I just finished week 5 of intermittent fasting, IF, and I have not lost a lot more weight according to the scales. In fact, I am up one pound from last week. The scales have always been my enemy in life. I can workout, cut calories, walk, cut out sweets, etc. and the scales just glare at me and I get so defeated. When I started this IF I wasn't really expecting quick results. Gin Stephens says in her book that slow and steady is the way of IF. I was ready to be patient and wait for the fruit of my labors. I could feel in my clothes that things were fitting better. I caught myself looking down at my lap while sitting on the couch. My belly was so much smaller. How could that be since I had failed, according to the scales. However, with IF, I also do my body measurements about every two weeks. So, I thought I would check my measurements just to see if there was a difference in the numbers, or if I was just imagining it.
When I started this journey on August 1, 2020 I took my basic measurements as Gin recommended: chest, waist, hips, right and left thigh and right and left bicep ( I have the old lady bat wings.) I wondered why it was important to measure each side for my thighs and arms, but now I understand. The body is naturally a little bigger on one side than it is the other. I believe your dominant side is bigger, not sure. Anyway, I decided to do my measurements this morning. I know I measured on 8/28 and found I had lost 3 total inches in my measurements. I wasn't expecting a big difference, but today, I had a total of 7 1/4 inches less on my body. That is huge! I am so motivated to stick with this IF.
I truly feel like I have found what my body has needed all of these years. I tend to store fat real easily, apparently. I just needed to give my body the opportunity to burn up that fat on its own without any insulin triggers. Since I had my lap band surgery in 2009, I have not been able to eat very much at a time. So, portions have not been my problem. I usually do well with food choice, although we all have times where we choose pizza or a McDonald's cheeseburger over a salad. I still wasn't having the success with the lap band like I am having with IF. I do drink a lot of water. I also like Crystal light or sugar free lemonade, fruit or cucumber in my water, and I LOVE my coffee with Truvia and creamer. I think I have found that these items I was drinking, even though all of them were low calorie, except for the creamer, were my enemy. If you read Fast.Feast. Repeat. by Gin Stephens, you will learn why sugar free drinks are not helpful. They still trick your body into thinking you are eating or drinking something that it needs to produce insulin to combat. When it can't find anything the insulin keeps you from using your fat reserves to burn. This article, along with Gin's book explains this process better than I can.
There are many kinds of IF programs out there, but make sure you are doing the clean fast if you want good results. Clean fast =unsweetened and unflavored tea or coffee and water. No fruit allowed in the water and no zero calorie mixes. I do not even take my chewable calcium tablets during my fast times. No sugar free gum or mints. It is a sacrifice, but one that has been worth it for me.
