A note on water

During the 16-hour fast you can have water, I believe you can have any no calorie drink but I'm sticking to water only.

I noticed I drink more water now because of this which is a good side effect. I have always loved water and it's all I drink at home but I still never get my 8 glasses in because I only drink it with my meals. Now that I've been doing this fast I have an additional 2 glasses of water per day since that's all I can have in the morning and evening.

Just one positive effect I've noticed in my short 3 days.

Day 2

Day 2 was 5/30.

When I awoke I wasn't even hungry so I was very happy about that especially due to the previous nights back and fourth. I had to go see the student I mentor at 10am and then I had some errands that kept me busy until noon. I did get a little hungry at the school from the smells coming from the cafeteria but it was a normal hungry not a starvation hungry.

I don't usually workout on the days I mentor.

For "breakfast" I had a lean cuisine tortilla crusted fish meal and 6 chocolate chip cookies. For lunch I had a symphony bar (king size) and for dinner I had a frozen chicken cordon bleu, corn and a kit kat.

Yeah I overdid it! I really didn't even want the Symphony bar but my husband had bought it for me a few nights before and I just couldn't get it out of my brain. And then once I started with plans to only eat half... well you know how that went.

I really have to work on an eating plan. It's in the works but for now I will just blog my reality.

I didn't work out but I still had a good amount of energy during the day. I got a few things done that I had needed to do. I'm a huge procrastinator so I'm always trying to work on that and I notice when I'm living a healthier lifestyle I get more things done.

I made my hubby dinner around 10 (he gets home late). I didn't even feel any pain in making it for him or watching him eat it. I made sure I ate my huge dinner at 7:45 so that it would hold me over until midnight.  So I wasn't even tempted to eat anything else.

I had a surge in energy that night. I was talking my hubby to death while he was trying to watch basketball and I was bouncing around the house doing things as well. This is NOT normal for me at 10pm.

I finally forced myself to go to bed after midnight so that I could get up for Zumba at 9:30.

Calories = 1,912 (Way over my 1200 budget).
Aerobic = 0

Day 1

The first day was 5/29. Weight 181.4lbs

I started out the day going to Zumba at 9:30a.m. I really like the 9:30 class because it isn't as crowded as the others so I that's why I went. Also it was something to keep me busy until it was time for me to eat at noon. I normally have breakfast in the morning but when I go to Zumba at 9:30 I don't so this helped me to make it through the morning without eating. Breakfast is my favorite meal, probably because I'm a sugarholic, so missing it will probably be a good thing for me.

At noon I ate a Chicken Cordon Bleu (frozen) and canned corn. I also ate about 6 chocolate chip cookies. Around 4 I ate a Tortilla Crusted Fish Lean Cuisineand five more cookies.

This is where I got a little messed up at. I went to Zumba again which was a first. I really like the class that is on Tuesday evening so I didn't want to miss it. It was at 6:30 which only left me 15 minutes to eat before my 8pm eating window closed. I wasn't hungry and I didn't have anything I could make that fast so I just had a strawberry 2% greek yogurt. I figured I would pick something with a lot of protein and maybe that way I would not get hungry before midnight.

It didn't work.

And my husband decided to get himself Wendy's for dinner which didn't help matters.

My stomach was growling but not in an I'm hungry way more in a I'm use to eating junk food right now way. Hard to explain.

And then my husband wanted me to stay up with him so I didn't end up going to bed until after 1am.

I was very grumpy that night. I was in a terrible mood and the next day I realized it was my anger from being hungry and not being able to have my nightly sweets.

There were multiple times that night I thought about stopping and just beginning day 1 the next day. And I thought to myself even if I make it through tonight there was no way I'd be able to make it until noon the following day. But then I said well even if I didn't make it til noon at least this day would've been a success as far as calories are concerned. Since I worked out twice I ended up finishing the day with a huge calorie deficit. That's what got me through the evening.

The GOOD NEWS: I stuck it out. I didn't eat after 8 and I made it through my first day.

Since I don't have any exact plan to follow I'm not sure how soon I should start seeing weight loss, if any. I weighed myself the next morning and my weight was exactly the same.

My calorie intake for day 1 was 1550
Aerobic calories burned were 762

So overall this was a good day no matter what since I had two workouts. As far as the fasting we will see.  

The reason I say guinea pig

I have been searching for information on this topic but for the most part before this study the people that did this were into body building so I haven't found anything really helpful for the average girl that wants to lose weight. The previous info focused on a low carb high protein diet and weight lifting. They also took supplements. I just want to get skinny darn-it! So that's why I chose to blog about it because at some point someone else is going to look into this for the same reason I am and hopefully this blog will help.

Beginning Stats

You can pick any 8 hour window you like for eating. The time I decided on is 12noon to 8 p.m. I chose this time frame because I don't go to bed until midnight and this way I wouldn't have to stop eating too early before bedtime which would make it harder for me to not eat. My worst eating time is during the evening so I want to make it painless as possible. This way I fast for about 4 hours after waking and 4 hours before bed, not too bad.

I started the 16-hour daily fast on Tuesday May 29, 2012. I attempted to start Monday but caved in that night. I realized I fare much better when I have a plan so I decided to eat at 12, 4 and 7:30 daily so that I'm not ravenous by nightfall.

My weight on Tuesday morning was 181.4lbs. On to Day 1...

16-hour fast

I have been trying to lose weight for a while now and I've finally added aerobic exercises to my journey but I haven't quite been able to get the eating under control. I thought this might be a way to help with that. I decided to start this journey and see if it could help me. The study is new and only completed on mice but intermittent fasting isn't new and there's a lot of information out there about how helpful it is.

The thing that I really liked about the article was that the mice ate not so great foods and still saw health benefits when compared to the other mice that ate all throughout the day. I am really concerned about my being healthy not just skinny so I liked the idea that even if I couldn't immediately fix my eating habits at least I could get some health benefits by using this method. 

Why I chose to start this process

An article sparked my interest about eating during an 8-hour window only.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120517131703.htm

The summary of the story is: It turns out that when we eat may be as important as what we eat. Scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have found that regular eating times and extending the daily fasting period may override the adverse health effects of a high-fat diet and prevent obesity, diabetes and liver disease in mice.

In a paper published May 17 in Cell Metabolism, scientists from Salk's Regulatory Biology Laboratory reported that mice limited to eating during an 8-hour period are healthier than mice that eat freely throughout the day, regardless of the quality and content of their diet. 

Panda's team fed two sets of mice, which shared the same genes, gender and age, a diet comprising 60 percent of its calories from fat (like eating potato chips and ice-cream for all your meals). One group of mice could eat whenever they wanted, consuming half their food at night (mice are primarily nocturnal) and nibbling throughout the rest of the day. The other group was restricted to eating for only eight hours every night; in essence, fasting for about 16 hours a day. Two control groups ate a standard diet comprising about 13 percent of calories from fat under similar conditions.

After 100 days, the mice who ate fatty food frequently throughout the day gained weight and developed high cholesterol, high blood glucose, liver damage and diminished motor control, while the mice in the time-restricted feeding group weighed 28 percent less and showed no adverse health effects despite consuming the same amount of calories from the same fatty food. Further, the time-restricted mice outperformed the ad lib eaters and those on a normal diet when given an exercise test.

The Salk study found the body stores fat while eating and starts to burn fat and breakdown cholesterol into beneficial bile acids only after a few hours of fasting. When eating frequently, the body continues to make and store fat, ballooning fat cells and liver cells, which can result in liver damage. Under such conditions the liver also continues to make glucose, which raises blood sugar levels. Time-restricted feeding, on the other hand, reduces production of free fat, glucose and cholesterol and makes better use of them. It cuts down fat storage and turns on fat burning mechanisms when the animals undergo daily fasting, thereby keeping the liver cells healthy and reducing overall body fat. 

The daily feeding-fasting cycle activates liver enzymes that breakdown cholesterol into bile acids, spurring the metabolism of brown fat -- a type of "good fat" in our body that converts extra calories to heat. Thus the body literally burns fat during fasting. The liver also shuts down glucose production for several hours, which helps lower blood glucose. The extra glucose that would have ended up in the blood -- high blood sugar is a hallmark of diabetes -- is instead used to build molecules that repair damaged cells and make new DNA. This helps prevent chronic inflammation, which has been implicated in the development of a number of diseases, including heart disease, cancer, stroke and Alzheimer's. Under the time-restricted feeding schedule studied by Panda's lab, such low-grade inflammation was also reduced.

Old topic of blog

I haven't visited this blog in over a year but I have still been working on the goal: Lose Weight.

Here is the old topic of this blog:

I realized that being happy now is the key to losing weight, you have to enjoy the journey. Life is too precious to waste it waiting to be the perfect size. Yes we can have goals, but you shouldn't be in a self imposed jail while waiting to obtain them. So follow me for a year as I try this new approach to not rush myself to my goal but to take it one day at a time and love myself the entire way.

I still believe the key is to be happy now! I have not let my weight stop me. I have purchased cute clothes and I am much more happy with myself in general. I have still been focused on losing weight although it's been a long journey. I have a new plan and I am going to keep track of it by blogging here.

I have managed to keep the weight off over the last year and I actually weight less now then when I started this blog, yay! I am still on my journey and the main thing I am patting myself on the back for is not giving up and not going backwards.

Just to catch up, I did complete that Daniel Fast and I've completed another since then. The last one I did ended this past February and I feel better and more in control with each one I complete. It is never easy but I always feel so much better and in control (mentally, physically and most important spiritually) after I complete one.

Since this original blog I have tried other methods of weight loss including meal delivery and weight watchers. Neither worked for me only because I didn't stick to them.

Over the last month I started going to Zumba a few times a week and it has improved my mood and energy levels significantly. I haven't lost a significant amount of weight though. I believe its because of my diet. I have been eating a lot more calories (mostly from sweets) then I should and research shows that diet is way more important the exercise when it comes to losing weight. I love the feeling I get from exercising and I will continue but I also want to lose wieight. I am going to Miami in August so I'm making that my goal date of being in much better shape. That leaves me 2 months to make major strides. I'm not trying to be perfect by then. I just want to feel a lot better in my swimsuit!

Made it to day 30 of my fast!

Yes, day 30 is finally here. I have only 10 days left. I have completed 75% of this fast and I am ready for it to be over! But I still have to some way keep up with all of this good work. I worked out yesterday and the day before. Have plans to work out today as well. 30 minutes on the elliptical is what I plan on doing and then building up to more time, more machines, weights, abs, etc.

Just got word that I'm going to a baseball game on Saturday. I'm excited to go but dealing with the food situation is going to suck. No hotdogs at a baseball game, really? No soda, no sugar, no this, no that. But I guess that's a good thing. I need to be put in these situations now so that I know I can deal with them later. Don't always have to be sucked into eating badly whenever an event comes up.

New Segment Alert *Gems from Dr. Oz*

So I watch the wonderful Dr. Oz from time to time. Actually I DVR him and if the topic suits my fancy I watch. So one wonderful gem I learned last week was that farm raised salmon is actually white and they feed them tablets to turn them "salmon" color. How gross and misleading. I can't believe that and it really shows how bad it is for you if the main nutritious aspect of a meal is faked.

Wanna read more about it? I found some additional articles:

Grocery Stores Sued

CBS News chimes in

Boycott farmed Salmon?

No TV, No Internet, No Books, No Magazines

WHAT??? Why did this thought cross my mind? I know it's a great idea... but I don't wanna (in my huffy kiddy voice). Here's the breakdown. I watch too much television. I have a long to do list, I have no job, how is this possible. Because I would rather surf the web, watch the tele or read. But then I feel bad about my long to do list. It's all a matter of my new favorite word: discipline. I am just learning this principle after all these years. I have to do the things that I know I need to do and the things that bring no worth into my life I need to cut back on. So I decided that after I reached the half way point on my fast I would have a day without any of those things. I think it should be one day this week but I'm procrastinating and trying to think of different rules instead. Like maybe one day without TV, one without the web and one without reading. I know, I just need to stick to the plan. And that's what I'll do.

Side effects of Daniel Fast

I am so emotional! It is beyond ridiculous. I have cried at least half of the 20 days that I've been on this thing. Happy cries, sad cries, confused cries, cries because I want to cry and don't know why. Just ridiculous. But I think the worst is over. And I'm happy it happened. I realized I had been self medicating to some extent with food. Normally upon feeling emotional I reach for the sugar, but since I couldn't I was forced to deal with the feelings as they came. And I learned a lot about myself and about what I want to do with my life, what makes me tick, what ticks me off, etc. It is a rather beautiful experience actually.

Excuses Excuses and more Excuses

Man I am an excuse machine. I said I wouldn't let August derail my plans but indeed I did. I blamed guest and vacations on the fact that I didn't focus on my goal. That is the reason I started this blog and I'm so happy I did. I can see clearly what things I am doing wrong and what things I am doing right. And I can move forward.

Exercise

I really should be exercising by now. But I just can't bring myself to get to the gym. This is sad due to the fact that I have a free gym right in my building. I have not lost anymore weight since Day 7. I haven't gained any either but still... at this point last time I had lost 10lbs already. I guess it's not really that big of a difference but after seeing such a drastic change the first time I was hoping for the same this time around. But I was a lot more active last time just because I had a job during the fast. I am going to commit to working out this week. If I want to lose weight and keep it off that is the only way. And it's not like I don't have time and I love the way I feel when I workout. I have so much more energy and I sleep better too. My long term goal is to run a marathon, I want to start with a 5k and work my way up. I was just looking and some pics of me and I think that did the trick because although I've only lost 8lbs, it makes a big difference, trust me.

Day 20 of Daniel Fast

Yes! I have made it to the half way mark. 20 days down and 20 to go. I have lost 8lbs and I feel great. Other then the fact that I am ready to eat anything other then whats on the list. I have been having cravings for things besides veggies, fruits and nuts. I want BK and B&J and McD and cookies and brownies and slushes and fries. Ok, now that the rant is out of the way I can go on with my life.