Fasting till I'm Furious - Part 1

I thought I would write something about my current attempts to lose weight. Enjoy! Throughout my life, I have always had a love/hate relationship when it comes to my body. I would say I have minor body dysmorphia; it has never been a major problem, but I find it has always led me to see myself through a less-than-rosy lens.

Background:

During my teenage years, I was always very active, participating in all manner of sports and extracurricular activities. Football (soccer), cricket, and rugby (league) were my go-to pursuits to keep me fit and healthy. I was always aware of the extra weight I carried around my waist, and this always played on my mind. I never saw myself as "fit" and always put myself down in my own mind about how I looked and how others saw me.

Then, when I was in the final year of my A-levels, I gave up all my extracurricular activities to concentrate on my studies and started to put on a few pounds—nothing excessive.

Heading off to university afterward, I was at a nice healthy weight. However, in my first term at Uni, I discovered the joys of the combination of beer and kebabs. I put on around 40 pounds of weight. When I went to visit my friends, I was bluntly met with "you got fat" by one of them. As you can imagine, this had a devastating effect on me mentally, and to this day, it has never really left me emotionally.

Having gained that weight and more over the course of my time at university, I have struggled ever since over the last 20-plus years to make significant changes in my weight. Now, as I move into midlife, the number of health worries has intensified. I'm heading towards pre-diabetic status, and I have dodgy knee joints. Additionally, a familial predisposition to high blood pressure and heart issues has been the icing on the proverbial cake.

The turning point:

So, here we are at a crossroads in my life. If I carry on as I have been, I will not have a great quality of life for whatever time span I have left. I did a brief Google search for diets or lifestyles, if you will, that I could try. Earlier this year, I tried doing a keto diet as a vegetarian. It didn't last long because keto is hard enough to do without cutting out meat. After four years of living a vegetarian life, I decided that I would need to eat meat if I wanted to follow a diet.

Then, two weeks ago, I got hold of the book "The Fast 800" by Dr. Michael Mosley, gave it a read, and decided I should give it a try.

The Fast 800:

The Fast 800 diet incorporates intermittent fasting, which involves cycling between periods of fasting and eating. The most common fasting pattern used in this diet is the 16:8 method (which I have been using), where you fast for 16 hours each day and have an eating window of 8 hours (I eat from 12 pm until 8 pm). During the fasting period, you can consume non-caloric beverages like water, tea, or black coffee (luckily, I drink black coffee as my beverage of choice anyway). During this fasting window, you restrict the calories you consume to 800. It emphasizes reducing carbohydrate intake, especially refined carbohydrates and sugars, to get you into a minor ketogenic state. According to the book, you do this fasting for between 2 and 12 weeks.

As this is part 1 of my blog about this subject, I have decided to write about how the first 2 weeks have gone.

First two weeks:

The book says that using the caloric deficit suggested, with a little physical activity, anyone should be able to lose about 4 kg over the course of 2 weeks. I weighed myself today and I have lost 4.2 kg, which means I am hitting the target. Seeing weight come off is always a great motivator.

I have also been going out for walks each morning. The book suggests light exercise before you break your fast each day, and I can feel my stamina and leg strength getting better and better each time I walk. It's a great feeling.

Also, I have discovered konjac products that are such a help with the diet. They are high in fiber and extremely low in calories. Each 125g serving contains only a handful of calories. When I consume my main meal each day, the bulk of konjac noodles, rice, or pasta really keeps me full until I go to bed. It's really good on this phase of the diet.

Looking ahead:

Right now, I am happy and not furious at the diet. I will update you every couple of weeks with my progress. It is very therapeutic to get this down in the blog. It helps me compartmentalize how I am feeling and whether I am happy. Right now, I am very happy with the way the diet is working out. I have lost 25% of the weight I need to reach a healthy BMI (I know BMI isn't the greatest indicator, but it's what I have used to set my weight loss goal).

Thank you for reading.

Scott