Kai's journal 01/01/2021

[Kai_K]

7-days fast

Why: I am doing this because I gained a lot of weight, especially during November and December 2020 ( I had such a difficult time adjusting to my new corporate life from academia and ended up binge eating every single day even during the night). As a result, I have a lot of pain in my joint and muscle, and feeling awful; Tiredness, bloating, no confidence about how I look. But I now have a new academic-related goal and in order to get this done, I want to feel healthier and better both physically and psychologially. Also, I would like to improve my concentration.

Short-term goal: Get back to my ideal weight
Long-term goal: Maintain my ideal weight and keep my optimal health

My triggers and weak-points (past):

1. When I encounter emotional difficulties. ( frustration, anger, sadness, even happiness)
2. When I am bored.
3. Evenings, weekends, and holidays (relaxing=overeating is my habit)

My plan:
Phase 1: fast( coffee, tea, water, salt, vegetable juice, vegetable broth ) 7days (1.Jan-7.Jan)
Phase 2: liquid( vegetable juice, any kind of soup, protein shakes) 14 days (8.Jan-21.Jan)
Phase 3: OMAD 14 days (22.Jan-4.Feb)

How I feel now: I am both excited and nervous because I know fasting will help me start getting back to my rather healthier routine, but I know it is not going to be easy.

How I feel once I achieve my goal:
I will be feeling much lighter and have less pain. I can also properly concentrate on my work and I can exercise more easily. I will also like how I look and this will leads me to participate in more social activities.

Positive affirmations: I am capable of self-development.

[Kai_K]

Day 2!

Yesterday before going to bed, I was so tempted to eat something, but I reminded myself why I am doing this and I visualized what would happen if I start to eat; i.e. overeating. Also telling myself about the growth-mindset was very helpful. Any skills can be developed and fasting and healthier eating habit are precisely the skills. So I look forward to my personal development

I woke up feeling already better than the previous days when I was overeating. However, I feel a bit of

1. feeling physically weak
2. my brain functions fine but I get the brain fog from time to time
   Maybe it is just psychological but I will stick to my fasting plan.

Positive affirmation: I can do it! I am a person with a growth mindset!

[Kai_K]

Day 3

Last night, I could not sleep well. It might be due to my work anxiety, but could also be something I experience at the beginning of the fasting.

I think I had too much vegetable juice yesterday; it has also quite a lot of calories so I shall pay attention to how much I drink that stuff.
Also, I added some cream to my morning coffee. It tasted good but it upset my stomach a little; maybe I shall indeed avoid it for now.

Physically, I was feeling more energetic than yesterday. I didn’t feel particularly hungry all day, but I felt acute hunger/craving when I went to the supermarket!
So it will be challenging from tomorrow especially at work during lunchtime. But I can do it!

[Kai_K]

Day 4 in the morning!

I’ve just managed ZERO sleep and am heading to work. I know that deprived sleep makes people eat more than usual. So I need to pay attention to my cravings

[Cate_Alexandra]

By resisting the cravings today your body will be well ready for the sleep when you get home and your so close to day five, once your past that it gets so much easier… Your so close!!

[Kai_K]

Thank you I was about to give in to the temptation to some sweets but your message helped me not doing it!

[Kai_K]

Day 5

I did amazingly well yesterday despite the lack of sleep
But I was not able to sleep last night well again, I’ve managed just under 3 hours of sleep.

Today, I am feeling like I am coming down with something also woke up being hungry where somehow I thought I really have to eat a bit today. But I kept my plan until lunch! Then I really felt like I had to eat something, otherwise, I will break down and would be not able to keep working today. So I had a sandwich; it was good but it didn’t fix my problem

I should have just kept my plan and maybe took some pain killer instead.
All I can say is that I have definitely learnt from my mistake! So I will just go back to my plan and see

Positive affirmation: I can do this and I can do better that I have learnt out of my mistake!

[Kai_K]

Day 6

I am down with a fever today
I hope it’s not the corona-virus. I will have small meals today (but no junk food and no sweets!!) and try to recover as soon as possible!

It is usually very easy to slip back to my old bad eating habits when something goes wrong but this form is definitely helping me to prevent it.

My current goal: As soon as I recover I resume my January challenge!

[Kai_K]

Day 11= Day 0

I am finally feeling better and am ready to resume my January challenge

Last few days: I knew it was going not to be easy when I am under the weather. Because my mental health is also affected when my physical health is in jeopardy. I ended up having cakes and junk food. But I felt very full and physically uncomfortable after eating them.

My current thoughts: I could do my challenge for 5 days well until I got ill. And it was good indeed! And having re-read a scientific article about fasting indeed boosts the cognitive function supported by the neurobiological facts, I am confident and ready to give it a go.

My new plan: 21days of fasting ( tea, coffee, vegetable juice, vegetable broth&soup)
rule 1) I can add some milk and cream to my tea and coffee
rule 2) I can have some fruits juice every 7 days
rule 3) I report my progress every day

Positive affirmation: I am a growth-mindset-oriented person and making every effort to improve my life quality.

[Kai_K]

Day 0 (supposed to be day 1)

I went to work today but as I had a slightly elevated temperature, I was told to go home and see my GP!! In the end, I was told to stay at home for the next 3 days. I don’t think it is the Covid but you never know…

Anyway, it was a bit of a crazy day and somehow I ended up eating…
I should remind myself that there is always something in life, so I can’t always make excuses!

The good thing is that I can stay at home tomorrow so I can and will start my new plan without any stress from work

Tonight: I will go to bed early and get ready for my fresh start

[Kai_K]

I have been quite unwell… I could not get out of bed yesterday, hence no update. I am feeling a little better today. So hopefully I will be fit for my new 21days challenge from tomorrow

[Kai_K]

Prep-day 1

I am finally feeling better and am ready to embark on my new 21-days plan.

There is always something in life… I have important and unavoidable family gatherings next Monday and Tuesday where I need to eat, unfortunately. That is why today and tomorrow is the preparation day for the plan where I consume only tea(+milk), coffee(+cream) and vegetable broth, and carrot juice.

Positive affirmation: I can do these preparation days and excited to start my plan on Wednesday.

[Kai_K]

Prep-day 2

Last night, I had a bowl of cream soup with some veggies and soy-meat. But other than that I was able to stick to my plan. So I did ok for the first day.

Today, I have been doing well so far! I have noticed the following symptoms;

1. headache
2. physically feeling weak (slightly)
3. brain fog

I am not sure if they are coming from the fact that I still have a cold or if it is from the diet as my calorie intake has been reduced dramatically?

I think I need to be very cautious tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. I will need to remind myself that I should avoid eating outside the family gathering! As I know it is easy to slip back to indulging once I start to eat…