There is debate among many people on what to call their change in eating habits. Some people look down on the word "diet" because they want to make their new eating habits permanent, and so, they call it a "lifestyle" change. This is all well and good, but no matter what you call it, you have to be committed to it.
I was wondering today on whether I've changed my lifestyle or if I will fall back to eating the way I was eating before May 12, 2019. Last week I went to Myrtle Beach to help my girlfriends daughter move for school. During those two days of traveling, I pretty much ate as I pleased. I ate more than I normally do. I ate foods that I have been avoiding for nearly three months. I gained about four pounds in two days.
Four pounds isn't a big deal for me, because my weight fluctuates that much on a normal day of eating these days. It's mostly food and water that my body hasn't digested or is storing. I wasn't worried about the four pounds. I lost it all back again in two days of intermittent fasting.
So, I was able to eat as I pleased for two days and reversed the damage within two days of getting back home. I think mostly I didn't eat much while I was gone. I just felt like I was eating more because I'm hyper-aware of my eating now. I pay attention to what I eat. I notice that I need to stop eating. I have changed my lifestyle. That doesn't mean that I always eat a certain way or that I stick to a plan perfectly. More importantly, I'm more aware of what I'm doing to my body and I know how to curve it before it gets carried away. I ate as much as I wanted for those two days, but it really wasn't more than I usually eat. I was just aware that I needed to eat less if I wanted to lose more weight.
I also stopped exercising during those two days away. In fact, I didn't do cardio till today. Add all of that with the lax in my fasting, and I would have gained weight if I'd continued for more time. We shouldn't worry about a lapse in our exercise or eating habits as long as we notice that we are having a lapse and have a plan in place to get back into it.
I knew that I would be going on this trip, and I knew that I would have trouble fasting on the same schedule I had been on for the previous couple of months. So, I didn't worry about it. Since I've been back, I have fasted every day for at least sixteen hours. Most days I've fasted twenty or more hours. I try to do more than twenty hours every day with up to two days off every week, but I really don't like to take two days off.
I hope to cut my calorie intake during my feeding window more over the coming days. Today, for instance, I had around 1200 calories during my eating window. Technically this is OMAD or One Meal A Day, but I'm still referring to it as IF or intermittent fasting. Some days I do OMAD, other days I will eat twice during my four hour eating window. Either way, I'm more interested in the length of the fast. I want longer and longer fasts. I'd like to do forty-eight hours in the coming days. My longest fast so far has been thirty-six hours.
Some people follow a low calorie feeding window when they fast, which consists of restrictive meal planning. I know this would be more effective for me to lose weight faster, but I prefer to reward myself with a somewhat liberal meal during my eating window. Since I'm looking forward to my meals already, I like to eat something that I will enjoy. I try to limit sugars. I worry about carbs, but I allow myself to have carbs and focus more on the fasting length.
The major "lifestyle change" that I've made since starting all of this on May 12 is that I've cut all cola/sugared soda from my diet. I used to drink a lot of Coke. I mean a lot. I have eliminated all Coke and all similar soda from my diet. I drinking sparkling water, coffee, spring water, and unsweet tea. Sometimes, when I'm out at a restaurant for my OMAD, I'll allow myself to have half sweet, half unsweet tea, but I always tell the waiter/waitress to make it mostly unsweet tea with a splash of sweet. I hate taking in calories from a drink now, but I love slightly sweet tea. I can't stand normal sweet tea though. It's always way too sweet.
I'm also coming up on my one year anniversary of quitting smoking. When I quit smoking, I weighed about 220 pounds. I was as low as 213 last year after my divorce. When I quit smoking, I gained a lot of weight. I hope to be back down to where I was last year when I quit by the 18th. That's a good goal.
After that I'll be shooting for < 200 pounds before my birthday on October 25. Then I'll be shooting for 170 by the end of the year. On December 12, I'll have been on this lifestyle change for seven months. If I lose ten pounds per month, I will have lost 70 pounds. I started at 256.7 pounds. So, I project that I'll be closer to 186 pounds on December 12. Then by the end of the year I may be able to get another five pounds off. So, I'm projecting more like 181 by the end of the year. Now, at some point it's going to get more and more difficult to lose weight. It's also going to be harder and harder to get my heart rate up during cardio. I can tell a huge difference just in the last three months. It used to be easy to get my heart rate up to 140. Now it takes more work.
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