2021 Food Commitment: "No S +"

Weigh-in: 193
This week, I recommitted to my original commitments from the OP. Other than one beer with supper on Thursday night, I honored my commitments this week. Onward.

 

Weigh-in:192.4
A very solid week of honoring my No-S commitments. Weather permitting and God willing, I will be diving back into alternate-day fasting in the week ahead.

I finally got my work schedule change where I now have two hours back each afternoon. I wasted no time in putting these extra hours to good use. I immediately implemented the plan that I have had percolating for a while now. In these two hours, I am doing about 45 minutes of firewood work (cutting, splitting, hauling), my 15-minute Shovelglove strength-training routine, and about a 50-minute vigorous walk/hike around our very hilly property. I didn't lose much weight this week, but I *feel* so much better. And I am acutely aware of how much further I still have to go. But now I have the time to invest in my health, and that makes all the difference!

 

Weigh-in: 193.4
A bit discouraging to be up a full pound after working hard this week to stay on track. My best guess is that additional cortisol from stress at work is counterbalancing any progress I might be making from IF and No-S. Alas!

I have decided this week that I cannot do 3x42 fasts while also working full-time+ in my current situation. Even given the recent lightening up of my schedule (getting two hours back between my day and evening jobs), adding the additional stress of fasting on top of this already pressing work stress is simply too much. Work will not always be this manic and stressful. When it returns to a more moderate 40-hour schedule someday (hopefully it will!), I will have the habits in place to fall back on and turn up the heat a little on IF/ADF. Now is the time to make sure those habits are rock solid.

So, I will stick to honoring my commitments as outlined in the OP. I am also committed to eliminating sugar from my diet completely. I think I am ready to make that a long-term commitment now. I will also commit to no fast food meals at all, esp. over the next 60 days or so. I will practice IF on MWF, but it will likely only be a 24-hour fast (OMAD) at most. Some MWFs I may even IF less than that. But as long as I stick to my other commitments, I will consider it a success.

When the budget permits, I think I will also work with a personal diet/workout trainer. I think I may need some individualized help to move from my current good health to being the best version of myself physically that I can be.

It is also important to restate (and possibly state for the first time in writing) my motivation for achieving optimal health: I am a disciple. A disciple is, by definition, one who is disciplined. A helpful definition of "disciplined": "Ready to do what is needed when called upon." Part of this readiness is being in good health so that whatever physical demands are required can be met, within reason. I will be a better disciple if I am in good health than I can be if I am in poor health. It is really just that simple.

Onward. May God grant me strength.

 

Weigh-in: 195.2
At this point, who knows what is up with my weight. It seems completely disconnected from anything I do.

All I know to do is stick to healthy daily habits and stay consistent. Discouraged, though, not gonna lie.

 

Weigh-in: 194.8
Last week was a little discouraging. This week, I refocused on finding a sustainable path forward.

Last weekend, I ended up eating three meals each day. (I have typically eaten only two meals a day for years now.) After I did, I realized how incredibly good I felt. It made me reconsider my commitment to two meals each day. I have experimented with this during the past week. if that weight number means anything at all (and it may not), then three meals a day does not seem to make much a difference to my weight. Thus, I am going to continue on with this and see what happens.

My revised commitments are as follows:

• No desserts, ever. (I am mentally ready to be done with foods that have sugar as their main [or only!] ingredient.)
• On weekdays, no snacks and no second helpings. Eat three meals at regular intervals, and nothing else.
• On each weekend day and holiday, one and only one snack or second helping is allowed.
• Alcohol is limited to only holidays. The "glass ceiling" of no more than two drinks per day is always in effect.
• Committing to this for the rest of 2021 -- and beyond!

In some ways, this feels like doing almost nothing. It's just "normal." But I am realizing that my deprivations over the past few years have been quite stressful. I had the chance to take them on during a period when my work life was less busy and much less stressful. Now that work has picked up the pace, I find I don't have the capacity for so much stress all at once. Something has to give. In this moment, my decision is to back off some of the extreme food commitments and refocus on maintaining what I know I can do. If nothing happens in 2021 in terms of my food consumption aside from honoring the revised commitments outlined above, that will be a huge step forward for my health for the rest of my life.