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My Intermittent Fasting Journey

My progress on Intermittent Fasting will be posted here with updates on my weight being posted daily, and with updates on my waist size and body fat content being posted on a weekly basis on a Monday. My weigh-in day was a Monday but I will now be weighing in every day in order to keep everything on track, and I now fast on a Monday on most weeks (although that will often change depending upon my circumstances at that time). More information about my weight loss background and my goals for the future on intermittent fasting can be found on my first forum posting which can be seen by clicking here.

Day 85 - 25th Fasting Day

by johncs2013 on 12 Nov 2013, 07:46

Current Weight: 71.5kg (11 stone 4 pounds)

Last Night's BP Readings:-

Reading 1 (taken at 10:21pm GMT on 11 Nov 2013): 143/85 (Pulse: 52)
Reading 2 (taken at 10:24pm GMT on 11 Nov 2013): 137/80 (Pulse: 51)
Reading 3 (taken at 10:27pm GMT on 11 Nov 2013): 143/82 (Pulse: 50)

This Morning's BP Readings:-

Reading 1 (taken at 6:16am GMT on 12 Nov 2013): 144/80 (Pulse: 55)
Reading 2 (taken at 6:19am GMT on 12 Nov 2013): 140/79 (Pulse: 53)
Reading 3 (taken at 6:22am GMT on 12 Nov 2013): 141/77 (Pulse: 53)

I mentioned in a response to yesterday's weekly blog entry being a long one, that I would look into writing daily blog entries wherever possibly in line with how a few other members of this forum report their progress. Firstly, I started this WOL on 19 August 2013, and that day was chosen because it was the last official weigh-in day (I was still only weighing myself once a week then) before my first fasting day.

I began by fasting on Tuesdays and Fridays and so, Tuesday 20th August 2013 was my first official fasting day. Altogether, I have now followed this WOL for 85 days altogether. My first week on this WOL was actually a 6:1 week, as I got gradually got used to consuming fewer calories on my fasting days. That means that my first official fasting day was really just a day of a reduced calorie intake of about 1000 calories.

It was therefore, on Friday 23rd August 2013 that I successfully completed my first proper 600 calorie fasting day. That means that I have actually completed 25 fasting days altogether, and 60 feeding days through this WOL. Those forum members who write daily blogs will note down their weight on each day, and this is where I will differ a little bit because whilst the weight that I note down will be my current weight at the time of writing, I am aware that this weight will have come as a result of whether or not the previous day was a fasting day and so, the title of my daily blogs will be based on the previous day's events rather than on the day which I have just entered.

Since yesterday was a fasting day, that is reflected in the title of this blog entry. I have generally been a bit more relaxed and my blood pressure results over the weekend seemed to show that a bit. Yesterday morning's BP results (which are not included here since they came after a feeding day), all showed a systolic BP in the 130s range with just one reading having a systolic BP of 140.

The day started with an Aquafit session (which is really just water aerobics) which is good because whilst this burns the fewest number of calories out of all of my fitness activities, it has various other health benefits. The fact that this burns the fewest calories is the reason why that is the activity that I do on that day, because that then allows me to wind down a little bit after my much heavier sessions over the weekend without going into a complete rest day.

Foodwise, I had two scrambled eggs and two pieces of cold meat for lunch, followed by a small beef steak with some salad for my evening meal. My liquid intake then consisted of green tea and water throughout the day. My sleep pattern then went OK. I went to bed just before 11pm, and managed to get to sleep fairly quickly. I can only remember getting up to go to the toilet on a couple of occasions during the night, and it wasn't until just before 6am this morning, that I then woke up.

When I did wake up this morning, I did my daily weigh-in and discovered that once again, I have set a new all time record for my lowest ever weight which now stands at 71.5kg (11 stone 4 pounds). Since that came after a fasting day that was preceded by two feeding days, that was a nice endorsement of my decision to switch back to 5:2 this week, from the 4:3 routine that I did last week.

However, the blood pressure continues to cause concerns for me because this morning's readings are still too high for my liking despite the fact that there is less adrenalin around (as a result of me feeling more relaxed) than what there was at the same time last week. My blood pressure reading are not as bad as what they were a week ago but when I'm feeling more relaxed, these reading should be coming out lower than what they are showing.

Having said that though, I know that fasting raises the cortisol levels and I have always noticed my blood pressure going up with each fasting day because of that. I am enjoying my weight loss journey and if this current rate of weight loss continues, there is a good chance that I could end up recording a weight of below 70kg that shows a weight of 10 stone something after one of my fasting days before Christmas, although this still unlikely to happen with my non fasting maximum weight (that could still come in though, at just above around 11 stone by Christmas).

However, there is no actual need for me to lose weight as my BMI, waist size and body fat levels are all within the healthy range already. However, my blood pressure has to come down at some point, and that means that I will be looking at ways towards minimising the stress levels in order to provide the best opportunities for that to happen.

That means that I will probably end up doing less fasting over time in order to minimise the resulting increases in cortisol levels, although I will still be trying to do this in a manner that will still allow me to at least, maintain my current weight over time. What this means that I will continue to closely monitor my blood pressure and if I still see no further improvements with that, I will be switching from 5:2 to 6:1 as soon as possible regardless of what my weight is doing then because to me, dealing with my blood pressure now has to be the biggest priority over everything else.

Hopefully, that will be the best way forwards for keeping stress levels to a minimum, and keeping my overall health as good as possible as a result.

Height: 5ft 8in

Lower Trend Weight Limit: 70.0kg (11 stone 0 pounds)
Upper Trend Weight Limit: 73.0kg (11 stone 7 pounds)

Last Weigh-in Date: 1 Mar 2014

Actual Weight: 74.3kg (11 stone 9.8 pounds)
Trend Weight: 72.6kg (11 stone 6.0 pounds)

Body Mass Index: 24.83 (actual) / 24.26 (trend)

Current Method: No Fasting
Low Calorie Days: As Required


Trend weights calculated from Libra Android App
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