Before a month ago, I hadn’t gone a day in my life without eating within a 24 hour window. I’ve been doing rolling 24s/36s/48s/72s, and I’m seeing great results. I’ve decided to be open and talk about it with co-workers as I don’t want to seem rude when food is offered (I will usually take a plate and tell them I’ll eat it when my fast ends.) I was surprised to find out most of the guys I work with that are in good shape and take care of their bodies frequently fast in a similar fashion to lose weight. It makes me realize fasting will be part of my diet for the rest of my life.
I can only speak to my own personal experience, but increasing my fat intake and fasting has been very positive in my life. In the 6 months since I’ve started, I’ve lost 35 pounds and am now at an estimated body fat percentage of just under 20%. The best thing is that this is something I feel like my body can live with and accept as my normal routine. While I don’t fast as long as I did when I started, I still fast a day or three on a regular basis and that has helped me lose a few extra pounds in the last couple of months. I also feel much more confident and at ease with myself, especially in social settings.
I don’t have a goal weight, but I still have a bit of love handles on my sides that I would like to see disappear, which would be the first time in decades, probably since junior high school. As an older person, my main reasons for fasting are weight loss, self esteem, feeling better, removal of visceral fat, and autophagy. I can’t think of a better thing I’ve done this year, or in the last several years, than starting a fasting routine.
Happy fasting everybody!
I really think i can get used to this too. So far I’ve been doing a 24hr fast every 5th day. It’s a breeze so far. I’m going to work my way up to longer fasting periods until i find what works best for me. It’s changed my perspective of food a lot.
Nice to find you aren’t alone among your co-workers! Good on you for keeping on! I’ve been rolling modified keto dirty fasts, with CR, since the middle of June, it just seems to get easier, only difficulty is tempation to eat at night. I especially enjoy the calming effect on my mood and the reduction in anxiety, as well as having calmed down my gut irritation! When I get to my goal weight, it’s nice to know that any weight gain can be brought in line quickly with a bit of fasting!
Just changing my food did help me lose weight, but I always fell back into bad habits. But fasting? It was a game changer. I’ve maintained at 200 pounds for a year when I’ve spent the last decade close to 300 with a lot of weight cycling.
I’m back in aggressive weight loss mode now and hoping to get down to about 130 or so. Once I get there I’m going to maintain exactly how I have been this past year, by fasting when I see my weight creep up a bit. When you figure out fasting it’s like flipping a switch in your brain. You learn how to turn it on and off on your own.
It’s really eye opening seeing how unhealthy most people’s relationship with food is - eating 3 meals per day and snacking. That’s just so much cumulative food, and you add in wine or something and you’re toast.
Fasting helps reset your appetite and also show you that you don’t need to eat all of the time. I know people in good shape who do eat 3 meals per day, but they have portion sizes way smaller than most people. So really I think portion creep is the problem.
I’d like to start fasting, is it as simple as just don’t eat for a day or two? Should I eat a lot the day before to prepare or?? Do you drink while your fasting?
Any links or videos for someone that knows nothing about fasting you could point me at to get me going?
I do the 20/4 fasting and I’ve lost so much weight. When I need to cheat it’s 16/8. I really feel great and I always do my cardio right before I break my fast just to burn that extra fat. I did cardio at hour 20 today and it was a little rough but I got through it. I’ve notice my health too take a significant up tick. Sleep has improved ALOT. Sex got better too.
Honestly fasting changed my life but more drastically when I went to 20/4.
I eat anything I want when I am doing 20/4. I can only eat so much.