I want to start a habit of not eating anything after dinner. This is essentially a 16 hour fast, followed by an 8 hour feeding window. It’s called intermittent fasting. I’ve started brushing and flossing my teeth right after dinner in the hope that this will help with the process. I’ll periodically update this post as I work through the process.
– Wednesday, July 21st, 2021 / Day 1 / Before bed / It was a struggle, but I managed to keep from snacking tonight. I’m conscious of the fact that I’m not snacking because I’m hungry. I’m snacking because it offers comfort. My stomach definitely feels better for not having eaten junk. I suspect that I’ll sleep better as well.
– Thursday, July 22nd, 2021 / Day 2 / 9:27 am / I feel like I did sleep more deeply last night. I think I’m going to break my fast at 11 am with my usual kale smoothie, and then eat lunch at noon. I’m hungry, but not light headed so far. I feel better than if I’d eaten junk food right before bed, and that was what my body was currently digesting. I think that it should be fairly simple to maintain this way of eating no matter where I am. If for some reason I am out and have dinner later than 7, I’ll just push back my morning eating to midday.
– Tuesday, July 27th, 2021 / Day 6 / 7:16 pm / Last night I was really hungry between dinner and going to bed, even though I’d eaten a solid dinner of pork roast, sweet potatoes and brussel sprouts. I hung on and didn’t give in to the impulse to eat something, even though my inner dialogue was saying that I should. I could have given in but I didn’t, and I’m happy about that. One thing about this process is that it highlights the difference between eating when you’re hungry and eating when you’re hungry/angry/lonely/sad.
– Saturday, July 31st, 2021 / Day 9 / 11:59 am / I’ve decided to put this post out into the world. I’ll continue to update periodically.
– Monday, August 2nd, 2021/ 11 / 9:51 pm / It’s getting easier in the evenings (knock on wood.) Also, I feel like perhaps I’m losing a bit of weight though I’m not sure how accurate that might be.
– Wednesday, August 4th, 2021 / 6:18 pm / Observation: I’m much more conscious of the foods that I’m putting in my body during my feeding window. I make sure to eat foods that will sustain me through the 16 hour fasting window. I’ve also become much more eager to eat quality foods that I enjoy, because I know that I have that 16 hour window coming up. It seems that I appreciate the food that I am eating more.
– Thursday, August 5th, 2021 / It’s 10:40 pm and I’d really like to have a snack before bed. I’m drinking some seltzer instead.
– Wednesday, September 1st, 2021 / Day 41 / 9:47 am / Though I didn’t think to check my weight at the beginning of this process I’m fairly sure that I’ve gone down a pant size. My clothes definitely feel looser.
– Monday, November 8th, 2021 / Day 110 / 9:45 am / Nothing major to report. I’m sure that I’m sleeping better because I’m no longer eating right before bed. I think my weight loss has plateaued, but I’m not one hundred percent certain.
– Almost 1 Year Update / Monday, July 28, 2022 / Day 361 / It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost a year since I began this process. Time seems to pass so quickly for me these days and I lose track of it quite easily. For the most part this has been a positive experience. I can’t say that I’ve lost a dramatic amount of weigh, but I think I’d attribute that to not paying strict attention to the quality of the food that I’ve been putting into my body during my 8 hour feeding window. In practical terms I’ve been eating between 11 am and 7 pm each day. This has allowed me some flexibility when I’m out with friends and might want to eat a bit later. I’ve noticed that the quality of what I eat at my last meal before fasting really matters. If I make sure to get enough protein then the morning period before I eat again I’m fine. If I don’t then it’s really a struggle to not eat until 11 am and I don’t feel good.
I’ve recently begun having some issues that I think are blood sugar related in the middle morning. I’m going to move to a ’12 hour fast, 12 hour feeding and see how I feel with that. I’ll also do my best to move to a more ketogenic diet with less carbs.
- Wednesday, October 5th, 2022 / Well, I fell off the bandwagon hard since my last post. Once I was into that 12/12 window I completely lost momentum. Started eating junk food and started eating later and later. I just stepped on the scale today and I weighed 203 lbs. You can read more about it here. Some type of intermittent fasting is going to have to be a part of my journey to get back to the weight that I want to be at. I’m just not sure if it’s going to be 12/12 or 8/16. At the very least I’m going to go back to ‘I don’t eat anything after dinner’.
- Monday, October 24th, 2022 / I think that perhaps the best way to approach intermittent fasting is with an intense awareness of how you feel. Today I didn’t eat until 11 am, and that felt alright. Other days I’ve felt like I needed to eat breakfast or I would be lightheaded. I think that a lot of what determines how you feel when you wake up is the quality of your meal the night before. If you’ve eaten something that is more meat based you’re more likely to be able to make it through with an 8/16 schedule. If not then a 12/12 schedule will be more right. I think that the key is to be gentle with yourself and adapt as necessary.