Week 1 of Intermittent Fasting (18:6)– The Journey So Far... #adsactly #ecotrain
I am struggling with the urge to self-sabotage today. This always happens whenever I try and lose weight, I do the complete opposite of what I am supposed to do, eg I eat loads of bread or sweets or whatever it is I am supposed to be avoiding. I always feel guilty afterwards and give up on the whole process, thinking I am not able to follow the diet and binge-eat even more crap!
Today, the 'evil food slip' was a packet of crisps! (Potato chips)
18:6 Intermittent Fasting is working in my favour today because although I have slipped and have eaten a packet of prawn cocktail crisps this afternoon, I suddenly realised that it was the afternoon and I was still within my times! Granted, crisps have zero nutritional value and I might as well be eating lard, but I have still managed to stick to my eating plan i.e. eating between my specified times.
With IF, they say you can eat whatever you wish as long as it is within the eating time frame. Calorie counting is not a necessity. I have however been really strict with myself from the beginning and have been eating only clean foods so in reality, 1 packet of crisps is no big deal!
Granted, it is an extra 100 calories that I really didn’t need, but it got me over the urge to eat crap and I don't feel guilty about eating them. The temptation to binge due to failure hasn’t taken hold because the eating plan is about timing, not food types!
So what triggered this craving or urge to eat crappy foods? It could be a number of things. Physically I have not felt great today. Earlier, I had a dizzy spell and was sick (these happen regularly for me due to my thyroid disease). I then slept for about 2 hours and have not left the house. It was when I woke up that I had the urge to eat the crisps, so it was possibly a comfort issue.
The other option could be that it is psychological. I weighed myself for the first time in a few weeks today and I have lost 4lbs! I don’t like to weigh myself too often because if I see progress, I tend to lapse back into my old ways (I don’t understand why). Self-sabotage I guess.
So we are at almost a week of 18:6 Intermittent Fasting. I have had a few obstacles to overcome: mid-morning hunger, cutting out sugary snacks and self-sabotage. BUT I have been successful! I am down 4lbs (probably not all lost this week though) and I have stuck to my schedule. It is getting easier to do, I am not thinking about the time now until around 11am when my stomach starts to grumble at me.
All in all, I would say this week has been a great success! I am starting to understand my habbits more and able to stick to a simple, flexible nutrition guideline that can be sustained in the long term, rather than a restrictive diet. I have a good feeling about this!
Week 1 results: 4lbs down!
Thank you for reading, much love @beautifulbullies xx
(Thank you to unsplash.com for the free images)
Awesome! I've achieved a 19:5 day last week, but I've already cut a lot of carbs and sugars months before, so I find my blood levels are so stable the fasting isn't that hard :-) I'm never 'really' hungry anymore. Cutting carbs is the easiest way to never feel desperately in need of food anymore.
Do you do 18:6 7 days a week or maybe alternate days or...? :-) Good luck babe, you're doing great!
That is amazing, well done! Hopefully my body will get used to it soon too :D It looks like there are a few of us on this WOE, perhaps we ought to start a support club! :D
Yes, I have found cutting out carbs has been fairly easy too! probably because whenever I eat them, I swell up like a balloon lol
I have been doing 18:6 every day since I started. I think if I do alternate days, I will give up on the process because it will be an added complication! I know this sounds silly but this is working for me really well due to just how simple it is to follow.
I am wondering whether to swap to 16:8 though just because I am finding it hard to go those extra 2 hours. 16:8 would be my natural rhythm now that I am getting used to it.
well though i am not so much into being diet concious...
I eat whatever i want to..
But i must day i keep control on my body by jogging in the morning.
That really helps me..
I wish I could jog but unfortunately I can't. My asthma is one issue and I have also damaged my foot in the past which has left me unable to do any strenuous exercise on my foot. I can walk but I have to walk slowly and carefully with supportive shoes.
oh ho thats really sad @beautifulbullies...
yoga might be able to help you with asthma..
Do try om vilom
that would definitely help you for asthma
yeah well done @beautifulbullies, you are doing great. xx
Thank you! 😀 I am really pleased with the results so far xx
yes babe, you can do it! I was inspired by your post and have been doing IF since yesterday, so two days down!
I have been reading everything i can get my hands on about it, and it really does seem to be more about the timing than about what you are eating. Of course it doesn't mean you can eat 100 candy bars in that eight hours, but I think it is a great plan with some leeway. I'm finding that drinking black coffee in the morning is really helping to "replace" my breakfast craving.
Keep us updated!
One bag of crisps is perfectly fine, I often think that we do need one or two small treats a week to get through a diet xx
That is awesome, well done! We can do this together! :D I know there will be up and down days and this was the only down day I have had in the first week, so I think that has to be pretty good. The more I read about IF the more I understand the benefits of giving my body a break from eating and allowing it to heal itself naturally! Obviously I started this because of weight loss, but I am wondering if it will help boost my slow metabolism that is caused by my under active thyroid! If it does, that will be a double bonus! I am excited to see where we are in a month! xx
Congrats on the experiment. In no time, you won't even really be craving the snacks and cheats.
Its actually a bit remarkable when you begin to notice their absence. I'm just over a month of doing a 16/8 IF schedule and it gets easier with time.
The tricky part is how much of an impact it can have on your social life since so much of human social interaction revolves around food.
Thank You! :) That is not too much of an issue for me as my social circle is small and it is based around meeting up with all of our bulldogs for a walk rather than in a restaurant lol I really am pleased with how (I want to say easy, but it hasn't been) smooth a transition it has been. How have you found the impact on your health so far?
Well done, you are getting there. Keep it up, one day soon you will be even hardly craving for chips. Goodluck. X
Thank you @sherylneil! I hope you are right :D
4lbs is good, well done. I am the same with self - sabotage, I start off great then get the binge attack.. take one day at a time :)
Thank you! :) I really don't understand why we do it! It doesn't make sense but I really have no self control when it happens, it is bizarre!
My hands and mouth do the opposite of hat I am thinking, wish i was more disciplined. I always let myself down
upvote for me please? https://steemit.com/news/@bible.com/2sysip
Congratulations! This post has been upvoted from the communal account, @minnowsupport, by beautifulbullies (bulldogs) from the Minnow Support Project. It's a witness project run by aggroed, ausbitbank, teamsteem, theprophet0, someguy123, neoxian, followbtcnews, and netuoso. The goal is to help Steemit grow by supporting Minnows. Please find us at the Peace, Abundance, and Liberty Network (PALnet) Discord Channel. It's a completely public and open space to all members of the Steemit community who voluntarily choose to be there.
If you would like to delegate to the Minnow Support Project you can do so by clicking on the following links: 50SP, 100SP, 250SP, 500SP, 1000SP, 5000SP.
Be sure to leave at least 50SP undelegated on your account.