Intermittent Fasting: Day 1

Being a person that loves food, I sometimes tend to go overboard, which means, my weight starts creeping up.  Growing up I was always very skinny, no matter what or how much I ate I wouldn't gain a gram.  That all changed after I hit 25.  The weight started coming on, a few grams at a time.  I wouldn't call myself fat, but I am conscious that I can't eat anything I want, whenever I want, without paying the consequences.

Why intermittent fasting?

I have tried various diets in the past, they kind of worked for a while till I stopped dieting and then it all came back much quicker than it left.  About a year ago I did 5 weeks of intermittent fasting.  The basic rule is 2 days on and 5 days off (that is you fast on 2 days and you eat normal for 5 days).  On the days you fast, you keep it under 500 calories; on the days you don't, you eat normal.

Last year I did 3 days on and 4 days off where I lost around 4 kg.  I'm also happy to say that after I stopped, I maybe gained half kilo back.... so that was a big difference compared to other diets.

I have now decided to give it another go.  Last November I kind of started it, lasted 2 weeks and then gave up.  Too many occasions were coming along with lots of delicious food and I couldn't cope.
Then the holidays came around and after that it's January..... cold and gloomy weather and all I thought about was hibernating.  So now it's February and yes, it's still cold and gloomy, but I want to get out of the winter dip and stop chomping down on chocolate to make me feel better.
So I thought why not give fasting another go?  If not nothing else, it keeps me eating healthier and losing some fat is always welcome.  This time round, I thought I'd write about it.  I guess committing it publicly, even if people don't know me, will help me keep it up.

Day 1

Yesterday was my first day.  During the morning hours I had 2 coffees with little skimmed milk and no sugar.  In the afternoon I had an apple and I had vegetable and beef soup for an early dinner (around 17:30 hrs).  I calculate this to be around 426 calories.  I have to say in the evening I was itching to eat something else, these were 2 mandarins in the fruit bowl staring at me, but I managed to avoid it.

Exercise

I won't say I'm a couch potato, however I'm not very physically active.  To help me out, I'm using a step counter to make sure I move enough.  My daily target is 10,000 steps a day.  I've read somewhere that this is a good target which will help you stay healthy.

Yesterday it was a bit of a lazy day, I only did 4303 steps.  I was a bit grumpy because I had to restrict my food intake.  From experience I know the first week is hard because you have to adjust your eating pattern.... but I know what with patience, it will pass and I will be emotionally feeling much better in 2 to 3 weeks.... especially when I see the weight going down.

With regards to other exercise, I'm considering (but not yet committing) to some light toning up exercises.  I have a weak back, had surgery 3 years or so ago (I try to wipe the whole experience from my memory) because one of the discs in my spine was broken and had pushed my spinal nerve to the side (read daily excruciating pain here).  Therefore I don't dare do anything with weights or any particular movements that put strain on my lower back.


So anyway, so conclude my post about yesterday, overall I survived it pretty well.  I'll try to post something every day about what I'm doing, might be short posts but let's see how it goes.

If anyone is reading this, would love to hear your comments (please be kind!)

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Summary of the day

• Current Weight        66.6 kg
• Calories eaten         426
• Calories burned       1686
• Steps                       4303