When to push and more NSVs

It's the end of March and it has been a weird month for me. After 7 months of losing weight I have spent this month holding steady.

It may be my body needed a month to adjust to being 50+ pounds less. It may have been caused by the 13 restaurant meals this month! No matter what fasting pattern I tried I could not seem to convince myself to fast for over 41 hours and I only did 41 hours once the entire month. Was I more hungry due to my increased exercise levels in February or from increased stress or both? I also had a big emotional decision to consider and make, a lot of energy went towards that. Post-decision I feel great but implementing it gave me less push to keep fasting longer. All the above combined made my month a bit static as far as weight loss and there were no changes in measurements either.

This month had great things. The annual IMAD, Playford ball and Gilbert&Sullivan outings were fabulous. The snow is gone and spring is really here. My energy levels are good -lots of project work getting done. I stopped drinking flavored coffee and waters during fasting hours. I think (for me) they were triggering an insulin release. Several NSVs. Two recent: wearing a navy/white striped dress from my closet and wearing long pendants, they now hang 'right'.  I ate on plan all month except for one small piece of cake at an event. It tasted surprisingly good after I scraped off the frosting.

Looking back at March I realize that things went fine. It was weird to feel like my push setting was off or diverted but I couldn't force it or trick it. I hope that my scale movement (or inch loss) picks back up in April and I will continue to work on what I can control; my attitude and effort.

Of course I wouldn't be me if I wasn't going to try new things in the upcoming month. I am hoping my cravings lessen again. I plan to fast, hopefully 2-3 days. I plan to use bacon/broth/olives as a fasting boosters when needed. I will keep on avoiding flavoured water and coffee unless I am eating a meal. I want to track whether I am having a high or moderate protein day. I will use the "deck of cards" approximation to do this. Then I want to see if larger protein days are correlated with higher GKIs. I am considering moving my keytone/glucose measurement to the end of my fasting period to see what those patterns look like. Since there is a ton of travel planned for May I want to eat very very few restaurant meals in April. I wonder if I could do none for a month? I would also like to spend some time thrift shopping and find a new raincoat for the season. My old one, which I still love, is now huge on me. I also hope to get outside daily and notice spring coming.

I will see how it goes. As always I am a work in progress.

Unexpected NSV

One non-scale victory I 'saw' this week. I have scars disappearing.

I was listening to an intermittent fasting podcast where someone was talking about scars going away and it was like a light bulb went off for me. I pulled up the leg of my slacks and sure enough the scar on my right knee is gone.

I got that scar when I was 12 years old! I had that scar for decades. I still remember the injury. It was the first time in my life I had stitches.

Now I look at my knee and I can see a faint line if I am in strong sunshine and completely extend my knee joint. The surface of the skin looks different then.  But of course I know where to look. I can't imagine anyone else would ever notice anything.

It's weird and stunning. Then I checked my ankle surgery scars and sure enough they are fading as well. So are two recent scars on my shoulder blade and hip from precancerous skin removals. My scars from back surgery 15 years ago also look different although it's hard for me to see them.

Of course scar fading was not an outcome I thought about when I started this journey but it's rather thrilling. Especially during a month when the scale isn't really moving, it's nice to know my body is still healing in other ways.

First half of March plans over-written by the Unexpected

Oh well.  The first half of March was not at all what I had in mind. 

First the 4 day fast did not happen. Even though there was no one and no food around my cravings to eat were intense. I ate about one meal a day with 18 hour to 26 hour fasts in between. Apparently my cravings aren't triggered by environment - that is useful info.

Then I needed to go out of town unexpectedly for work. So there were too many restaurant meals. It was a smallish group and I simply felt too weird and unprepared to fast with a bunch of strangers 'watching'.  They could have probably cared less but ...  preparation is so important for me.

I stuck to meat and veg meals that had slightly more carbs in breading and sauces but things tasted strange and sweet and very unsatisfying. 

Now I am home and back to eating normal for me and getting ready to throw another birthday party for family this weekend. March feels very hard.

My cravings are still through the roof so I am doing a couple days of 'fat-fasting' and trying to reset. I want to do the consistent every other day pattern for the last 2 weeks of March. Hopefully my plans will not be derailed again. *fingers crossed*

March Experiements

March is a month I am filling with fasting experiments. 

First IMAD was March 1 this year, which meant 2 restaurant meals, way more carbs for me than usual. (No sweets though)

I was happy to see I was still in moderate ketosis the next day. My metabolism is improving. A big NSV.

I am going to take a couple of days to assess where my body/hunger/measurements are post-IMAD and then start a a 4 day (or so) fast.
No one will be around to eat or cook during this fast. Will it be easier? Will I just avoid the kitchen entirely? Could I totally forget about food/eating/preparing and do forth. Perhaps only drink water/coffee/tea the whole time...?

I want to see if food being almost non-existent in the enviroment (except for dog food) and the fridge being quite empty makes fasting easier. 

After that fast I am planning on trying a 'every other day' eating routine for the last 3 weeks of March. This means fast more frequently for a shorter amount of time... And on most eating days only having one evening meal. 

I want to see if this routine is helpful for me. Will this make fasting easier if I always know mentally I can eat 'tomorrow'. 

This all feels rather ambitious. I hope I can pull if off. 

30 weeks and 57 pounds

As I write this it has been 30 weeks since I decided to direct my energy back to my health and make a change.

Although I am still on my journey and very much a work in progress, I am also very happy with where I am right now. I have had so many successes both on and off the scale

I feel like my level of self love and acceptance is high.

I notice that my energy levels are definitely increasing.

I sometimes eat a big meal, maybe too big? But I don't eat sweets or starches.

Fasting is sometimes easier but sometimes still a big pain.
Perhaps I could do it in a way to make it easier...I would like it to become easier. I still enjoy trying out new fasting patterns.

I am still learning about my body.

I am eager to see where I will be in another 22 weeks.