Non-Scale Victories

Today was a great day for "non-scale victories", as Paula puts it...Sometimes when the scale is not co-operating it is nice to know that there are other victories to keep you motivated.

I had two people make comments to me today about how I was looking. One girl came up to me and said I looked "Super Skinny". So nice to hear...and another girl I hadn't seen for a month or so told me when I hugged her that I looked "Amazing"! So nice to have others notice my transformation.

I have not only transformed on the outside but on the inside too. I have so much more confidence and I am much calmer. I have kicked my food "habit" and am much less anxious around food.

I notice now that I am much slower in the process of preparing and eating my food. I will slowly make my salad and heat my lunches, get all I need to sit comfortably and enjoy my variety of food I have prepared for myself. I eat slowly and savour the experience. Before I ate mindlessly and quickly. I was anxious about getting the food ready and eating it up as fast as possible. Often I would swallow the food before it was fully chewed and barely taste what I was eating.

Today I had a wonderful LARGE, DIVERSE, and very tasty salad for lunch because that is what I wanted. I didn't eat it because that is what I should eat to lose weight or because it is good for me (although it is). I ate it because that is what I wanted to eat. It was 3/4 lettuce (three different kinds) and raw spinach. There was also, cucumber, cabbage, red cabbage, shredded carrots, egg, avocado, feta cheese, mozzarella cheese, bean sprouts, corn, penne pasta, tuna, croutons, sesame seeds and balsamic vinaigrette dressing. It was really, really good. I also had a yummy cheese scone with red and green peppers in it and a few onion rings from A&W. Such an enjoyable lunch.

I listened as my co-workers talked about the previous day's event where a nutritionist came into the office for a "Lunch & Learn". From what I could tell, he talked a lot about what NOT to eat. Don't eat carbs or sugar, don't drink milk (apparently it washes away calcium, huh?). Don't eat milk chocolate or red meat or drink alcohol. Eat plenty of small meals throughout the day.

We all know that there is no research that says 6 small meals a day is any different than three big ones or one big one...and I will never be successful if I have to eliminate all the foods I love to eat. He also said to eat an egg every morning...weren't we told not to eat eggs a while back because they were bad? And now we should eat one every day? All I know is you need to do what works for you and what makes you feel good. If you feel good doing all that stuff and avoiding all that yummy food then great. But I feel good practicing intermittent fasting and I don't have to give up anything, so I will stick with that and ignore all the changing trends in nutrition.

During all this talk, I just smiled, ate my onion rings and thought about my non-scale victories of the day...

Loving this Lifestyle

I have made the change and am loving every minute of this new lifestyle!

Today I broke my fast the same way as always, with a delicious salad of spinach, lettuce, broccoli cole slaw, cucumbers, feta cheese, avocado and thai sesame dressing with a bit of balsamic vinaigrette, mmmmmm!

After that I had butter chicken that my husband made and it was really, really good. Then I had one of those little cheeses in the red wax, I love those! And finished it off with some tortilla chips and salsa.

For my snack later on in the afternoon I had some left over potato salad that I made on the weekend. My mom's recipe and SO good! It is 8:30pm now and I am still full. I love having such a wide variety of foods in the afternoon and getting to eat such yummy meals and snacks!

This morning I was down another pound on the scale from last week and am only 1 Lb away from releasing 35 LBS! Wow, that is a lot of weight. I can't believe how much I have been carrying around all this time. When I started, I needed to lose about 75 LBS. Now I only need to lose 41 more! But the fact that I have been carrying around a 75 LB pack on my back all this time amazes me. No wonder I haven't enjoyed exercise. Give anyone a 75 LB back pack and tell them to exercise and they wouldn't be very happy either! Dr. Herring put it perfectly in his book, "The Fast 5 Diet & The Fast 5 Lifestyle", link to his website on the right.

Tomorrow I am having Greek food that my husband made (he is the chef in the household unless you haven't noticed! And such a good cook! Thanks Honey!). Chicken and shrimp skewers with brown rice and tzatziki with sour dough bread. I will break my fast with the same salad as above and for a snack I plan to have some almonds and a mango, banana and red grape fruit salad, mmmmmmm!

Loving the Fast 5 Lifestyle!

6 meal a day myth

Check out this article on why eating 6 small meals a day is not everything they say it is.

http://www.fitnessspotlight.com/2008/11/05/eating-more-meals-does-not-speed-up-your-metabolism/

Anti Aging

On the left is Canto (27) and on the right is Owen (29). 

Canto is fed with about 30% less calories than Owen (CR). 

Which one do you think looks more vibrant and younger?

Love this example of how intermittent fasting can have some pretty amazing health benefits.

http://www.fitnessspotlight.com/2010/01/13/benefits-intermittent-fasting/

Opening up

Yesterday I had a girl ask me to tell her about my new eating lifestyle. At work she had heard me talking about it here and there and she had seen my transformation so far. She asked me to tell her more about it because she was interested in finding a way to release the extra pounds she couldn't get rid of no matter what she did.

This was the first time someone had asked me about Fast 5 in a positive way. It wasn't because she was shocked at what she had heard and wanted to know about this "crazy diet". It wasn't because she wanted to know how in the world I did that or what was wrong with me that I was willing to "starve myself".

She was genuinely interested and wanted advice on how she could have some success in her weight loss journey. Aside from this blog, that is the first time this has happened and it felt really, really good.

It gave me more confidence in my lifestyle choice and solidified my efforts, in a way. We talked for a while and I found that I do know a good deal about this lifestyle now and what it has to offer and can speak about it with confidence. She was very perceptive and interested. After we spoke, she said that she was going to use elements of Fast 5 in her life to try to release these pounds. She wants to stop eating at a certain time of night, after dinner and fast until morning.

I think that is what is so great about Fast 5. It is not a plan that you have to follow completely in a certain way with certain foods and weigh in meetings, etc. There is no red light or green light foods, no foods for certain blood types or foods that can't be eaten together. You just understand the concept, adapt it to fit your life, and that's it. It is a tool that you incorporate into your lifestyle to make it easier to restrict the amount of calories you consume, without having to actually know how many calories you eat.

You can fast a few times a week for 18-24 hours, you can stop eating at a certain time of night, you can fast every day for 19 hours, you can fast every other day, you can have your eating window any time you want, you can move your eating window a few times a week, the options are endless. All the while, you can eat the foods you love, you can eat until you are full, you can enjoy life and be healthy.

19 hours = Freedom

I love Fast 5

I just wanted to post a quick note because I am feeling so happy and confident in my success with Fast 5 lately!

Even when the scale moves up, I never worry because I KNOW that in the long run the scale moves down. There is no doubt in my mind. I just KNOW that I will reach my goal weight and STAY there. I feel so excited and calm all at the same time, if that is possible.

I only wish I had found Fast 5 sooner. All this time...It is like meeting the man of your dreams. You finally meet him and you just KNOW that he is the one for you and you don't understand why you thought it would be impossible to find him. Now he is just here and it works and it is such a calming feeling.

Fast 5 has changed my life.

The achilles Heel of Fasting

Paula at www.thefastinglife.com inspired me to write this blog expanding on her post of the same name.

http://www.thefastinglife.com/2010/04/achilles-heel.html#comments

Pressure. Pressure is the achilles heel of fasting. It has been the main struggle for me since beginning this journey. I don't struggle with hunger, or with the scale or with deprivation. I don't struggle with what to eat or how many calories I consume. All of that has just fit for me and comes easy.

The struggle for me is only the pressure. At first, before I actually released any weight, people were very overbearing with their opinions on what I was doing. They gave me sideways looks and scolded me for doing something "crazy" or "drastic". They called it unhealthy and spouted off all the usual comments about metabolism, starvation mode, and six small meals a day. Since I hadn't actually lost any noticeable weight and all the research I had done on IF was still so new in my brain, I was easy to bully. I didn't stand up for myself or effectively explain how IF works or why it is good for me.

All that is over now. With the noticeable change in my appearance acting as my smoking gun, I confidently explain in very few words how IF works and why it is good for me. People look at me differently now. They have looks of interest and wonder, of envy and admiration. Much different than the looks of disapproval and judgement that I used to get before.

Here is an example of my quick explanation:

Observer: Wow, you look like you have lost weight, what have you been doing?

Faster: I have been practicing Intermittent Fasting

Observer: Whats that?

Faster: I fast for 19 hours a day then eat whatever I like the rest of the time.

Observer: WOAH, 19 hours, that's crazy.

Faster: Well, think of it this way, if you eat dinner at 7pm and breakfast at 7am, you have already fasted for 12 hours right there. So I really only have to add an extra 7 hours. I eat at 12 noon so I break that 7 hours up into two chunks, half in the morning and half in the evening.

Observer: Hmm. Interesting. 

Faster: Yeah, and in the 19 hours, my body has no alternative but to burn body fat for fuel and so I have lost XXLbs so far.

Observer: Wow, that's huge! (looks of interest)

Faster: Exactly, and I get to eat whatever I want, which is totally worth the wait.

Observer: Maybe I should try this, what's it called again? (looks of admiration)

If you can stick it out during the difficult transition time, getting used to the change in schedule and adjusting to the fasting period (which was very quick for me) the main struggle will be enduring this pressure and disapproval from society. You can try keeping it to yourself until you feel confident in your research and have lost that first 10-20Lbs. After that, hold your head up high and don't give in to the pressure. Go your own way and do what works for you.

Trapped under fat

How does this little skeleton hold up all that weight? Under the fat we are all a normal size. We have been padding ourselves against the world. Creating a cushion to hide under. Our true selves are trapped; trapped under the fat. 

Release! Release that padding. Release the need for food to comfort and protect us! Let your true self be free. Expose it to the world. Underneath we are all the same. There is no need to hide.

Intermittent fasting is setting me free!

One size does not fit all

I love this cartoon...a healthy lifestyle that keeps you feeling and looking your best is also just like this cartoon. One size does not fit all. You have to do what works for you. Everyone is different and people respond differently to different lifestyles.

I love intermittent fasting and it works for me. It is my perfect fit. For someone else it may be counting calories or writing everything they eat down or eating six small meals a day.

Find what works for you. You may have to try on a lot of dresses before you find the perfect fit. Try on intermittent fasting, see if it fits, it may just be your soul mate of diets like it is for me!

Good Luck!

Temptation

Last night we had friends over for cards and drinks...of course that means snacks....

My husband had bought our favourite chips to put out for our friends. It is that snack pack of chips, the one with the pretzils and corn chips, doritos and cheesies? I LOVE these chips...

My husband put them in a clear glass bowl and set them in the middle of the table. It was too much for me. I was totally tempted and completely distracted by these dumb chips! So I did what I had to...

I took the bowl off the table and put them onto a metal bowl instead and set them on the other end of the table so I could no longer see the chips in the bowl.

That seemed to help and I managed not to have any! YEAH!!! I did ask my husband later to NEVER buy those chips again...any other chips but those. They seem to be my kryptonite.

Weigh In

Well this morning I weighed in and I was really worried about the results. I have been in Texas for a week visiting my best friend and I haven't been able to weigh myself. We ate at restaurants every day and I really enjoyed the food. I thought I was going to be up because of it but....

This morning I weighed in and I am down 1.6 Lbs from when I left!! I can't tell you how good that felt. To have the flexibility to be able to do this where ever I am and who ever I am with is such a relief! Usually there is serious planning and deprivation that goes on when you travel on a diet. It is always such a chore and hassle to try to eat the right foods and keep on the correct schedule and you always have to either cheat or miss out on social functions because of your diet.

I was easily able to continue intermittent fasting with no effort or inconvenience what so ever! Even eating in restaurants every day for a week didn't put me off track (I'm sure you have all had a vacation where you ate out every single day because either you had to or you wanted to) that would not have been possible in the past.

I was so hyper and excited after I stepped off that scale. It lasted all day. At work one of my co-workers asked me if I was drunk! I said, no, just really happy. So funny!

I walked by two of the girls in the office this afternoon and one of them said, "You're looking good Jenna!"

Thanks! I feel good too!

It's Ok to be hungry

This post is inspired by Amy who commented that she has learned it is OK to be hungry.

That is a really powerful statement and one of the reasons why I have had so many good transformations so far living the Fast 5 Lifestyle.

It is OK to be hungry. In Dr. Herring's book he touches on this a bit.

"Nature is not stupid. If hunger alone were to incapacitate a hunter by being excessively distracting or intolerable, then the hunter would be unable to hunt and the species would have died off long ago. We're built with more resilience than that."

"The Fast-5 approach is easier than it sounds because of an amazing and surprising characteristic of hunger: given adequate adjustment, eating nothing during the daily 19-hour fasting period can be far easier than eating little. Hunger becomes a milder, more distant sensation instead of a behavior-controlling drive."

In my case, the hunger pains were quite severe before I started Fast-5. Now, looking back on it, I think that I was experiencing sugar withdrawals. Not just sugar from sweets but from carbs and other processed foods. I ate so much of it so often that my body was addicted to the sugar and SCREAMED out for more when there was even a small break in the feedings.

Now I have kicked that habit (not to say that I have stopped eating sweets or carbs, but just much less because of fasting) and my body understands that there is no need to scream. It will survive. Hunger will not kill it. It will get the nutrients it needs and in the mean time there is plenty of food to eat, it is just stored on its butt right now waiting to be burned rather than on a plate. Same difference to my body. To it, energy is energy, whether it is in the form of a cheeseburger or a bunch of fat on my mid section...

Even if I do feel hunger, I know that it is nothing to fear, it is not the end of the world. It will pass, I will be able to function and soon I can eat whatever my hungry stomach desires.

Yes, it is OK to be hungry!

It's easy...REALLY!

When I talk to people about intermittent fasting most people say the same things.

"That would be way too hard for me."

"I don't think I could do that."

Everyone assumes it is hard to fast. Lets break this down a bit.

Everyone fasts and they don't even think about it. Lets say you eat dinner at 6pm. Once you finish eating, have dessert etc. it is maybe 7pm. Assuming you don't have a late night snack, you probably won't eat again until the next day when you have breakfast. If you have breakfast at 7am that means you have already been fasting for 12 hours!

Oh wow! A 12 hour fast...I don't know if I could do that...wait a minute...I already did.

Now all you need to do is extend that fast by another 7 hours. Now you might say, but waiting 7 hours is way too hard for me. But the way I do it is I break that 7 hours up into two parts. Half is done in the morning and the other half in the evening. Have some tea or coffee (no sugar or cream though) and water to keep your stomach happy and get busy living life.

Before you know it, the clock will be reading 11 am. If you break your fast at 12 noon like I do then all you have to do is wait one hour. You can wait one hour can't you? Especially if you have already made it through most of the morning the chances of you throwing that away for the sake of one hour is pretty slim...

12 noon Eat! Eat what you like, no powders, no packaged chemicallized food, no rice cakes and lettuce (unless you like rice cakes and lettuce). Eat all your favorites, now that is worth waiting for isn't it?

If you aren't too full from lunch then eat a snack at 3 or 4. Eat a good sized snack of something that is not meal sized calorie wise but filling. A muffin, some low fat cream cheese and crackers, some fruit and veggies with dip and yogurt. With your big lunch of yummy food and your nice sized snack at 3 or 4, you aren't going to be hungry for a while.

5 pm window closes. Now you need to do the rest of that 7 hours we had left to do in the morning. You already did 4 of them this morning by waiting until noon to eat. Now there are only three left and it is back to bed to do that base 12 hour fast that we all were doing but didn't realize it.

Because you ate such a nice big lunch and had that filling snack, 2 of those hours fly by without any effort. You feel a little grumble in your stomach for that last hour...but hey, you can wait an hour can't you?

That's all there is to it...from what I noticed, there were only two hours in the day where you really had to try...2 hours out of 19 that were a tiny bit difficult. If, for you, fasting means difficult, then, if you think about it, you were really only fasting for 2 hours...

You can do this...trust me.

I am one of those people that other people HATE!

Love this post on Brad Pilon's blog! He is SO funny!

http://bradpilon.com/healthy-ramblings/my-fast-metabolism-secret/

Fasting in Texas

I am writing this post today from my best friend's house in Austin Texas. They say everything's BIGGER in Texas! Well that is certianly true from what I have seen during my visit so far. We have had some wonderful food since I have been here but I have stayed true to my lifestyle and kept up the fasting routine.

Yesterday I had yummy lasagna that my friend made which was very good. Then we went shopping and I bought some new clothes to replace a few of my items that are way too big now. (I actually bought a size SMALL top and another one in MEDIUM!!! Wow! I used to wear an XL. Things really are bigger in Texas...(I think the small is a fluke but it still felt great!) So great to have to say, "Do you have this in a smaller size?"

Since we were shopping I lost track of the time and missed my afternoon snack by over an hour and so my eating window had closed. I could have cheated and just ate anyway but I stayed true and fasted until lunch today. It felt great! I was a bit more hungry than usual in the evening but it faded away when I put my mind to something else.

This morning when I woke up I felt great and wasn't hungry at all. We went and got manicures and pedicures before lunch and then I broke my fast at noon. I started with a salad and then took a break until we made it to a restaurant downtown for lunch around 2pm.

The restaurant was great. An outdoor place with picinic tables and people with their dogs, a children's playground and a ping pong table among other outdoor games. Really nice. The food was great! I ate my fill and will be full for the rest of the evening I am sure. The weather has been beautiful 20 degrees plus! (70 for those Americans!)

Such a great feeling that no matter where I am or what I am doing this lifestyle can easily be adapted or shaped to fit me and my environment. That is the way that I will be successful. Diets that require special food or specific measurements is too difficult to adapt when you are not in your regular environment. Fast 5 is certainly the way to go for me!

PS. Mini Eggs are bigger in Texas too!