So it's been a little bit, but I decided to make this post an update on my intermittent fasting cause it's getting exciting now. And with my update I'd like to share some things I've learned through trial and error along the way.
That way someone else out there wanting to give this a try doesn't have to learn the hard way like I did and you'll get your results faster. So here we go...
I'll start with the fact that I'm still doing the 16:8 IF schedule, and that works for me. However, now I try ending my fast at 12 p.m. instead of two and then begin again at 8 p.m.. Sometimes I start later, too. It just depends on the day, but this is basically what I've been doing and it works for me. My body has adjusted to this routine.
Where I went wrong the first four weeks...trying to fast with a little bit of cream and sugar in my coffee. Before I did this, I found that you could do just a tad, like a teaspoon of cream and sugar but it's still not as good as a full fast without any sugar whatsoever. Well, I learned the hard way. I saw some results, but not like I did when I finally sacrificed my morning cup of coffee.
Before I explain, let me add that you can still have your coffee if you like it black. I just can't do this, so I trained my body to get up and move with just water or plain green tea and voila, my body is just fine. Actually, lately I've been trying green tea with cinnamon which this doctor says helps to speed up weight loss.
I never thought I'd see the day where I could wake up and get going without my cup of coffee doused in cream and sugar. But waiting till 12-1 gives me something to look forward to when I finally have that cup of coffee the way I like it and it makes me feel like I earned it. At first as I began to cut back on sugar, I did experience an increase in headaches, which I believe was a combination of stress in my life but also sugar leaving my body.
Not getting as many headaches in the past few weeks, so that's good. And I feel like I have more energy which is shocking cause I used to feel like I literally could not even get out of bed without my first cup. Sometimes, okay, usually, TWO to move my rear. But I now have MORE energy than with my coffee in the morning.
I've lost track of weeks here and have yet to step on a scale, but looking at the calendar it looks like I'm at week 12. Like I've said before, the scale has traumatized me, so I'm waiting. I might do it today actually and then check again on Monday of next week, because I've added something else into my regimen that I wanted to share, which is making the remainder of the weight melt off and I wish I had done this sooner.
But I feel like this was kind of good in a way, cause it showed me what works, what doesn't, and what really speeds things up. I was waiting for the right time to shuffle in exercise and I feel like I've lost enough weight (about two pant sizes and a bra cup) to give it a go. My reasoning for waiting was again the psychological factor of as I've explained in previous posts.
How I tried-and-tried exercising, working out up to an hour a day, five days a week at one point and my weight wouldn't budge. In fact, I had gained. It was beyond frustrating. And also as I've stated before, this was never a problem I experienced a day in my life till my late 30s into my early 40s. So if this can work for me in my 40s, this can work for anyone.
A year ago I gave the Chloe Ting challenge a try 😂. <----- That's how it went, yeah. Weight didn't budge. I "imagined" it was a few times, but, no, it wasn't budging. I gave up and began to focus the remainder of 2020 on my health, which as it turned out part of my health problems were adding to my weight gain. It wasn't all of it, but it was a big part of it. Blah, blah, metabolism, age, and sedentary job added into it as well, not gonna lie.
Okay. So I was already seeing amazing results by cutting out sugar in the morning, but I'm not kidding you, after my first day of doing Chloe's 2 week shred again, bam, I woke up the next morning with a visual difference in my face, arms, and stomach. Morning after second day, bam, even more again. I feel like I finally cracked the code to get the weight off.
And that day was exciting for me because I've also been working on my skin and hair the past year and everything's coming together at once, which I'll post another time or else I'll be here all day 😂. What was exciting was that one of my girls said to me after I did my mascara for the day, which is all I wear for the most part, along with some powder cause I'm transforming my skin too.
And she said, "mommy, look at me." And she made me look at her like three times and she said, "mommy, your eyes look so pretty today." "You look so pretty." And I laughed because I had made a mess with my mascara like I always do when I apply it, then I have to wipe it off.
But it looks like I have eyeliner on at first till it dries and I wipe it off. She thought I had eyeliner on 😂 and that it looked so pretty on mommy. That was super cute. But kids are so honest and it just made my day. They're my go to if I need to know if something looks bad or not, especially her sister 😂.
My face is shrinking a lot, which is why they looked "different," cause it's the same mess every day but I'm finally losing the weight and starting to look like me, which feels so good. Today was day three, so we'll see how this 2 week challenge goes. Bottom line, if you really want to see results with intermittent fasting, fast results, you have to completely cut sugar, none at all during your fasting window, and add in exercise and it will literally melt off.
Yes, you can still lose without the exercise. But if fast is what you want, and you can't wait to love yourself when you look in the mirror and feel good in your clothes then exercise too. That's all I want is to feel good in my clothes again, and recognize myself when I look in the mirror or catch a glimpse of my reflection somewhere and not cringe 😂. I think I can finish the rest of this weight off within 30 days. We shall see...so exciting!
Good luck to anyone else out there going through the same thing trying to make a change! Good luck with your transformation! We've got this!
With Love,
Carmen
