Intro: Hi! I’m Juliana. I’m here because I gained FIFTY pounds the year I started teaching–and then 10-20 more in subsequent years before I went keto in 2015 and stopped gaining weight. I think I was 210 or 215 at my highest, which was obese for my 5’4” height. At the same time, my identical twin sister was losing weight and looking fabulous. Every time we went on vacation together, I cringed at the pictures of us, so ashamed of the way I looked like a hulking monster next to her.
Two years ago, my partner and I started thinking of getting engaged, and I knew it was the perfect motivation. I told him he couldn’t propose to me until I lost 50 pounds. I got close! I lost 40 pounds through a combination of keto, OMAD, and 2-4 day fasts by the time he proposed in May 2019. Then I lost my motivation to fast altogether, even though I wanted to lose another 30-50 pounds before our wedding.
I managed to maintain the weight loss for a year. Now we’ve made the decision to postpone our July wedding to 2021, and I have another chance at losing the rest of the weight (although I might have to pay an arm and a leg for wedding dress alterations, I will be DELIGHTED to spend that money if it means I’ve reached my goal weight!).
Why: I want to feel good about my body again! I want to look at pictures of myself without cringing! I want to stand next to my fabulous twin without feeling horrible about myself! And I want to be able to find nice clothes in my size again!
Beyond that, I know that fasting is good for my health. I have so much more energy when I’m fasting–the last time I fasted regularly, I wrote half a novel that I stopped working on when I stopped fasting. I also haven’t been sick with even a mild cold since starting to fast for longer than 24 hours, which is a miracle when I’m surrounded by 7 year olds coughing in my face for 10 months of the year.
Long term/Short term goals:
Short term: We’re having a tiny elopement in a little over 2 weeks (and then a bigger wedding/vow renewal next year), and I want to complete my 7 day fast and then a shorter fast before then or, alternatively, extend the 7 day fast a little bit. I weigh 175 now, and I’m hoping to weigh below 170 when we get married.
Medium term: Our honeymoon trip to Sonoma is still on for July (although we might have to postpone that, too), and I would love to weigh under 160 by then! And I’d like to get to a normal BMI by the fall.
Long term: I’d like to weigh between 125 and 130 pounds by our wedding in July 2021 and be able to feel beautiful and comfortable in my body in a way I just don’t right now.
Affirmation: I will complete this 7 day fast successfully!
). I now weigh 169, the first time I’ve been in the 160s in YEARS. I’ve lost 8 pounds so far on this fast. If that’s not an incentive to keep going, I don’t know what is.