[16:8 is a fast where I eat for 8 hours and don’t eat for 16 hours. I choose the 8 hour window and I’ve gone with 10.30am – 6.30pm. I don’t follow rules at the best of times so I didn’t want too many rules and restrictions so I simply start eating around 10.30am and stop by 6.30pm. I do it everyday unless we have a dinner or something and I’ll pick up the fast at 10.30am the next morning.]
I’m a notorious snacker and while being unemployed and in the house a lot, I mindlessly eat all damn day. I eat when I’m bored, when I feel slightly hungry, before the gym, after the gym and I probably eat those hours in between *face palm*. I am constantly consuming, no doubt getting bigger and sick of feeling bloated, sick etc etc so I decided to try this fasting thing out. I’d seen a woman that I follow on Instagram from Auckland talk SUPER briefly about how she’d started this and it stuck in my mind for about a week. A “diet” as such doesn’t work for me… tell me I’m not allowed something and I’ll bloody make sure I have it. So I decided to start fasting “ON A MONDAY” and actually followed through. I documented my first month and here it is…
WEEK ONE
Literally after day one I was so conscious about how much I reach for the pantry or the fridge to get something to eat. I felt powerful by not giving in to the food.
I have a coffee when I wake up and I really don’t think I’m meant to do that… I plan to wean off that to just a herbal tea but for this first week, it gets me through the mornings when I wake up hungry.
I feel like my stomach shrunk in only the first few days. I’d eat breakfast and not really be hungry for lunch which I get because my “breakfast” is around 10.30am and lunch is not far after that. However I’m definitely eating less/smaller portioned meals.
I’m a huuuuuuge breakfast person and always have been so I’m pretty hungry in the mornings. I’ll have a coffee then take Pablo for a 40min/1hr walk then gym some mornings before coming home to make breakfast. I’ll usually break the fast with my homemade muesli topped with coconut yoghurt and berries. I’m carful and conscious not to overdo it when I break the fast in the mornings.
I am really surprised that I’m already a lot more conscious of what I’m putting into my body and instead of mindlessly eating I’m thinking “is this going to fill me up for awhile? Is this meal a balance of protein, veggies, carbs as it has to get me through x amount of time. Is this the right fuel for my body” etc. I wasn’t just always shoving food into my mouth because it was there.
I craved RJ’s Raspberry Choc Twists a lot, luckily we do have some from care packages sent from home :):) I still eat treats! Don’t get me wrong. But definitely not as much as usual. And as a plus side, they last for longer!
I actually feel fine from 6.30pm until bed which is interesting because I used to snack constantly from dinner until bed. Like I’d grab a treat as I went to brush my teeth. So mindlessly and so not needed! It feels good not eating all night.
By the second half of the week I was going toilet like clockwork, around 5pm everyday [sorry if TMI] but I’ve never had a ‘usual’ toilet time. I’d mostly only do #2’s every second/third day.
Stomach pains hit the first 4 days, I guess it was just adjusting.
I only had Saturday night off fasting as Ihaia had a home rugby game. Looking back though, I probably could’ve fasted through it but we had McDonalds around 10pm after the game and then I fasted again until 10.30am Sunday but had a terrible eating day Sunday too so I’m actually looking forward to 6.30pm where I can pick up the “new normal” habit and get back on track 10.30am Monday morning.
WEEK 2
A couple of mornings and nights this week I have been a bit hungry but stuck it out.
I asked Ihaia during the week what he thinks of it and he thought I’d definitely break it like “oh nah I’m hungry, I’m just going to eat”. Lol it actually feels so good doing this small thing for myself. I feel in control of something and am benefiting myself from it.
More thirsty, especially at night. I’m going to try and drink a lot of water in the morning in fasting hours [drinking water is the last thing I feel like doing when I’m hungry tbh] but I’ve been so slack with water so need to up that.
Its Friday and I’ve got pretty bad skin at the moment. Not sure if its just hormonal or from my body starting to re-set itself.
Didn’t have a “rest” day at all this week *claps*.
By the end of the week I realised that I had noticeably more energy, not napping near as much as usual. A lot more energy at the gym.
I’m not sure if I should take my supplements in the morning during fasting hours? I take Jeuneora, vitamins and ACV gummies most days.
Week one was definitely the most eye-opening for me out of the two. This week I just trucked along, not too much to update on.
WEEK 3
Ahhh, this is a busy week compared to normal! The past two weeks I’ve been in my own routine with no interruptions or plans which have made it an easy transition into fasting. This week however, I’m holding a baby shower at my place on Friday, Ihaia has a home game on Saturday [which is luckily around 3pm, it’ll just be the after game take-out I’ll have to say no too] and we’re off to Barcelona on Sunday for 2 nights! I haven’t decided if I’m going to fast in Barcelona yet… I don’t want it to hold me back while exploring. Maybe I can just change the hours around, I’m not sure.
Most of the week went normally. Even the baby shower day I fasted as normal and went to a 6.30pm gym class which surprised me, with all the yummy food temptation leftover in the house.
I fasted Saturday morning but not Saturday night. Ihaia had a rugby game Saturday afternoon and again, I think I could’ve fasted through. Next home game I’m just going to do it as the past two I’ve eaten random shit that I definitely could’ve gone without.
Sunday we were up at 5am to drive 1.5hrs to Nantes to get a 9am flight to Barcelona. I wake up hungry, always been a breakfast person, so having to wait until 10.30am from my alarm at 5am didn’t happen. Lol. I also ate dinner after 6.30pm that night because in Europe, dinner places don’t open until around 7/7.30pm and I wasn’t going to say we’re not going out for dinner in Barcelona. I didn’t actually eat that much and didn’t even feel too hungry at night.
WEEK 4
We got back from Barcelona on Tuesday, my birthday was Wednesday and I had a joint birthday dinner with 2 other girls on Friday night.
Okkkkk so I didn’t fast while in Barcelona on Monday or Tuesday night. I didn’t eat until 10.30am both days but I did eat a little after 6.30pm both nights. To be honest, I didn’t eat much at aaaaall for both dinners. On Monday night we had little tapas and Tuesday night I wasn’t hungry so just ate the chips on the side of Ihaias plate but both nights I definitely had drinks that were over 50calories. I ended up not wanting to dampen the holiday by restricting my times on eating. So that’s that…
Wednesday = birthdayyyyy! First full day from being back from Barcelona so I actually just wanted to get back on track. Jeuneora, ACV gummies and vitamins in the morning. Starting to eat at 10.30am, finishing up by 6pm for RPM class at 6.45pm and also did a cross training class after that.
Thursday and my uhhh, toilet habits, have been off since like Monday in Barcelona. Its interesting how a tiny little change has thrown my body off but I haven’t been going regularly the past few days. I also did 6.30pm pump tonight and am currently sitting here at 9pm typing this and I’m SO HUNGRY. Ugh I’m a bit annoyed at week 4. Its weirdly harder than the previous 3 weeks.
I’ve been pretty loose with timings this week too I feel… like sometimes I gym at 6.30pm so I’ll stop eating at like 5.30/6pm so the next morning I’ll eat around 10am and be like “oh well I stopped earlier last night” and I know thats actually totally fine but I really like to do exact times or to be in credit rather than debit with timing, y’know what I mean? I’d rather not eat for longer than cutting it short.
Friday, I fasted in the morning but not at night as I had a joint birthday dinner with another 2 gals here. Started eating at 10.30am, breaking the fast with homemade muesli, berries and coconut yoghurt. Dinner and drinks around 8pm onwards.
Saturday morning feeling a little hungover from the night before, I ate at like 9am. Saturday night and Sunday fasted as normal.
So thats the first 4 weeks done. I felt like the first 3 weeks went really well, I enjoyed seeing all the benefits and rising to the challenge but the last week really shook me. It was hard and felt more like a chore. Reading back on this month and week 1 I was an angel! Week 2 and I realise I still need to be drinking more water. Week 3 and 4 was a bit hard but its coming into month 2 and I’m determined to keep going.
I started this because I wanted to eat less, reduce my bloating and to give my digestive system a break. I am totally surprised on how fasting makes me feel! I’m really enjoying it and having some kind of control on my food intake. Bring on month 2.
Coming into the second month, I want to focus on cleaning up my food choices during eating hours and go back to being stricter on the times. I’ll give you an update in a month.
BYYYYEEEEE 🙂
DANNIELLEGRACE 