How I Lost Weight by Intermittent Fasting

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My weight loss journey did not start with dieting. In fact, going on a diet was never part of my plan. Hello, food is lifest noh! I just wanted to improve my physical fitness by to going back to the gym. So while my fitness was improving significantly, my weight loss was progressing abysmally. I realized that somehow, it's such a waste to be working so hard at the gym if I'm not really seeing concrete results. So in January 2018, I decided to skip dinner as an attempt to lessen my calorie intake. That time, I did not know that what I was doing was already Intermittent Fasting.

What is intermittent fasting?

Intermittent fasting is actually not a diet. It is an eating pattern or a cycle wherein you divide your day into two: eating/feasting hours and non-eating/fasting hours. It does not restrict you of what food to eat; rather, it only tells you when you should eat.



There are different methods of fasting. There's the 16:8 method wherein you fast for 16 hours and give yourself an eight-hour eating window. There's the 5:2 method which allows regular and unrestricted eating for five days, but you'd have two low-calorie-intake days where you're only allowed to consume 500-600 calories. There's also the OMAD (one meal a day) method, which is self-explanatory and lastly, there's the extreme fasting method where people do not eat for 24 hours straight; some even extend their fast for several days! Case in point: Erwan Heussaff who did the 7-Day Water Fast.

Source: Erwan Heussaff's Blog, The Fat Kid Inside

How to start intermittent fasting?

The first step to take is to check whether your body could take this kind of eating pattern. It is definitely NOT recommended for pregnant women, people who are underweight, and those who have diabetes and other illnesses. Consult your physician about it and once cleared, only then can you start with the second step which is deciding on the method that will work for you.

Next is to plan your eating pattern. In my case, the 16:8 method was the easy choice. So since I started to skip dinner and I'm not really a breakfast person, that's easily 16 hours of fasting for me. What I did was to feast from 10am to 6pm (8 hours) and fast from 6pm to 10am (16 hours). Sixteen hours of fasting might seem like an eternity, but it's actually not since you're going to be asleep for eight hours anyway. That means, you're only going to skip eating for four hours before bedtime and then another four hours after waking up. On days that I feel extra, I do 24-hour fasting. That's usually once a week and during the weekends so that I'm not really doing anything and I could just sleep the hunger away.




If you've chosen the 5:2 method, then plan your week ahead. Determine the two days you want to allot for fasting, which do not have to be consecutive days. If you've decided to do the OMAD method, then decide on the sole meal you're going to eat for the day: would it be your breakfast? lunch? dinner?

Once you've started your pattern, try to get accustomed to it and maintain it until you've reach your desired body weight. It's going to be tough at first because after all, you are starving yourself methodologically. So the first few days or weeks would be a brutal mental battle. Also, you still have to watch what you're eating. Weight loss entails a caloric deficit, meaning, kailangan mo magbawas ng calories from food. Hindi porket naka-IF ka, pwede ka na lumafang to your heart's extent.

How much weight do you lose when intermittent fasting?

This was how my weight was reduced during the time I was fasting. Note that while I was losing weight because of fasting, I was also gaining muscles because I continued lifting weights during those time. I am not certain if people who are not working out and gaining muscles would reach the same results. I also maintained a 1200 calorie intake each day, so definitely, the results would vary because our bodies are different and we have different caloric needs. Just always remember that when you want to lose weight, you have to cut down on the calories.




Anyway, let's use my weight in December 2017 as my starting weight. It was 131.6 lbs. I started my IF journey in January 2018.

January 2018 -- 129 lbs
February 2018 -- 125.8 lbs
March 2018 -- 122.8 lbs
April 2018 -- 120 lbs

Overall, that's around 12 lbs lost in four months. In May, I stopped fasting because I got too overwhelmed with the weight loss. One friend kept asking me if I got sick because I lost weight. Some would tell me I looked very "tuyot," but there were also people who commended me for successfully losing that amount of body fat. As for me, I did not really like my overly thin face. Masyado akong mukhang bungo, so I decided to just maintain my weight at 125 lbs.

May 2018: Payatot and tuyot phase

Should you do intermittent fasting too?

That really depends. We all have different bodies and our bodies respond to things differently. But if you really want to lose weight, I'd say this method really worked for me. A word of warning, though: it is a grueling process. Intermittent fasting is not for the weak. Kung takot ka magutom, beshie, di pwede sa iyo ito. Kung hindi malakas ang will power mo, di ka magsusucceed dito. Kung ang mga tao sa paligid mo ay kain ng kain bawat oras, mahihirapan kang gawin ito.

Why did it work for me?

I think it worked for me because I did not have to give up any food that I love. I just had to be wise about my food intake. For example, if I wanted to eat chocolates on a particular day, then I'd have to cut down on my rice intake or I'd have to give up my snacks na lang. Hindi ako naging super healthy eater; as I've said, naging mas wais lang ako because I don't believe in depriving myself of things I want to eat. Ang hirap na nga magdiet as it is, ayaw ko namang lalong ma-discourage magdiet dahil I can't eat what I want. I also tried hard to avoid drinking my calories. Meaning, I cut down on coffee, soft drinks, juices, etc. Imbes na inumin ko, kakain na lang ako ng food para mas busog and mas sulit yung calorie intake, di ba? Nagbawas din ako ng junk food. Nuknukan ng hirap, pero kinaya naman.

So, ikaw? Desidido ka na bang mag IF? I highly suggest that you do further research about this weight loss method online so that you'd know the advantages and disadvantages of doing it. But if you're already decided about doing this weight loss method, then may the force be with you! Aja!

   
TOUGH TIMES NEVER LAST
TOUGH PEOPLE DO
★ HAPPIDEZZ