Report: Month 1

August 22: 245
Sept. 26: 232.6

Month 1: -12.4

Okay, Here we go. One month down. The end of August I hit my all time high weight of 245. It was just time to do something. I dusted off old reliable, counting calories. For the first two weeks I did great. Then week 3 came around and I lost my mojo. I was doing DietBet and had $35 on the line. I really needed to make it through week 4 and hit the goal they set from me. I decided to really clamp down and zero in on my eating. I decided to have one meal a day for the 4 days before my weigh in. During my days I had lots of lemon water and diet soda and tried to stay super hydrated. I barely made my goal of 236.4, and "won" $50. It was such a relief to make that goal, of course that day I had plenty to eat and was 238.4 the next morning.

I planed to join the 6 month/lose 10% DietBet after our China trip. But Sandy started one and I really wanted to be in the same group as her. I thought, why would I delay losing weight? So I plunked down my $ joined her group and they put my starting weight at 236.4. So now here I was 2 days into the challenge and already had 2 extra pounds to lose. Bummer. How was I going to make the goals they set for me?

I thought, now I am really committed. I signed up for 6 months. I have real and measurable goals. I would love to be 212 in February. That seems realistic to me. But somehow I just couldn't face starting over with My Fitness Pal and counting calories. So I read a little thing about "intermittent fasting." (Which is basically what I did my last 4 or 5 days.) Honestly it wasn't too hard, so wanting to feel motivated and focused I was looking for some books about it and just weight loss in general. Reading books always motivates me.  I found these two books:

I first read, "Delay, Don't Deny" and honestly it seems so simple and flexible but also effective. In the book the author quotes from, "The Obesity Code" so I had to read that too. Over the weekend I devoured both books. I even re-listened to portions for the audiobooks and listened to podcasts from the author of Delay, Don't Deny. I was feeling very motivated. I could do this!

The basic idea is you only eat during certain times and when not eating you are doing a "clean fast", which means only water. No lemon water. No diet soda. No calorie-free drinks. No herbal teas. No Nothing. ONLY WATER.  This was super hard for me. But the science behind it seems solid. So I have been doing the "clean fast." Now, I have ice water, hot water and mineral water to try and add a little variety.

The when not to eat is based on what works best for you, like I said super flexible. For me I find that "fasting" 20 hours and having the option to eat 4 hours works best. But you can basically choose any time from 18 hours-6 hours. . . to 22 hours 2 hours.

I have only been doing this for a couple of weeks, so I guess the jury is still out. But I have made a pledge to myself that I will give it 6 months. Once I am in maintenance mode I will probably go 18/6 or something like that. But for now I am down 12 pounds! I am feeling great and love the idea that this is something I can actually do long term. No counting calories. No foods are off limits. I really love the idea this. I will write another monthly report the end of October, when I get home from China. I am hoping I can keep it up while we are traveling.