries cherries right now) and 1/4 cup of granola.
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