Intermittent Fasting

Out of all of the changes that I am trying to make during this run at getting healthy the one that I am pushing for the hardest and (oddly enough) the one that I feel is the hardest to do is intermittent fasting.

Intermittent fasting is one of those things that a lot of people stand behind and use in various ways, but from what I have read they all recommend an 8 hour (or shorter) eating window and at least a 16 hour fast.

A famous late night talk show host has documented how he lost his weight by having two fasting days per week where he ate 500 calories or less during those days and seemingly mostly in pickles.  

But, intermittent fasting is not a diet it is just a way to eat your food.  Growing up you often hear that you shouldn't eat late at night because your body has more trouble burning off that food while you are sleeping.  The longer the fasting period the more your body will burn off.  Intermittent fasting is just taking this theory up a notch and giving you a longer window to burn off the food you are eating.

So yeah, I get it.  If you can close your eating window and expand your fasting window you will see results.  But fat boy likes to eat all day long.  I'm used to starting my morning with some sort of food and I'm used to a snack before bed and these are habits I am working on breaking.

I am currently on day 3 of 16/8.  When I first started cutting junk out of my eating habits I also cut myself off from eating at 7pm and didn't start until 7am giving me a 12 hour fast.  Knowing my goal was to get to 16/8 I made some changes and based on my work shifts I found my evening cutoff point of 6pm which works almost every night.  This meant pushing my start time to 10 am and the first day was easy for me as I had some errands to run.

Day 2 was not nearly as easy because I wanted to eat breakfast but I woke up early enough that I kept watching the clock because I was hungry. I held off and endured, all was well.

Today is day 3 and while I have made it past 10 am I can definitely feel the hunger setting in.  I realize that yesterday when I was looking at the clock between 8 and 10 am I wasn't really hungry I just wanted to eat.  In this day and age I don't believe people really know what it feels like to be hungry any more because you have a ton of food and snacks at any moment you want it.  Today I thought about food at 9 am and my first thought was damn, I still have an hour to go.

Hunger
I'm pretty sure I felt hunger, like actual real my belly just made a gurgle because it wants some fuel hunger, for the first time in a long time.  I'm so used to eating and snacking all the time that hunger hasn't been afforded the opportunity to speak to me in quite awhile.  Weird but in an enjoyable way.  I like this feeling and I want to make sure I experience it more often.

I've been drinking more and more water.  I have a 32 ounce container that I carry around with me every day and my ultimate goal is to make it up to 1 gallon of water per day.  I am currently sitting at 96 ounces every day no matter what so I really just have to find the will power to fill that bad boy up for the 4th time every day and make sure it is gone before I go to bed.

I pee all the time and that is the last thought I'll leave you with.

Thank you for coming on this adventure with me.

 -FatManinVegas

Comments

  1. I always know what it's like to be hungry because I can't bring myself to waste comps on food instead of free play or hotels so I wait til I'm home

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And this is a big reason why you are thin and I've been obese for the last couple of decades. I am now attempting to make this positive change in my life so I can remember what it was like to be thinner again!
      Thank you for reading and commenting Tony, I appreciate it.

      Delete
  2. Love the blog man, keep it going. I'm gonna be ripping into some life changes post vacation so I'll be tagging along with you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for reading and for the encouragement Donnie. I don't know if this sounds stupid or not but I honestly am fueled by knowing that people are reading and comment occasionally.
      I've already got two friends who are playing the "home game" and sending me their updates and I will probably post their progress at some point as well. So when you start making your changes please feel free to give updates in the comment section, I know it helps keep me motivated.

      Delete
  3. Second day reading longtime friend/family member of Grrouchie! I have joined the crusade via the "home game" and I to find this motivating. I weighed in today at 230.4lbs and look forward to a happier, healthier me that will come from the life style changes. If the Grrouch doesn't get to my readings in his post I will put them in the comments from time to time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for sharing Matt. Really looking forward to coming to see you in September and hanging out for a real live fantasy draft this year. Going to be a blast.
      Also looking forward to comparing our progress while I am there. Not sure if it is a long shot or not but I want to be at or approaching 240 when I get there. Let's see if I got it in me.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2021 in a nutshell

Stepping it up