Fasting Success Story: Sara
Sara toyed around with fasting for many months before she decided to begin alternate-day fasting (ADF) in earnest. She is now down 27 lbs in seven weeks and has experienced many health benefits.
Sara reports:
My skin has cleared and my confidence level has increased. My partner told me yesterday that fasting has made me glow, laugh more and talk more, and that I generally seem happier. I didn't realise how much the excess weight was pulling me down and was masking my true self.
I asked Sara some questions about her success:
What made you decide to start fasting?
I was sick of feeling heavy all the time. I needed a break from overeating & continuous binging. In December of last year, I hit a really low point and lost the trust in myself to actually lose the weight to the point where I was researching and contacting weight loss surgery providers. However, realising the high costs associated with this, I thought to myself, I'll do true ADF correctly this time and if I don't succeed, I'll book the surgery.
What fasting protocol do you use?
I currently do true ADF. Fast one day and eat the next. My fasting hours range between 36-40. I have done 60-hour fasts on a couple of occasions too. On eating days, I eat between 2000-2200 calories. However, some days I have eaten more than that. I don't follow any specific diets but I focus on eating healthily as it makes my fasting days easier.
What do you find to be the easiest part of fasting?
The fasting part. Fasting catered to my 'All or Nothing' mentality. One day I focus my all on fasting. Next day, I focus my all on refueling my body. I'm satisfying both parts of my brain; the one that wants to eat anything and everything, and the other part that wants to restrict too much. That being said, ADF allows me to cater to this mentality in a moderate way with no harm to my body and mind.
What are some obstacles?
Dealing with and identifying mind hunger. Feeling, addressing, and sitting with my emotions as I no longer have food to comfort me and be my coping mechanism. Having to juggle social commitments and reducing my social commitments drastically on my current journey to ensure I stay steadfast.
What advice would you give to someone just starting out?
Just do it. Nourish yourself fully today and fast tomorrow. You will be amazed by your ability to actually do hard things that you might not have thought you can do previously.
What are some non-scale victories?
I feel light on my feet. I noticed I can stand up from my sofa so much easier than before. I can walk faster. Pain in my Achilles tendon is no longer a daily occurrence. I can hold yoga poses for longer than I used to. My clothes are fitting so much looser. I have more clarity and a brighter attitude to life in general. Food freedom. I'm no longer obsessive about food and it is no longer the first thought that comes to my mind when I wake up. Used to happen all the time and I can't explain how much fasting released me from the shackles of constantly obsessing about food. But the biggest NSV of all is that I was able to successfully taper off the anti-depressant medication that I was on for over two years with no withdrawal symptoms or relapse.
For those having a hard time wrapping their minds around what ADF looks like, below is a helpful graph. This shows the most popular ADF protocol where you fast three days a week and eat four days a week. This is also my personal protocol. You can switch up the days to fast Sunday/Tuesday/Thursday or whatever suits your schedule. I mostly stick to MWF but occasionally switch it up for special occasions. For the first few months, I clung to this schedule furiously, even when I had company staying with us. Then I took a break between Christmas and New Year’s and went right back at it. Seven months and counting.
