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90 Day Weight Loss Journal

Discussion in 'Self Improvement' started by Tao Jones, Jun 17, 2019.

  1. 18/90

    Feeling much better today. The cheese has worked its way out of my system now, I think! Today will be a 42-hour fast. I have my salt ready to go! :)
     
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  2. Downy

    Downy Fapstronaut

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    Wow 42 hours fast with no food? That's intense. Will have to see how you go. I have done these before and the most I have done is 24 hours but mainly 16 to 20 hour fasts. But I'm only 161lbs. Curious to know how you feel during the journey of this 42 hours
     
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  3. I did two 42s last week and today will be my second (hopefully of three) this week. If you eat well on the "feast days," the fasting periods are not too bad at all.
     
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  4. 19/90

    Two big things to mention today, and both are quite good! First, this past 42 hours of fasting is the first so far where I did not feel even one hunger pang. I do not expect them to all go like this, but it does seem that a little salt every now and then has really helped me cope on fasting days. I worked out fasted this morning and felt pretty strong and good right up to the end, when I started feeling just a touch light-headed. A little pinch of salt was the simple cure for that. But I have had no hunger whatsoever. Cool!

    Second, today marks a somewhat sad letting go for me, but a needed one, I think. I drank the last of my cans of flavored seltzer water yesterday, and I will not be getting any more. I quit soda pop years ago (with only a little diet pop here and there), but I have drunk seltzer almost exclusively for a long time. As a zero calorie, zero sugar beverage, I felt it was a pretty safe alternative -- and much better tasting than plain old water! However, I have learned that the "natural flavors" in flavored seltzer can elicit an insulin response, which is exactly what I am trying to avoid while eating keto and fasting. So, I will be sticking to plain unsweetened black tea as my go-to beverage from here on out. (And coffee, of course! Do you think me a heathen? :) )

    So, I am on my way! I plan to eat two great meals today between noon and 6 and then fast again through until Sunday, which will make this week my first 3x42. Hooray! My 42" waist pants are staring to look a bit ridiculous on me. I may try sizing down to my 40" ones this weekend and see how I feel. I refuse to unbutton my pants when sitting, so if that means I stay in the 42" ones for a while longer until my gut recedes, so be it! :)

    Onward!
     
    Last edited: Jul 19, 2019
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  5. evens006

    evens006 Fapstronaut

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    glad to read through this and hear about your journey. intermittent fasting has worked wonders for me too. it takes 2-3 weeks to get into it, but after that, I didn't have much in the way of hunger pangs or anything. once in awhile I'll get craving for junk food or something sweet, but a great tasting protein bar usually takes care of that.

    I hear ya on the pants! lots of Goodwill trips lately!
     
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  6. Day 22/90

    Highest Weight: 247.0 lbs, BMI: 35.4, SMBI: 51/70
    Starting Weight: 230.6 lbs, BMI: 33.2, SMBI: 48/70 (Jul-01-2019)
    Current Weight: 211.6 lbs, BMI: 30.0, SMBI: 45/70 (-1.8 since last week)
    Goal Weight 1: 204.0 lbs, BMI: 29.3, SMBI: 43/70
    Goal Weight 2: 192.0 lbs, BMI: 27.6, SMBI: 41/70
    Lowest Adult Weight: 187.0 lbs, BMI: 26.8, SMBI: 40/70 (10 or 11 years ago)
    Goal Weight 3: 184.0 lbs, BMI: 26.4, SMBI: 39/70
    Ultimate Goal Weight: 170.0 lbs, BMI: 24.4, SMBI: 36/70 (optional, and maybe not healthy; I'll reassess at 90 days)

    My third day of fasting last week ended up falling on Saturday, which is normally a feeding day for me. As a result, I broke the fast after only 18 hours or so and ate a late lunch and had a small supper. This week I will likely do another 2x42, as we have family in town on Thursday and Friday, and it would be weird if I did not eat anything at all while they were here. :)

    But the 2x42 seems to be having good effect, in combination with my fairly strict keto diet on days when I am eating. I am down about another two pounds this week, and I believe this is real weight coming off. I see the difference in my arms, legs, upper chest, and a little bit in my face. I tried on my 40"-waist pants today, but I am not ready for those yet. Still too much of a gut when I am sitting. I will not unbutton my pants to sit ever again! I am in this for the long haul, so no matter. I'll get there eventually. :)

    This way of eating certainly has made time slow down. It has only been three weeks since I made these radical changes, but it feels much longer. Mindfulness causes thought and time to stretch out as you live each moment more fully. I imagine perfect mindfulness would cause time to stop completely. Perhaps this is what eternity is like. :)

    Well, enough philosophy for today! I am currently in the midst of my first fast of the week. No hunger pangs yet. I have had a bit of muscle soreness from my workouts, so I will be taking it easy on that this week. I also need to watch a video about magnesium this week and see if that is something I need to start supplementing with, too. I know deficiency here causes leg cramps -- wonder if it causes other sorts of muscle soreness, too? I am learning a lot!

    Onward!
     
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  7. 23/90

    I will be breaking my first 42-hour fast of the week in about an hour. I am looking forward to it! :) I had no hunger yesterday until very late at night, just before bed, around 11 pm. Always makes things a bit easier.

    I'm kind of in the swing of things now. I do think occasionally about a nice slice of pizza or something similar. I may treat myself to such a thing when I hit my first goal in another 2-3 weeks (hopefully). but I know that for the time being, and certainly in large measure most of the time going forward, such things are off-limits. Self-denial is a powerful muscle to develop and discipline has proven to be its own reward. Still, it is a daily effort. So be it!
     
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  8. 24/90

    Second 42-hour fast this week. Salt supplementing ftw. Magnesium is on its way and should arrive later today. I see it is to be taken with food, so I will likely wait until tomorrow to start on that.

    On feasting days, I have been staying strictly in a 18:6 window and limiting my feeding periods to two meals of no more than an hour in duration. Yesterday, for the first time, I had a little piece of summer sausage just before my lunch window and another little piece with some cheese just before my supper window. I was hungry both times but could have waited. I think I did this because I craved the "spice" of the sausage. It's something different from my usual fare.

    If it wasn't in the house, I would not have eaten it. maybe best to not have such things around. My wife buys it because she thinks it is "ok" for keto. Maybe it is. (She is not being as strict as I am on this.) It feels a bit like a processed food to me. Anything that generates cravings does. I am really trying to move from a "live to eat" mindset to an "eat to live" mindset. Thus, I am restricting food choices and trying to make it all fairly dull and mundane. If I look forward to meal times too much, it will be too easy to eventually slip back into the "hunting & seeking" behavior I have had toward food in the past. I do not want to revert to to that. Better a lifetime of dull meals with me in control of when and what I eat.

    One day at a time!
     
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  9. 26/90

    Yesterday I completed my second 42-hour fast of the week. I will not be doing a third fast this week because of meal expectations with family in town visiting. I did manage to stay keto yesterday and will do the same today There is plenty of carby food to be had, but not for me!

    My 42"-waist pants are just starting to feel a little bit loose on me when I sit. This is great progress. One step at a time.

    I also started on magnesium supplement yesterday. I had no ill effects from taking one 500 mg capsule with my lunch. I'll plan to do this on every feeding day, for a total of 900-1200 mg per week. I had a very strong workout this morning, and the muscle soreness I have been experiencing this past week is starting to fade, so I hope the magnesium may be helping with that.

    Will my schedule be "normal" next week and allow me a proper 3x42 for the first time yet? I am not sure. Summer schedules are unpredictable. I am looking forward to the familiar routines of the cooler months!
     
  10. kisg12364#h

    kisg12364#h Fapstronaut

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    Congratulations, you've taken the first steps towards success! Know it is possible, never give up!
     
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  11. Day 29/90

    Starting Weight: 230.6 lbs, BMI: 33.2, SMBI: 48/70 (Jul-01-2019)
    Current Weight: 208.6 lbs, BMI: 29.9, SMBI: 44/70 (-3.0 lbs since last week)
    Goal Weight 1: 204.0 lbs, BMI: 29.3, SMBI: 43/70

    I am nearly one-third of the way through my 90-day commitment to radically and permanently change my relationship with food. Things are going pretty well, I would say!

    I found over this past weekend during my feeding days that I was not craving carby food at all. Last week I imagined a slice of pizza would be nice. This week, I couldn't think of anything better than a nice cut of meat and my amazing keto Cobb salad. My tastes are changing a bit. I know I could easily revert back to craving less healthy food. Even after 29 days, that specter looms close at hand. However, if I give my mind, body, and tastes a full 90 days to morph, I am hopeful that the change will be easier to maintain over the long-term.

    I also put on my 40"-waist pants today. I still cannot sit in them real comfortably (I guess I am at more of a 41" atm, but they don't make pants that size!), but the 42" ones were starting to look really ridiculous on me. I felt like a clown! So, I will deal with a slight bit of seated discomfort this week and hope that my waistline will continue to recede.

    The magnesium I started last week seems to be having a good effect on my gut. I have been very regular since I started it, which is something I sometimes struggle with, especially when I am making drastic changes to my diet. It will be interesting to see if all my struggle with constipation over the years might just have been a due to a magnesium deficiency. If so, I am appalled no one has ever suggested this to me before! What good are doctors if they don't even know basics like this?!?

    Today is the first of a planned 3 days of 42-hour fasting this week. I am just 18 hours in but feel fine. These 42-hour fasts are starting to feel like the new normal. In fact, I even find myself looking forward to them just a little. It is so easy to manage thoughts about food by simply saying, "Oh, yeah. No food today." It simplifies life in a remarkable way. The ancients had a practice of fasting two days a week, and I am beginning to see the wisdom in this. it may be one I adopt for the long-haul. We shall see.

    Onward!
     
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  12. And I forgot to mention: I am now officially "overweight" instead of "obese," according to the lovely folks behind the BMI measurement. I think it's a bit of a crock, but it's nice to see that number moving in a healthier direction, too!
     
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  13. The BMI is a crock. My trainer is ripped when it comes to muscle but still considered “overweight” by BMI standards. Why is BMI a crock? Because weight is comprised of a lot of things such as body fat, lean body mass, bone density, water, etc and the BMI doesn’t factor this but rather jumbles them all together.
     
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  14. Day 30/90 - 1/3 of the way there!

    I will be break my first 42-hours fast after a finish typing up this post. I think today will be an avocado omelette with bacon, all cooked in the bacon grease. Maybe with a dollop of sour cream on top. oh, and with bleu cheese melted inside. Sounds wonderful! (I apologize if I have painted too wonderful a picture here with my words. I will be more circumspect in the future.)

    I hate cooking. I did it once years ago professionally, and the stress of that job robbed me of all joy in the kitchen. But I am finding that on ADF, when meal prep (and meals!) are occurring less often, I am more willing to put some time into food prep to make my few meals count. Knowing I am eating good stuff in a healthy way is incentive to do a little extra leg work to make the meals the best they can be. I am slowly learning my way around the stove and the cutting board again. There is no danger of me becoming the next Gordon Ramsey, but it is good to find within myself a desire to do a bit more than just pop something in the microwave when it comes to meal time.

    One meal at a time. One fasting day at a time. This is the way we achieve our goals. Onward!
     
  15. Day 32/90

    Two fasting periods of 42 hours for this week are nearly complete. And my schedule this week looks promising for a third fast on Friday, so I hope this will be my first actual week of 3x42. It has been good to work up to, I think, and I feel ready for this, as two 42s each week has become relatively simple to maintain over the past few weeks.

    I am closing in on my first goal weight of 204 lbs. This was originally my goal to hit by the end of the year when I was doing only 16:8 TRE and not being careful what I ate during my two meals a day. ADF has sped that up quite a bit! :) but I want to be careful in how I "celebrate" when I hit this goal. I am feeling so good on this WOE that I do not want to undo my progress with a carb binge -- and, tbh, I am not sure if my body would tolerate it all that well after a few weeks without much in the way of carbs. And I don't really have the craving for that atm either.

    Still, I do want to celebrate in some way. I believe acknowledging milestone is important. They are the signposts that tell us we are on the way and the markers we can look back on to see how far we've come. One thing I have also abstained from these past 30 days has been alcohol. I used to be a regular beer drinker, but I see that my keto ways will not have beer back on the menu any time soon. I do also enjoy bourbon. I am thinking I may celebrate with a nice steak salad with bleu cheese and an adult beverage. I see that whiskey is zero carbs, so I can do this and stay keto, even! (I assume that bourbon, being in the whiskey family, still counts as zero-carb? I will have to double check.)

    One of my goals of this 90-day period is to completely change my relationship to food. I want to find things I absolutely love that can become my new staples (Cobb salad, eggs & bacon, salmon & broccoli, etc.) and work my way towards being done with all the things that brought me low and held me back food-wise in my adult life (sugar, processed snack foods, etc.) The first 30 days of this new WOE (and really a new WOL!) has started me down this road. I am committed to staying on it going forward.

    Onward!
     
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  16. hitnmis

    hitnmis Fapstronaut

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    Your killing It!!
     
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  17. Day 33/90

    Another day, another 42-hour fast. These days are so restful. I don't have to plan food or worry about what to eat or not to eat. I have a family member who is currently involved in a high-cost meal replacement program that has her grazing 5-6 small meals (100 calories each!) each day. I cannot imagine how difficult that must be in comparison to fasting. I do not think I would be strong enough to maintain discipline with so many choices to make and food being such an ever-present factor in life. So much simpler to just not eat. I guess this WOE is really good for dummies like me!

    Thanks for the continued support. Having the group along with me for this wild ride is all part of what makes it possible to endure, day after day. This will become the new normal soon enough, but it's not completely that way in my head yet. Until it is, knowing I am in this together with all of you is very helpful! So, thanks again.

    Onward!
     
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  18. Thanks for your encouraging words.

    I am drinking plenty of water, being sure to stay well hydrated. Supplementing with salt helps with hydration, too. I know that as much as 10 pounds or so of any weight loss can be just from water, so I sort of just discount that amount straight away. That is in part why, no doubt, my very first week saw a drop of around 15 pounds. Obviously that's impossible. Most of that was water, I am sure.

    I have done one-time multi-day fasts in the past. This is the first time I have consistently fasted for extended periods (greater than 24 hours) multiple times each week. It is also the first time I have had a really solid plan to return to when (and if) the intensive fasting ends. In the past, I have always hurt my gains over the fasts by reverting immediately to the same sick, broken way of eating I had done before the fast. This time I intend to do differently.

    Having supportive community during the fast and the notion of a "90-day reboot" has been a real help to me this time around.
     
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  19. That's so true bro best of luck to you.
    If I can give one tip it would be to watch out with processed grains above all. A lot of cattle is being force fed processed grains with the single purpose of fattening them. I once lost 45-50pounds over the course of two months by adhering to a very strict paleo diet, and I never was hungry nor did I fast. I went back to eating grains after that and regained most of it, although I've never really exaggerated my food intake. Most of it has to do with what you eat rather than how much. Protein is an excellent food source if you intend on losing weight really fast without going hungry. Too many vegetables and your stomach will expand and leave you feeling hungry.

    But as you say once you've lost the weight, really need to start seeing food as a reward and schedule unhealthy stuff like pizza or cookies only once a month or so as a reward. This will give you something to look forward to and motivate you enough to keep up the healthy lifestyle.
     
  20. Yes, I plan to avoid processed grains permanently. They seem to play little dietary function apart from rapid weight gain. This, for better or worse, is not something I need any help with! :)

    I may also be done with sugar more or less for good. It is a real addiction for me, and even a little bit makes me desire a lot more, and it is very difficult to stop. I am also trying to regard food as *not* being a reward. It has played that role for far too long in my life. I am working hard to move from "live to eat" to "eat to live." It is a process, and it will take time. Maybe some day I will return to having a little food "reward" in my plan, but today that doing so right now sounds like a misstep.
     

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