TL;DR - I fell off - nay, launched myself off - the bandwagon and slipped into old eating habits. IF helped me reset and I feel much better now.
I’ve been Keto since May 13th, 2016 - with a few hiccups. In the first 10 months or so, I lost 70 pounds and felt incredible. I had more energy than ever before, I was focusing better, sleeping better (sleep apnea symptoms disappeared - no more snoring and I breath all night now!), and being able to fast for days at a time (I’ve only ever done one 3 day fast but it was amazing).
In May-June of this year, I kind of fell off the bandwagon. I had been eating Lazy Keto for months, but when May hit I got a little too lax. I didn’t really notice, so it wasn’t bad, but it set me up for a steep decline. You see, June is a big month for me. My anniversary is the 1st, my wife’s b’day is a week later, and my b’day is a week after that. We also did some traveling in June, traveling that I didn’t plan for dietarily (it’s a word now). I overate my carbs, a lot, during this month. Partly because I was indulging myself, partly because I just wasn’t thinking and I was feeling fine. I kept an eye on the scale, and I gained my water weight plus a few pounds back (all told, 10 lbs, not really that drastic in the context of my journey) and I knew I could lose that again easily once I got back on the Keto-wagon.
That proved to be difficult. More difficult than I thought, and more difficult than it had been in the past after a week or a couple of days of slipping back into old eating habits. I fought all through the end of June, and all the way through July, to try and get back to it. I would have three or four good days, sometimes a week, but then I would overindulge again. Cravings came back. I couldn’t fast like I used to. It was not fun.
In August, I said “I’m eating Keto all month. If I still want something at the end, I’ll treat myself” (knowing I probably wouldn’t by that time). Three days in, I ate pizza and ice cream (and not the good keto stuff of either one). But it got a bit easier to get back on, and I was determined to get my old discipline back. My discipline muscles had atrophied, but I could build them back up.
I tell you that to tell you this: Today, I’m on my 4th day straight of eating Keto. Today I’m on my 4th day of either 18/6 or 20/4 IF, and it’s made a world of a difference. I’m down 4 pounds (I know it’s water weight) and I feel back to my old (but not old-old) self. Back to my keto-fueled new-old self. It feels wonderful. I had forgotten how much I love IF, and how much simpler it makes my life. Don’t eat when you’re hungry, eat when are you are, stop when you’re full. I’ve fallen back into a healthy, natural rhythm, and it feels like my life is back on track.
Today I’m rediscovering the magic of IF, and I just wanted to share.
