Results of My Alternate Day Fasting Experiment, and What I Did to Solve It

Hi,

Well THAT didn't work!! Not because there is anything wrong with ADF (Alternate Day Fasting) but because my eating machine was on and I could not accomplish the fasts!!  I know that I can turn the eating machine off with a three-day carb fast so I started looking for motivation. This is what I wrote on the lowcarbsite.com forum that I joined:

This time: LCHF by the book

Hi all!!

I feel like I am beginning fresh. I now have one day of LCHF under my belt and I am psyched. Yes, I'm craving a little, but, I'm OK with drinking lots of cold cold water. It is only day one. I know I am going to be compliant this time because I can see that all of my "doing my own thing" has only caused me to put on weight.

I got discouraged the last time I was doing "my version" of LC because it took so l-o-n-g to accomplish even the smallest weight loss. It took me three years to lose about 50 lbs. My blood sugars did improve and my blood pressure did get a tiny bit better. I did at one point even reverse my pre-diabetes -- at least my physician's assistant told me I had because I got my A1c down to 5.4. But later I was so discouraged about it taking so long and being so hard to do, I threw up my hands and quit.

I recently was trying to use fruit, veggies and nuts (per instructions from an internet guru)... I loved eating all the fruit, dropped out the veggies and powered down on the nuts. But it did not work for me, like it worked for the guru. I could feel my body getting fatter. Oh no, the tell tale signs were telling tales. The blobs under my arms were getting bigger. My stomach began to wrap around the bottom of the steering wheel in my car. I knew that if I did not find a way out soon, it would be really uncomfortable and maybe dangerous to drive my car!! So I found a better solution. You know: one that works.

So... I was all primed and ready to start ADF (alternate day fasting), I shared in a blog about it. My first fast day was a bust. At the end of the day I was ready to eat everything I could get my hands on -- and did. OK. Next day eat regularly and just go on. Second fast day was a smaller repeat of the first and then it dawned on me that I was battling "the eating machine."

"The eating machine" is what I call the non-stop food craving/eating that I was experiencing from eating all that fruit. It came over me so slowly I didn't notice it. But eventually I got to the point where I just couldn't stop eating. Nothing filled me up. I would eat and within an hour or two I would be ready for another meal. It is puzzling and pushy and compulsive at the same time. That is the eating machine!!

Fortunately I was praying for God's help and visiting the ADF group on facebook and someone posted a link to Butter Bob Briggs video called "Butter makes your pants fall off."

Here was this guy just a few years younger than me who had conquered his obesity by eating LCHF and making sure he ate lots of butter and other fats, like lard for cooking. I was glued to his story. He had a unique way of explaining how the body used fat (I had never heard his perspective before) and, he himself was evidence that it worked.

As I listened I began to remember about LCHF. I took his suggestion and watched another video by Dr. Eric Westman called "Implementation of Plan of LCHF Eating". I also bought and read his book: "Low Carbohydrate, Ketogenic Diet Manuel." After that I had the tools I need to get back on the LC train but this time I'm doing LCHF and following the plan as outlined (by both of them).

I think my unwillingness to follow any LC plan to a "T," before, may be what got me in trouble. I ALWAYS thought I knew better and could get away with my own little "adjustments." I was always looking for the way out of the discipline!! Let me tell you.... that is the HARD way to do things, even though at the time it seemed like it made things easier for me. Looking back, I can see it did not work.

I'm hoping to get support here in this group as soon as I figure out how all the posts on this site work. I'm used to FB but this setup is not exactly clear to me. I'm also hoping to give support to others having "been there and done that" on a lot of this stuff.

Sometimes I just need to be reminded that it really is possible for obese people (like me) to lose weight. It really is possible for me to follow someone else's plan -- meaning I can be obedient/compliant -- but mostly I need the help of my Lord, for the strength to do this -- and the support of others. I'm used to DIY but I finally figured out, "that don't work." Period. I need to get the program in mind, and just stick to the plan.

One thing that is really helping me right now is knowing that if I do LC for three days, by the third day the cravings (the eating machine) will turn off. I know this because I've done it many times before! But this time I'm sticking to the plan. Then I can do the IF (intermittent fasting) combined with LCHF and really start losing this weight (just as Butter Bob suggests in one of his companion videos). I now weight 355 lbs. But not for long.

It has now been five days since I started the LCHF and I am amazed that this morning I woke up and was not stiff. I could actually simply get out of bed without sitting on the edge for from 10 to 20 minutes, then standing, holding on to the dresser, and then slowly beginning to walk until the stiffness sorted itself out. I simply woke up and got up. I felt young again! Since I've done LC in the past I knew this would happen but it always took six days, not five, which surprised me. 

I wondered if I had lost any weight so I got on the scales and kept my fingers cross. Five days in and I've lost 2.75 pounds. That is a step in the right direction. One of my friends said she thought I looked like I had lost weight. This kind of surprised me, because, as big as I am, most people don't notice that I've lost any weight until I've dropped about 30 pounds. She pointed out that my face was not as "swollen" and my neck seemed narrower. I checked it out in the mirror and she was right. I could actually see the difference myself. Man this LCHF seems to be really working.

My blood sugars have dropped from an average post meal 124-130 to 105-111 when I checked. That is so nice to see those numbers again! Thank you Lord!!

The eating machine has completely calmed down and I'm eating sanely again. I do seem to be craving water though. Cold filtered water from the fridge just tastes so delicious and refreshing that I am drinking more of it. I'd say I average about three 32-oz bottles per day -- some days more, some less and I am happy with that.

As soon as I feel I am completely adjusted to this new way of eating, I'm hoping to begin doing intermittent fasting but maybe not ADF. I think I'll return to "Eat Stop Eat" methods from Brad Pilon's book -- which, by the way, is the method that Butter Bob recommends. This would be fasting twice a week on separate days for a 24-hour time period each time. One of them suggested that it actually takes two weeks for the body to settle into the new program so, for now, I'll observe and decide at the proper time.

(If you're sqeamish about lavatory talk, you might want to skip this next paragraph.)

I've got one other improvement this time from all the other times I've done LCHF and that is in the bowel department. I've not (yet?) experienced the hard as a brick and equally hard to pass stools as in the past. This time, I seem to have something more akin to the runs. That does now seem to be slowing down but they are still easy. I'm thinking that may be a result of my having consumed a double dose of pro-biotics twice a day for the last year or so which completely relieved my former constipation. It seems to be carrying over to the protein, too. I'm actually kind of glad of that. That is much easier to deal with than the former "slow down."  Sorry if that is TMI.

Well, at least I now have some overall good news to report and I'm pleased with that.

Praying for God's continued grace!!

Be back whenever,

Marcia

Alternate Day Fasting -- starting

It has been 2.5 months since I last blogged and that usually means that whatever I was trying did not work out that well. This is not an exception to that rule: It did not work out that well.

I liked the fruit and nuts more than the salads and the salads soon disappeared. I struggled to get things back in balance and added meat back into the mix. No sense going into the details of what did not work.

So why are you blogging now? I am going to try something else: Alternate Day Fasting by Krista Varady. She has written a book by that title (click the link on her name) and I bought the kindle version so I could read it immediately. I like reading on my kindle app on my computer (free download from Amazon) but I cannot print things out to look at them, make notes and take it with me to the grocery store.

Fortunately this program is extremely simple to remember. All I have to do on the fast day is eat 500 calories of food, preferably 400 at lunch or dinner and a 100 calorie snack to finish it out. The other day I can feast -- she says I really can eat whatever I want on the feast day, because the next day I will be doing a low calorie fast. You simply alternate these two days back and forth until you reach maintenance.

It sounds simpler, I think, than it will be to actually put into exercise but I've really got to do something and this sounds intriguing and fun. Krista Varady was one of the people that Michael Mosely interviewed in his documentary "East, Fast, Live Longer" which is what started the 5:2 diet craze in England and beyond.

When I was reading her work she answered the question of why I should eat the 500 calories on the fast day, rather than simply fast on that day. She said that a complete fast on the alternate day would result in muscle loss, but if you eat the 500 calories on the fast day, it helps to keep your muscle loss to a minimum, increases fat loss, and makes you feel better, too.

I really liked her suggestion of buying "ready meals" from the frozen food department based on their calorie count. She pointed out there are hundreds of meals that are less than 400 calories, and lots of 100 calorie snacks available, too. So one meal and one snack make up the fast day, and on the alternate day, you simply eat whatever you wish. Really.

She's been doing research on this idea for quite a while and there is actual scientific proof that it works.... so I'm going to try it.

She also said that the first two weeks are the hardest because it takes some time for the body to adjust to the changes. But... after that it gets much easier.

Ok. I'm going to try it. You will know that it is working because I might be blogging more. If you don't hear from me, I may be trying to hide that it is not working for me. I hope it does work. I'd really like to find the method that works for me. I've liked fasting in the past but was not able to keep up the "no food" rhythms, so perhaps the 500 calorie fast will be easier for me to do and to repeat.

OK. Here goes. Pray for me.

Be back soon, maybe.

Marcia

Back at it, finally

It has been nearly a year since I posted anything on this blog. Probably because I just threw up my hands and gave up. I'm not even ashamed of that, this time. Nothing worked the way I was told it would. The last thing I kind of tried was Joel Fuhrman's approach but could not carry it off. I still have bags of beans in my cupboard that I have not eaten and don't really plan to.

I also put on at least 32 pounds (from the giving up and eating anything I wanted). I am now back up to my biggest recorded numbers once again. Even when I was working hard for nearly three years to lose weight I never got under 300 pounds; although I did get really close. I am about 55 pounds above that mark now.

The tell tale areas on my body that I notice always happens underneath  my arms first. When I began to feel those pads under there again, I knew things were heading up and not down. Now my belly has gotten bigger again and I'm ready to begin a new program before it keeps me from being able to drive my car. Not joking. It is right up under the steering wheel and any bigger will be a painful hindrance.

This time, I'm trying the mostly fruit, some vegetables, nuts and seeds approach to a low-fat vegan diet. The thing that is different about this one is the "low fat" part and the addition of fruit.

I went out with my friend, Dottie, to the farmers market yesterday and loaded up on fruit and veg with some roasted peanuts and sun flower seeds too. Yeah, I know, the nuts and seeds are supposed to be raw, but I'm in transition and need something a little heavy and familiar in my belly to feel comfortable so I chose the roasted and salted ones that I like. Besides, the raw ones may or may not be better for you and they are difficult to find in a regular store that is close to my house.

I've been reading and have begun to adopt the methods of Andrew Perlot. If you click on the link (on his name) you can go to his website and read. I bought a couple of his e-books, plus his weight loss book on kindle, and have been reading.

I just started doing it yesterday and so far, it is kind of cool. Yesterday it was fun to eat four bananas for a meal and then later have about six big strawberries. I also chowed down on some of the nuts and seeds but was craving a large salad later on at night. I was not in the mood to make a salad so very close to bed so just continued eating fruit. When I checked my blood sugar it was 124 which is about what it should be after a meal. I was really surprised, but very glad, to see that my results matched his promises. I had watched a video of him eating three large bunches of over ripe bananas and he showed the same kind of 20 point jump that eating a meal often causes. This was a good thing.

He also says that it is not so much the sugar we eat as the fat that we eat that causes high blood sugar. I've read that before but could not believe it. My one-day experiment seems to verify that, but I know that things can change in just a few days, so I'm not going to make any positive statements until some time has passed and I've given it a good try.

I also remembered that the only time in my life I ever got under the 300 mark was on a low-fat vegan program but it was starch-based and I began to have health issues with that. I figured the "low-fat" must be the trigger for me to lose weight, so I'm trying it.

My present goal is to try this fruit-based, low-fat, vegan way of eating for 10 days and see how it goes. I want to know if it works for my body, and if I can operate well within that framework, too. I've not always been able to follow the particular plans that different eating gurus have proposed, so I just want to see if I can (or will) do it, too.

Today I made a big salad to eat on during the day, picking out fruit to munch on, adding sun flower seeds to the green salads and so far, so good.  I've never tried this combination before. I've usually gone with a mix of animal protein and veggies and skipped the fruit as I believed it had too much sugar and would make my blood sugars go too high, but my own personal test (which I will continue to do) has, so far, proved they may be right. I know that "time will tell" so that is what I'm heading towards.

I doubt I'll be blogging every day about it, but I'll be sharing my journey from time to time.

Hope all is well with you,

Be back maybe soon,

Marcia