If you are not familiar with these expressions I'll explain them for you. IF is intermittent fasting, ADF is alternate day fasting, OMAD is one meal a day and 2MAD is two meals a day. Well actually, I think they are all variations of INTERMITTENT FASTING so they are all some kind of fasting which is broken by eating windows. I have done all of them so I can give my perspective on this topic.
I was forty last year and I have gained quite a lot of weight. I have 3 children, but I have to admit I've gained weight after I gave birth to my third child. I was actually 3 kilos lighter one month after the birth of my 3rd child than I am now. Complicated. Or not. I have probably gained weight also during the first quarantine (March - May 2020).
Anyway, let's look at some numbers. The weight that prompted my weightloss was 81 kilos. That's actually the exact amount I reached at the end of all my 3 pregnancies, but this time I was not even pregnant. One month after my third child I weighed 71 kilos. And now I weigh about 74 kilos. So that's a very simple math done very quickly. I have lost 7 kilos since the end of November 2020 (81kg - 7 kg= 74 kg). But I still have 3 kg more than in April 2018 (after my 3rd child was born). Nevermind, I'm just explaining this to myself because I can't believe I was able to gain so much weight. I try to eat healthily.
I'll show you some of my pictures even though I'm not a big fan of posting my pictures.
 |
| Before children, when I was 58 kg and slim |
 |
| long, thin arms, no belly |
 |
| After my first daughter - not too bad |
 |
| 81 kg, children in the back |
trying to pose with all that fat
 |
| Not happy about it and yes, I have grey hair |
By the way, I made all the clothes in the pictures. That's why I took the photos.
OK, so luckily I found IF on youtube and I'm thrilled.
I started doing 16:8. So I ate from 10 am to 6 pm and then I fasted for 16 hours. I lost 3 kg. I tried to be precise at first and drank all kinds of things (water, tea, black tea with milk) in the evening to avoid hunger pangs. After some time (like 1 week) I think I got used to the pattern of eating and it was OK.
Then I wanted to change something to lose more weight. I started doing ADF - alternate day fasting. I lost another 3 kg, so I didn't lose a lot more. But I was happy. In the morning I drank 2 larger coffees with milk (no sugar), a lot of water and some hot herbal tea. So I was fine until 12:00 - noon. I usually get up very early around 5 am or 6 am. And I was working from home at that time. And I had all my three children at home. (We had 2nd quarantine from 16th October to 22nd February - yes, it was looong.) To give further details about my routine on ADF: I cooked myself a 1,5 l of vegetable soup (made of broccoli, cauliflower, 1 carrot, an onion and enough salt, a bit of turmeric powder, 1 teaspoon of olive oil). So I drank hot salty watery soup. It was delicious and it helped me feel satiated for some time. The biggest problem was towards the evening around 6 pm. I had prepared food for my children throughout the day, of course. So in the evening I was the most hangry. I always ate the overcooked vegetables from the soup together with 1 teaspoon of butter. Or I allowed myself a very small portion of children's leftovers. This was considered to be about 500 calories, no more. Or just a salad.
Then after about 1 month I wanted to change something and I really wanted to try OMAD but my initial problem was when / at what time to have this one meal a day ?! I couldn't decide. So things kind of evolved naturally and I ate at 2 pm because I was really hungry by then. I wanted also to eat at 6 pm but I wasn't hungry then. So I ate around 7 pm. Anyway, I tried to follow the 2 pm and 6 pm regime and it was fine. Basically this was either 2MAD or 20:4 (a variation of intermittent fasting, eating window is 4 hours and fasting for 20 hours). So now we will see. I haven't been doing this for long but I've lost 1,3 kg - also not bad.
I have to admit I'm not 100% following this every day. Somehow it has become more difficult when we started our normal routine: kindergarten - school -work and I'm not at home all the time like I was during the quarantine. I really hate the feeling of constantly rushing. The stress is the most difficult part. If I feel stressed I also feel I can't follow this routine. So, peace of mind is important part even for losing weight.
I'll post a picture of myself wearing the same clothes as the before pictures, so you can see the difference.
Why would I recommend doing this kind of fasting: - easy, - cheap, - you can actually gorge yourself on food (which is sometimes a nice feeling) ✂ I should re-phrase that: when it's not your fasting time, but your feeding window, you can eat normally or you can eat a lot of food, which is a nice thing to do.
