Friday, February 2, 2018

We just got home from my BIL's and SIL's. My nephew turned 18 today, and we all celebrated with him. It must be a bit scary for his parents, as he has autism, and is now a legal adult. He graduates this year, but still doesn't seem to have any plan on what to do afterwards. My BIL is the registrar of a local community college, so if he decides to take some classes, my BIL would be there if needed to guide him through.

Liz, it must be so hard to deal with the day to day changes your DH is going through. While what's happening is sad and difficult for him, it must be so painful for you to watch what's going on, as well as having to adjust your life constantly to accommodate those changes. My heart goes out to you.

As far as the fasting experiment, I've been trying the Leangains protocol. The fasting for 24 hours seemed too extreme for me. I don't think I could make it that long, or at least not 1-2 times every week. My co-worker is doing the 5:2 plan. I think limiting to just 500 calories or so, knowing that's all I could have, would make me feel deprived, and I'd end up either eating too much, and feeling guilty, or trying to make up for what I missed, when I could eat on the non-fasting days. Knowing that I can eat daily, during the 8 hours, having foods and portions I normally eat, seemed easier, if that makes sense. I too thought I'd never be able to fast. I know there have been times when I've waited too long to eat and ate anything and everything in sight. But I've found that not to be the case. I'm not sure what the difference is, other than the fasting time is planned. I've also given myself permission to eat, if I'm unable to get through the whole fasting period, so there's no guilt. So far, during the 8 hours of eating time, I've been eating as I had been before I started this experiment. I don't think I'm eating any more calories than I was, and it may be fewer this way. However, I was intrigued more by the theory (or fact?) that, after 12 hours, your body uses its reserves for energy, at a faster rate than normal. That seems to be where the potential for increased weight loss comes from. Doing so could work, as long as I don't try to convince myself that I have to make up, during the 8 hours, for what I'm not having while fasting. Still taking it a day at a time though, to see if this works and is sustainable for me.

So glad it's the weekend! Hugs, Mary

So if you are eating the same as before (same calories) are you losing weight?

I'm not sure. I have not gotten on the scale for a long time. I just can't face it. I know logically that I should be weighing, but emotionally I'm afraid. I have a physical on the 14th, so I will have to face it by then. I've only fasted three days, so I can't tell as yet if there's any actual weight loss, though my clothes have felt a tad looser. Looking what I ate yesterday, I think my calorie intake has probably been a bit less than it had been. I've been focusing more on cutting carbs, and not as much on calories. Like you, my breakfast calories are usually lower than other meals, so the difference isn't big. However, I need to start calculating my caloric intake, to be sure, as it's really easy to delude myself. With the fasting, though, I haven't specifically looked to cutting out a lot of calories, but instead to hopefully trigger more efficient fat burning. I'm also not continually eating during the 8 hours, and have pretty much stuck to two meals and one or two small snacks. Since I stopped eating so many slider foods, I reach my sleeve limit so much sooner too, which feels great.