{"id":5934,"date":"2018-08-31T20:02:54","date_gmt":"2018-08-31T11:02:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/peterdaley.net\/home\/?p=5934"},"modified":"2018-11-30T19:51:55","modified_gmt":"2018-11-30T10:51:55","slug":"september-2018-intermittent-fasting-diary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/peterdaley.net\/home\/september-2018-intermittent-fasting-diary\/","title":{"rendered":"September 2018 Intermittent Fasting Diary!"},"content":{"rendered":"

CONTINUED FROM AUGUST<\/strong><\/a><\/span>\"\"<\/a><\/h4>\n

Saturday, Sept. 1: <\/strong>I did a couple of errands in the morning before breakfast. I then intended to break my fast, but the small cafe I particularly like was full, so I took that as a sign I should continue my fast a little longer. It’s now 17 hours and 46 minutes since I last ate. I don’t think I’ll wait much longer, but who knows? I’m not feeling all that hungry, but food is certainly on my mind. I made it to 18:27. A nice start to the intermittent fasting month of September.<\/p>\n

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Saturday\/Sunday (Sept. 1 & 2): <\/strong>A green tea latte and a protein bar followed at around 3 pm. I started the fasting clock at about 3:10 pm, but I think that might be too early. We’ll see. It’s now 11: 30, and I’ve been fasting for just over 8 hours. About to go to bed without snacking, but I think breakfast will be pretty big and pretty early. I’ll aim for around 9 am. I woke up 7:40, and the 16-hour mark had already been surpassed, and I don’t feel hungry. I had breakfast at 10:30 – a rare home breakfast – which broke my fast after 19 hours and 13 minutes.<\/p>\n

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Sunday\/Monday (Sept. 2 & 3): <\/strong>I had a little more cereal about 30 minutes after breakfast because I was still hungry. Should I have resisted? I had a green tea latte at around 2:30 while I read and updated various parts of this site. Dinner was a chicken baguette, and that was it for the night. I broke my fast the next morning with a Subway breakfast thing 18 hours and 43 minutes after dinner.<\/p>\n

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Monday\/Tuesday (Sept. 3 & 4): <\/strong>My next meal was a bagel with peanut butter and banana, a lovely combination. The last thing down my throat was a post-workout protein shake which I had soon after 5 pm. It’s now almost 11 am, and it’s Americano time. My fast is at the 17:37 mark. I lasted until 18:56, and then had the same breakfast subway thing.<\/p>\n

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Tuesday\/Wednesday (Sept. 4 & 5): <\/b>Dinner was my usual favorite chicken and avocado\u00a0wrap, and that was it for the day. The fasting clock started again at about 5:15 pm. I had breakfast at home, breaking a fast of 17 hours and 43 minutes.<\/p>\n

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Wednesday\/Thursday (Sept. 5 & 6):<\/strong> A protein bar after class and then a later dinner (a salad and a green tea latte) after a nap. The fasting clock started at around 8 pm. I have class tomorrow until about 4:30 pm. Hopefully, I can go to the gym early in the morning and continue fasting until at least the break between classes at about 2:50 pm, or maybe even after the second class. Certainly, more people are noticing I’ve lost weight. This intermittent fasting thing is sure working for me! The 16-hour mark just passed by and it’s just after noon. I have a class at 1 pm. I’m hungry, but a couple of errands and an Americano should see me through to 1 pm. I made it past my last class. Total fasting time: 20 hours and 50 minutes.<\/p>\n

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Thursday\/Friday (Sept. 6 & 7): <\/strong>Thursday ended up essentially being a one-meal day. Breakfast was dinner, and I had a little dessert in the form of a green tea latte and a cookie at 7 pm. It’s 11:08 am, the 16-hour mark just passed by, I’ve already exercised for the day, and now I’m sipping on an Americano which allows the fast to continue a little longer. Exactly 20 hours after last night’s final nutrients, I downed a protein shake and then ordered a cafe latte and a cookie.<\/p>\n

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Friday\/Saturday (Sept. 7 & 8): <\/strong>Some mandu a little later, and I finished eating before 5 pm. It’s almost midnight now, and I’m feeling hungry. Luckily, my fridge is bare. I had breakfast at home 19 hours and 18 minutes after I last ate. 1918 – the year World War 1 ended.<\/p>\n

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Saturday\/Sunday (Sept. 8 & 9): <\/strong>Dinner was at a wine tasting fundraiser event for (Teach North Korea Refugees (TNKR). I was part of the musical entertainment, playing solo guitar. I finished dinner before 6 pm and my third and last glass of wine perhaps around 6:20. Then at a bar near home, I had a non-alcoholic beverage at 9:30 pm. That’s when the fasting timer commenced. Fifteen hours and 16 minutes after that beverage, I broke my fast with a protein shake and an energy bar. Less than 16 hours, but if I ignore that 9:30 pm beverage, it was still a decent fast, so I’m satisfied with that. I can’t let this fasting thing take precedence over my social life.<\/p>\n

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Sunday\/Monday (Sept. 9 & 10):<\/strong> A green tea latte just before 3 pm should be it until a later-than-usual at around 9 pm. I naughty snickers bar just after 6 tied me over before my 9 pm dinner. I still felt hungry walking home at about 11:30 and thought seriously of snacking. I resisted though, as I recalled yet more recent friends noticing I had lost a lot of weight. Now’s not the time to go off the rails! It’s 9:20 am now, and I think I can make it until well past 3 pm when my only class finishes. I had an Americano upon arriving at work, and now I’m off to class. Unless a student forces me to eat something in class, I’ll make until at least 3 pm. Breakfast was begun at 4:10 pm, right by my gym, ending a fasting period of almost 19 hours.<\/p>\n

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Monday\/Tuesday (Sept. 10 & 11):<\/strong> The only other food consumed on Monday was a protein bar at around 7:15 pm following a weights session. It’s now 10:44 am – the fast is at the 15.5 hour mark.<\/p>\n

Digression:<\/strong> I feel OK as in not particularly hungry, but last night and this morning I had thought about eating. I guess a day or two break from this won’t hurt, but I’ll also try take things day by day. Today, after those recent temptations, will still be a success in terms of reaching and surpassing the 16-hour mark. And tomorrow is another day. As I have said a few times, I am seeing results, I’m not the only one, and it’s not like I’m permanently hungry. The plus site of longer fasts is that those delayed meals taste better and can be eaten guilt free. I think part of me still wants to eat when I’m bored or just to enjoy something yummy when my body doesn’t need those calories. After almost three months, I still have a way to go in terms of my mindset towards food glorious food.<\/p>\n

I had breakfast at exactly 12:15 pm with a subway breakfast avocado thing and a protein shake which\u00a0 ended a fast of exactly 17 hours. My stopwatch stopped either as a result of my mistake or my iPhone’s, so I took a screenshot of the time instead of the fasting length. I hope you don’t mind.<\/p>\n

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Tuesday\/Wednesday (Sept. 11 & 12):\u00a0<\/strong> I finished dinner just after 6. A treadmill session before breakfast and then I broke my fast with a pretty big meal after 17 hours and 43 minutes after fasting. I hit a new low weighing myself before breakfast and after exercise. I actually started the fasting clock after that big breakfast at around noon, but I doubt I’ll go the rest of the day without eating. I am up for trying a longer fast eventually, I’m just not sure if today will be the day.<\/p>\n

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Wednesday\/Thursday (Sept. 12 & 13):\u00a0<\/strong>I actually started the fasting clock after that big breakfast at around noon, but I doubt I’ll go the rest of the day without eating. I am up for trying a longer fast eventually, I’m just not sure if today will be the day. Sanity prevailed, more because I felt like doing some work in\u00a0 a cafe at 7 pm where I ordered a small green tea latte and a banana muffin that was about the size of a cupcake. I think I could have gone the rest of the night without eating though. Another time perhaps. After our first band practice after our summer break, we stopped by a bar to choose songs for our next gig. Everyone else had beers, but I was good and just had water, which allowed my fast to continue through to the morning. The 14-hour mark just passed. Unsure if I’ll exercise before breakfast. I didn’t, but I also didn’t exactly have breakfast.<\/p>\n

An Americano accompanied me to class and I got through my two classes (four hours). By then my fast was around the 21-hour mark, and I felt OK. I walked around a bit and read on the subway before setting a new fasting record, beating my previous record by three minutes and passing the 24-hour mark for the second time. Funny thing is, I think I could have made it to bed time. I am up for a 36+-hour fast one day.<\/p>\n

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Thursday\/Friday (Sept. 13 & 14): <\/strong>The fasting clock started again mere minutes after it had stopped.\u00a0 I did a few errands and made it to the gym before breaking my fast with a protein shake after 1 pm, ending a 17.5 hour fast. I recorded my lowest weight again, so that’s inspired me to keep going. I’d like to lose a few more kilograms, and then I think I’ll lighten up on this and see how things go. I also watched a few videos last night about fasting.<\/p>\n

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Friday\/Saturday (Sept. 14 & 15): <\/strong>Some food at 4:30 pm. Shall I stop for the day? There’s an energy bar in my pocket. Can it wait until tomorrow? I compromised: I saved the energy bar for tomorrow and opted for a hot chocolate instead at a nearby cafe. I love my cafe reading and website time. The plan tonight is maybe go to a bar to watch a band full of friends without ordering anything. Perhaps a little rude, but I can live with that. My plan for the morning is a gym session, and hopefully another long fast. I’m collecting my keyboard from last week’s venue a little after 2 pm. I hope to make it to then without eating. The fasting clock started the second that hot chocolate was history. The time was 6:46 pm.<\/p>\n

The 12-hour mark was obviously passed at 6:46 am, and 12 hours feels like an achievement in itself as when in the past I snacked before bed, I think I rarely went 12 hours without food. It’s now a little later, and my fast is approaching 15 hours. Now at 17 hours 45, and I feel OK. Off to the gym now to weigh myself and have a light workout. Instead of the gym, I ran an errand that needed doing. I picked up my keyboard from last week’s gig restaurant. I had an Americano along the way, and now I’m back home. Last night’s hot chocolate was 20 hours and 47 minutes ago, and I don’t feel particularly hungry. It’s just that the clock and food are on my mind a lot. I read for a while in bed and then went to the gym. I finished my weights session some 23 hours after last nights hot chocolate and I felt like I had plenty of energy. I even considered seriously not eating at all today. I changed my mind and instead decided to more gradually work my way to something like a 36 hour fast. I’ll try after I get a few more one-meal-a-day days under my belt, literally. Today’s fast was the longest to date: 25 hours and 4 minutes after last night’s hot chocolate and over 26 hours since I last ate.<\/p>\n

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Saturday\/Sunday (Sept. 15 & 16):<\/strong> Since I had breakfast at around 8 pm, I don’t think there’s any danger of snacking before bedtime.\u00a0 The 13-hour mark is now approaching. Since I have eaten less these past few days, I’ll take multi-vitamins from now on the days I eat just one meal.<\/p>\n

Digression:\u00a0<\/strong>The long fasts described in the following videos were all undertaken under medical supervision for medical reasons – don’t try this at home, kids. Actually, Dr Alan Goldhamer, the speaker in the second video, does say in a later video that the safest fast to do at home sans supervision is the kind of intermittent fasting that I’m doing. Regardless of some skepticism, I still found the videos quite interesting. Here are two of them. The second one describes some pretty yucky side-effects: a taste of vomit in your mouth, joint pain, increased body odour, and a sense of impending death. Vivid dreams and a state of euphoria sound pretty cool though. But yes, I’ll pass on those unless I find my self in a position where one is recommended by a doctor. That doesn’t sound too likely as I gather this hasn’t been endorsed by the wider medical community. The studies about fasting reducing the side effect of chemotherapy are certainly very interesting and very important if true.<\/p>\n