CONTINUED FROM FEBRUARY
Friday, March 1: It’s almost 1 p.m. and my first fast of the month is almost at the 17.5-hour mark. I just had a black coffee. A few computer tasks and I’m feeling a little hungry, but can hold out a while longer. I might go for a walk and let some of my favorite music eat up some time. My first fast of the month was broken at 2:09 p.m. and lasted for 18 hours and 51 minutes, which is about 20 minutes longer than last month’s average. March is off to a good start.
Friday/Saturday (March 1 & 2): Friday was a one-meal day and in the evening at two bars, I consumed only club sodas. I was sorely tempted to snack on some chocolate when I went to bed, but I resisted. It’s now 9:14 a.m., I’ve just had a black coffee, my fasting continues, and I’m off to the gym in a few minutes for a cardio session. My fast was officially broken after 21 hours and five minutes with a small green tea latte. Breakfast proper followed about 20 minutes later. I might do that more often as a way to delay my first main meal of the day.
Saturday/Sunday (March 2 & 3): That was supposed to be my only meal but about 7.2 hours later, I decided to eat my usual chicken and avocado wrap. I finished that around 8 p.m., and then uncharacteristically, I snacked later in the night. Hence, I’ve designated today a day off from intermittent fasting. And I woke up with a rare headache which is at least a remember that I pretty much always feel good when I wake up after not eating before bed.
Sunday/Monday (March 3 & 4): I’m starting Sunday with a coffee with some milk. I have plans for lunch with a friend at 1 p.m. I’ll exercise before that, and then I’ll start my next fast either after lunch or at some point in the afternoon. My friend cancelled lunch due to illness, so I had some breakfast, went clothes shopping, ate a protein bar, went to the gym, before I had my lunch which was my last food of the day. That weights session and that meal resulted in me feeling confident I’m back on track after yesterday’s break from fasting. I also threw out (into a charity bin) and lot of clothes that no longer fit me. I also cleaned up a little. Spring is in the air so I did a spot of spring cleaning.
It’s now Monday morning, and my fast is at the 19-hour mark, so I feel I am well and truly back on track. It also occurred to me that off day was pretty much like every day of my life before I started intermittent fasting. That made that off day pretty much guilt free. That should also help me maintain things. Well, March is my ninth month, so I think I have this pretty much under control. But food is ubiquitous – a first world problem, so temptation is never far from sight and mind. I last ed until just before my first class of the semester which started at 1 p.m. My fast was broken with a peanut protein bar.
Monday/Tuesday (March 4 & 5): An hour later, I had a nice healthy chicken breast salad. That was followed by a small green tea latte. I arrived home after class quite hungry. Dinner was my normal home breakfast of granola, yogurt, milk, and an assortment of dried fruits and nuts. I also had a homemade coffee shake with a touch of protein powder. Then the fasting clock started again just before 6 p.m., and I thinking of another 21-hour fast. That means not eating until around 3 p.m. or later. That didn’t happen. My fast ended after 17.5 hours with a healthy chicken breast salad, a delicious protein bar, and a latte. No more food until dinner.
Tuesday/Wednesday (March 5 & 6): At the gym after work, I accidentally ate a protein bar before working out. It was a pretty intense workout though. Dinner is planned for just after 6:30 p.m. At lot of pizza was served and eaten, and dessert was a cafe mocha. I made it through to after my Wednesday 1 p.m. class before I next ate 18 hours after the cup containing that cafe mocha was emptied.
Wednesday/Thursday (March 6 & 7): The fasting clock began again at 3:06 p.m., but I’m not yet certain if it will continue. It didn’t: I ate again about 4 hours later. Then I did 50-minutes of weights in the morning. I’m now at work and the 16-hour mark just passed me by. I’m sipping on an Americano and feeling pretty hungry. I think I’ll eat very very soon. My fast was broken after 16 hours and 38 minutes, and it was broken with a banana, a small chicken tender salad, and a protein bar. I bought two salads – I’m saving the second one for later, perhaps around 4:30 p.m.
Thursday/Friday (March 7 & 8): I finished dinner and restarted the fasting clock at 5 p.m. The plan is to go to the gym in the morning and then have pancakes for breakfast. It’s been an unexpectedly long and tiring week. Some pancakes will make it all worthwhile. A sleep-in when I should have been doing homework and practicing for tonight helped me get passed 17 hours. I ran 4 kilometers in under 20 minutes and then decided to skip the pancakes and have my usual home breakfast of granola, yogurt, milk, mixed nuts, some dried fruit, and two bananas. Delicious!
Friday/Saturday (March 8 & 9): Friday night was a big night as I helped organize and performed at a fundraiser for TNKR to mark International Women’s Day. It was a special night, so beer was consumed and I got home quite late. No fasting for me today.
Saturday/Sunday (March 9 & 10): I returned to fasting around 4 p.m. and the resulting fast was a touch over 19 hours.
Sunday/Monday (March 10 & 11): The breakfast that broke the above fast was basically all I ate on Sunday, and the fasting clock began at 1 p.m. and stopped 19 hours and 45 minutes later.
Monday/Tuesday (March 11 & 12): The fasting click began again at 12:44 p.m. after a chicken salad. That was it until breakfast was consumed 21.5 hours later.
Tuesday/Wednesday (March 12 & 13): I decided to eat again after a 3.3 kilometer run and a bit of weights. The fasting clock started again at 7:25 p.m. That was 16 hours ago, and I’m now in a cafe doing a little work. I just finished my black coffee, but have yet to decide how long this fast will be. May I’ll wait until after I finish work, maybe I won’t. I lasted until after my class. A nice bowl of cheese dolsot bibimbap broke a fast of 19 hours and 43 minutes.
Wednesday/Thursday (March 13 & 14): I had a latte and a protein bar about twenty minutes later, and then the fasting clock began again at exactly 3:54 p.m. If all goes to plan, I’ll exercise in the morning and then have breakfast around noon or a little earlier. My plans went amiss when I accepted a slice of free pizza at an open mic. event. I wasn’t particularly hungry when I ate it, but it aroused in me a great hunger. I had another slice of pizza and then ate when I got home. The fasting clock began at 11:14 p.m., the latest it has ever begun. I got back on track though by not eating until 5:44 p.m., 18.5 hours later.
Thursday/Friday (March 14 & 15): No more food was consumed on Thursday. Breakfast Friday morning at home broke a shorter fast of 17 hours.
Friday/Saturday (March 15 & 16): No more calories consumed Friday despite a pretty intense weights session and several hours in a bar Friday night. Breakfast at home broke a fast of 20 hours and 40 minutes.
Saturday/Sunday (March 16 & 17): About 50 minutes after breakfast, I had a protein bar. I felt I needed after yesterday’s weights session which has left me very stiff. I’m going to a BBQ tonight. The plan is to have just a coffee between now and then, probably a latte. The BBQ was delicious and fun and included two beers and one soju and cider shot. I awoke feeling quite hungry and decided that 14 hours was enough.
Sunday/Monday (March 17 & 18): I next ate a protein bar and had a green tea latte. The fasting clock began at 2:59 p.m. Breakfast Monday was begun in my office exactly 18 hours and 40 minutes later.
Monday/Tuesday (March 18 & 19): I started the fasting clock soon after breakfast with the consumption of a protein bar, but some 7 hours later, I decided dinner would not be skipped. The fasting clock then started again at 7:18 p.m. Exactly 16 hours later, I’m at work and thinking of having breakfast quite soon. “Quite soon” was 40 minutes later.
Tuesday/Wednesday (March 19 & 20): The clock began again 12:18 p.m. I’m unsure if I’ll go the rest of the day without eating – I am planning a visit to my gym, but it’s possible. I think I’m prepared mentally to make this fast a long one. Maybe tomorrow because almost 9 hours later and after a weights session, I felt that eating some food wasn’t a crazy idea. The clock then began for a second time quite late at 9:20 p.m. The plan for tomorrow is to go to the gym in the morning and then not eat until after a 5 p.m. meeting I have at work. The gym happened, but since I ran a personal best, I decided to celebrate with breakfast which broke a fast of 14 hours and 48 minutes. I felt bloated yesterday, but I haven’t gained weight. My weight has stayed pretty much around 80 to 81 kilograms over the last couple of months, and I think I’m gradually losing fat while gaining some muscle, so it’s all good.
Wednesday/Thursday (March 20 & 21): It’s 7:40 p.m., and I haven’t eaten since my breakfast was concluded at 12:24 p.m. I am feeling hungry, and I was tempted to eat – still am to be honest, but another comment from a former student about my weight loss in the afternoon might just keep me from eating the rest of the night. That certainly helped, and I made it through to the morning. Breakfast broke a fast of 19 hours and 50 minutes. I could have delayed that by doing a few morning errands, but I decided to wait for another day to push for a longer fast.
Thursday/Friday (March 21 & 22): I ate again after those errands, and the fasting clock started again at 11:05 a.m. Too early? I think it was too early, but I made it through to the morning. I really noticed the hunger waves this time. I could have easily eaten at around 6 p.m., but I resisted and later in the night, that hunger dissipated . The resulting fast was just shy of 20.5 hours.
Friday/Saturday (March 22 & 23): I had a latte after work just before midday, and then I next ate after a weights session. The fasting clock then began again at 8:52 a.m. It’s now 13 hours and 20 minutes later, and I’m in a cafe working on my website having just consumed an Americano. A treadmill session and legs workout is next on today’s agenda. That happened according to plan, and I broke my fast a couple of hours later.
Saturday/Sunday (March 23 & 24): That breakfast was pretty large, but it was the day’s only meal. I had a green tea later in the evening while I did some work, and I went to bed past midnight not feeling hungry at all. It’s now almost 9 a.m., and my fast is just approaching 18 hours, and I feel fine. Three hours later, and I’m still feeling good. That’s not to say I am not looking forward to eating, but I don’t feel the need to eat right now. The fast ended up being my third longest, a whopping 26 hours and 13 minutes. It was surprisingly easy: I kept myself busy and had a nice long chat with a friend over an Americano.
Sunday/Monday (March 24 & 25): The fast clock started again at 5:31 p.m., and I had no problems making it bed time. I’m now at my office and the 16-hour mark just passed. I’m not particularly hungry. 17 hours and 25 minutes after my last meal, I ate again with somewhat of a snack.
Monday/Tuesday (March 25 & 26): Breakfast proper a little of an hour after that. The fasting clock began at 12:45 p.m. I exercised after work and then had a green tea afterwards. About an hour later, i started feeling a cold coming on. Perhaps as a result of not feeling 100%, I had one piece of chocolate as I lay in bed. Ignoring that, breakfast early in the morning broke a fast of 19 hours and 13 minutes.
Tuesday/Wednesday (March 26 & 27): After dinner, I had a delicious chocolate mint latte with Eun-kyeong. Once that was dealt with, the fasting clock started again. The times was 8:32 p.m. Breakfast waited until after my 1 p.m. class. That ended a fast of 18 hours and 42 minutes.
Wednesday/Thursday (March 27 & 28): The fasting clock began soon after, it was another one-meal day. I felt well enough to go the gym in the evening, but I woke up early in the morning and still had some cold symptoms. That weakened my resolve had I ended up breaking my fast after about 12 hours. I then had an early breakfast just before 7 a.m.
Thursday/Friday (March 28 & 29): Lunch didn’t happen, so dinner around 5 p.m. broke a mini-fast of 9 hours and 40 minutes. The fasting clock began again at 5:26. I still had some cold symptoms, and I found that killed my motivation to fast. I ended up eating quite a lot between 11:30 p.m. and midnight.
Friday/Saturday (March 29 & 30): Breakfast was had just before 2 p.m., and then I finished eating for the day at 4:41 p.m. Breakfast was started 16 hours and 44 minutes, making me feel like I’m back on track.
Saturday/Sunday (March 30 & 31): An early dinner after an hour of weights consisted of a chicken salad followed by a couple of pieces of toast with peanut butter and cheese. The fasting clock began again at 5:09 and I just had soda water at a bar where I performed a couple of songs. I made it to a cafe Sunday morning where I had a black coffee while reading and doing a little work. Then I broke a fast of 17 hours and 47 minutes with a Muscle Milk non-diary protein shake as my muscles are quite sore from yesterday’s workout. I’m feeling quite hungry, but I’ll wait until 12:30 as I’m meeting a friend then for breakfast/lunch.
Sunday, March 31: After that lunch date, I had dinner and finished eating for the day and month and exactly 6 p.m.
Fasts By Length:
14:09
14:48
16:38
16:40
16:44
17:01
17:25
17:27
17:27
17:47
18:05
18:13
18:30
18:40
18:42
18:51
19:06
19:43
19:45
19:50
19:50
20:26
20:40
21:05
21:11
21:34
26:13
Average Fast: 18.76 Hours
