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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.

Time To Repair The Festive Damage

by johncs2013 on 06 Jan 2014, 07:46

Current Actual Weight: 75.6kg (11 stone 13 pounds)
Current Trend Weight: 75.0kg (11 stone 11 pounds)

Current Waist Size: 31.6 inches
Current Body Fat Percentage: 13.84%
Lowest Blood Pressure Reading: 138 over 82 (Pulse 62)

Since this is my first blog post of 2014, I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a Happy New Year. Whether you are a member of this forum following this WOL or someone who is not a member of this forum, but who is either following this WOL or thinking about doing so, I hope that 2014 will be a healthy and prosperous year for you, regardless of your aims and motives for the year ahead.

All of you who are reading this will have noticed that I have been missing from this forum over the festive period. However, I did mention in my last blog post of 2013 that I would be taking a break from this WOL and from my health regime in general over the festive season. At the same time, I also mentioned in that post, that I would be returning as from today, to assess the damage that has been inflicted over the festive season and then, to repair the damage from that.

Given that my previous last recorded weight was 68.5kg, you will notice that there has been quite a bit of damage there which needs to be repaired. However, this is a brand new year and because of that, the results of today's weigh-in will not go down in terms of any loss or gain from any previous weigh-in. Instead, that will go down just as my starting weight for this year which in turn, will allow me to start afresh for this year.

The above data will still be added to my data from last year on the progress tracker as usual. Apart from that though, the actions which I take from now on will be as though I were starting this WOL all over again from scratch as a new user of this forum. The only difference is that I have had some previous experience of this WOL from last year, and I will be using that experience to guide me through this year. After my last weigh-in of 2013, I spent a few days at my mother's house in Hawick and came back from there on Friday 27 December 2013. I then had a fairly quite New Year at home.

During my fortnight away from this WOL, I indulged in all of the carbs which I enjoy and since I spent a large part of the latter part of last year on this forum defending those carbs in amongst all of the opposition to that on this forum, I made sure that I enjoyed all of those extra carbs to the full. During Christmas and New Year, there was also some alcohol intake although I was never drunk at any time. In the end though, the carb intake ended up being vastly over-done and with that, I have ended up with a bloated stomach and a large gain in water weight.

Nevertheless, my weight is still under 12 stone and I am still a pound lighter than what I was when I first started this WOL last August, and that is actually close to the weight which I was maintaining for most of last year before beginning this WOL with what I thought at the time, was a healthy diet. That is despite the fact that I have eaten like a pig throughout the last fortnight, and that is something which is really amazing. Furthermore, my blood pressure is nowhere near as bad as what I was expecting this morning, and is actually no worse than what I have been recording whilst I have been following this WOL.

However, my weight has now jumped up to well above the upper limit of my normal weight maintenance range, and that means that I will now need at least one 5:2 week to bring that back down again. My strategy for this year will then be the same as before (since I don't believe in changing something which is working quite well for me), but with one or two modifications following the events of the end of last year. Part of that strategy will involve a switch to 6:1 and back into weight maintenance once I record a weight at a weekly weigh-in on a Monday, which is less than 11 and a half stone. For now though, I will be fasting today and after that, I will then be fasting again on Thursday.

Since I haven't exercised at all over the last fortnight (that will start up again today with an Aquafit session which will help me to gradually wean myself back into that), there will be a little bit of that festive weight gain that has been caused by an increase in body fat. However, most of that weight gain will probably be due to an in increase in water weight and if you were to take that out of the equation, the weight gain that is left and which is due to an increase in body fat, would probably not even be enough for my current weight to be above 11 stone, given that my weight was so low before Christmas. Because of that, I don't expect to be doing 5:2 for more than a week or so, before switching back into weight maintenance mode. That is why I am not scared of such a weight gain any more and although I am rather bloated with all of the carbs that I have been eating, that feels no worse to me than the hunger pangs that I get when I am fasting.

when I recorded a weight of 10 stone 11 pounds just before Christmas, my body fat percentage was almost down at 10% which meant that I was actually classed as slightly underweight according to my body fat percentage. According to my body mass index, I was just above the middle of the ‘normal’ range at that weight. However, it is always the body fat percentage which is the most important measurement when it comes to assessing one’s overall health. That means that for me, my weight really needs to remain above 11 stone in order to guarantee that my body fat percentage is within the healthy range for that. That in turn, is the reason why I have set the bottom of my normal weight maintenance range to be 11 stone. On the other hand, I found out before starting 5:2 that I can easily maintain a weight of less than 12 stone with even a high carb intake and for most of last year, that was what I was doing. However, the amount of water weight that I gain or lose always depends on my carb intake so that the lower my carb intake is, the more water weight I end up losing and that also has an impact on my body fat percentage.

If I eat a high carb intake, I will tend to feel more bloated but although that will result in a higher weight, my weight will still usually be below 12 stone. The problem which I have with eating what would considered to be a low carb diet according to those who follow such a diet on this forum, is that I would then lose so much water weight (which would then bring my weight down to well below 11 stone) that I would then be classed as underweight according to my body fat percentage. Since it is my body fat percentage that is the most important statistic for assessing my overall health, I don't want to go down that road. However, I am also aware that most people on this forum probably have a higher body fat content than me, and therefore need to be on a low carb diet in order to minimise their body fat content. From that, I can see why people on this forum are so generally opposed to eating a lot of carbs. However, I am aware that eating too many carbs does make me feel bloated with a massive gain in water weight, therefore increasing my body fat percentage.

When all of those factors are taken into consideration and as my means of compromise which will hopefully avoid upsetting the real low carbers on this forum, my aim for the year ahead will be to go for a low to medium carb intake, rather than a very low carb intake. With that, my carb intake will still form the lowest part on average, of all of the main nutrient groups in my diet for this year. Now, my final weigh-in of 2013 saw my weight drop to below the lower limit of my weight maintenance range. That happens because when I am on 6:1, I still usually end up losing more weight as a result of being more careful on my feeding days. For this year, I will now act on occasions like that by taking a break from fasting altogether on those weeks where my weight drops to below 11 stone.

Whenever I take a break from fasting, I always gain weight as a result of that and in the case of those weeks where my weight does drop to below 11 stone, such a weight gain will then help to ensure that my weight goes back up to 11 stone or more. The end of this is that in the end, I will then end up maintaining a weight of between 11 stone and 11 and a half stone, no matter what happens in the longer term. So, those are my plans for this year. I have been feeling bloated for a while and tried to act on that on Saturday by attempting an extra fasting day before my official return to this WOL. That started off really well because I skipped breakfast that day, and had some cold meat and scrambled eggs for lunch. However, that then fell apart in the afternoon as I then succumbed to some hot dogs and chocolate ice cream. That is the first time ever, that I have intended to fast, but failed to do so and with that, I am aware that my first fast day after returning to this WOL will be more difficult than normal.

However, I knew that I would be at least, trying to fast today which meant that yesterday had to be a feeding day. That has meant that once I started eating on Saturday, I wasn't able to stop eating throughout yesterday. As it turns out though, Saturday's failed attempt at a fast doesn't actually matter because it is from today that the serious work really starts for this year. Until now, I have never failed to do anything that I have absolutely had to do when it comes to this WOL and my overall health regime. Because of that, I am more confident about getting a successful fast in today and once I get that first fast in, I will then be confident of achieving some good results from this WOL in the year ahead.

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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