My weight loss saga - Jim
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Same here - I think I'm from good peasant stock - I can walk and walk and walk, but I am not a runner! I used to do HIIT running on the treadmill, but that was only for 24 minutes (and 4 of those minutes were walking warm up and cool down). That's about my limit!
You know I never thought of it that way! I'm pretty sure there is a historical component to it -- likely tribal. I have walked as much as 16 miles in one go for a fundraising marathon without even really thinking about it. But I can't run for more than 5 minutes without feeling like I'm close to death. But that makes sense if I have more gatherer blood in me. Very interesting.0 -
@jvcinv I think it's great that you're listening to what your body needs and letting it guide you. I think it's a good idea to transition into eating more and fasting less as you need it.0
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As Bob mentioned it takes a while to get acclimated to running. If I think back to March/April time frame of this year, I was at the time walking and occasionally getting into a little jog for as long as I could sustain it. As I recall in the beginning it might have been as short as 100 yards or so, that's all I could sustain before walking again. But I've been at it 5-6 days per week for 7 months now and to think that yesterday I ran a full half marathon distance without breaking stride once? wow.
If you keep at it and stay at a slower pace, once your body acclimates and you've built up your cardio you'll be surprised how far you can go.0 -
Great insights Jim! I think your plan sounds like exactly what you need!
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I am a walker too. I can walk forever but running is a different story. I have been thinking I want to start running. I thought about doing a couch to 5K program to get me started. I do have knee issues and I worry about injuring myself.0
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tlblanksfit wrote: »I am a walker too. I can walk forever but running is a different story. I have been thinking I want to start running. I thought about doing a couch to 5K program to get me started. I do have knee issues and I worry about injuring myself.
Do the C25k but on an elliptical!!! I thought about doing that! I have early-onset osteoarthritis so I fight joint issues too and the elliptical never bothered me
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That is a good idea Steph. I should be able to definitely do that.1
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tlblanksfit wrote: »That is a good idea Steph. I should be able to definitely do that.
Let me know how it goes! Maybe it'll motivate me! LMAO
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That IS a good idea! My doctor cautioned me against running because I have plantar fasciitis, but the low impact elliptical seems like a really good alternative!0
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brittdee88 wrote: »That IS a good idea! My doctor cautioned me against running because I have plantar fasciitis, but the low impact elliptical seems like a really good alternative!
AGREED!0 -
brittdee88 wrote: »Same here - I think I'm from good peasant stock - I can walk and walk and walk, but I am not a runner! I used to do HIIT running on the treadmill, but that was only for 24 minutes (and 4 of those minutes were walking warm up and cool down). That's about my limit!
You know I never thought of it that way! I'm pretty sure there is a historical component to it -- likely tribal. I have walked as much as 16 miles in one go for a fundraising marathon without even really thinking about it. But I can't run for more than 5 minutes without feeling like I'm close to death. But that makes sense if I have more gatherer blood in me. Very interesting.
Your going too fast in those 5-minutes. Go slower, even slower than a walk and you will be able to run.0 -
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brittdee88 wrote: »That IS a good idea! My doctor cautioned me against running because I have plantar fasciitis, but the low impact elliptical seems like a really good alternative!
I would not run with platar fasciitis. You can fix that somewhat with tapping your feet though. I had to do that for a period of time while I was running track. Put a strip of the white medical tape across the balls of your feet, put another, parallel to the first one, across the heel of you feet (from side to side of the foot). Now run some strips that attach to the first two strips and are perpendicular to the first two strips (from front to back of foot). There will be a gap between these last strips and the arch of your foot. Then take more strips of tape and run them side to side over the front to back strips all the way from the balls of your feet to the heel. Make these a little tight and pull in a little of the slack of the strips that go from front to back. This will provide great arch support. Don't do the last strips too tight though or it will cramp your foot. You might experiment with this. Trainers in college showed me how to do that. Hope it was clear enough.0 -
brittdee88 wrote: »That's a cool idea, Kat! I can walk forever, but running? No ma'am!
Same here - I think I'm from good peasant stock - I can walk and walk and walk, but I am not a runner! I used to do HIIT running on the treadmill, but that was only for 24 minutes (and 4 of those minutes were walking warm up and cool down). That's about my limit!
Running distance is an acquired thing. The key is going slow enough so its not hard. You should be able to carry on a conversation with someone while doing it. The problem with most of us is that while we are heavy, we don't have the aerobic capacity to jog at any pace (slower than walking) and be able to not be stressed. In that case, if we want to run, we can get there by doing short 1-min segments (easy not HITT) with walking in-between until we get thin enough and get enough of a cardio capacity to support it. I used to be a runner in my younger days and did several years of running and competing in track and running 5-7 miles easy was like walking then. I wish I could run at a pace now that my warm up pace used to be then, but I'm working at it.
Yeah, agreed. I also don't really enjoy it that much, so even when I was thin, I didn't ever bother working hard enough at it so that I could do the longer distances... I've always been a swimmer and preferred cycling. I'm also probably more suited to sprinting than long distances...0 -
tlblanksfit wrote: »I am a walker too. I can walk forever but running is a different story. I have been thinking I want to start running. I thought about doing a couch to 5K program to get me started. I do have knee issues and I worry about injuring myself.
Running should be done at a very easy pace, even slower than walking if necessary until you build up your cardio system to handle it.0 -
I just run....to the dinner table
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We should all do what we like. Swimming, biking, running, eliptical, etc. are all good! If you do want to run or try it, walk until weight is down and then start with short easy segments like Jim said, and you will be surprised at what you can do. I'm trying to re-learn this myself.
I started out as a distance runner and gravitated to long sprints (200-800m). I forgot how to do long easy distance and have wanted to go hard in about all I do. I'm just learning this easy relaxed running thing over again myself. Good luck all.0 -
So for some time I've been wrestling with the decision on how to proceed, how to eat, how often to eat, how often to splurge, what should my goals be, etc. After going round on this for weeks I think I had an epiphany on Friday night which gave me the direction.
I had a very rough time sleeping Friday night. It was day 2 of my weekly 71 hour water fast. For the past 16 weeks I have been doing weekly water fasts of either 47 or 71 hour duration. For the past year now I have made it a point to try to listen to the signals from my body. Well on Friday I figured out that the signal my body was sending was "enough with the fasting already". Increasingly I had been feeling more urges to eat, more cravings. This culminated to a head on Friday night when I could not get food out of my mind. I kept waking and immediately started thinking about food, I even had dreams of eating. Earlier before going to bed I was browsing recipe sites and had all these
ideas swirling in my mind of tasty things to prepare. I even briefly thought about getting up and making something to eat in the middle of the night. It was then when it came to me what I needed to do next, find a balance, and bring harmony to my life. Find a way to eat and exercise which feels good in terms of body and mind, because I did not have that at the moment.
I decided that the first step to finding this balance would be to end the weekly water fast days and go to a basic daily OMAD. It was like as soon as I made this mental decision I became more calm and relaxed, and fell asleep.
I have read a lot about fasting and when the topic of how long a person can fast comes up they often say that your body will tell you when to eat. Before starving you will get an unmistakably strong hunger. On my extended fasts I never reached that point, having broken them for emotional reasons. Even though I was not doing an extended fast on Friday, the only way I can explain the recent strong hunger obsession was that it was based on an accumulated deficit. Perhaps I was progressively running myself down from an excessive amount of fasting, and my body finally started to send out that unmistakable signal.
So that is it. For the time being in my next phase I'm going to eat every day but still only once.
I'm going to diversify my meal plans, try some new things.
My goals on the physical side will be to reduce body fat % and waist size, increase fitness, probably still losing a little weight but that is not a primary goal. But what I will also do is to seek a nice balance, to feel good mentally, physically and to enjoy food again daily in the right proportion to my mental and physical goals. As time passes I will throw in some extra eating during the day, a splurge if you will. Even a an occasional feast day at some point. But I'm going to go step by step. Once I feel I have that balance and stability I will take the next step.
I will still work in some extended fasting into my life, maybe 2-3 times per year for 5-6 days. I do think there are benefits. But I'm going to have my fasting days all clumped together and not every week like I have been. The idea will be like the OMAD plan "do it and be done with it"
Just like I don't eat throughout the day I'm not going to fast all the time either. When I do I will do it and be done with it all at once. I don't regret having followed the path I did these last 4 months with weekly water fasts, it's just that it's time for me to move on.
Sorry for the wordy post. I just mainly wanted to note how a simple decision to eat every day has brought on a feeling of immediate calmness over me.
I like your plan. I've experience feelings that I think were cumulative and I really wanted to eat. I think that is why a lot of this year I just did maintenance. I'm over that now and am back in losing mode but I think I understand that. I don't think you need to do extended fasts frequently at your weight either. Maybe occasionly like you mentioned for other purposes would be good. Sounds like the plan. You might be interested in reading some "Lean Gains" info (google it). The author was a body builder who would bulk then cut for competitions and he wanted a way to always stay very lean and hence he developed the "Lean Gains" method. From what I got out of reading about it, he eats more calories on his lift days (he lifts each muscle group only once a week - but he is going for heavy weights) and then he restricts calories on his off days. He was able to stay very lean year round doing this and be very big and strong. He has kind of a foul mouth though so beware.0 -
So for some time I've been wrestling with the decision on how to proceed, how to eat, how often to eat, how often to splurge, what should my goals be, etc. After going round on this for weeks I think I had an epiphany on Friday night which gave me the direction.
I had a very rough time sleeping Friday night. It was day 2 of my weekly 71 hour water fast. For the past 16 weeks I have been doing weekly water fasts of either 47 or 71 hour duration. For the past year now I have made it a point to try to listen to the signals from my body. Well on Friday I figured out that the signal my body was sending was "enough with the fasting already". Increasingly I had been feeling more urges to eat, more cravings. This culminated to a head on Friday night when I could not get food out of my mind. I kept waking and immediately started thinking about food, I even had dreams of eating. Earlier before going to bed I was browsing recipe sites and had all these
ideas swirling in my mind of tasty things to prepare. I even briefly thought about getting up and making something to eat in the middle of the night. It was then when it came to me what I needed to do next, find a balance, and bring harmony to my life. Find a way to eat and exercise which feels good in terms of body and mind, because I did not have that at the moment.
I decided that the first step to finding this balance would be to end the weekly water fast days and go to a basic daily OMAD. It was like as soon as I made this mental decision I became more calm and relaxed, and fell asleep.
I have read a lot about fasting and when the topic of how long a person can fast comes up they often say that your body will tell you when to eat. Before starving you will get an unmistakably strong hunger. On my extended fasts I never reached that point, having broken them for emotional reasons. Even though I was not doing an extended fast on Friday, the only way I can explain the recent strong hunger obsession was that it was based on an accumulated deficit. Perhaps I was progressively running myself down from an excessive amount of fasting, and my body finally started to send out that unmistakable signal.
So that is it. For the time being in my next phase I'm going to eat every day but still only once.
I'm going to diversify my meal plans, try some new things.
My goals on the physical side will be to reduce body fat % and waist size, increase fitness, probably still losing a little weight but that is not a primary goal. But what I will also do is to seek a nice balance, to feel good mentally, physically and to enjoy food again daily in the right proportion to my mental and physical goals. As time passes I will throw in some extra eating during the day, a splurge if you will. Even a an occasional feast day at some point. But I'm going to go step by step. Once I feel I have that balance and stability I will take the next step.
I will still work in some extended fasting into my life, maybe 2-3 times per year for 5-6 days. I do think there are benefits. But I'm going to have my fasting days all clumped together and not every week like I have been. The idea will be like the OMAD plan "do it and be done with it"
Just like I don't eat throughout the day I'm not going to fast all the time either. When I do I will do it and be done with it all at once. I don't regret having followed the path I did these last 4 months with weekly water fasts, it's just that it's time for me to move on.
Sorry for the wordy post. I just mainly wanted to note how a simple decision to eat every day has brought on a feeling of immediate calmness over me.
I have a hard time sleeping when I'm water fasting too..I love your plan and taking it day by day is smart 0 -
I think there are definitely benefits to more extended fasting other than weight loss. I would love to try one some day. Just not yet! I can't yet imagine not having that meal at the end of the day...0
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So for some time I've been wrestling with the decision on how to proceed, how to eat, how often to eat, how often to splurge, what should my goals be, etc. After going round on this for weeks I think I had an epiphany on Friday night which gave me the direction.
I had a very rough time sleeping Friday night. It was day 2 of my weekly 71 hour water fast. For the past 16 weeks I have been doing weekly water fasts of either 47 or 71 hour duration. For the past year now I have made it a point to try to listen to the signals from my body. Well on Friday I figured out that the signal my body was sending was "enough with the fasting already". Increasingly I had been feeling more urges to eat, more cravings. This culminated to a head on Friday night when I could not get food out of my mind. I kept waking and immediately started thinking about food, I even had dreams of eating. Earlier before going to bed I was browsing recipe sites and had all these
ideas swirling in my mind of tasty things to prepare. I even briefly thought about getting up and making something to eat in the middle of the night. It was then when it came to me what I needed to do next, find a balance, and bring harmony to my life. Find a way to eat and exercise which feels good in terms of body and mind, because I did not have that at the moment.
I decided that the first step to finding this balance would be to end the weekly water fast days and go to a basic daily OMAD. It was like as soon as I made this mental decision I became more calm and relaxed, and fell asleep.
I have read a lot about fasting and when the topic of how long a person can fast comes up they often say that your body will tell you when to eat. Before starving you will get an unmistakably strong hunger. On my extended fasts I never reached that point, having broken them for emotional reasons. Even though I was not doing an extended fast on Friday, the only way I can explain the recent strong hunger obsession was that it was based on an accumulated deficit. Perhaps I was progressively running myself down from an excessive amount of fasting, and my body finally started to send out that unmistakable signal.
So that is it. For the time being in my next phase I'm going to eat every day but still only once.
I'm going to diversify my meal plans, try some new things.
My goals on the physical side will be to reduce body fat % and waist size, increase fitness, probably still losing a little weight but that is not a primary goal. But what I will also do is to seek a nice balance, to feel good mentally, physically and to enjoy food again daily in the right proportion to my mental and physical goals. As time passes I will throw in some extra eating during the day, a splurge if you will. Even a an occasional feast day at some point. But I'm going to go step by step. Once I feel I have that balance and stability I will take the next step.
I will still work in some extended fasting into my life, maybe 2-3 times per year for 5-6 days. I do think there are benefits. But I'm going to have my fasting days all clumped together and not every week like I have been. The idea will be like the OMAD plan "do it and be done with it"
Just like I don't eat throughout the day I'm not going to fast all the time either. When I do I will do it and be done with it all at once. I don't regret having followed the path I did these last 4 months with weekly water fasts, it's just that it's time for me to move on.
Sorry for the wordy post. I just mainly wanted to note how a simple decision to eat every day has brought on a feeling of immediate calmness over me.
I had planned to do a video on when to know how much fasting is too much, but you just solidified that intent; it comes back to:
1) Feedback from others that you don't need to lose any more. You get this, and at first, you ignore it, but then you start to mentally "squirm" with the following reasons.
2) A recurring feeling that it is time to move on and start a new chapter. The feeling comes - sometimes in dreams - and you can't ignore it.
3) A innate recognition that there is a time eat more liberally, just as there is a time to cut back (which you've done). It just starts to make sense at some level, to sort of "come to the surface" of your mind.
4) An unexplained mental fatigue of holding back that says: "I've done this already." You feel like you aren't garnering any new value from your efforts. I say "unexplained" because you know it is different from the feeling of laziness where people just get tired of putting forth the effort to stay on the path.
5) A physical fatigue accompanied by departure from your normally loved activities (similar to depression). Your liver will tire out and you will start to lose rather than gain energy from your fasting efforts.
6) The realization that every time you resume fasting, you become happier, which tells you it's time to forge new habits and patterns (otherwise, you can't move forward). Said another way, you shouldn't get depressed moving forward.
This messes with your head, doesn't it, Jim? I can read in your words how it is affecting you. I know all too well what you are going through. And you have the right idea. Set a normal monthly routine now. Let your mind re-adapt with less emphasis on all of this.3 -
So for some time I've been wrestling with the decision on how to proceed, how to eat, how often to eat, how often to splurge, what should my goals be, etc. After going round on this for weeks I think I had an epiphany on Friday night which gave me the direction.
I had a very rough time sleeping Friday night. It was day 2 of my weekly 71 hour water fast. For the past 16 weeks I have been doing weekly water fasts of either 47 or 71 hour duration. For the past year now I have made it a point to try to listen to the signals from my body. Well on Friday I figured out that the signal my body was sending was "enough with the fasting already". Increasingly I had been feeling more urges to eat, more cravings. This culminated to a head on Friday night when I could not get food out of my mind. I kept waking and immediately started thinking about food, I even had dreams of eating. Earlier before going to bed I was browsing recipe sites and had all these
ideas swirling in my mind of tasty things to prepare. I even briefly thought about getting up and making something to eat in the middle of the night. It was then when it came to me what I needed to do next, find a balance, and bring harmony to my life. Find a way to eat and exercise which feels good in terms of body and mind, because I did not have that at the moment.
I decided that the first step to finding this balance would be to end the weekly water fast days and go to a basic daily OMAD. It was like as soon as I made this mental decision I became more calm and relaxed, and fell asleep.
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I read everything you write carefully because I find a lot of wisdom there. This story in particular resonates with me - struggling about a decision, unable to sleep, finally allowing your body and your inner self to make that decision. Unexpectedly finding that your decision brought such a great feeling of calm that sleep could come. It happened to me last spring, although the decision was not about fasting, it was about our daughter in law who will not allow us to visit our grandsons.
I did not realize you were fasting one or two days a week. I am now trying to do that too. I just completed my second (non consequetive) day of fasting on my trip. I am mentally evaluating whether to continue on a weekly basis or go for a longer fast each month. I think the latter will do me more good but it will have to wait until I get home.
Congratulations on your spectacular achievements.
I will be eagerly looking forward to your reports on your new phase, your new journey.
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Yes it does mess with your head, I've tried to explain that to some people, it's not easy but I can tell you know exactly what it is.arguablysamson wrote: »I had planned to do a video on when to know how much fasting is too much, but you just solidified that intent; it comes back to:
1) Feedback from others that you don't need to lose any more. You get this, and at first, you ignore it, but then you start to mentally "squirm" with the following reasons.
2) A recurring feeling that it is time to move on and start a new chapter. The feeling comes - sometimes in dreams - and you can't ignore it.
3) A innate recognition that there is a time eat more liberally, just as there is a time to cut back (which you've done). It just starts to make sense at some level, to sort of "come to the surface" of your mind.
4) An unexplained mental fatigue of holding back that says: "I've done this already." You feel like you aren't garnering any new value from your efforts. I say "unexplained" because you know it is different from the feeling of laziness where people just get tired of putting forth the effort to stay on the path.
5) A physical fatigue accompanied by departure from your normally loved activities (similar to depression). Your liver will tire out and you will start to lose rather than gain energy from your fasting efforts.
6) The realization that every time you resume fasting, you become happier, which tells you it's time to forge new habits and patterns (otherwise, you can't move forward). Said another way, you shouldn't get depressed moving forward.
This messes with your head, doesn't it, Jim? I can read in your words how it is affecting you. I know all too well what you are going through. And you have the right idea. Set a normal monthly routine now. Let your mind re-adapt with less emphasis on all of this.
Excellent points above Joe, and as usual you're spot on. 1,2, and 3 I can answer yes to for sure. I'm more selective about who I discuss things with at work because there are 2-3 people who hit me with "You're too skinny", "You're not still trying to lose are you?", "If you turn sideways I can't see you" all the time. It gets tiring after awhile and I don't feel like explaining myself over and over.
You put up a recent thought provoking video talking about the prison of reformation.
It resonates with me. I feel like after being in prison and having served my time, the gates are now open and I'm free to walk out, but I'm hesitant to do so. I can see the sunshine and freedom that is available to me but for now I'm just milling around the foyer unsure of the next step. In fact after the restless night of sleep I mentioned above I do now feel like I'm ready to venture out a bit.
The adjustment that I need to undertake is to get myself out of the strict "weight loss" mindset, with everything directed at that goal of reducing weight in a rather quick timeframe. This thinking guided me to some of the decisions I made about fasting with OMAD along the way. Now I want to set my sights on transitioning to a balanced happy lifestyle. Yes OMAD and fasting will be a part of it only in different proportions to what I've been utilizing so far.
It's all part of the total transformation process, and self discovery. Sometimes it's confusing but it's always exciting.
thanks
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Can I use your before/after pics in a vid?0
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Sure thing Joe.arguablysamson wrote: »Can I use your before/after pics in a vid?0 -
29:42 5K race this morning!!
I'm over the moon.1 -
Have fun 0
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This discussion has been closed.