I am starting my daily journal today for the month of December. I have already eaten twice today. No plans to eat for the rest of the day and staying in cozy, planning for the week
Bris Fastmas calendar
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Day 2 I am still here and I have not set myself much of a goal besides checking in each day. today was doing 16:8 I had a small snack around 10:00 am today and then lunch and dinner-- ending my window at 5:19pm – so around 7 hours 19 minutes of eating window today actually. woo hoo!
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day 3 of FASTMAS: I just woke up and the scale so far has been up and down this month. Down from yesterday morning which is encouraging but still up 4.8 from my lowest weigh in which was last Thursday. One crazy thing about fasting is water weight shifting so often. When I was doing weight watchers a couple years ago it would be like this: weigh in: same weight, same weight, same weight, same weight, -1.8, +.6 , same weight, same weight, same weight. Overall fasting has been much much more effective and i just have to remind myself to weigh in everyday to stay accountable.
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Today is day 4 of FASTMAS-- This journal is helping out a lot more than I thought it would?? Awesome.
So I have gotten comfortable already with the 16:8 schedule and in anticipation for my 5 day extended water fast in a couple weeks I am looking to prepare how ever I can.
16:8 has been my only rule so far for myself so far and I have noticed just doing that has made me give up my sweet tooth in the evenings because my window is cut off by that time— but today I plan to do two things:
- without deviating over my TDEE, I am going to eat a keto friendly breakfast and dinner (9:30am and 4:30pm respectively)
- And notice how I am going to do my breakfast and dinner at these times above^^ I am planning to do this within a 7 hour window instead of 8— I would love to just shrink that window a bit--
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LOVING reading your journals!
I’m proud of you - making progress one day at a time with a great daily plan!
Keep it up gorgeous!
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Thank you so much it is so motivating for me because I know you are reading them !! ! so I have planned out my day today and I have one meal left right after work then I will close my window to make it more 17:7 than 16:8 
I am watching my carbs more each day-- because my big goal is to get through a 5 day extended fast this mid-month, and I think doing low carb/high fat leading up that is going to help with my hunger.
Today I am eating a total of 56 grams of carbs, which turns out to be a lot less than I usually do! What is the total carbs you usually go for doing keto? Is there a range of carbs or range of fat that you usually do that you find most success with specifically leading up to an extended fast? I want so bad to be successful with this, the most I have done is 47 hours
Day 4 Still-- something significant happened to me tonight. I have always had trouble relating to the feeling of false hunger and then feeling it actually go away without feeling hungry all over again. I was able to recognize my mind playing a trick on me, from an objective standpoint: In tonights case, I know I am not actually hungry after 1.5 hours of starting my fast, combined with knowing I got the proper calories in for the day. I used the strategy of distraction in order to take up the usual time they say it takes to get over a hunger trigger: I made a little cheerful playlist on spotify and took a long shower. I also used my fasting community on facebook to write a post about how I was feeling. Now as I sit on my laptop after my shower, I feel powerful. I realize now I am not hungry. I will not eat tonight. And Ive learned something about myself and hunger triggers: its the visualization of food for me, not the concept of food that triggers that hunger. I think its even more nuanced than that for me, but in the mean time I am going to steer clear of instagram lol !
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I’m proud of you for not being impulsive, and taking your time to view the situation the way you did!
You got this! 
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DAY 5
I love being part of communities like this. Ive been a lurker for a while but this challenge has already got me feeling so different. -2 lbs on the scale this morning!
so since I realized eating and food is something to stay away from while fasting, I have begun watching nature documentaries. I think they will teach me some more about being human. One thing I watched last night that has me thinking is this animated TED-Ed cartoon explaining how hibernation works https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xptpXSTtgSY
Its actually so so relevant because it talks about the bodys metabolism and natural rhythms! I think there is still so much we dont know but can continue to learn for science and for ourselves by looking back to nature.
Even if its just a youtube clip 
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Yes, YouTube documentaries are awesome. I learned from one fasting documentary that by studying the Emperor Penguin, which can last 7 months fasting while sitting on a nest of eggs while its mate goes to hunt for food, scientists were able to confirm the basic processes of fasting.
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Just a quick check in
It is Friday and pay day so I just bought all the supplies you are supposed to get for an extended fast. The thing that I need the most is just having the easiest transition into it as possible.
I am having success with these 16:8 fasts though-- so much so that I am wondering if I will be ready to start my first extended fast so quickly. Now I am thinking this month is going to work out for me in one of three ways:
option 1. I continue to have success with going lower carb (liberal use of low carb here, ~120 grams or less for now per day) and with sharpening my window of fasting (success here being measured in losing weight each week/two weeks) and I just feel not ready to do the extended fast yet
option 2: I continue being able to do what I am doing now ^^ (above) and I don’t feel ready for my fast but I also stop loosing weight. In this case, I will cut my carbs even more for a couple weeks, then my calories down, and then my fasting window until I start losing weight again or I am fully keto/OMAD.
option 3: If I am at the point of doing keto/OMAD for a couple weeks and not loosing weight anymore, then I think doing an extended fast is something I will really be ready for at this point.
So I think I have really thought this through. It doesn’t feel like my naughty brain, this is my proactive thinking ahead brain. I know I have a tendency to jump into things that Im not ready for, and I dont want to disappoint others by not sticking to my fastmas calendar, but I think the success in the fastmas calendar is that I am learning to be my own teacher, and doing things like this daily journaling.
It is Friday and day 6 of fastmas! I have lost .8 this week just switching up my diet to be within a 16:8 window and seriously just trying to monitor my carbs. I have averaged about 1800-1900 calories per day.
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Yes, I worked up to prolonged fasting by doing 2 weeks of 16:8, 18:6, 20:4 then OMAD. Then did a 4-day and then a 7-day water fast.
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Thank you for saying that. Did you do anything else during your windows working up to an extended fast (keto/low carb, calorie counting?) I have been reading your journal and I feel like I have a lot I can learn from you!
Day 7 of Fastmas – Happy Saturday.
so I have a confession to make-- Ive messed up my fast last night with some mcdonalds 
up until last night, late last night, around 11pm, was 100% compliant on my 16:8 plan. Yesterday I had even planned to do 20:4 which was going fine until I got some exciting news that I will not share here, but could qualify as being life changing. Its a good news thing, but heres the thing with that: no matter if its good or bad news if I have a lot to think about I just feel anxious and its hard for me to rest. Food has been a way for me to calm down my mind all my life. And I really “needed” bad food last night.
I woke up this morning and have gained all the weight back that I lost this past week. And you know what, I forgive myself for it. At least now I am paying attention to it.
This weekend I plan to do just the 12:12 thing, not even 16:8. Things are about to get a lot better for me, an impact which should make my whole life a lot more stable and therefore better for my mental health and well being, which in turn should be better for my diet. This change should have an immediate impact in the next couple of weeks, and a lasting/long term impact if I can just wait until mid-January
Thank you for the compliment. I’ve spent over 20+ years in the computer industry primarily as a developer. So I’ve a lot of years of experience asking questions, designing and implementing solutions. So I just applied that experience and talent to designing my own custom protocol.
The way I designed my program was with this main design requirement: “Simple is Sustainable”. No counting calories, no fancy food plans and no gym membership. What that looks like as relates to your specific question are these guidelines:
- No processed carbohydrates: no refined sugars.
- You can have complex carbs as long as they have the fiber: i.e potatoes.
- Protein: ie steak, hamburger, bacon & sausage
- Fats: ie butter, olive oil, cheese
- Required exercise: Daily 1 to 2 mile walk.
I kinda follow keto but I keep it simple. For example, I LOVE potatoes. I learned the trick that 1st you boil them, then stick them in the refrigerator overnight changes their chemical composition from regular starch to “resistant” starch. Resistant starch is indigestible to the body and brings down its natural glycemic level. Best thing is as it goes through your GI tract it feeds your gut bacteria.
All of these people pushing keto with complicated recipes and pushing their sponsoring companies products just make me tired. Remember “Simple is Sustainable”.
Hope this helps! Let me know if you have any further questions.
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This does help! I am a developer too! Although I am a newbie, my title is junior software engineer, mostly python and javascript. Anyway, yes, sooo many things Ive learned from work applies to other life principles. Thank you so much for more ideas.
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Fastmas Day 8
So my diet pretty much fell apart yesterday, lol.
I asked for some help from the Obesity Code Network facebook group and got some good ideas after reading a link someone sent me about fat fasting. After a grocery trip I have decided that doing a fat fast is a good idea for me. I had originally planned to do a fat fast but not until this upcoming weekend. After reading the article on the IDM program website on fat fasting, and after hearing many others’ anecdotes about fat fasting, this feels like the best thing for me to start doing early. It will make it easier for me to adhere to intermittent fasting, naturally keep my hunger levels and calories a bit controlled, and get me fat adapted for my first planned extended fast starting on the 16th.
Im up on the scale this morning, but actually not that much considering how much shit I ate yesterday just in general. lol.
My focus this week: get fat adapted
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Oh btw, I got burned out and took a 5-year break from the industry to become a Certified Personal Trainer with NASM (National Academy of Sports Medicine), ACSM (American College of Sports Medicine) and ACE (American Council on Exercise). First 2 years learned the craft at 24 Hour Fitness then 3 years as an independent.
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very cool!
FASTMAS DAY 9
About Hunger
- yesterday I noticed immediately that I wasn’t sooo hungry at the anticipation of food since I have been eating “keto-ish” the last couple of days already, even though I not in ketosis yet. I got some sausage and eggs at McDonald’s and I noticed I wasn’t so hungry that I felt like I would have needed to eat part of it in the car, no mouth watering as looking at recipes through out the day – major change for me — I am hoping that I will eventually work up to not being hungry at all and then start a new fasting schedule (intermittent then alternate day and eat a keto meal during the
8 hour eating window 11:30am - 7:30pm is my ultimate goal. I did ADF with huge success in October but I was sooooo hungry the whole time (I wasnt doing keto then) Interestingly I have come to conclusion that keto is necessary in order for this type of IF to be sustainable for me and Dr. Berg just published this video on the same weekend
Fastmas 2019 version 2.0/3.0
- I’ve made a new version of my fastmas calendar for this week: there’s no doubt I am committed to do something for all of fastmas which is what ultimately matters… since I keep evolving due to trying this fat fast/ keto and in anticipation of longer fasts/ extended fasts, I am only going to plan one week at a time for now until I get to a place where I am loosing weight and not dying of hunger. That is what seems doable for me right now. That way I can use my planning day to reflect and plan ahead for the next week.
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