Fast times at intermittent high

[maxfisher]

Hey everyone! I have been struggling on and off to lose weight for about 4 years. I keep getting heavier and as I approach 35 this year I am realizing I want to turn things around before irreversible damage sets in.

I’ve always been a big dude. I’m 6’ 2" and for the majority of my life, I was active and around 190 to 200 pounds. I’ve been as low as 183 in my adult life and that felt really lean. I had a 34 waist and was losing some muscle tone. For years I biked to work 12 miles round trip every day and walked about 5-7 miles on the job. It was easy to eat whatever I wanted and maintain a healthy weight. In the last 4 years, I transitioned to a desk job, drive to work and get catered snacks and Friday lunches. Those changes coupled with getting older have me at a whopping 254.

Last summer I experimented with intermittent fasting with moderate success. I was on track to hit 235 but fell off the wagon and bounced back to the 250s. Forums have helped keep my on track with other goals in my life and journaling through this weight loss journey will be beneficial for accountability and focus.

Right this moment I am 14 hours into a kick off 24 hour fast. I have a stretch goal of 48 hours, but we’ll see how I feel at 6 pm tonight. One really big impediment to my success is my aversion to water. I have really bad hydration habits and I’ll be making a very concerted effort to drink during my fast but also at all other times. Aside from this “kick off” fast I don’t have a schedule planned. I’m going to take it a little slow at first and not set up strict rules for when I fast or how much. If I’m able to complete 48 hours I may eat regularly for a few days and settle into a 20/4 approach or do a mix of 24s throughout a week when I feel like it. Thanks for reading! An inspirational man I know ends his posts with “Onward.” I’m stealing it.

Onward!

[maxfisher]

Made it to 5 pm and started eating dinning. Roughly 23 hours with some pickles here and there throughout the day. It was good to see my blood sugar at 90 before dinner but it still seemed high after 23 hours of fasting. As I get further in my quest I hope to lower that fasting number to the 80s.

I had a salad with one serving of chicken and an orange, small avocado and a single slice of bread and butter. That will be all for the night. Tomorrow I’ll probably stick to one slimfast until dinner. Perhaps a few snacks thrown in if they are raw vegetables.

Water cosumption was great! I’m most proud of that. I’m not sure how many ounces but if I guessed I’d say close to 3 liters throughout the day. I felt good most of the day until about 4 o’clock. The hunger really started to kick in. I decided to start my week Friday at sundown and get to three consistent 24 hour fasts a week. Non fast days will be skipping breakfast only but eating lunch and dinner. Sensible of course. Ill need to try this for at least 30 days to see how it goes. Baby steps. There will also be some ramp up considering Im a bit out of practice.

Onward!

[maxfisher]

Last night was rough. The fasting messed a bit with my sleep schedule and the hunger was so intense I finally caved an ate a bit around midnight so I could get some sleep.

I’m not too deterred but today Ill go with some light meals and jump into fasting during the week. Another 24 hour fast will begin Monday at 4 pm. Wish me luck.

Onward!

[maxfisher]

Another 12 hour overnight blood sugar reading of 105. Not good. I’m squarely in the pre diabetes camp and I need to walk this back.

Todays goals. Fasting until 12 pm (17 hours). I may or may not have a slim fast at 12 pm. I’m more than certain I have tremendous glucose stores in my body. It would take at least 24 hours to START using them. My guess is at least 36 for my blood sugar to be in the 80s. Ahhh…That will be difficult but purhaps a workout would accelerate the release of the stored glucose inside the 24 hour window. Not sure.

Emotionally I feel more anxiety fasting. Food is definately a coping mechanism and soothes me during stress. I up my caffeine intake when I fast which contributes to sleep issues. I will commit to more fasting but BETTER fasting. Time to crack Dr. Fung’s book again and brush up on the fundamentals. I can do this.

Onward!

[Compdude]

Thought I’d let you know I reversed my T2 diabetes through my own customized fasting protocol last year. It took me 4 months and 5 days to make it official by my doctor’s office.

In terms of stored “glucose”, officially called glycogen its stored in your liver and muscles. It takes between 32 to 40 hours before the liver’s stores are completely depleted and then the body will turn to those in the muscles.

2 ways to shorten the glycogen depletion cycle:

1. Eat a low-carb diet for 1 to 3 days before fasting
2. Exercise: Recommmended aerobic-oriented full body workouts.

Hope this helps!

[maxfisher]

It helps a bunch. Thank you!

[maxfisher]

Didn’t measure blood sugar today. I did a 22 hour fast and then ate a well balance meal. I have not eliminated carbs as of yet but reduced non food sugar to zero. I still had some rice and sweet potatoes but also lots of good fats.

The 22 felt good and focused. Not a ton of hunger pains. I may keep at it everyday for a little while until I’m in a rhythm. Then I’ll try the dreaded, first night on a fast.

[maxfisher]

Completed another 24 hour fast yesterday. The 24s are getting easier so that is good. I haven’t checked blood sugar the last few day but I will today. I’m going to shoot for way less fasting hours today. I’ll probably eat two meals and start a longer one tonight. So far I’ve been fasting less that a week and I feel better. Down three pounds. I don’t think I’ll really trust the scale for good or bad until I’ve been doing this longer. My real baseline is the blood sugar. I want that consistently lower during fasting periods. I also took before photos. Ill take progress photos every couple of weeks and when I feel significantly victorious I’ll post some.

-Onward!

[Compdude]

Yes. Its a process. It wasn’t until the 118th day of my treatment protocol that I started consistently recording below 100 BGL in the mornings.

[maxfisher]

This morning after 12 hours I was 105. Not ideal but it’s good to expect this to take time. Thanks for sharing! I have also been consuming significantly fewer carbs. Orders of magnitude less, but not zero.

[maxfisher]

Today was a non fasting day. Two meals. I’m down some weight and getting really use to 22+ hours without food. I can see myself working up to 30+ hours in no time. At the moment I’m pleased with my weight loss. Sugar is still too high while not fasting but its slowly changing. I spent this week avoiding sugar a lot and it shows.

First successful week in the books. Looking foward to Monday and continued progress. Slow and steady baby steps. One day at a time.

I’m planning Slimfast for the weekend. The break in fasting will hopefully make it fresh and keep me motivated.

Onward!