Fasting My Way to Race Weight

I started intermittent fasting (IF) towards the end of July. Since I was still trying to figure out what worked best for me, I'm using August 1 as my official start date. That makes August 31 the end of my first month. I decided to wait until I had tried it for at least a month before talking about it because I have started plenty of diets only to have them fizzle out. Honestly, I do not consider fasting a "diet" its really just an eating schedule.

Quick summary...success on lots of different levels.

Why Intermittent Fasting?

I learned about IF from a coworker that used this technique to win a weight loss challenge last year. After he told me about it, I decided to do a little research. It seemed simple enough. Just don't eat for a specific period of time each day or multiple days...whatever works best for you. No calorie counting, special foods to order, no special supplements to buy. All I have to do is do nothing.

Intermittent fasting offered the promise of:

• Weight loss 
• Cellular repair through autophagy (There was a study about how autophagy can promote nerve regeneration. I'm hoping this will prove true regarding my nerve damage.)
• Reduce inflammation
• Reduce insulin resistance
• Increase energy

Because IF doesn't cost anything, you won't find it advertised all over the place. There's no money to be made by the diet industry, so they won't mention it. I guess the only thing you can spend money on is reading material, which I have done. I am currently reading "The Complete Guide to Fasting: Heal Your Body Through Intermittent, Alternate-Day, and Extended Fasting". I decided to buy this book because I wanted to get a little more info than what I was reading on blog posts and websites. It's a good read, but you can probably find the same info online.

Listen to this podcast if you don't feel like reading. It explains a lot about intermittent fasting.

Trying to Reach My Goal Weight (Again)

Last year while training for CIM I had a goal weight I was trying to reach. I was well on my way to that goal when I was hit while riding my bike. I spent a few days in the hospital, unable to eat due to a possible surgery. I came home from the hospital bloated and swollen from all of the IV fluids. When my swelling finally went down, I got on the scale. I was 142 lbs. Only 7 lbs. away from my goal.

Unfortunately, at that point I was unable to train, and in my depression I threw my goal out the window. Then the holidays rolled around and my weight continued to climb. In a race photo from a duathlon earlier this year, the extra weight was noticeable (I was too scared to get on the scale).

According to an ideal weight calculator on Active.com, I started this fasting journey OVER my ideal weight range. In fact, my starting weight could have qualified me to race as an "Athena" in certain races! I am now on my way back down to my goal weight. I am hoping to reach this goal by the time I toe the start line for CIM.

My Typical Day

Initially I started by skipping breakfast. So my first meal would be at noon. This was not that difficult, I'm not a big breakfast eater anyway, so I really didn't miss it. HS and I go to bed fairly early, so I would rarely have anything to eat after 8pm, This initial schedule gave me a 16 hour window of not eating and an 8 hour window to eat.

I continued to eat what I normally ate and did not change my workout schedule. In fact, on weekends when I usually have a long run or trainer ride scheduled, I will do it fasted. Eventually, I stretched my fasting window to 18 hours.

This is what a typical work day looks like:

4:30am - Wake up, drink a glass of water with apple cider vinegar
9:00am - 15 minute walk
10:00am - Perfect Keto drink
12:00pm - 30 minute walk
2:00pm - Eat
4:00pm - Work out
6:00pm - Eat
8:00pm - Bedtime

Water, tea, and coffee are OK during my fasting periods

A little boost mid morning

On the weekends, I shorten my fasting window. That's one of the best things about intermittent fasting, it's flexible. If I don't want to fast for a day or two, I don't have to. One other plus about fasting is that it works with whatever typing of "diet" you may follow. After two weeks, I moved towards a more keto type diet to help get me to my goal.

Final Thoughts on Month One

Fasting is not hard to do. In fact, it was much easier than I expected. It took a while, but my weight began to drop slowly and steadily. At this rate, I will make my goal weight by CIM. My energy levels seem up and I have finally emerged from the horrible brain fog that I couldn't seem to shake. I am definitely much more productive.

I hope that month two goes as well as my first month...stay tuned.


#intermittent #fasting #keto