On September 16, 2019, I switched from my 18 days of “juice / blend” fasting / diet to an Intermittent Time Fasting (ITF) “Diet / Lifestyle”. My starting weight on 29 August, for the juice / blending fast was: 373lbs. My starting weight for the ITF was: 356lbs. My current weight (this morning) was: 347lbs. Basically, I’ve lost 26lbs from the end of August and 9lbs from the start of the ITF. There is need to mention two minor qualifications. 1) My initial weigh-ins for both starts (juice and ITF) were barefoot and with shorts on. My weight this morning was with sweatpants and cross-training / “fake” leather shoes. I would estimate the “extra” weight to be between 3-5lbs. Having said this, I did not subtract this from the morning’s weight. And, 2) after the end of the juice / blend fast, I regained 11lbs the first week – which I’ve had to re-lose under ITF. | |
The observant among you may notice in the above chart, I had four(4) days where my calories-in exceeded my calories-out… | |
When I switched to the ITF, I also began using my FitBit (FB) to begin tracking my food and gauging my calories-in versus my calories-out. I’m not sure why, but the FB has set my calories-out “objective” at 3,800. The on-line BMR calculator I use says my BMR is roughly 2,400 calories. This means I have to burn an additional measure of 1,400 calories during my waking hours to reach the FB objective. | |
Maximum Heart Rate (MHR) is defined as 220 beats per minute (BPM) – your age (64). This makes my MHR equal to 156bpm. “Elevated” heart rate is defined as 70% of MHR. In my case, that would be 109bpm. According to my FB, my active time (i.e. “elevated heart rate”) per day is 71 minutes (on average). I’m not sure how this level is met as I only walk my dog for 30 minutes per day and 45 minutes (maybe) 2 or 3 times per week. My FB “step target” is 7,500 steps versus the 10,000 “normally” recommended. I miss my step target about once every couple of weeks. I can only imagine my AFib is raising my heart rate at various points during the day and this is being read as active time by the FitBit. | |
Anyway, the top chart shows I have a calorie deficit of about 1,300 calories per day. That times seven(7) days is 9,100 calories. Divided by 3,500 calories (1 pound of human body fat) equals to 2.6 pounds of loss per week. My actual weight loss over the last four weeks is 9lbs. Divided by four(4) is 2.25lbs per week. (If we subtract the 3lbs for the shoes worn in this morning’s weigh-in, the result is 2.75lbs per week. Just saying…) | |
The goal of my long-term weight loss is to drop 1.5 to 2 pounds per week. In theory, this will prevent the two worst part of extreme weight loss: a permanent drop in BMR (which makes it easier to regain lost weight) and a large amount of floppy / saggy skin (pure vanity, it just looks terrible). It looks like I’m off to a promising start. IF I can keep this up, I should be under 300lbs for my 65th birthday at the end of March 2020. | |
Equally important: how does it feel? Today I was able to get into my wife’s Toyota Corolla without having to put the seat back-rest almost flat and contort my body to get into her car! So, yeah. It feels pretty good. 🙂 | |
My secondary goals going forward are to work towards smoothing out the “calories-in” numbers and to eat more healthy on my one-meal-a-day / all-you-can-eat day. I won’t say I’m “abusing” the OMAD opportunity, but… Okay. Yeah, I am ABUSING it!! And, I know better. At least two of the days, I ate beyond feeling stuffed to the point of feeling sick. So, yeah, I can do better there, too. Slowly, slowly… | |
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On This Day In: | |
2018 | One Of The Great Ones |
2017 | Mirror In The Oval Office |
True Courage | |
2016 | What’s Your Excuse? |
2015 | Some Meaningful Resemblance |
2014 | Bloom |
Orange October (VII) – The Giants Win The Pennant!! | |
2013 | Walking The Walk |
2012 | Legacy Of Star Trek (TOS) |
2011 | Tolerating The Intolerant |
Passionate Germs | |
2010 | Giants Win Game 1 In Philly (4 to 3)!! |
Posts Tagged ‘Intermittent Time Fasting’
30 Day Health / Weight Update (Oct 2019)
Posted in Diets, Health, OMAD, Pictures, tagged 30-Day Progress Report, BMR, Diet, Fitbit, Health, Intermittent Time Fasting, ITF, Oct 2019 BMR Chart, Oct 2019 Calorie Chart, Toyota Corolla on October 16, 2019| 4 Comments »
A Lifestyle
Posted in Diets, Health, OMAD, tagged Delay - Don't Deny, Diets, Fasting, Gin Stephens, Health, Intermittent Time Fasting, OMAD, Quotes on September 14, 2019| Leave a Comment »
In a nutshell, there are two main types of intermittent fasting strategies: Plans you do every day (an “eating window” approach), or plans you implement a certain number of times per week (an “up / down day” approach). | |
Which approach to intermittent fasting is the best? It’s the one that makes you feel in control and the one that you can follow long-term as a lifestyle. That’s important to understand from the beginning — intermittent fasting is a lifestyle. It isn’t something that you start today and then end when you get to some arbitrary “goal weight.” Something you start and then stop is DIET. Intermittent fasting isn’t a diet — as I said, it’s a lifestyle. | |
— Gin Stephens | |
From her book: “Delay, Don’t Deny“ | |
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On This Day In: | |
2018 | The Children Are Our Future |
2017 | And Three |
2016 | Nine Parts Mystery |
2015 | Little Or No Common Ground |
2014 | Just Between Me |
2013 | Beyond The Strings |
2012 | Saving The Union |
2011 | Still And Too Often |
Ghrelin And Leptin
Posted in Diets, Health, OMAD, Quotes, tagged Delay - Don't Deny, Diets, Ghrelin, Gin Stephens, Health, Hormones, Hunger, Intermittent Time Fasting, Leptin, OMAD, Quotes, Satiety on September 11, 2019| Leave a Comment »
When we follow restrictive diets, count calories, eat according to an arbitrary meal schedule, etc., we disconnect from our satiety hormones. We eat because it is time to eat. We eat because it is time to eat. We eat because food is available. The more we do it, the worse shape we are in. | |
Bottom line, if you have had trouble sticking to a diet, it isn’t your fault — it’s your hormones. The overwhelming drive to eat is coming from ghrelin, telling you to eat more. You are no longer able to get the signals from leptin, telling you that you have had enough. Understand that uncontrollable or constant hunger is a sign that your have made some dietary choices that aren’t working for you. On the other hand, satiety is a good sign, telling you that your body is happy with what you are doing. | |
— Gin Stephens | |
From her book: “Delay, Don’t Deny“ | |
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On This Day In: | |
2018 | Gratitude And Warmth |
Remembering Loss, Sacrifice And Service | |
Making Little Ones Out Of Bigger Ones | |
2017 | Never Forget |
2016 | It’s All Greek To Me (Well, Latin Actually) |
2015 | Truism |
2014 | Thank You |
2013 | Really |
2012 | Ordinary Five Minutes Longer |
2011 | The Wealth Of Sons (And Daughters) |
Eating Later
Posted in 2019 Book Review, Book Review, Diets, Family and Friends, Health, OMAD, Reviews, tagged 5:2 Fasting, ADF, Alternate Day Fasting, Delay - Don't Deny -- book review, Family, Gin Stephens, Intermittent Time Fasting, MADF, Modified Alternate Day Fasting, OMAD, One-Meal-A-Day Fasting, Very Highly Recommended Book, YouTube on September 10, 2019| Leave a Comment »
“Delay, Don’t Deny” (2017©) — book review | |
Today’s book is “Delay, Don’t Deny“, written by Gin Stephens. The book was loaned to me by my sister while we were visiting for the Labor Day BBQ at her house. The book is sub-titled: “Living an Intermittent Fasting Lifestyle“. Basically, the book is a cheer-leading exercise for the “One-Meal-A-Day” (OMAD) intermittent fasting protocol which the author feels should be adopted not as a “diet”, but as a “lifestyle”. In other words, once you start, you can’t go back. The author’s claim goes beyond that. She believes the benefits will be so obvious to you that you will choose to never go back (to your old eating habits / lifestyle). | |
The book is very short – only 155 pages. It is written in a very friendly and easy to read style with short chapters and a few photos thrown in. I would estimate a reader could speed through this book in a day (evening) if you were motivated to just sit still. It took me a couple of days to get to it and then I read a couple of chapters a night before turning off the light. | |
In full disclosure: I turned my sister on to Alternate Day Fasting, which is one form of intermittent fasting, so I am already a “true believer”. I believe in fasting as a jump start to a healthier lifestyle and have done strict veggie broth fasts and veggie / fruit juice fasts of various duration’s over the last thirty-five years. I have tried (and consider myself still on) an alternate day fasting protocol and it was working for a couple of weeks before “life” got in the way. Besides my excuses, I feel the ADF or “modified ADF” (MODF)- which is what I am / was trying – is a workable lifestyle for me. Prior to reading this book, this (a MODF) is what I was planning to return to when I finish my current (12 completed days) veggie-juice / blended fast. After reading this book, I think I will substitute the OMAD for the MADF. | |
So, what is a one-meal-a-day fasting lifestyle? According to the author, you can eat anything you want and as much as you want, but only for / at one meal a day. You have a window for eating each day. The window may be as long as eight hours or as short as one hour. The remaining hours in the day, you are fasting. “Fasting” means water, black coffee or unflavored green or black tea. No sweeteners. No creamers. The more common windows are: “8/16”, “6/18” and “4/20”. This varies from the traditional alternate day fasting in that with OMAD, you do eat EVERY day. In the ADF, you eat no more than 500 calories (female) or 700 calories (male) on your “fasting” days and you eat whatever you want (whatever you normally eat) on the alternate eating day. An eating window is also recommended for both the ADF and the MADF. In fact, many proponents suggest you water fast on occasion just to super-charge the process. The water fast is also frequently added to the “5:2” version of the ADF. In the 5:2, you eat within an eight hour window five days a week and then water fast for two days. You can pick the two days and they don’t have to be consecutive days – just any two out of the seven day week. The 5:2 is briefly mentioned in the book, but the author does not favor it. | |
The author does not discuss sleeping, but this is a critical part of the ADF protocol. You are expected to get 7 to 8 hours of continuous sleep each day for the ADF protocol. This is where I definitely have a problem with ADF. I typically can only manage six hours and almost never get over seven. This is mostly a bad “lifetime” habit of mine. As it’s not mentioned in the book, I guess the author doesn’t feel it’s that critical for OMAD. | |
The strength of this book is its approachability, both in ease of reading and in terms of the protocol. She says: “Try it. You’ll like it!” In fact, she believes you’ll like it so much, you’ll feel comfortable dropping it for special occasions (vacations, holiday weekends, Christmas, etc.) and then you’ll recognize you are out of sync with your body and want to drop back into the protocol. | |
The book has a particularly useful section listing the author’s favorite books (15) about alternate day fasting and intermittent fasting. The author says these books contain all the science which she has chosen not to include in her own book. She writes a paragraph or so on why each book is recommended. Many of the authors of these books I was already familiar with from watching their videos on YouTube. | |
Final recommendation: Very highly recommended!! I fully intend to give this protocol a go whenever I finally come off of my current blend fast. I will be sure to include updates in future posts. | |
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On This Day In: | |
2018 | Here And Hope |
2017 | Choose |
2016 | All I Ever Wanted |
2015 | Compassionate Toward Yourself |
2014 | All And None |
2013 | Voices In The Dark |
2012 | Does Uncommonly Flexible = Flip-Flopping? |
2011 | A Modest Review Of A Modern Day Classic |
Encouragement Is The Path To Immortality | |
Day 12: Pause Or Plateau?
Posted in Diets, Health, Juice/Blend Fasting, OMAD, tagged 355lbs, Day 12: Juice/Blend Fasting, Diets, Health, Intermittent Time Fasting, OMAD, One-Meal-A-Day Fasting on September 10, 2019| Leave a Comment »
The end of day twelve and the morning of day thirteen… | |
Morning weight: 355lbs. (on Day 13) | |
I am same / down “0/18”. As in, 0lbs down from yesterday and 18lbs down from my fasting start weight: 373lbs (the morning of Day 1). | |
This is the day most folks trying to lose weight dread. The pause… Is it the start of a gain? Just a one day / one off, or an actual plateau? Did I do something different yesterday? Was I simply standing differently on the scale? And, so it goes… | |
I’m afraid most of the time, there simply is no reason for a one-day pause (assuming that’s what this is). It could be anything from a slight change in water retention to the body simply saying enough is enough for now. As mentioned in a prior fasting post, the human body is not only a complicated system, it is a complex system with hundreds of factors interacting with each other in the process we call life / living. In any case, only time (a few days) will tell… Pause or plateau… | |
One of the things I’d forgotten about was (for me) the main difference between juicing and blending (particularly with a thick / hearty blend) is when juicing, after a few (three or four) days your stomach settles down to getting a limited amount of calories with almost no substance / roughage. Effectively, this means you stop getting the persistent sensation of: “I want to eat and I want to eat NOW!!” You settle into a “I’m tired” or “I’m energized” kind of toggle-state. When you’re blending this doesn’t happen. The blend tells your stomach there is more to come and your stomach tells your mind: “Now!!” At least this is how I feel when I do blending. And this is what I went through the day (Day 12) with – thinking about food. | |
Today (Day 13), I’m trying to nip this in the bud by having my blend earlier and more consistently throughout the day. I’ll just have to see how it goes… At this point, I’m only two days (today and tomorrow) shy of a full two weeks, so I am momentarily setting aside my “one day at a time” attitude and pushing to finish the week. If I make it easily, I may continue day to day. If not, I’m intending to switch to Intermittent Time Fasting. I’m thinking of going straight to a “6/18” window with “one” meal a day (OMAD). My understanding of this is “one meal” is not one eating session. It is one “meal”. You get a “snack” to break the fast (typically an egg, a piece of fruit or a handful of nuts), you then get your one “full” meal where you can eat as much as you want and anything you want, and then you have the option of another snack before your daily window closes. The meal is usually timed at two hours before your eating window closes and the final snack is usually in the last fifteen minutes before the window closes. On a 6/18 with a window of 1pm to 7pm, this means “break fast” between 1pm and 1:30pm, full meal about 5pm through 6pm and the second snack at 6:45pm. During the fast period, you can only have water, black coffee or unsweetened / unflavored tea (green or black). | |
I must admit, I am looking forward to trying this “new” (to me) version of eating / fasting. This is what my sister has been doing and she says she is having good results. And so it goes… | |
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On This Day In: | |
2018 | Here And Hope |
2017 | Choose |
2016 | All I Ever Wanted |
2015 | Compassionate Toward Yourself |
2014 | All And None |
2013 | Voices In The Dark |
2012 | Does Uncommonly Flexible = Flip-Flopping? |
2011 | A Modest Review Of A Modern Day Classic |
Encouragement Is The Path To Immortality | |
Day 10: Into Double Digits
Posted in Diets, Health, Juice/Blend Fasting, Walking, tagged 2/17, 356lbs, Black Beans, Carrot Juice, Day 10: Juice/Blend Fasting, Diets, Eating Windows, Health, Home Depot, Intermittent Time Fasting, Pinto Beans, Scouse on September 8, 2019| 4 Comments »
The end of day ten and (now) most of the way through day eleven… | |
Morning weight: 356lbs. (on Day 11) | |
I am down / down “2/17”. As in, 2lbs down from yesterday and 17lbs down from my fasting start weight: 373lbs (the morning of Day 1). | |
Day 10 seemed to be hard because it was cool to cold and I didn’t want to go for a swim in the cold. Somehow, not having the swim made the day seem a lot longer. Instead we (Hil and I) went to Home Depot and humped some decorative rocks to the car and then from the car to the back of the house. (I did the “humping”. My better half did the supervising.) Not at all the same as an hour’s swim, but it was a bit of a pain toting 50lbs sacks, so I am counting it as exercise. I also spent a good hour-plus getting my blend ready of the next few days. It looks like I have enough for at least a week. I boosted the blend with an extra can of beans: 1 can pinto and 1 can of black beans. I also blended with whole carrots instead of carrot juice. The two “extras” has made this week’s blend very thick. It’s almost as thick as a pan of Scouse without the potatoes and lamb (or beef). The taste / texture is also heartier / thicker. And, of course, it’s a LOT more filling. I had my first half-bottle for dinner in the evening. | |
I am going to try to combine the juice / blending with the intermittent fasting by using a drinking window. I don’t seem to be hungry in the morning (unless I smell food), so I”m going to see how long the following morning I can go before breaking my overnight fast. Normally, I have something to drink (my blend) as soon as I complete the dog walk. This means any time between 8:30am and 11am. In intermittent fasting, you eat within a specific time window each day. 8/16, 6/18 and 5/19 are some of the more common windows. Basically, you can only eat during your window “8” hrs, “6” hrs or “5” hrs each day – and, of course, you fast for the other hours. The key is picking how many meals you will have during the window and adjusting the window to match your lifestyle. For example, if you have an eight hour window and you normally have your family dinner at 7pm, you might chose to open your window at noon. This gives you an hour to eat your dinner before the window closes. You are allowed to slide the window on any given day, but folks generally get the best weight loss results from using a consistent time for their window. | |
Last night I stopped drinking at 9pm sharp. The side benefit (last night) was I didn’t wake up to use the toilet. I’ll have to give this an extra few days of testing to see if that’s all it takes to sleep through the entire night. I have been advised, by various books, web sites and YouTube clips that I need to stop all drinking at least three hours before going to bed. That’s a bit tough as I take all of my heart medications and vitamins just before bed. Anyway, I’ll start by not drinking my blend a couple of hours before going to bed… | |
Day 11 has been an out and about day for me, and this post is pretty late in the evening. In other words, I’m tired and cutting today’s post short. I hope everyone (anyone?) reading this has a good week. | |
Back soon… | |
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On This Day In: | |
2018 | Up For Progress |
Day 1.5: Done (For Now) | |
2017 | And Second By Second |
2016 | Bakeries And Coffee Shops |
2015 | Spirit Not Form |
2014 | Sometimes Even Kneeling Seems Insufficient |
2013 | Hobgoblins |
2012 | Got Sleep? |
2011 | Not Another Barren Corner |
Day 4: Surprised
Posted in ADF, Diets, Faith Family and Friends, Family and Friends, Health, Juice/Blend Fasting, Swimming, tagged 2/8, Alternate Day Fasting, BBQ, Blending, Carm And Art, Day 4 - Blending Fast, Dieting, Health, Intermittent Time Fasting, Labor Day 2019, Morning weight: 365lbs., My Sister, Week 1 - Hump Day on September 2, 2019| Leave a Comment »
The end of day four and the start of day five… Over the Hump for the first week of blend fasting. | |
Morning weight: 365lbs. (on Day 5) | |
I am down / down “2/8”. As in, 2lbs down from yesterday and 8lbs down from my fasting start weight: 373lbs (morning of Day 1). | |
Yesterday was a much easier day than expected. And, yes, I am pleasantly surprised. As mentioned (in yesterday’s post), I was expecting a difficult day because we were going to my sister’s house for a Labor Day BBQ. We did and it smelled delicious (and everyone said it was). Despite the obvious temptation, I was able to tough it out. It really only takes me about 10 minutes to settle in. My sister has fasted and her husband has lived with her while fasting, so once I “announced” I was fasting, they were very polite in not “pushing” the food at me. It was difficult looking at the veggies, dip, BBQ (and desserts), and mainly smelling the BBQ, but I just walked away from the counter with my bottle of juice and settled in front of the TV while everyone ate. After everyone else ate, I felt less tired than Day 3 – physically and sleep wise, but I still managed a short (20-30 minute) nap on the couch while the ladies went shopping and Art (my brother-in-law) walked their dogs. They left and let the TV watch me for a while. | |
Prior to departure, I added pink grapefruit juice and watermelon juice to my veggie-blend (“swamp-juice”) to make it a little more acidic and to have a few more calories. I find the acidity reduces hunger and the calories keep me from getting the low blood-glucose hunger pangs / shakes. I brought along my 1 gallon (128fl.oz.) bottle of blend for the trip and I got through most of it. We stayed almost five hours. The key, of course, is to drink a bunch at first, so you are both full and can “go” early and often (i.e. don’t have to “go” too badly when you’re on the road driving home). Anyway, I had the timing almost perfect – at least there were no problems on the road in either direction. | |
As expected after yesterday’s rebound, I shed most of the water weight I picked up (2lbs) after my initial big loss. Between days two, three, and four, I lost 6lbs and then regained 2lbs. A loss of 6lbs overnight is not only unhealthy, it is almost certainly an indication of excessive water loss (with or without stomach content). Gaining some of it (the 2lbs) back should be no big deal as long as the overall trend of several days is downwards (negative / actual weight loss). While this is completely subjective, the question is: “How do you feel?” Both at the start of the day and throughout… If you feel thinner, it’s okay. If you don’t, is it because you feel heavier or “just” bloated. This is not always easy for someone to judge. It takes experience because feeling bloated can also make you (me anyway) feel heavier. The key is that it doesn’t always do so and you have to learn to feel the difference. Again, down to experience… | |
While at my sister’s, she asked me: “How long this time?” My response: “The plan is at least a week and then back to a ‘real’ intermittent fasting schedule. But, I’m flexible and I’ll see how I feel.” | |
For my new(er) followers, last year I fasted for 41 solid days and didn’t quite finish the 42nd day. | |
My sister has been experimenting with Alternate Day and Intermittent Time Fasting since early April when I talked with her about it over our multi-birthday family BBQ. She’s lost just over ten pounds and says it’s been really interesting and relatively easy. The hard parts were playing with both types and figuring out what actually fit with her lifestyle and daily schedule. She figured out the strict alternate daily fasting didn’t work at all. The modified (5 / 2 method) was better, but still too difficult. She then tried Intermittent Time, and it “clicked for me” (her words). Now she uses a window each day, which slides depending on her daily schedule and hunger. She tends to stick to 10am to 6pm, but says if she’s not hungry, she simply pushes the window back (11am to 7pm), or sometimes even leaves it at 6pm. | |
My sister was a pretty strict vegetarian, but says she now has chicken and / or fish several times a month. She still doesn’t eat beef or pork. She is letting her body tell her what it needs. She is visibly thinner and (to me) looks younger and happier (more contented) than when I last saw her (even a few weeks ago). Of course, there is no reason to believe all of this is down to her changed diet – I’m just sayin’. Oh, yeah. And she still enjoys her wine! She believes she’s reached a point where her body is naturally telling her to eat better food choices and she’s enjoying that feeling. This was her “click”. | |
Other thoughts: | |
Last week I got word they were closing our neighborhood pool on the weekdays through the end of September. It would remain open on the weekends, but with reduced hours. There was a stink amongst the homeowners association and the Board has decided to keep the pool open on weekdays, but with limited (no) lifeguards / staffing. Yea! I have really been enjoying my use of the pool and try to go when there are few families / children so I have a clear path (lane) for swimming laps. So, I’m very happy about the Board’s decision! | |
So, I am mid-way through day five and finishing one week is starting to look like a piece of cake… (Yes, a bad dieting / fasting simile.) | |
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On This Day In: | |
2018 | We Are Approaching Default |
Running On History | |
Day 37: Blended Not Juiced | |
2017 | Today Is Not Lost |
Day 8 | |
2016 | Paying Attention |
2015 | An Awful Ordeal |
2014 | What Are You Doing? |
2013 | Lives > 1 |
2012 | Strange To All The World |
2011 | Unnecessary Stagefright |