My weight loss saga - Jim
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I've read accounts on fasting forums of many people fasting for 30-40 days, so apparently some can handle the deprivation. By doing a few extended fasts now I have come to realize where my limits are. I could not deal with it on that kind of time frame although for others it might be a different story. I need to have something to look forward to, the meal prep and of course the eating and full sensory experience.amflautist wrote: »11 days. Wow. I need time to think about this. Your report of the effect after 6 days - deprivation, isolation, bleak and bland - whew, that is humbling, and puts a lot of what we take for granted in new perspective.
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My plateau-busting fast (final tally)
Day.........WT.......Change.......Total
..1..........236.........-3...............-3
..2..........234.........-2...............-5
..3..........232.........-2...............-7
..4..........230.........-2...............-9
..5..........227.5......-2.5............-11.5
..6..........226.........-1.5............-13
..7..........223.5......-2.5............-15.5
..8..........221.5......-2...............-17.5
..9..........219.5......-2...............-19.5
..10........217.5......-2...............-21.5
..11........217.........-0.5............-22
It's over. I started taking in nourishment last night. (so wonderful)
I broke through several barriers and feel I've achieved a total reset, so it was a success.
I'll get back to a consistent eating pattern now and will stay on it for a long while I think.
One final comment about extended fasting, for me through the first 6 days its not so hard.
However around that point it starts to become more and more of grind, and gets harder by the day.
And no it's not because of hunger, that goes away after a couple days and does not return.
What is so hard for me is the deprivation. The complete absence of all sensory and emotional experiences related to food. You don't realize how much of an impact this is until you do without food for an extended time. In many ways our lives revolve around food, we're always planning our meals ahead, anticipating how good they will be. Of course the meals themselves touch on all senses, then the feeling of fullness and contentment afterwards. There is just so much pleasure and joy wrapped up in it.
On a long fast, I find that after awhile I feel like a prisoner. Life is boring, bland and bleak. Day after day there is never anything to look forward to other than the scale readings. Not only does this not go away, it seems to accumulate as the days go by. Towards the end time slows down and its a real grind. It's not pleasant. Again this is not a hunger for food per se, but more an emotional feeling of isolation from all the pleasurable experiences that revolve around eating.
But now I'm out of prison and have something to look forward to every day, so I'm feeling great now.
@jvcinv 11days amazing... 22 is amazingly amazing.. hope you are feeling as lite as a feather..
Great job!!0 -
You're amazing! Congratulations on completing your extended fast successfully
I wish to do one extended fast this month. Your results are awesome! Even if you gain a third back, you still will be good with the net loss. 0 -
Would you like to speculate on the adages 'a calorie is a calorie' and 'calories in, calories out'? I think of a pound as 3600 calories. Losing 2 pounds/day means deficits of 7200 calories. Suppose I assume your body adjusts for water after a few days. What does that continuing loss of 2#/day mean? What IS your body doing?0
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I have no idea about this and ask myself the same question. I know it doesn't add up.amflautist wrote: »Would you like to speculate on the adages 'a calorie is a calorie' and 'calories in, calories out'? I think of a pound as 3600 calories. Losing 2 pounds/day means deficits of 7200 calories. Suppose I assume your body adjusts for water after a few days. What does that continuing loss of 2#/day mean? What IS your body doing?
They say that fasts will cause you to lose one pound a day on average, more in the beginning and less towards the end. But mine was double that and I don't know why.
I'm skeptical about the simple calories in - calories out formula in the first place.
All I can think of is that there is a "cleaning process" going on during the fast. I'm not sure how to put it but periodically there is material being expelled even after a week of no food.
From what I understand this is debris from the digestive tract that accumulates over the years, and only during a fast does your body have to time to get rid of it. That may account for some of it.
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Yes the number is going to go back up over the next few weeks, it has to as the body and organs recover and reset. I'm absolutely fine with that though. Like you said, even if it goes up five pounds, which I doubt it will, it is still a big break from where I was.mikseyniha wrote: »You're amazing! Congratulations on completing your extended fast successfully I wish to do one extended fast this month. Your results are awesome! Even if you gain a third back, you still will be good with the net loss.
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I'm ready to say Jim is an authority on this now. Everything he said about the isolation relating to the eating experience over time is true. That's why I broke my 7-day fast. A part of us needs to stay connected to our feeding side, even if we can live off of ourselves for extended periods of time.0
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Wow!0
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Thanks Joe coming from you that is a compliment but I'm no authority. Just trying to accurately describe my experiences.arguablysamson wrote: »I'm ready to say Jim is an authority on this now. Everything he said about the isolation relating to the eating experience over time is true. That's why I broke my 7-day fast. A part of us needs to stay connected to our feeding side, even if we can live off of ourselves for extended periods of time.
Interesting that you felt the same sense of isolation at roughly the same point of the fast.
I've done two long fasts now and it was the same both times. The latter part of it is a real challenge and I felt like I was crawling in slow motion to the finish line. I'm not inclined to ever attempt anything over a week again.
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Thanks Joe coming from you that is a compliment but I'm no authority. Just trying to accurately describe my experiences.arguablysamson wrote: »I'm ready to say Jim is an authority on this now. Everything he said about the isolation relating to the eating experience over time is true. That's why I broke my 7-day fast. A part of us needs to stay connected to our feeding side, even if we can live off of ourselves for extended periods of time.
Interesting that you felt the same sense of isolation at roughly the same point of the fast.
I've done two long fasts now and it was the same both times. The latter part of it is a real challenge and I felt like I was crawling in slow motion to the finish line. I'm not inclined to ever attempt anything over a week again.
You will find that the experiences you take for granted are quite valuable to others coming up behind you!2 -
I have no idea about this and ask myself the same question. I know it doesn't add up.amflautist wrote: »Would you like to speculate on the adages 'a calorie is a calorie' and 'calories in, calories out'? I think of a pound as 3600 calories. Losing 2 pounds/day means deficits of 7200 calories. Suppose I assume your body adjusts for water after a few days. What does that continuing loss of 2#/day mean? What IS your body doing?
They say that fasts will cause you to lose one pound a day on average, more in the beginning and less towards the end. But mine was double that and I don't know why.
I'm skeptical about the simple calories in - calories out formula in the first place.
All I can think of is that there is a "cleaning process" going on during the fast. I'm not sure how to put it but periodically there is material being expelled even after a week of no food.
From what I understand this is debris from the digestive tract that accumulates over the years, and only during a fast does your body have to time to get rid of it. That may account for some of it.
I've read that gluconeogenisis is only about 57% efficient in converting fat to glucose. I imagine that on that kind of fast, the body tries to store glycogen and does some of this inefficient coversion. I think that the formula is more like:
CI * efficiency of digestion - CO = weight loss.
I think the path that the calories that are used is important. A glucose drip into the body would probably be the most efficient. Calories being digested and turned into fat and then back to glucose would be very inefficient i would think.0 -
Inefficiency? hmm. I didn't now that but thinking about it now it makes a lot of sense that it would be perhaps the least efficient method to create glucose.
I've read that gluconeogenisis is only about 57% efficient in converting fat to glucose. I imagine that on that kind of fast, the body tries to store glycogen and does some of this inefficient coversion. I think that the formula is more like:
CI * efficiency of digestion - CO = weight loss.
I think the path that the calories that are used is important. A glucose drip into the body would probably be the most efficient. Calories being digested and turned into fat and then back to glucose would be very inefficient i would think.
Thank you.
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You're doing great and such an inspiration!0
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This morning I was reading Upton Sinclair's book on fasting, and thinking of you. I feel so lucky to have found this group - with so many wise people. I am learning lots of valuable things from your experiences.1
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WK.......... Weight.........Week Chg......Total.....To Reach Goal
28.............250.................-3...........-102..............70
29.............248.................-2...........-104..............68
30.............243.................-5...........-109..............63
31.............241.................-2...........-111..............61
32.............240.5...........-0.5...........-111.5...........60.5
33.............236..............-4.5...........-116..............56
34.............221.5.........-14.5...........-130..............41.5 (fasting)
34.............219..............-2.5...........-132.5...........39 (partial fasting)
35.............224.5..........+5.5...........-127..............44.5 (fasting recovery)
36.............221.5...........-3..............-130..............41.5
Thought I'd do a complete update now that I seem to have fully recovered from my extended fast.
In my case it takes a solid two weeks once I start eating again for the weight to rebound, normalize, then start to decline again. This last fast I dropped weight faster and more consistently than in the past, but also gained back more weight after the fast than in the past.
So I'm back on an OMAD routine but I have made a few modifications;
Since it seems like others on here have good success with a weekly fast day that's what I'm going to do.
Six meals a week rather than seven with a 47 hour fast between Tues and Thurs meals.
Also I'm going to slightly reduce my meal size, it seem that unconsciously I had been gradually adding more over the months of OMADing, so I'm going back to the original portion sizes that I started with.
Also increasing exercise days from 2 to 4.
I'm going to stay on this program for some time and observe the results.
If I can remember how to do it I'm going to attach my updated weight loss chart.
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This plan sounds a lot better!!!
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Your plan sounds solid and it's working for you! Great dedication, good job!0
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great work!0
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Your chart helps me a lot. Helps me see how erratic I am! Helps me see what the effects of a long fast are.
But mostly, it's your total loss of 130# in 36 weeks that absolutely astonishes me! 3.6#/wk without fail, consistently. Dedicated. Congratulations. I admire what you do.1 -
You've got a nice plan set up. I am sure it will work for you 0
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@brendagaudette @mikseyniha @1MADGIRL , thank you for the comments.
@amflautist I'm proud of that chart and glad to know that it helps you.
Knowing that the reason it exists is primarily due to having adopted various fasting strategies and upgrading the quality of food that I eat boggles my mind.0 -
@amflautist I'm proud of that chart and glad to know that it helps you.
Knowing that the reason it exists is primarily due to having adopted various fasting strategies and upgrading the quality of food that I eat boggles my mind.
Upgrading the quality of food you eat. I'm interested in what you have done! I am trying to develop a strategy, a life style, a sense of whether I am going to emphasize veggies, or protein - fish. I'm 76 right now. I know that I need to lose weight - at least another 20#, but after that I am most interested in avoiding heart disease and cancer. So what is my food plan going to be? Right now I am watching Jason Fung's video (#5 of 6),
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yoOx_7MLn0,
The Aetiology of Obesity #5: Diet and Disease, to help me decide. I don't think that the HFLC modes (Steak, steak, steak) of some of my colleagues/friends here at OMAD is right for me. But what is? Still searching.
What have you done to "upgrade the quality of food you eat"?
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What I meant by upgrading the food I eat is that I've replaced highly processed, high caloric density foods with fresh, high nutrient dense foods.
Out are fast food, processed foods from boxes or frozen, sweets, sugary drinks.
In are fresh vegetables, leafy greens, some fruit and animal protein (essentially meat fish eggs, dairy, poultry).
My motto is that I only eat what comes directly from a plant or animal, no middleman. That is of course for the most part, there are exceptions.
I would say it's roughly like a HFLC diet, in fact if I'm looking for a recipe that is the heading I would search under. But I'd also say that I'm not extreme about either end of it, the HF or the LC. I just try to keep it in that direction.
For me this was a huge upgrade because formerly my diet was fast food, frozen food, 3-5 cokes a day, plenty of bread, sweets, pasta, potatoes, heavy sauces, gravies, etc. You get the idea.
The funny thing is I enjoy the food I eat now more than what I used to eat. I now plan my diet whereas before I would eat out of convenience and habit, without thinking too much about it.
Regarding Jason Fung, I read his blog weekly for all the updates, I've watched all his videos too.
It was while reading his book The Obesity Code when I had many "AHA!" moments regarding intermittent fasting, dieting and weight loss. His explanations clicked with me and I just knew it was the right path to go down. It was the first time I had heard of eating once a day. I thought it would suit me well and now it's like second nature.
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I love the direction your life has taken. Though I'm OMAD, I'm still working on eating as fresh as possible. With a large family and many commitments, convenience often over takes everything else! Good job in all your doing! Such a huge inspiration to me.0
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Way to go Jim! You will be an inspiration to a lot of people like Joe!1
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WK........ Weight.....Week Chg.....Total......To Reach Goal
28.............250.................-3...........-102..............70
29.............248.................-2...........-104..............68
30.............243.................-5...........-109..............63
31.............241.................-2...........-111..............61
32.............240.5...........-0.5...........-111.5...........60.5
33.............236..............-4.5...........-116..............56....(partial fasting)
34.............221.5.........-14.5...........-130.............41.5 (fasting)
34.............219..............-2.5...........-132.5..........39.... (partial fasting)
35.............224.5..........+5.5...........-127.............44.5. (fasting recovery)
36.............221.5...........-3..............-130.............41.5. (6/1)
37.............217..............-4.5...........-134.5..........37.... (5/2)
Well I've already fiddled with my new plan as circumstances at work caused me to take two fasting days this week.
They weren't on consecutive days but I'm seeing results that I'm very happy with so I'm going to stick with it.
Thursday and Friday I'll fast (71 hours) and then eat regular OMAD style the other five days.
I have a feeling that this is going to be really effective, at least based on what I've seen so far.
Another thing that makes me happy today is that at 217 I've again reached the low point I was at at the end of my recent 11 day fast. So I've erased all the post-fast weight gain. Another way to put it is I'm at a weight I haven't seen for 20 years.3 -
Great job! You are doing fantastic!0
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Congratulations on your new low point 0
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That's great, Jim!!0
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Wonderful news!! Congratulations. I admire your strategy and your successes.0
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