My experience with IF, ADF, OMAD, 2MAD

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.