Hello, October!
I finally swallowed my fear of the scale and weighed in this morning. I mean, if I'm going to see if this intermittent fasting actually works (which I already believe it does given the last three weeks of fasting and how my clothes are fitting), I want to see some actual numerical proof. The last time I weighed in was just over a year ago, at the end of the Pacific coast ride, after thirty-two days of cycling sixty-five miles a day, burning anywhere from 2500 to 4000 calories a day. That kind of daily exercise is a sure way to lose weight. But I'm not doing anything near that level of activity, so I've been a bit apprehensive about getting on the scale. A year ago, I was at 144 pounds. This morning the scale said 145 pounds. Whew. Not bad.
The year with the kids did put some extra pounds on my frame. Lovely Beautiful Daughter is all about hearty meals, especially during the colder months. She would fix pastas, potatoes, and all kinds of other starchy, carbohydrates rich meals. I couldn't bring myself to not eat what she took time to make for all of us, so I indulged, enjoying every single luscious bite of food. However, when not exercising regularly, this is a recipe for weight gain. By April of this year I was very uncomfortable in my clothes.
So when Angel Baby and I moved into the smaller apartment, I took the opportunity to change my eating habits. I cut out the carbs again. I upped the exercise by walking further with Ado each morning and evening. And of course, the cycling started with the warmer weather. This all definitely helped me get my "year of Lovely Beautiful Daughter's wonderful cooking" pounds off. And the intermittent fasting along with cycling to work most days is helping even further.
Now I want to see if the intermittent fasting does the trick to get a few more pounds to melt away. I'm really happy with the 18/6 routine: 18 hours of fasting each day and a six hour window of eating. This seems to work well for me. I eat lunch. Then I eat dinner. And I have dessert nearly every day, so it's not like I'm depriving myself of fun, guilty-pleasure kinds of foods. If anything, I'm eating things I had totally cut out for several years, like pizza. Now I eat the entire slice rather than just the toppings. I also made a British sponge cake over the weekend and had a slice of it Saturday and Sunday. Totally not deprived of yummy goodness, though I am eating yummy goodness in moderation.
Just for fun I started doing a 24 hour fast from 6 pm Sunday evening to 6 pm Monday evening. I've done this twice, and both times I felt just fine. Presently, I'm nearing the eighteenth hour of my third 24 hour fast. I think the one aspect of fasting that I really enjoy is the discipline that is involved. There are moments when I feel truly hungry, but I'm learning to explore the sensation rather than let it overwhelm me. What's interesting is when I do acknowledge the hunger, examine it from different angles, it's like the feeling is happy I know it's there, but then it disappears. I've come to enjoy the hungry sensation, too. Call me crazy, but I find it life affirming.
In a month, I'll weigh in again. I can already feel that part of me that really wants to see the number go down. Like by five pounds. But the rational side of me is screaming, "STOP! Whatever it is is what it is. So just STOP!" I'm working on accepting myself just as I am, but after a lifetime of constant "you can do better" and "you have to look a certain way" I still find myself thinking anything other than what I've deemed acceptable is failure, so still a ways to go to truly accepting the me I am.
Another milestone today: four months of being carfree! Yay! I love, love, love not having a car to worry about. Not having that hunk of metal around my neck is truly liberating. And the bus rides -- never a dull moment. The walks home from Uptown station -- relaxing. The bike rides to work then home -- meditative. I see more, hear more, interact with others more all because of going carfree.
The year with the kids did put some extra pounds on my frame. Lovely Beautiful Daughter is all about hearty meals, especially during the colder months. She would fix pastas, potatoes, and all kinds of other starchy, carbohydrates rich meals. I couldn't bring myself to not eat what she took time to make for all of us, so I indulged, enjoying every single luscious bite of food. However, when not exercising regularly, this is a recipe for weight gain. By April of this year I was very uncomfortable in my clothes.
So when Angel Baby and I moved into the smaller apartment, I took the opportunity to change my eating habits. I cut out the carbs again. I upped the exercise by walking further with Ado each morning and evening. And of course, the cycling started with the warmer weather. This all definitely helped me get my "year of Lovely Beautiful Daughter's wonderful cooking" pounds off. And the intermittent fasting along with cycling to work most days is helping even further.
Now I want to see if the intermittent fasting does the trick to get a few more pounds to melt away. I'm really happy with the 18/6 routine: 18 hours of fasting each day and a six hour window of eating. This seems to work well for me. I eat lunch. Then I eat dinner. And I have dessert nearly every day, so it's not like I'm depriving myself of fun, guilty-pleasure kinds of foods. If anything, I'm eating things I had totally cut out for several years, like pizza. Now I eat the entire slice rather than just the toppings. I also made a British sponge cake over the weekend and had a slice of it Saturday and Sunday. Totally not deprived of yummy goodness, though I am eating yummy goodness in moderation.
Just for fun I started doing a 24 hour fast from 6 pm Sunday evening to 6 pm Monday evening. I've done this twice, and both times I felt just fine. Presently, I'm nearing the eighteenth hour of my third 24 hour fast. I think the one aspect of fasting that I really enjoy is the discipline that is involved. There are moments when I feel truly hungry, but I'm learning to explore the sensation rather than let it overwhelm me. What's interesting is when I do acknowledge the hunger, examine it from different angles, it's like the feeling is happy I know it's there, but then it disappears. I've come to enjoy the hungry sensation, too. Call me crazy, but I find it life affirming.
In a month, I'll weigh in again. I can already feel that part of me that really wants to see the number go down. Like by five pounds. But the rational side of me is screaming, "STOP! Whatever it is is what it is. So just STOP!" I'm working on accepting myself just as I am, but after a lifetime of constant "you can do better" and "you have to look a certain way" I still find myself thinking anything other than what I've deemed acceptable is failure, so still a ways to go to truly accepting the me I am.
Another milestone today: four months of being carfree! Yay! I love, love, love not having a car to worry about. Not having that hunk of metal around my neck is truly liberating. And the bus rides -- never a dull moment. The walks home from Uptown station -- relaxing. The bike rides to work then home -- meditative. I see more, hear more, interact with others more all because of going carfree.
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