Intermittent fasting begins

I am now officially on day three of my nice and simple plan for weight loss.  This is a reboot, a re-commitment to this journey and I’m excited about what lies ahead.

My plan is simple and easy    I wanted to keep it that way.  Less to worry about in the grand scheme of things.  But the biggest change is that I really am excited about this.  I feel mentally strong and capable of resisting the tempting call of the foods that I need to limit. I feel excited about the change.  I wish I knew what caused the change in my thinking.   Maybe it was the thought that came into my head about what would happen if I got seriously injured while hiking and had to be carried out of the woods.  It would take a fair amount of people to carry me. (If that isn’t mortifying, tell me what is?).  Maybe it’s the constant feeling of being weighted down and always achy and tired.  I KNOW it’s my weight that causes that.   I could keep going on and on, but last weekend something clicked into place.     I know I’m only two days into this plan, but let’s see how it is going!

Intermittent Fasting

I have easily slipped right into the intermittent fasting plan that I have chosen.  I am following the 16:8 plan. This means that I only eat within an eight hour window.   There has been no problem with this one.  On the first day I had a fleeting thought at about 10AM thinking about food.  But like I said, it was a fleeting thought.   I still do drink my 24 ounce glass of water in the morning.   And I do put a flavoring pack into it.  (Affiliate links) and I also add a packet of vitamin and mineral powder (Affiliate link).  But otherwise, I haven’t had a single issue with dropping breakfast!

Tracking my Food

I have tracked my food, each bite!  I have managed to keep my calories down near that 1200-1300 goal that I have set!  I’ve even had the calories in my budget to indulge in a sweet treat of banana ice cream one night and a chopped banana with chocolate the other night.

My eating had been spot on!

Exercise and Movement

I managed to ride the exercise bike both days at lunch. I am pushing it hard on the bike.  I have it set so that I’m riding at a resistance level that even while sitting and pedaling I am getting out of breath.  But that’s not all....I push that resistance higher ever few minutes to push myself further.  The resistance is so high that I have to be out of the saddle to push those pedals.   My rides aren’t long, but I’m doing it...and something is better than nothing!

We have also managed to get in a walk on one of the days.  So I’ve not been a total slug!

Healthy Wage

A few months ago a friend of mine emailed me.  She works for the same  company that I do (although a different division of the company and she lives about 8 hours away).  She asked me to join her healthy wage team.   This healthy wage is being sponsored by our employers so there is no cost to join.  But there is a financial payout if we meet our goals.  Sounds like a winner to me!  I was in!    It started at the beginning of July!   I did my verified weigh in just yesterday!  So now I have a monetary reward to work toward!  Oh yeah, that is a win for me!!!!  It goes from the beginning of July through the end of September.   I am so ready to rock this challenge!!!

I am determined, motivated and utterly focused.   The time is now and I need to get this weight off!  Losing weight is definitely a want but it is also a need!  My life depends on getting this weight off of my body!!!

Simple weight loss plan

It is time to draw the line in the sand.  It is time to stop sitting on the fence in my weight loss efforts.  It is time to stop the self imposed plateau on the scales  and start losing weight again.  Now is the time and I have been thinking about it all weekend even while we had a little get-a-way.  We are home now and  I know what I’m going to do.  It is a combination of exercise, intermittent fasting, tracking my food and mental aspects to stay motivated. and of course I’m going to share it all, starting with our little trip and ending with my plans and ideas to get this weight off once and for all!

Weekend getaway

We have had a great weekend.   It was a long weekend so we researched, plotted and planned and figured out a wee little getaway that would still offer us social distancing safety but also allow us to go away for a bit to relax.   What did we do?   We went to Berkeley Springs, WV.   Berkeley Springs is a neat little town and we did go into one or two stores.  But for the most part we explored and roamed.   The state park with the springs is small but we spent a fair amount of time wading in the warm spring.   It felt fabulous on this stinkin’ hot weekend!!!

We of course drank some famed Berkeley Springs water.

And we walked through the museum.

But honestly, the real reason we went to Berkeley Springs? It was one of the only places that I found an outdoor hotel pool that was open!!!  We wanted to swim!!!

We had a great time!   But as I mentioned earlier, the whole time we were there and relaxing, my mind was in a whirl.   I am not happy with my increasingly  pudgier face nor with how my body feels.  I am disgusted with the numbers on the scales and how my clothes fit (or don’t fit as the case may be).   One thought was positive this weekend while I pondered my predicament and that was that it was time to change.  I have no choice!

Choosing to be healthy versus being fat

Ok first of all, I do have a choice. Everything I do is a choice.   The choices I make with my food are choices that allow me to be fat and to possibly gain even more weight.   I most frequently chose being fat with my food choices, at least lately.   Admittedly, I wasn’t sitting there thinking, ohh I’m going to eat  this piece of cake because I’m choosing to be fat. But if I look deep enough I knew the cake wasn’t in line with my goals for living a healthier thinner life. I CHOSE to eat it anyway!     It was my choice!    Every bite I eat I need to start focusing on the choice and I need to put it into words.  I need to ask myself, “is this a good choice for your long term goals of losing weight or will it only give you a fleeting momentary flash of pleasure’.   I know from when I lost the weight before that my energy levels and general happiness and feelings of well being were sky high without this excess weight....so I know how awesome I will feel in the long run.  Every food choice is a question of receiving a short term rush of pleasure or obtaining a lifetime of goodness.

Intermittent fasting

I have dabbled with this in the past.  It seems to happen naturally when I am actually going into the office.  For me, the concept of a 16:8 fasting schedule has merit.  I have never been a big breakfast person so it’s not a stretch for me to naturally fall into a 16:8 system of intermittent fasting.   What is the 16:8 method of Intermittent Fasting?  It is the art of fasting for 16 hours and eating within an 8 hour window.  The plan just flows naturally for me due to my own natural tendencies.  But I also like the plan due to the f act that that is calories saves and one less meal I need to worry about!     I have thought about doing a One Meal A day style of intermittent fasting, but I fear that I would lose control and just eat absolutely crazily during that one meal.  For my own personal diet issues, OMAD would not work for me.   

I will also say that I am not going to be super strict about this.  If we decide to go for a big hike or bike ride and leave before my window of eating is open, I am NOT going to stand firm and say “no, I can not eat because it’s not time’. That is foolhardy.  I will break my fast early because I know that fueling my body before those activities is important.

Likewise, I have been talking about my lunch break plans (and we will get to that in a short bit).  If those plans end up to not fall in line with the intermittent fasting method, I may have to adjust.  This is the loose and flowing option in my plan....the one most subject to change!

Tracking my foo

Typically Intermittent fasting  is only eating within the window of opportunity and no tracking is needed.  A person just needs to limit their eating to that available window of time.  But I know that I can do a lot of damage in 8 hours.  So therefore, I WILL Continue to track my food!!  I also know that when I actually track my food that I am so much more cognizant of HOW I am eating and much more inclined to pull in the reigns.

Exercise

My big thing is my lunch break.  I started last week with a spin on the exercise bike during my lunch hour.  I pushed myself, I was out of the saddle and really pushing myself hard.   I plan on doing this regularly.   My ‘easy’ goal is 3 times a week for 20 minutes of my 30 minute lunch break.  I would preferably like to do it 5 times.  But let’s start with an easy goal of 3!!!

It is a super simple plan that I have set up.  Why is it so simple?  It’s simple because in theory  weight loss is simple.  Limit calories and/or expand how many calories you burn.   My plan does both of those things but is nothing outrageous!  Now it’s time to implement the plan and lose weight and get my healthy life back!!!