Two weeks ago I began Intermittent Fasting in the hope it might help me lose weight.
I’ve tried many different eating plans (or in other words diets). Back in the days when I probably didn’t need to lose weight diets were easy. Cut down my intake of food. Move more and a few weeks later I’d dropped several pounds. But things just aren’t like that now. I’ve been a member of slimming world for 4 years and like their approach. but it doesn’t seem to work well for me any more.
In the coming weeks I’ll be looking back over my history of dieting, but for now Something about why I decided to try this.
I had a feeling that constant dieting plus the menopause has affected my metabolism. My Slimming World consultant is fantastic, but she is sceptical that this might be the case. So I began to read some articles and blogs to see what I might discover. I quickly stumbled upon a book called Delay.not deny
This introduces the concept of delaying breakfast and allowing a longer gap between eating. The reason for this is that every time we eat or drink something other than water we initiate an insulin response. This makes the body think it is time to utilise calories for energy or storage. Trouble is, if we eat too often then it is only the calories being eaten that are burnt. And often not even them, so they get stored as fat.
This made sense to me and so I started to read more. There is proper scientific data behind all of this which I will introduce on this blog in the coming days. But so far, so good for me.
I started on Monday 18th November and up until Friday had lost 3lb. In the main I’ve fasted from around 10pm till 2pm the next day. I’ve been cutting out some alcohol, especially weekdays. But otherwise I’ve avoided being too restrictive. It has meant that because I have not eaten breakfast my fruit consumption has reduced. But at the same time I’ve eaten a lot more vegetables. Over all I am pretty sure my calorie intake has reduced and that may account for the weight loss.
The main draw back has been feeling hungry all morning. But equally I’ve found that once I eat I am quickly full. I have hardly felt like a snack and instead am eating two good meals, will a pudding of fruit if I need it. I have also lost my sweet tooth (for now).
So, initial thoughts are that this might work but that more time is needed to be sure. Also that I may at some point extend my fasting window and may alter my intake of food. So, watch this space.
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