Intermittent Fasting | Jumpstarting Weightloss

I’m in my late 40s.  I know, you’re saying to yourself, “Wow! She doesn’t look a day over 29!”  But the hard truth is my 30’s and now my 40’s seemed to fly by and here I am with a bunch of extra pounds on me that just won’t seem to quit.  I tried what felt like everything.  Home workouts, going to the gym, running (or walking) races, starving, eating a bunch of small meals, eating only specific foods, crossfit, you name it.  But NOTHING really seemed to be working.  I would lose a few pounds only to gain them back again.

I’d heard about intermittent fasting along the way.  I’m an avid podcast listener – my favorites being Tim Ferriss, Joe Rogan, Bulletproof Radio (Dave Asprey) and of course my favorite Ben Greenfield – and I have learned so many effective methods and tools to get into the best shape of my life.

Add to that two books that really made me want to find the discipline to try intermittent fasting: the first was “Discipline Equals Freedom” by Jocko Willink and the second was “Own your day, Own your life.” by Aubrey Marcus.

I needed Discipline Equals Freedom to get my butt thoroughly kicked by Jocko Willink.  Really taking in stride that changing my life would require discipline was a key concept for me that I hadn’t thought of in that way before.  I read it on my kindle and I had highlighted so many parts of it, I downloaded all of my highlights to create cards to put around my desk.

A couple of my favorite quotes are:

“THERE IS NO EASY WAY. There is only hard work, late nights, early mornings, practice, rehearsal, repetition, study, sweat, blood, toil, frustration, and discipline. DISCIPLINE.”

“To win, all you have to do is overcome that moment: The Waiting. The Hesitation. And to do that, all you have to do is: Go. Move. Take the action. Get out of bed. Get your feet on the ground. Step forward. Do not hesitate. Do not wait. Go forward: And win.”

I’m not sure why this book made a difference where others hadn’t but I think it was mostly because it made me take a hard look at the role I play in my own demise.  ~I~ am the one who eats poorly, ~I~ am the one who doesn’t exercise, ~I~ am the one who gets lazy.  No one else.  So the only way out of the way I feel is for me to change myself. For me to get the DISCIPLINE to change.

Once I jumpstarted my routine, I broke into Own The Day, Own Your Life by Aubrey Marcus and what a wealth of knowledge that was too.  A lot of the things I read in the book I had heard before but I really liked the delivery and collection of all of that excellent advice in one place.  This really got me rethinking about my mission in life and how important it is to have that feeling of purpose.

Marcus says, “Humans are happiest when they are working toward something.  When they have a sense of purpose.  Knowing your mission will help to turn your work from drudgery to a victory.  Without a mission, it will take superhuman effort just to keep up the inspiration and motivation to make all the right choices necessary to own the day.”

I read about intermittent fasting and I was determined to give it a try.  I started by fasting after 7PM every night.  That meant no dessert, no drinks, nothing except water until bedtime.  Then when I woke up, I would do my morning routine (see Miracle Morning post here) and then I would start my work day, eating nothing until 11AM.  Occasionally if I felt I really needed some mental focus, I would include black coffee.   Most of the time I tried to just go with water until 11AM.  That put me at 16 hours of fasting each day.

The first week, I lost 10 pounds!  I was so so happy to see the scale move so quickly and really it wasn’t that hard!  I felt excellent, sharp, focused, energetic.  I was sold!  The second week – I was down another 5 pounds.  Overall, I have to say that intermittent fasting was one of the best adjustments I ever made for my health. I added a few light exercises – doing rounds of 10 kettlebell swings, 100 jump ropes, cycling, walking, hiking – but nothing crazy to throw off my appetite.  I was very excited about the results and I hope that I have found the key to looking my best at my wedding in September!  Stay tuned!