Yes totally agree with scale thing. It’s definitely a mental thing. Fun to weigh every day, as long as you don’t let day to day fluctuations ruin your mood. Alternatively you can try every 2-3 days then every week at the beginning to get used to no scale. You can see how clothes fit and measure! Tell yourself not to cheat in those 2-3 days and then you’ll be fine, you know how mental this journey is 
each person is different. If you like weighing then weigh! Remember at the end of the day it’s one of many tools!
Bris Fastmas calendar
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Got my mom on board a couple of days ago. She was taking natural means to keep her T2 diabetes under control (leaves of certain plants and ACV) but they’re no longer working. So she went back on her diabetic medication and she’s not happy about it. I saw that as an opening and offered to help.
Startied her off slow since she’s 84 years old with no eating and snacking after 6pm. She doesn’t eat until the next morning around 10am so its really a 16:8 but I don’t confuse her with any jargon that requires explanation. So far, she’s sticking with it and today is Day 3.
Understand about the selfish part about accomplishing it first on your own before helping others. In my case I didn’t have a choice as my family and friends are all BIG skeptics. It wasn’t until I accomplished my primary goal and secondary goal of losing a ton of weight after 3 months and 5 days did I start making noises about offering to help.
Even then it probably won’t be until I make both the NYT and Amazon best sellers list with my book that they’ll start taking me seriously with some of them. LOL
Regarding consistency, I understand being a fellow former software developer since we have a this burning need for structure. In this situation, here’s information that you may not already know that can help.
The first 3 to 5 days of a fast the body, once it realizes the intake of food has been shut off, turns to its stored carbohydrates (aka glycogen). First it turns to using the glycogen in your liver for energy, A process that can take anywhere between 30 to 40 hours. Then it goes after the glycogen stored in your muscles. The glycogen molecule is 3/4ths composed of water. Hence when it gets used by the body for energy the water is released hence the term “water weight”. FYI: It’s only when the body has completely exhausted all of its glycogen stores is the body allowed to go into full ketosis. It’s that reason, especially being a husky built guy, that the minimum water fast I’ll do now is 7 days.
Hope this info helps!
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What do you mean by full ketosis exactly? I know about ketosis but it’s confusing to me to understand the state of the body while it’s going into ketosis. Aren’t we all burning some fat even if eating carbs? We know it’s possible, lest only temporary, to lose weight without fasting and only doing calorie restriction so when do people like that actually get their fat stores burned ?
The human body prioritizes glucose burning over adipose burning because its more efficient. Adipose burning requires redirecting some blood into the adipose tissue for ketosis. Its one of the reasons people complain about getting colder as they get deeper into their fast.
Each hormone in our bodies seem to be paired with a balancing hormone. Its what keeps our bodies in homeostasis. When we consume food, the hormone insulin rises as it transports nutrients from the esophagus to where it needs to go. Most go to the liver for metabolization while some go directly to the cells (i.e. sucrose). Insulin levels begin to drop 12 hours after the last bits of food leave the esophagus for the small intestine for further nutrient extraction. Hence the minimum 12 hours fasting requirement.
It’s only when insulin levels have dropped to a low enough level that its corresponding hormone, glucagon, increases production which is the hormone necessary for ketosis. Think of a see saw with insulin on one end and glucagon on the other is a good way to visualize it.
Let me know if you have further questions.
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continued prep for 4:3 challenge
countdown until 30 day 4:3 challenge: 4
so Wednesday (yesterday) was kind of a disaster.
I definitely broke my fast and but really I was not well.
so I started a new medication on Monday, and it was a pretty big change. one of the side effects is insomnia. So Monday night I slept maybe about 3-4 hours, Tuesday was the same thing. It felt miserable and if I am honest with myself I was definitely not at 100% starting my fast on Tuesday night anyway.
Anyway, last night I stopped my fast but I am failing forward because I have done everything I can since then to take care of myself so I will be feeling 100% by next week when my ADF challenge officially begins. Good news is last night, even though I woke up 2-3 times throughout the night (totally normal for me to do on any given night) I got about 6-7 hours of sleep, which is actually, cumulatively, a significant amount more of sleep than I usually get ever.
With some great sleep last night, finally, I can say today went really well. I didn’t fast, but I feel so much better than I did yesterday and the day before that, so I think Im ** over the hump ** of adjusting to a new medication.
I just watched @Yasemin’s livestream, although a bit delayed tonight. I love the live videos shes doing, shout out to her!
So, finally my plan:
I began my fast about 2 hours ago-- I don’t feel “stuffed” but I did have egg bites I made for dinner and I couldn’t eat the last 2. I am going to fast until Saturday morning if I can ! this is my last chance to really “prep” or mock out a fasting day before the 30 day challenge beginning on Monday.
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That’s great Bri! You tried all you could and learned because of the changes, failing forward at its best! You got this 
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Why haven’t I updated this in a while? lol
I have had the best week/weekend ever. Well, in a while. 
just feeling happy and more myself!
Just checking in that I am still alive. My first day of my alternate day fasting challenge starts tomorrow at 8pm. I am so ready !
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Interested to see what variation of AF you will be doing as for the last couple of days I’ve seen mentions of “Rolling 48s” and found out its just A.F. Under a different name.
I’ve been doing a version where my “fasting” day is 2 meals around 500 calories and then 2 meals unrestricted.during my Flexibility & Endurance phase.
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I’m so happy that you feel happy and feeling more like yourself!!!
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so my goal is:
- have a normal eating day on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, Sundays (up to my TDEE for that day)
- have 0 calorie 36-40 hour fasting windows from Sunday night - Tuesday morning, Tuesday night - Thursday morning, and Thursday night - Saturday mornings. I will have a 12 hour eating window on my eating days to fit in my calories.
- in the first 2 weeks I will allow myself to use up to a 500 calorie “crutch” on my fasting days to adjust but only if needed. This is equivalent to having training wheels to fasting. I just know that even though I am able to do the 36 hour fasts, doing them every other day will be a new level of adjustment. I am going to try to just use the small crutch for coffee creamer or broth so I am still mimicking a true fasting day in my actions (eg: no chewing) If I do feel like I really need a snack/ feel sick, I will allow myself a keto kind of small snack like eggs or a tablespoon of natural peanut butter
hope that makes sense! im excited to get started!
will of course keep everyone updated.
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I’ve had a good weekend. Ready to start this 4:3 alternate day fasting challenge this week!
Tomorrow is my first day of my 30 day challenge. I will be fasting starting around 8pm tonight until sometime Tuesday morning. Another cool thing that coincidentally is also happening tomorrow is I am going to be working in my new office! I see this as an opportunity to establish new good habits in my work environment while at the same time starting my new fasting challenge. These desks are more like cubicles vs. the very open office space we have had in our other one. I’m not sure how it will affect our team’s dynamic, I think it will either make the office a lot more quiet or a lot more loud? haha. Anyway, here’s a picture of my new desk space I took last week.
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Good timing. You can start establishing all sorts of new healthy “triggers” tied to your new workspace.
Also, I’ll be starting my new 21 day water fast tomorrow also. It will be great to journey alongside you. BTW, I’m going to post a new motivational video in each daily entry in the NEW journal.
Yes!!! The stars are aligning friend.
I can’t wait to follow your journey. I can’t wait til watch the motivational videos
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DAY 1 DAY 1 DAY 1 DAY 1 (of 30)
today I have my first full day fast.
I will be fasting until tomorrow morning until at least 6:28 am, lol, thats all I can promise at this point.
I have a full day today. After work Im going to get my nails painted, which is just something I like to do for myself on a regular basis and it takes up time that usually would trigger me in eating. After that I am going to my support group for people with ADHD, they meet on Mondays twice a month and it’s been very helpful for me and plus, its free and again, takes up time where I would be triggered to eat.
Today I also will probably be kind of distracted by the new office space, checking out my coworkers spaces, hanging out in the new break room we have. A cool thing about the new office is it is on the 27th floor of one of the sky scrapers in downtown Nashville. Last office was in the same building but only the 2nd floor. I will take some pictures of the view today. It’s really great!
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day 2 of 4:3 schedule
weigh in: -1.8 from Day 1 (yesterday)
I did sooooo good on my first fast.
So I didn’t use my crutch calories until 33.5 hours into the fast. I only used about 300 of them too (cheese). This put me at 4 am this morning… so I was only up because I have a lot of trouble sleeping because of my severe carpel tunnel. I really need surgery, and I have consulted with a surgeon about it before, but I didn’t go through with it then because I actually ended up moving not long after that. Im tired of having any excuses though associated with me meeting my goals, so I am doing what I can for now and I have 2 splints ordered from Amazon. Ive actually never used a splint before, but a lot of people say they are helpful… the carpel tunnel doesn’t usually bother me during the day, but at night its soo painful.
To end on a funny note, my stomach started growling during my support group meeting last night. LOL. seriously my stomach never growls like it does for some people, but it was especially funny to me because for some reason we did some guided meditation and a couple quiet exercises and of course the one night we do something quietly I am fasting.
Looking forward to eating today!
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I used to get carpal tunnel but I solved it by doing wrist stretching exercises that I learned from a physical therapist. I did them every time I needed a break from the computer.
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Day 3/30 of 4:3 challenge
Today is my 2nd fasting day, currently about 13 hours into my fast
Quick check in today
I gained about 2.8 lbs from yesterday, which means I overate yesterday. That’s to be expected in my opinion, since I am just getting used to the new protocol. I am focused on having good fasting days this week, next week I will focus more on controlling my eating window.
I get my splints delivered today, l am optimistic about them helping me with sleep, although ironically, last night I got like the best night of sleep I’ve probably had in months. lol.
Here are the views from my new office floor
!
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Nice office views. 
Love your office views!!! For your eating/fasting protocol. Do you have a ballpark of how much you are eating in those non-fasting days? What kind of stuff did you eat? Maybe you can post pics of your food if you want more accountability!
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Wow, what a view!