Intermittent Fasting (IF 18:6) Diary - Week 3 - #adsactly #ecotrain
Dear IF Diary…
We have hit week 3!
I did my weekly weigh in as per usual and was quite disappointed that my weight has stayed the same this week. I haven’t gained anything, but I haven’t lost anything either.
However, I also did my measurements and wait for it… I have lost 5cm’s from my waist, 5cm from my hips, 1cm from my thighs and 1cm from my chest!!! :D How awesome is that!
Although I have not lost any weight in lbs, my body has shrunk in size since last week. I am pretty ecstatic about that lol.
Also, if I am honest with myself, even though I have stuck to my fasting times this week, I have not been eating as clean as I was at the beginning. I guess this is probably the kick up the bum I needed to get back on track with my food choices.
I have previously followed the keto way of eating and it does suit me so I have been playing with the idea of trying it again, but I always end up self-sabotaging when I try to stick to it and it only takes 1 slip to set you right back to the beginning and I don’t think I am self-disciplined enough to stick to it.
So for now I am continuing with the IF times of eating only between 1pm and 7pm and fasting for the rest of the time. It has worked so far for me, that is for sure!
It is food shopping day today and I think it is a good day to do it after I have weighed and measured myself so that I can be inspired to choose the right foods to put into my shopping trolley!
I have been watching LOTS of documentaries on foods and I am realising more and more that sugar is the biggest issue we have in the western world. I am actively going to cut my sugar even more so from my diet by picking things that ARE NOT low fat and ARE NOT processed fruits.
This may sound crazy if you have never looked into sugars, but seriously there is more sugar in low fat yogurt, than full fat yogurt! This is because when they take the fat out of yummy food, it doesn’t taste yummy anymore, so they replace the fat with a ton of sugar! Not great if you are trying to lose weight as the sugar triggers an insulin response which in turn triggers our body to store fat!!!
Also, something I didn't realise is that artificial sweeteners trigger the same insulin response as sugar! I thought replacing sugar for zero calorie sweetener would be better, but it still turns your body into a fat storing machine as the sweet taste tricks your body into thinking it is about to receive sugar! Crazy eh?! Why don't doctors tell you these things...
So to sum it up, you are better off eating the full fat product (obviously as long as it is a whole food) and enjoy the taste! The natural fats also keep you feeling fuller for longer so you won’t eat as much during the day, therefore reducing your total calorie intake. They are also good for you! Win win situation!
So this week’s message to myself…stay on track, eat the healthy full fat versions and don’t worry about the scales! :D
This is your friendly ‘IF’er signing off for the week!
Thank you for your continued support! Much love, @beautifulbullies xx
(Many thanks to www.unsplash.com for the free images)
Congratulations! So good to see you sticking with it. It is also good to see you are doing such good research. There is so much in health matters that need to be taught. It is great to see you learning so much.
loosing inches is just as important as loosing pounds. :) Great Job.
Thank you so much @carey-page! :D I am actually enjoying following this way of eating. It isn't that hard as its basically just telling myself 'just wait a little longer before you eat' rather than 'you must eat this or that or cook it a certain way...' You can't really go wrong. I see you guys only have 30 days or so growing time left where you are, have you managed to grow lots of veggies for the winter months? <3 x
Allowing ourselves to be hungry for a bit is quite natural. Not to the point of starvation but just for awhile. Back before our modern times people ate during the season and had to skimp during the off season. Much like the animals. We are so used to just eating whenever we want we no longer follow the season and nature.
We have grown quite a bit. I guess it is time to do a blog. The garden is looking great. I have beans growing in the atrium. I am trying to let them grow but it is hard because I keep eating them. They are so fresh and new. They taste so good.
We should get our first frost mid August. I am beginning to think of how we can cover all of the garden to extend some of the growing.
The plants are growing hyper fast now. Tomatoes are over 7 feet tall and the squash / pumpkins are growing what seems like a food a day. I have no doubt that we will do just fine with the time we have left. We start the garden when the snow is still on the ground. So that gives us plenty of time. We missed a bullet yesterday as golf ball sized hail fell just south and west of us with that huge storm we had. I am grateful to Creator for protecting our crop.
Wow that could have been disasterous! I'm so happy it didn't destroy your crops. You guys have worked hard for them all year. I remember the posts of carey working with the plants indoors before the snow melted! Its something I guess we all take foregranted when we just pop to the shop for dinner or we throw out food that went to waste because it was sat in the fridge too long!
@carey-page I look forward to reading the blog! I can't wait to have a similar lifestyle for my family. We are working towards trying to obtain some land, but it is hard working against the greed in this country, as well as I am sure it is the same in every other country to. We would like to move to wales eventually. it is such a beautiful place to be, surrounded by nature and un-spoilt land. There really isn't much of that left in England. We have waited 15 years so far, I am sure a few more years won't hurt and in the meantime I am learning so much from people like you guys who share your experiences which is invaluable to me. I am also perfecting my crafts such as crocheting, animal husbandry etc so the waiting time isn't idle, it is more of a learning curve or information absorbing time haha <3
Well, I can say that when I started down this similar road I just didn't weigh myself. Even now when people tell me that I look like I have lost a lot and ask how much I have to honestly say, "I dont' know" because for me it was the decision to look and feel better thus knowing my clothes were looser adn that I could see my size shrinking.
For me the scale is a tool that can be like social media, it can lure you in and then trigger you to bad behaviour so I just don't use it.
The low fat thing was such a sneaky way to get more sugar into our diets! Even now, the one 'carb' type thing I use, which is milk, is only the full fat cream which I think is almost completely devoid of the sugars, in my morning coffee. It's just easier to slowly get rid of them.
Another trick, if you feel you are going to 'slip' is take the food you were going to slip with and say, ok, I'm going to do this, I'll jsut cut it in half. And then you still get that food but only half and then next time say I'll just take 1/4. It sounds silly but it really is about retraining your approach to food, at least it was for me.
And this is your daily dose of your diary 'answering back' ;) It's a know it all little diary, isn't it :)
Haha brilliant advice, thank you Ms Answer-back Diary! I love it! xD
Yes, I went shopping in the week and only bought full fat versions of the things we eat rather than the low fat versions. It is crazy to think we have been fed so much bad advice (and sugar) without knowing it all these years! No wonder we have a huge weight epidemic on our hands in western society!
I will defo give the cutting the food in half a go. I ate a bag of donuts yesterday...I don't know why, it just happened! I guess the self sabotage thing is creeping in again... I should have just had the one and let it go, but I thought to myself 'oh well, I have had 1, a couple more wont hurt now will it?!' Big mistake.
Today is a new day however and it is 2:12pm and I am just about to have my first meal of the day. My mind is back on track and I have my healthy dinner all ready to go in the oven. I hope my donuts disaster doesn't throw all the hard work away that I have done.
We shall see at next week's weigh in!
Thanks again for your support! <3
that is awesome that you lost 5 cms. Super. I too am a great follower of IF. other than this I don't watch what I eat. But yes. But yes, IF is the most consistent good habit I have :D .
Great health post, @beautifulbullies :)
thank you @nehab! I wish I had learned about it sooner tbh! We are taught that we must eat 3 meals a day and breakfast is the most important meal if the day, but I am learning through experience to question everything the government teaches us
Cutting sugar will be effective but you need to exercise if you want to see a real difference. The last time I lost half a stone I was playing Tennis 3 times a week for 90 minutes a session. I lost half a stone.
I cant do the Tennis now as @bingbabe cant really play enough to give me a decent workout. Running is the alternative but its hard and not fun.
I walk quite a bit with having 5 dogs tbf. I could do with upping my exercise intensity though as I just tend to ramble along lol
Running with all 5 in tandem could be problematic.. probably better not.
XD
congrats! keep up the great work.. Losing size is probably more important to me than Kg ;-).. If you are interested to try.. see if dropping bread helps.. as well as sugar.. Everyone is different, but i noticed that just dropping all bread and pastas REALLY let the pounds drop off!!
ooh and...
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Wow, thank you so much for the upvote! :D Yes I have dropped bread pasta and pastries which is defo helping :) I feel a lot less bloated!
Looking good! Were those blue skies I see in the UK? Or were you on vacation somewhere? haha I know you get blue skies there, like 10 days a year, must have been on one of those days. ;-) lol So the Keto diet eh? One of my good friends is on that diet and loves it. One of my brothers is on it too. He swears by it as well. Me? probably should be on some kind of diet, but I just eat everything. lol
Haha if only that girl were me in the photo, I certainly wouldn't be dieting! xD We have actually had one of the hottest and driest summers on record so far this year in the UK, lots of sunshine and I have been soaking up the vitamin D while I can! I am sure the rain and clouds will return before long though as the kids break up for the summer next week lol
oh really? That is interesting, yeah we have had a drought here in the Southwest. More then normal haha. Glad you are getting sunshine in the UK! :)
well done @beautifulbullies, there is so much we are not told, that is why we really need to research ourselves, you should check out a book called healing with whole foods, such a brilliant insightful book xxx
awesome, thank you! I will defo check it out. I am learning so much from peoples blogs and real life stories. They are so much more informative than doctor's advice, which is worrying! xxx
Never give up, go on like this with constant victories a @beautifulbullies