Before I get married…
You stare at your parents wedding photos and realize this is it. These are the moments immortalized on the walls and then it’s here! And so to prepare there’s THREE phases of projects I have to complete. Easy enough right?
Losing 60lbs in 5 months: my fasting journey:
Running a Half Marathon
Japan Wedding Preparation
About losing 60lbs…
Here I was at 245lbs…
And me… 5 months later at 185lbs
How?
I relish in being succint. I fasted for two days, and feasted on the third day. I went to the gym every 3-5 days. That’s all.
Holy smokes do I like food! I realize I have a terrible relationship with food. Fasting saved my life.
Let’s talk about the fasting feasting schedule..
I like food as much as the rest of you. All you have to do is not eat for 2 days. I just drank water, club soda/bubbly, and diet coke. Any cravings I had I wrote down and saved for the third day. The glorious feasting day.
Disclaimers:
I’m not a doctor, please talk to them first before you go fasting. This worked for me.
I followed the rules: KISS. Keep it simple. Don’t overcomplicate. Please don’t overcomplicate.
What to expect: the bad and ugly
1. I was very hungry at first. I couldn’t wait for the feasting days. Hell I still look forward to that third day.
2. I got headaches at first. I was super anxious wanting to eat the first week.
3. I lost hair. It’s a thing with fasting, look it up. Supposedly it comes back eventually. But with the stress of a small biz, turning 30 and fasting idk yet.
4. And then it got better. It all got better.
One of my first workout sessions. Running while day 2 (48 hours) fasted. It’s hard. I started at half .5 miles. I eventually worked up to 9 miles in one run!
What to expect: the good and the great!
1. Real weight loss, about 3-4 lbs every 4 days. I was in an easy caloric deficit. No way I could put eat 2 whole days fasting.
2. No more gout. I had gout breakouts and fasting was a pure detox and rest for my body.
3. No more bloating. My belly fat shrunk. I could feel the lean coming back.
4. Mental clarity. This paired with a runners high - we’ll get back to this in a minute.
5. I like food BETTER. Food tastes better, I am more satiated. The hunt on feasting days for whatever I want is always a thrill!
6. It helped my wife and brother. My journey and discipline, balanced with cravings only every 3 days helped them to curb some bad habits.
7. I’m finally in control. I’m not fighting cravings I eat what I want and when I want to lose weight I just fast. Once I hit my 185lb goal, I can choose to go up or down in weight. There’s no constant anxiety of penny pinching my calories/ calorie counting every day. That’s hell on earth fighting that daily battle. It’s an on and off switch.
8. Self esteem & style. I can wear all my clothes again. Double edged sword though - people treat me better. Why didn’t they treat me good before I lost the weight though?
Fasting kept me, my wife and my brother pretty regimented. As long as I was on a schedule, we all didn’t spend as much money going out on food benders. We all went to the gym, or had our own food schedule and choices. Since I wasn’t eating badly, they didn’t have a bad influence + they had a posting influence of the health journey and progress!
Let’s not forget about fitness
Going to the gym was like visiting an old friend. Here’s what I did every 3-4 days at the gym, in various fasted and feasted states.
1. I went as often as I could (schedule and life permitting)
2. Bench, Deadlift, Squat, Dumbell presses, lat pull downs. Just play with the machines!
3. Run/cardio. I ran a paltry .5 miles at first. 5 months later I ran 9 miles in 1 go.
4. Listen to your body. I overtrained running and hurt my knee. Forgive yourself and do what you can.
Eventually I worked my way up to 6 mile runs in about 1 hour and 20 mins. I just ran/jogged slow. 5.7mph. To run faster run slower and longer.
What’s next?
I’ll be candid. It’s ‘easy’ to get here. Sure, short term the fist 3 fasts you do are terrible. But then it’s just an on off switch. The days are long… but next thing you know the wedding is right around the corner? But holding it off is hard. Diet and lifestyle change are LIFE things. This is my second time losing 60lbs. I don’t know if I’ll hold it off. I’ll have to change my relationship with food. Start fine tuning. 2 days fasted, 2 days feasted. One meal a day now that I’m at the target weight. Idk but I have hope because I can always revert to fasting and keep the momentum.
Will continue for my family and for my health!
But before we wed, let’s run a half marathon!
