Month: April 2020

The scale may look worse than last week, but I do still feel well overall. My diet has been pretty good, and I’ve even started working out again. This played a part in a decision I was considering last week, extended fasting.

Progress, Or Lack Thereof

I’m a bit disappointed by the results of the scale this week. I’ve been sticking to my fasts, save one day, and have kept within my calorie limits.

The day I missed my fast was a mistake on my end. Friday night, I decided to enjoy a beer celebrating the week coming to a close. This ended my fast about an hour later than usual. The next day, I remembered that I needed to eat a bit later but planned poorly. I started eating breakfast and opened the Zero app only to see 30 minutes were left.

Considering it was the first time I missed a full fast in over a month, I chop it up to the inevitable mistake. Now, I don’t need to stress about messing up the first time!

Though it may be difficult to measure, I feel the major progress made this week has been aesthetics. I feel my abs are starting to make an appearance. Overall, I see myself as starting to tone more.

Eating for Purpose

In response to my last post, my sister asked me why I usually eat. For energy, pleasure, or just habit? I’ve been thinking about this question since then. I thought I responded with my initial thought, pleasure, but it appears I left her hanging! I hold on to a belief that of the seven deadly sins, gluttony describes me best by far.

Something intermittent fasting has pushed me to do is to keep a hold on that impulse. Lately, I feel I’ve been eating more out of a need than a want.

This week, I started going through the food that’s long been sitting in my pantry. Often, I have no taste for something, but once I make a meal of it, I’m ready to eat. It’s forcing me to be more creative in the kitchen, something I’ve swayed away from recently. Throwing together a variety of foods into some form of comprehensive meal has been fun.

Extended Fasting On Hold

Last week, I considered trying an extended fast over the course of an entire day. The day I had initially planned to do so, I woke up painfully hungry, and already thought the regular fasting schedule I was on would be tough. After that, I considered a couple days later, even today. However, I also started exercising more this week and don’t think the two go together well.

For the final week of the trial, I’m focused on sticking to my schedule and riding the rest out.

This week started a bit rougher than the last, but after a couple of days, things settled back in. Some mornings started to become a bit of a struggle until I hit the end of my fast. First, I want to discuss the app I’ve been using to keep track of fasts.

There’s an App for That

If you can think of it, there’s probably a mobile app, website, or similar tool out there, if not several. I heard about the app Zero on a podcast with one of its creators. There are a few options for fasts, as well as the ability to make custom fasts. Upon hitting a button, the fast starts and ends. There’s a timer that counts down during the fast, letting you know how much time is remaining.

I enjoy having the app because I only need to remember to do two things, push stop and push start fast. The former I rarely have to worry about, as I remember to do it with my first bite during breakfast. I do frequently forget to start my fast, but I set up a reminder message shortly after I typically finish dinner. If I completely fall off track, I can always fall back on the window of 11:30 AM to 7:30 PM with only little variation day to day.

The real benefit I find in using the app is having an external system tell me when I can eat. I find myself craving a boredom snack far too often. I’ll open a cabinet when simply walking near the kitchen for any reason. During my fast, I know to move along and ignore my craving, and snack guilt free off the fast.

Begging for Breakfast

Having my breakfast start much later in the morning has gotten more difficult in the past few days. Admittedly, I think an unengaging project at work has something to do with this. I tend to forget my hunger when focused on a task or project, but when droning along, my mornings have become a bigger struggle. It’s far from the only factor, but the effect is still there.

I’ve managed to stay consistent though, and have completed the full 16 hour fast each day, if not longer. Sticking to the 11:30 to 7:30 window makes remembering easy, but having the app makes compliance easy.

My energy levels haven’t been as consistent as last week, but my poor sleep schedule certainly had an impact. Waking up actually hasn’t been too bad, even after a late night, but getting up and moving has taken longer. I’ve found myself laying in bed waiting to get up for up to 30 minutes on a given morning. I hope returning to a stricter schedule will help.

I’ve seen some progress in weight loss as the scale above shows, and I hope to keep seeing consistent progress. If I can get under 160 over the next two weeks, I’d be quite happy!

During this trial, I’d like to try out is an extended fast up to something like 40 hours. Doing so by skipping eating for a day. I want to look into pros and cons beforehand, but I think this trial is a better time than any.

Intermittent fasting is a diet system I’ve known about for some time, but failed to follow after a few tries. Making this an official trial, I’ve finally made some consistent progress, though I actually started about a week and a half early. First, let’s go over what intermittent fasting actually is.

Breaking Fast

When we eat the first meal of the day, we’re breaking our body’s current state of fasting, hence the name “breakfast.” While the biology and science is certainly over my head, the gist is that the fasting state has many benefits.

By setting intended fasting and eating periods during the day, the body can stay in fasting mode as long as desired. The fasting window varies, but I’m currently trying a sixteen hour fast with an eight hour eating window. I actually started with a fourteen/ten split, but worked my way up an hour each week. Doing this helped me get an idea for my schedule over time. I’ve been shooting for an eating window between 11:30 AM and 7:30 PM.

The fasting window can vary either longer or shorter depending on needs. Some people even follow a one meal per day plan to maximize the fast.

Benefits So Far

The reason I started fasting was primarily in hopes to lose some weight. I’m about 10-15 pounds heavier than I want to be, and I know my eating habits could certainly be improved. I’ve accompanied intermittent fasting with meal tracking in an attempt to maximize success.

I’ve had some back and forth with my success in weight loss, but I believe this was mostly due to bad food choices over the fasting process. I was down about 3.5, but back up to where I started after a roommate’s birthday led to few to many pieces of cake.

Some unexpected benefits have been better energy levels and mood. I can’t say for certain the level of impact fasting has had on my energy as of late, but lately I’ve been feeling good while actually waking up earlier than I had in the past. For a few weeks, I was feeling pretty lethargic through most of the day, but lately I’ve felt much better for longer.

In terms of mood, I’ve been feeling a lot more calm and happy, even given everything going on lately. I typically lean pretty positive, but before starting fasting I was starting to get frustrated and stressed with work. There are certainly a combination of factors that are leading to feeling better, but I like to think this has had an impact.

Expectations

While I don’t think I’ll lose every pound I want, I hope to lose at least five pounds by the end of the trial. Pairing this with watching my diet should present the results I’m looking for.

One thing I didn’t plan on until starting was to layout a better daily schedule to accommodate meals. I’m still struggling to get out of bed as early as I want, but my sleep schedule is getting more consistent. My hope is to wake up consistently at or before 6:30 AM. It’s a big step away from rolling out of bed with five minutes until work.

Going in to this trial I had visions of picking up a few new skills, most of which wouldn’t really be useful. In reality, this last month went by in a blur and I barely worked on two things. While I did consider a few things throughout, it wasn’t quite the result I expected.

Tuning Trials

With this trial coming to a close, I am not entirely happy with the results. I can at least look back and apply lessons learned to the future. One of the core problems I see with this trial is setting the rules too loose. “Learning new skills” was far too broad to have solid compliance.

I find I have the best time and adhere best when I need to follow a simple straightforward guidelines. Having a specific rule to follow removes any thinking about what I need to do.

Something else to consider is how it’s easier to remove something to life than to add it in. Making the time to learn these skills just wasn’t on my priority list, even as a trial. Not to say I’ll never try anything that requires adding to my life, some of my favorite trials fall here, but I need to consider the timing of doing so.

A Life of Learning

Though this trial was not necessarily a success, throughout my life, I’ve been fascinated with learning. Even beyond schooling, I’ve continued learning in a variety of areas. I am energized diving into a subject and gaining a deeper understanding be it philosophy, cooking, music, physics, or really anything else that sparks my interest.

In recent years, I’ve really enjoyed learning from reading. I like to find lessons learned in all kinds of books, including fiction. A goal of mine this year is to read 40 books, including 12 specific ones from a variety of genres. After finishing a book, I write a few things I learned from it. That way, I not only tend to remember better, but I have a place to look back and review those lessons.

Even without a specific goal, I find learning in a variety of ways. By observing and making note of my actions, I can work on improving a skill, process, or routine.

What’s Next

Since late last year, I’ve been carrying around some holiday weight that I am hoping to drop. I’ve long heard the benefits of intermittent fasting, and even tried to start a few times. My problem was I’d always slip up over time.

Perhaps I cheated a bit, and actually started this early last week, but didn’t want to avoid starting while also finishing out the trial above. Pairing fasting with watching my calorie intake is bound to lead to some positive results.

This is one of those posts where I feel like it’s the day after my last one and I got nothing done. Last week, I thought about trying to work on an additional skill, but I hardly even practice what I started. My biggest weakness as of late has been making time for the things I say I want, so I created a solution for that.

Fast Times in Quarantine

The last few weeks as a whole have been moving by really quick. I don’t know how much that has to do with the current COVID-19 quarantining, as my day to day life really hasn’t been impacted too much. I work from home and have few social obligations. Though, it’s definitely created an odd atmosphere to live in.

I think the biggest reason for this blur of time is the lack of clear milestones in a given period. Most, if not all, events are cancelled, and travel is limited, if not completely restricted. Each day that passes feels identical to the last, even on weekends. With nothing going on, time slips away quickly.

A Little Progress

On the bright side, I’ve found short windows here and there to practice. Whether I’m on the phone or going for a walk, I can take a few moments during another activity to practice. The card spring is especially easy to practice while occupied, as I have the deck near my desk. I can pick up the cards and just start shuffling them.

While not one of my stated skills, I’ve tried to keep up my yoga practice during this quarantine. Before the COVID-19 situation escalated, I actually found myself in a one-on-one class, due to the other students skipping. It was a great way to learn and ask questions. I really enjoyed the time for the class in particular, as each week is the same routine.

After the quarantine started, I fell off the habit, with the studio I go to closed. This week, I turned to the many online resources to get my fix. Watching some videos, the instruction helped me with a few poses that I didn’t even realize weren’t quite right. The online videos are certainly not to the caliber of my one-on-one, but a different way of explaining a pose has helped me to find it better.

Focus on the Future

Rather than regret the lack of progress in the days past, I’m shifting my focus forward. Recently, in an attempt to get a hold of my time, I’ve been trying to plan my entire day. It’s something I think I will officially trial soon and plan to write about even without a actual trial in place. Essentially, I’m creating a calendar for the day and plan to shift from one activity to the next in that time.

I started this practice because I wasn’t making the time for the things I want to. When I reflected on the days past, I couldn’t remember what I did in that time. In all likelihood, I probably laid around and watched online videos. Not bad one their own, but when I feel I’m not accomplishing anything, that’s where the problem lies.

Looking at my calendars so far, I have literally not made a single minute on any day for learning skills. What that makes clear to me is that this hasn’t been a priority. Because it’s my current trial, I’ve updated my calendars for the coming days to include that time. Admittedly, if it wasn’t for this trial, I’d likely push my focus on the projects that I’ve set time for.