Intermittent Fasting 1 Year Results

This post is going to be about my past experience with intermittent fasting. I began intermittent fasting in 2012 and continued through 2013. I want to talk about my intermittent fasting 1 year results and what I experienced and learned in that year.

First off, a small introduction to intermittent fasting. Intermittent fasting is a schedule of eating. It's not a diet per se, but it can be used as a method of weight loss. Intermittent fasting doesn't tell you what to eat. You can eat whatever you decide to eat. Intermittent fasting just tells you when to eat. You have periods of time where you eat and periods of time where you do not eat.

As for me, at the time of starting I weighed about 140 lbs and I am a female. I exercised casually here and there. Nothing major. Just pilates 2 to 3 times a week. I ended up losing 25 lbs and effortlessly maintained that weight loss over the year. The weight came off rather quickly, within the first few months of intermittent fasting, and then I just maintained the weight loss for the rest of the time.

Now I'll explain what I did to lose 25 lbs and keep it off. I would eat my meals over a 5 hour 'eating window' every day. I would typically eat from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. I didn't eat non-stop during that 5 hour period. Instead, I would start out with a small meal at 3 p.m. that was similar to breakfast. I would follow up with a snack in a couple hours and then I would have dinner and a dessert usually. I ended up weighing 115 lbs eating dessert almost every single day. Some days I would eat out and even break my fast with Chinese buffet. That's why I say I maintained that 25 lbs weigh loss effortlessly. I wasn't starving. I wasn't limiting or depriving myself. My body just naturally set at that weight and stayed there (until I stopped intermittent fasting of course).

During this period of time with intermittent fasting, on the weekends I was a lot more relaxed with my eating window. I would usually start eating around noon and end at 8 p.m. so it was more of a 16/8 schedule.

If you want more information about what 19/5 intermittent fasting is and how to do it, click here.

So to sum up, I lost 25 lbs with intermittent fasting on a 19/5 schedule, with weekends eating about 16/8. No dietary restrictions. I just stuck with the eating schedule and lost the weight. That was in 2012 and 2013. So where am I now?

Well, I stopped intermittent fasting and gained the weight back. You do have to continue some form of intermittent fasting for weight maintenance. You can't go back to eating all day and expect to keep the weight off. But the good news is that intermittent fasting really isn't that hard. I love intermittent fasting. I believe it is a very natural way to eat. I believe the way we have been taught to eat all day is very unnatural and causes premature aging and all sorts of illnesses. I believe intermittent fasting is a great way to look and feel good.

As of right now, after these holidays, I weigh 153 lbs. I do plan to get back into intermittent fasting. I want to blog my experience and intermittent fasting journey this time. Hopefully in the near future I will have some links down here to a few results posts after a week or so of getting back into the routine.