Van’s Fasting Journey

[Van]

Start Weight: 182 lbs
Goal Weight: 150 lbs

June 7th Weight: 166 lbs
June 8th Weight: 164.6 lbs
June 9th Weight: 166.2 lbs
June 10th Weight: 160.6 lbs
June 11th Weight: 160.4 lbs
June 12th Weight: 162 lbs
June 13th Weight: 163.6 lbs
June 14th Weight: 162.2 lbs
June 15th Weight: 166.4 lbs
June 16th Weight: 167.8 lbs
June 17th Weight: 166.4 lbs
June 18th Weight: 163.8 lbs

Down 2.6 lbs from yesterday.

Total weight loss since June 7th: 2.2 lbs

I had dinner between 6-7:30pm. Started my fast again at 7:30pm.

Watched a lot of YouTube videos about weight loss yesterday. Greg Doucette (the guy that screams at the camera a lot) made a video about binging. I kind of like him because he is tough but he means well. He said that ALL of us are bound to cheat or binge. It is bound to happen. Therefore, we need to approach the binging from a different lense: he recommends that we eat more nutrient dense food first and then go ahead and enjoy that donut or junk food or whatever. By the time we reach that cheat meal after our nutrient dense food, we will be too full to eat all of that junk food.

I had an experience the other day AND yesterday that I rarely have: the experience of feeling full to the point where I stopped eating and the thought of food was completely out of my head. It was such an amazing feeling!!! I owe this new experience to psyllium husk. Apparently, psyllium husk expands in your stomach and gives you the sensation of fullness. Plus, it helps with your bowels. I suffer from major constipation after fasting, hence why I take psyllium husk before eating.

There’s one thing that I am tired of and hence why I started this journey of fasting is that I am so sick and tired of thinking about FOOD. And being obsessed about food. I had thought that with this fasting this time around, my obsession with food would subside. It hasn’t.

I remember during a fast, I was sitting in church and trying to focus on the message from the pastor and all I could think about was FOOD.

More than 3 years ago, I embarked on a 40-day liquid fast. And it was quite torturous: 40 days of obsessing over food. I was not productive at all. Plus, I eventually gained all that weight back after 3 years. And here I am: still overweight and obsessed about food.

My last 14-day fast was just 2 weeks of thinking and obsessing over food. I was not productive with work or anything else.

I strongly believe in water fasting because it really cured my severe hives that I got after going on Keto diet. Nothing worked for me with those hives. It was 6 months of going to the hospital and doctor office - nobody could figure out the cause of those hives. The last straw was that they wanted to push steroids in me, which pushed me into taking a liver cleanse and water fasting. And like magic, after 21 days of water fasting, the hives were completely gone and I was finally able to sleep after months and months of restless sleepless nights.

However, I am starting to realize that extended fasting has not helped with my food obsession.

I am going back to the drawing board with this weight loss & fasting journey.

I thought a lot about what I want in one year with this journey: I truly want to be free from my food obsession while losing weight. I no longer want to gain the weight after my weight loss. I want to enjoy food without feeling guilty or ashamed. I want to enjoy moments of life without food on my mind.

[Miramar]

I spent some time yesterday working on my celebration menu after the refeed. I’m not sure if I qualify as obsessed with food, but I do like to collect really old cookbooks - like from the 1940’s.

I guess the question is do you think you are using the food to bury some other issues? If so, the key is to bring those issues up - dig for them and deal with them so you can release them.

Some food can be an addictive drug.

[donna]

@Van Congrats on your efforts!

I highly recommend taking a look at http://neverbingeagain.com. It’s a free book written by a psychologist and is fun to read. He defines a binge as anything, one bite even, off your chosen eating plan. He stresses that you choose your own plan and your own rules.

I just ordered the accompanying workbook and look forward to getting to the bottom of why I got here in the first place.

[schmidtsmia]

Thank you, Donna, for the book suggestion.

[Van]

Thanks @donna for the book suggestion.

Will check it out when I get a chance.

[Van]

Start Weight: 182 lbs
Goal Weight: 150 lbs

June 7th Weight: 166 lbs
June 8th Weight: 164.6 lbs
June 9th Weight: 166.2 lbs
June 10th Weight: 160.6 lbs
June 11th Weight: 160.4 lbs
June 12th Weight: 162 lbs
June 13th Weight: 163.6 lbs
June 14th Weight: 162.2 lbs
June 15th Weight: 166.4 lbs
June 16th Weight: 167.8 lbs
June 17th Weight: 166.4 lbs
June 18th Weight: 163.8 lbs
June 19th Weight: 163.2 lbs

Down 0.6 lbs from yesterday.

Total weight loss since June 7th: 2.8 lbs

Fasted for 22 hours and ate one meal yesterday. OMAD method seems to work for my sanity right now. Was able to go out and take an hour walk in the evening.

Will eat a meal today.

[Van]

Start Weight: 182 lbs
Goal Weight: 150 lbs

June 7th Weight: 166 lbs
June 8th Weight: 164.6 lbs
June 9th Weight: 166.2 lbs
June 10th Weight: 160.6 lbs
June 11th Weight: 160.4 lbs
June 12th Weight: 162 lbs
June 13th Weight: 163.6 lbs
June 14th Weight: 162.2 lbs
June 15th Weight: 166.4 lbs
June 16th Weight: 167.8 lbs
June 17th Weight: 166.4 lbs
June 18th Weight: 163.8 lbs
June 19th Weight: 163.2 lbs
June 20th Weight: 165.8 lbs
June 21st Weight: 163 lbs

Down 2.8 lbs from yesterday.

Total weight loss since June 7th: 3 lbs.

Just came back from boating and the beach. Beautiful weather up north. I was very conscientious on what I ate this weekend. Still doing OMAD.

Did a lot of thinking about this fasting and weight loss journey.

My goal for this week is to continue to stay under 500 calories per day. Going to try reverse dieting with OMAD: increase to 50 calories per week with OMAD. And see how I feel with my weight loss and relationship with food.

[Compdude]

I don’t recommend going 500 calories a day for more than one day.

The reason is you are falling into the “Eat Less Exercise More’ mode. It will be fine for several days as your body will make up the calorie deficit with your glycogen stores until they are exhausted but since you are eating everyday you will not drop your insulin levels to trigger ketosis. Without those critical keytones you’ll start losing lean muscle mass.

[Miramar]

I have to agree with @Compdude on this.

I think your metabolism is more likely to slow with that consistent 500 a day.

You don’t want to try alternate day and eat more on those days?

What should your daily calorie intake be at your goal weight?

You seem to be back on the down trend btw. Congrats on that!

[Van]

Thanks @Compdude and @Miramar for your concerns. Really appreciate your insight and feedback.

Due to summer schedule, I highly doubt that I would be able to maintain at 500 calories everyday. Caloric intake may go up and down, especially when I am up north on the boat and spending time with boyfriend on the weekends. This is where cycle diet comes into play: cycle diet confuses or tricks my body into thinking that there is an increase in calories or carbs so it doesn’t adapt or plateau at 500 calories per day. This is why people have found themselves losing weight after a cheat meal or cheat day during a weight plateau.

Also, with reverse dieting, I won’t be at 500 calories for long as reverse dieting focuses on slowly increasing calories per week: it works with metabolism and slowly coaxes the body to adapt to higher caloric intake. Instead of suddenly increasing my calories after a fast, I am slowly increasing it to my maintenance caloric intake at my goal weight (2000 calories per day).

[Van]

Start Weight: 182 lbs
Goal Weight: 150 lbs

Height: 5’1

Current BMI: 30.7 (Obesity)

June 7th Weight: 166 lbs
June 8th Weight: 164.6 lbs
June 9th Weight: 166.2 lbs
June 10th Weight: 160.6 lbs
June 11th Weight: 160.4 lbs
June 12th Weight: 162 lbs
June 13th Weight: 163.6 lbs
June 14th Weight: 162.2 lbs
June 15th Weight: 166.4 lbs
June 16th Weight: 167.8 lbs
June 17th Weight: 166.4 lbs
June 18th Weight: 163.8 lbs
June 19th Weight: 163.2 lbs
June 20th Weight: 165.8 lbs
June 21st Weight: 163 lbs
June 22nd Weight: 162.6 lbs

Down 0.4 lbs from yesterday.

Total weight loss since June 7th: 3.4 lbs.

I fasted for about 20 hours and ate between 5:30-6:30pm yesterday. My caloric intake was about 500 calories last evening.

My food obsession has subsided immensely since doing OMAD.

Been thinking lot about my weight loss and fasting journey. I thought about my end goal: the BIG picture.

I realized that I want to “eat to live” instead of “live to eat.” I want to enjoy life where food isn’t always on my mind. I want my meals to accommodate my lifestyle instead of accommodating my life around food. I want to finally be free and happy with my weight.

---

My goal as of 22-June-2020 with OMAD, Reverse & Cycle Diet:

Saturday (Workout/Weight Lifting Day): Start at 500 calories (Add 100 calories per week until goal of 4,000 calories)

Sunday (Lunch date with daughter): Start at 500 calories (Add 50 calories per week until goal of 2,000 calories)

Monday (Workout/Weight Lifting Day): Start at 500 calories (Add 50 calories per week until goal of 2,000 calories)

Tuesday: Fasting Day

Wednesday (Workout/Weight Lifting Day): Start at 500 calories (Add 50 calories per week until goal of 2,000 calories)

Thursday (Dinner with Bible study group): Start at 500 calories (Add 50 calories per week until goal of 2,000 calories)

Friday (Workout/Cardio Day + Dinner date with daughter): Start at 500 calories (Add 50 calories per week until goal of 2,000 calories)

---

I have not started working out yet as I want to reach a goal of 1200 calories on my workout days before I start working out. I have been taking long walks here and there to keep me sane and calm.

Lunch dates every Sunday and dinner dates every Friday night with my daughter is so important to me. We connect and bond during this time. We haven’t done any lunch or dinner dates since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. These lunch & dinner dates will resume once restaurants start to open up again. But I don’t think I will start these lunch and dinner dates until I reach a goal of 2,000 calories. In the meantime, I am bonding with my daughter at home when I am eating dinner every evening.

Dinner and Bible studies on Thursdays have not resumed yet due to pandemic. I am hoping that I will reach my goal of 2,000 calories once they do start. If goal of 2,000 calories have not been reached, I will avoid dinner for now and just attend the Bible studies.

[Van]

Start Weight: 182 lbs
Goal Weight: 150 lbs

Height: 5’1

Current BMI: 30.7 (Obesity)

June 7th Weight: 166 lbs
June 8th Weight: 164.6 lbs
June 9th Weight: 166.2 lbs
June 10th Weight: 160.6 lbs
June 11th Weight: 160.4 lbs
June 12th Weight: 162 lbs
June 13th Weight: 163.6 lbs
June 14th Weight: 162.2 lbs
June 15th Weight: 166.4 lbs
June 16th Weight: 167.8 lbs
June 17th Weight: 166.4 lbs
June 18th Weight: 163.8 lbs
June 19th Weight: 163.2 lbs
June 20th Weight: 165.8 lbs
June 21st Weight: 163 lbs
June 22nd Weight: 162.6 lbs
June 23rd Weight: 162.2 lbs

Down 0.4 lbs from yesterday.

Total weight loss since June 7th: 3.8 lbs.

Fasted for about 22 hours and ate about 1,356 calories yesterday. Ate mostly whole foods: celeries, hummus, carrots and quinoa pasta with sautéed veggies in chicken broth. Cheated a bit with 4 thin Oreos (140 calories). Goal is to stay under 500 calories today.

Food obsession is gone. I feel full and sane.

Started fast again at 7pm yesterday.

[schmidtsmia]

Well done! Thank you for posting so regularly. I like watching your journey. BTW, 1356 cal. is NOT a lot. I hope you are patting yourself on the back?

[Van]

Thanks @schmidtsmia for your support.

I felt bad in the beginning for not sticking to my 500 calorie goal last evening but realized that what I ate was healthy. Hummus and celery sticks are not bad. I am so grateful that I didn’t binge on junk food last evening.

I was bracing myself this morning as I thought that I would have gained some weight and was surprised to see it go down today.

My guilt related to food intake is something I need to deal with.

I am hoping this way of eating will help me deal with the binging of junk food and feelings of guilt related to food.

[donna]

Have you read Dr. Jason Fung’s books on fasting?

The only experience I have had with a 500-calorie diet was HCG. It worked until it didn’t. Now I recognize that restrictive eating actually slows the metabolism down instead of fasting which doesn’t. Anyway, keep learning and choose yourself first over other people.

[Van]

Start Weight: 182 lbs
Goal Weight: 150 lbs

Height: 5’1

Current BMI: 30.7 (Obesity)

June 7th Weight: 166 lbs
June 8th Weight: 164.6 lbs
June 9th Weight: 166.2 lbs
June 10th Weight: 160.6 lbs
June 11th Weight: 160.4 lbs
June 12th Weight: 162 lbs
June 13th Weight: 163.6 lbs
June 14th Weight: 162.2 lbs
June 15th Weight: 166.4 lbs
June 16th Weight: 167.8 lbs
June 17th Weight: 166.4 lbs
June 18th Weight: 163.8 lbs
June 19th Weight: 163.2 lbs
June 20th Weight: 165.8 lbs
June 21st Weight: 163 lbs
June 22nd Weight: 162.6 lbs
June 23rd Weight: 162.2 lbs
June 24th Weight: 161.8 lbs

Down 0.4 lbs from yesterday.

Total weight loss since June 7th: 4.2 lbs

Fasted for about 22 hours and ate about 1,283 calories yesterday. Ate mostly low carb food yesterday: shirataki noodles with curry broth, ground beef and lots of veggies (500 calories).

Got into a heated argument with boyfriend last night. Cried and cried and cried… And then proceeded to eat more, which resulted in extra calories. Thank goodness I had NO junk food in the house and just munched on bell peppers, rice cakes and hummus. Ate 4 thin Oreos (140 calories) again last evening.

This 500 calorie goal hasn’t been met this week BUT I am still losing weight at a steady pace.

Goal is still to try to stay under 500 calories but if not, that’s ok. My body seems to be very full at 1,200-1,300 calorie mark. Maybe it’s a hint that aggressively restricting my calories is not the way to go? Still learning through this journey.

[Miramar]

Was the argument a serious matter or something silly? A personality conflict?

Personally I’d have to remove all negative things around me. If a person i thought I cared deeply for was interjecting any negative vibrations towards me I’d have to separate from them until they could find a better way to express their feelings without projecting them on me.

Sounds like he has some of his own pent up issues. You have to take your own health and safety first. You are fasting to heal yourself. He should be supportive. JMO

[Van]

@Miramar, he thought it was silly. I thought it was something that needed to be addressed, which he later apologized for. In any way, I took your advice and took a breather from him and the situation, which helped both of us. We finally worked it out last evening.

[Van]

Start Weight: 182 lbs
Goal Weight: 150 lbs

Height: 5’1

Current BMI: 30.7 (Obesity)

June 7th Weight: 166 lbs
June 8th Weight: 164.6 lbs
June 9th Weight: 166.2 lbs
June 10th Weight: 160.6 lbs
June 11th Weight: 160.4 lbs
June 12th Weight: 162 lbs
June 13th Weight: 163.6 lbs
June 14th Weight: 162.2 lbs
June 15th Weight: 166.4 lbs
June 16th Weight: 167.8 lbs
June 17th Weight: 166.4 lbs
June 18th Weight: 163.8 lbs
June 19th Weight: 163.2 lbs
June 20th Weight: 165.8 lbs
June 21st Weight: 163 lbs
June 22nd Weight: 162.6 lbs
June 23rd Weight: 162.2 lbs
June 24th Weight: 161.8 lbs
June 25th Weight: 159.8 lbs

Down 1 lb from yesterday!!

Total weight loss since June 7th: 6.2 lbs

Fasted for about 21 hours and ate about 1,103 calories yesterday.

I feel full, happy and satisfied with current caloric intake. Eating low calorie nutrient dense foods is REALLY helping me!! This way of eating is definitely working for my weight loss and sanity. Food obsession is completely gone - I feel liberated! I have decided to scratch that crazy idea of calorie restricting at 500 calories and will continue eating around 1000-1200 calories. Will try reverse diet at 1200 calorie once I meet my goal weight.

After working out my issue with boyfriend last evening, he made a comment that he noticed that I was shrinking and that whatever I was doing, to keep it up. He was happy and proud of my progress so far.

[Miramar]

@Van

I have decided to scratch that crazy idea of calorie restricting at 500 calories

YaY!
So I just came across a couple of links pointing to how fasting can actually help increase the metabolism 20 %.

If this is true I’m stoked even more when I go ADF.

I’ll take all the speed I can get.

I’m happy you were able to find some peace for now in your relationship

So my “neighbor” who I mention from time to time I had a thing with for a while.

He over does it with beer and shots sometimes, and can get really obnoxious. I had to learn to just leave and go upstairs to my apartment and wait till morning to have a discussion about his bad behavior. He always winds up apologizing. But yeah, I have to step away from the negativity. And he’ll try to spin it sometimes like it was just silly. I put my foot down and said no more.

Found we are better off as just friends.

He came from a rough past and had never been with someone so truthful. He and I are on different paths, but he knows I’ve been a very positive influence on him.