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Spring Weight Loss Redux -- The Yo-Yo Drops Again
Many of us start or resume our weight-loss journeys in the spring, and this seems to be my own preference too. Undoubtedly I'm influenced by the fact that I'll be less layered up or hidden under clothing as the weather warms, but mid spring also seems to be when I try to get around to doing something about the Thanksgiving-to-Easter weight-gain season.
About a month ago I started my fourth try at weight loss in the last few years (though the third was pretty much a throwaway). And I noticed that with each successive attempt, I've started a few pounds heavier, even if I did reach or approach my target weight a couple of times between the highs. Apparently I'm a classic example of yo-yo dieting.
But this time, I'm determined to break the yo-yo's string.
My first weight loss was achieved with calorie counting using FatSecret, following a 12:12 schedule (no eating between 7 PM and 7 AM). It was successful, and for a while, it was even sustainable. But later, with COVID-19 and a kid arriving at the same time, and with working from home, I no longer had the bandwidth for calorie counting, or the environmental control to keep my diet generally in check.
The second time around, I didn't bother to try and count calories, but I still ate as closely to when I was counting as I could muster, while also adding in a weekly 36h fast (usually starting after dinner on Saturday night and ending at breakfast on Monday morning). This combination of moderation and regular fasting was reasonably successful, albeit less strictly controlled than detailed calorie counting. However, it apparently still required more self-control than I could sustain under the circumstances -- I gave it up.
Fast-forward to my current attempt, after an interim throwaway try, now with kid #2 having arrived and about 37 pounds to lose. As delusional as it may sound, I felt I needed something more effective, but requiring even less sustained effort. For me this was more fasting. I decided to try alternate-day fasting, and more specifically 36:12, which is 12h of eating followed by a 36h fast, repeated indefinitely. Some people who do this eat about a quarter of their normal calorie intake on the fasting day, but others consume next to no calories, which is my approach.
However, I soon found that I could apparently still compensate for the fast on eating days. I noticed this by getting to the end of a fast only to weigh in a bit heavier than at the end of the previous fast. This may not have been a true weight gain (it could have been due to waste that hadn't yet been voided, for example), but it was alarming to think that I could exercise such restraint and not lose weight. To borrow a phrase, ain't nobody got time for that!
Thus was born my new fasting-length rule: if I get to the presumptive end of a fast and I'm not lighter than at the end of the previous fast, I add 24h to the length of the fast. I don't have to lose a lot -- it could be as little as 0.2 pounds, which is the minimum increment on my scale -- but it has to be something, before I get another eating day. Maybe this method will balance out as I get used to it, so that I don't eat too much extra on eating days, and can eat on almost as many days as not while still losing weight. (Once I reach my goal weight, I plan to use a fast here and there when -- I almost wrote "if" -- my weight starts creeping up, which I'd planned to do before, but life had other ideas.)
Because I'm guaranteed to lose weight by sticking to this fasting plan (even in spite of inevitable hiccups, as long as I get back on track), I won't be bothering to post weight fluctuations while on my way down (and I've deleted the previous upticks from my chart). Going forward, I'll post a new weight only when I'm lighter than at the last post (at least until I achieve my goal weight). So, see you again when I'm lighter.
(And if I never post another weight, you can assume I've abandoned all hope forever -- though I don't plan on doing that!)
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197.2 lb
Lost so far: 12.8 lb.
Still to go: 24.2 lb.
Diet followed N/A.
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losing 1.8 lb a week
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 Comments
It’s good to have a plan. But more importantly than “when” you consume is “what you consume” and “how much you consume”. In any case, best of luck with your goals this time around!
27 Apr 23 by member: StomachMonkeys
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The only thing that really worries me, was you last statement (that you will give up)… I am an all in person too, I may even lose hope, but I never quit! If you feel like you have tried everything, have you considered therapy? It doesn’t mean you are sick, it just means that maybe you need some old ways of thinking realigned. If you are open to learning about yourself, you would be amazed what you learn in therapy. I now consider therapy part of my journey. Because of it, I am now passionately introspective. I never had time for me before I really started learning about myself. I needed therapy for different reasons, but the end result was the same. I finally started losing weight and I am sticking to it. I now realize that before therapy, there was never going to anything I could ever have done to lose weight, or achieve any other personal goal. Why, after 68 years, I didn’t quit on myself is beyond me? In some ways I did and it took a real friend (ex-wife) to coax me in the right direction!!! I was fine in business, but I couldn’t do anything for “ME”. I have been fortunate to afford private therapy for now. They seem to have a lot more latitude than provincially covered assistance. Still, not unlike dieting, you have to find the right therapist. They are out there for the effort invested. Some of us enjoy different journeys than others. We all deserve a journey through life! Thinking about ya! :) DV
28 Apr 23 by member: DrewsyVugs
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@StomachMonkeys -- Thank you, and I completely agree. As for the "how much", the beauty of this method for me is that that largely takes care of itself. On an eating day, I eat till I'm full, and recently, after what I assume was an initial drop in water weight, I've been losing up to a couple of pounds a week, so I guess that works out to an average deficit of about 1000 Cal/day. The "how much" is also resolved in the "what". When I've gained, it's not so much that I haven't been eating healthy foods, but that I've also been eating on the unhealthy end of the spectrum (and often it's the dose that makes the poison, as they say). I'm more mindful when I'm deliberately losing weight, but in general I try to focus on high protein, prebiotics, and probiotics. These days I break my fast with protein, usually sardines or salmon (both of which also contain healthy fat), and soon after that I have some sauerkraut or kimchi, which I also eat at other times of day. I tend to spread out my protein (mostly lean meat or plain, unsweetened zero-fat Greek yogurt, and occasionally tofu) over about four meals during my 12h eating window. I have olive oil and avocado, a few servings of non-starchy vegetables (leafy greens, asparagus, Brussels sprouts, chard, etc.) per day, some cheese, and some fruit, mostly berries. I try to avoid grains (especially in processed form) and added sugar, which are probably my worst sins when I'm gaining. I eat potatoes, nuts, and saturated fat from whole foods in moderation. And occasionally I'll break the rules, which happens sometimes for pie, whether of the meat, fruit, or pizza variety, or I'll put a bit of maple syrup in my yogurt. And sometimes, but much more rarely when I'm trying to lose weight, I'll also break the rules for ice cream or cake. A final dietary factor is that a couple of times this month I've broken my fast after 24h instead of 36h or 60h, which I don't worry too much about -- it just means that I have two eating days between extended fasts instead of one. All in all, I'd say I've struck a reasonable balance, and it's working for me so far (and I also doubt I have any nutritional deficiencies).
28 Apr 23 by member: PhatPhrog
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@DrewsyVugs -- Thanks for the thoughts (back at ya), and I'm sure there are a hundred reasons why I should be in therapy, and at least a couple of people who would even pay to put me there! However, my actual last statement wasn't that I'd give up, but that "I don't plan on doing that" -- I'm glad you haven't either. Anyway, my statement about abandoning hope was tongue-in-cheek. I'm relatively old to have two little kids, and as anyone would, I want to be healthy as long as possible for my family as well as for myself, though at their current stage of life the kids make the self-care of both of their parents more difficult, and that was true by multiples in the midst of the pandemic. (Not to mention that I too have been diagnosed of late with ADHD, and you can bet the kids and lack of sleep don't help with that!)
28 Apr 23 by member: PhatPhrog
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