Howdy Ags,

I have been a longtime lurker and occasional poster on the H&F board, but I finally decided it was time to share my story.

Before I go any further, I want to just say I have so much respect for many of you on here who are super fit, running races and Tris, lifting tons of weight, eating a very disciplined diet and generally taking really good care of yourselves. When I was in school, I was in good shape (ooh rah morning PT), worked out, and ran consistently. But once I got my first desk job and joined the corporate rat race, the pounds crept up on me and I have been basically been 75-100lbs overweight since. I wish I had gotten into racing or kept up with my workout routines but for whatever reasons, I just didn't.

Some of you can and may disagree with what some of what I'm going to say, or think I am oversimplifying it, or think it doesn't go far enough, or that you should lift more, or run more, or whatever more. Thanks, I appreciate your opinion, and feel free to share. But this is more directed at the many guys and girls out there like me, want to be in better shape, or at least weigh less, but for whatever reason (no judgement) can't carve out the time between career, family, kids, whatever to put in as much time and discipline as you have / we wish we had. Props to you, but understand, not all of us have the time and resources some of you do to devote to your fitness at this point in our lives (as much as we wish we did.)

It's not that I haven't tried until now. Over the years...the past 25 years... I did all the fad diets from Atkins right on down the list. But the problem for me is, none of them were sustainable. As soon as I got sick of the diet and went off it, the pounds would come back. Not healthy, and even more, frustrating. But doing the same thing day after day just didn't work for me. And obviously not for most people considering my story is pretty common. A few years ago, I remember reading about Intermittent Fasting on this forum and thinking "sounds cool but not for me". Then a couple years ago - two years ago this coming May, I hit 275lbs and decided I really needed to get serious about it. My step daughter emailed me and said "Hey, Mom said you were trying to lose weight, I've been doing this and it really works!" And she attached a link to this video.



I watched the video, I bought the book (Search Fast 5/2 Diet Mosley on Amazon), and I'll be damned if for the first time in 20 years, I've lost the weight and kept it off. Yesterday I weighed 202 ... so the 100's are just around the corner for the first time in a quarter century. And that is losing 50 lbs between May and Thanksgiving last year, then taking a break and going on "maintenance" mode (one fast day a week) until the day after Super Bowl this year, started at 220 and down almost 20 again. It's the easiest thing I've ever done, and I feel great.I do a combination of 8/16 and 5/2 fasts. Mon/Thu is 600-700 calories only. Most other days I just skip breakfast. I used to be a huge "breakfast is the most important meal of the day" guy but not any more. I don't even think about food until lunchtime now, and in the mornings my head is clear and I have tons of energy - it's by far the most productive time of the day for me. I can't even imagine going back. Yes, I occasionally eat breakfast for a special occasion or when my wife makes Sunday brunch, but the point is - you don't have to be perfect. Just stick to it "most of the time."

You may think 600-700 calories sounds terrible, and I'll be honest - at first it is a little rough. Just focus on lots of veggies, drink lots of water (I drink a gallon a day) and you'll get through it. It gets easier pretty quick - in fact now I actually look forward to fast days (especially Monday after a weekend of eating whatever I want). But here is the key: "There is always tomorrow." You can do ANYTHING for a day, especially when you know that tomorrow is a regular day. It's just a matter of getting your body used to the fact that some days you will eat 2000 calories and some days 600 calories - occasionally 600 will be a normal day. And trust me, after a couple weeks, it will be no big deal.

If you have struggled to lose weight and have never gotten anything to work - I just want to encourage you to give IMF a try. It's easy, doesn't cost anything, there are no pills, no meetings, no monthly fees, you don't have to buy special foods....and you can start tomorrow. There are a ton of other medical and health benefits to IMF that you can see in that video or read about in his book or read about online or in other threads on here. I just want to let all of you "regular guys (and girls)" like me know - you don't have to be a super athlete or a body builder or in your 20's or whatever to practice IMF. No matter what your story - no matter how much you have to lose - It's easy, you'll feel great, and lose weight. (Check with your doctor first blah blah standard disclaimer...)

I know there are other threads on here about IMF and I could have put this post on any of them, but I just want those of you who are browsing over here because for the first time in a long time...or ever...you are sick and tired of being sick and tired and are ready to do something about your situation to know that this is an option that has worked for me. And for the record, I've shared it with my wife and a couple dozen friends and I haven't kept a spreadsheet or anything, but is seems like everyone who has tried it is losing weight and loving it.

It's not a diet - it's a lifestyle. I'll be happy to answer any questions.

Gig 'em

And I actually hit 199.6 this morning - first time under 200 pounds in 25+ years. Pretty excited about that!



Chapter Four - The Plan

(This chapter is the actual Weekday Fast plan spelled out and summarized. You might want to print it and put it where you can refer to it until it seems natural.)

Measure Your Success! - Track calories and weigh every day

I call this the Weekday Fast program, because on weekdays you do some sort of intermittent fasting. Like most of you, I work a 40+ hour work week, have kids with crazy school and extracurricular stuff, and am always on the go. In this crazy, busy world we live in, an eating plan has to be something that fits into your schedule and lifestyle. This does.

Flexible Weekly Schedule

Monday FAST 5/2
Tuesday FAST 8/16
Wednesday FAST 8/16
Thursday FAST 5/2
Friday FAST 8/16
Saturday FAST 8/16 (or don't)
Sunday FAST 8/16 (or don't). Plan your meals for the week.

Every Day

Weigh yourself first thing
Track your food and exercise on MyFitnessPal
Drink lots of water! We will discuss this more in the next chapter.
Optional but highly recommended: "Get up & Go!" (Move your body for a minimum of 20 minutes first thing in the morning).

Fast 8/16 Days

Eat everything in an eight hour window, e.g. 12pm-8pm or 1pm-9pm.
Try to limit carbohydrates - salads with lean protein are great for lunch.
Snack Smart! A handful of almonds, a little cheese, a piece of fruit, pickle spears etc.
Eat what you want but eat slowly and watch your portions!

Fast 5/2 Days

Eat everything in an eight hour window, e.g. 12-8 or 1-9.
Limit total calories to 600 for men or 500 for women.

Weekends

"Live Your Life!"
Practice Fast 8/16 if you want skipping breakfast is second nature to me now.
No other restrictions - just watch quantities and try to make good food choices. Remember, you have to get on the scale in the morning! Enjoy what you want, but pay attention to how much you eat and only eat until you are full. The key to this plan or system is changing how and especially WHEN you eatbut you DON'T HAVE TO GIVE UP ANYTHING you love. It's all about WHEN and to a lesser extent HOW MUCH you eat. Take your time eating and stop when you are full..

Tips for Fast 5/2 Days

For maximum success on Fast 5/2 Days, follow these tips:

No restaurant meals. You cannot trust what they tell you about their nutritional information.
If you have a restaurant meal or social activity, swap days so you can eat your Fast 5/2 dinner at home. For example, make Tuesday your Fast 5/2 day.
Eat a big vegetable only salad for lunch with low calorie dressing - I love mustard and balsamic vinaigrette.
For dinner, think fish or chicken with lots of vegetables. If you prefer to skip meat, go for it! Just find some non-meat sources of protein instead.
Severely limit those carbohydrates on Fast 5/2 days! If you are craving some pasta, make some Zoodles!
Come up with a few recipes you really enjoy and eat them consistently
Remember, Fast 5/2 Days are "work days". If you are craving something, tell yourself "I can have it tomorrow."
Focus on how your body is able to fight off disease and make you healthier in a fasted state.
If you get really hungry, drink some water and go for a five minute walk.
For a mid-afternoon snack, try a few dill pickles (not sweet!), a few strawberries or a few grapes.
Chew slowly and make every bite last. Notice when you are getting full, then stop eating! Take your time and enjoy the meal.
Embrace the feeling of slight hunger as how your body feels when it is in Repair & Replenish mode. You can even picture your little magic white blood cells fighting infections and the Cancer cells starving to death. Sounds silly I know but who cares?
Notice and appreciate how your mind is sharper and you are more productive when your body is not busy digesting food!
Remember to plan ahead! Go into your Fast 5/2 day knowing exactly what you will eat and snack on. Track everything with MyFitnessPal!

Measure & Monitor

If you were put in charge of an extremely important project at work and told that your outcome would be judged carefully to determine how successful you had been, you would probably do the following if you wanted to be successful.

1. Put in place a mechanism to carefully track your ongoing progress
2. Pay close attention to the time and materials you were using
3. Evaluate your progress on a daily or weekly basis to see what is working and what is not

By doing these three things, you are MUCH more likely to succeed in your project, right? Congratulations, YOU are hearby in charge of the most important project of your life YOU. That's right, YOU are now in charge of "Getting Healthy, Getting Fit & Living Your Life". Here are the tools to track and measure your progress.

Weigh Yourself Every Day

Every morning you should weigh yourself and have some sort of mechanism for monitoring your weight. This is important for several reasons

When you weigh yourself the morning after a Fast 5/2 day, you will nearly always see that you have lost some weight. This is an important REWARD in the Cue, Response, Reward cycle for the new habit you are developing for fasting two days a week. Your Cue is time Monday or Thursday. Your RESPONSE is to reduce your caloric intake to 500/600 for the day, and your REWARD is the weight loss you will see on the scale. There are other rewards for a Fast day such as feeling great, thinking clearly, sleeping better and the other health benefits, but none are so clear cut and precise as seeing that you've lost a specific amount of weight on the scale as a reward for your Fast day.
You must MEASURE something if you want to track it. As I've said, you will adapt to this way of eating in a few weeks, but for some people there will be some natural second thoughts before that adjustment is complete. When you can pull up your spreadsheet or smartphone app and see that graph line trending down, it will keep you motivated.

You will need a decent quality, digital scale that is accurate to at least one decimal point. I bought this one on Amazon for about $60. It has Bluetooth capabilities, and you can set it up for up to four family members. Each person can load their app on their smart phone, and every day when you weight it sync the results to your profile. You can pull up graphs and charts showing your progress on both the app and their website! In addition to pounds/kilograms, it also measure bone density, water %, muscle mass %, fat% - so you can see your progress in all those categories too.

For the most accurate results, you should weigh at the same time every day so your results are consistent. The best time is first thing in the morning, as you will be your lightest after you first wake up and use the restroom. Remember water is heavy! "A pint's a pound the world round." That first 32oz glass of water you are going to drink will actually add TWO POUNDS of weight! Of course it's temporary, but still you can see that your weight will naturally fluctuate during the day as you ingest and eliminate foods and fluids. First thing in the morning when you haven't been drinking any liquids for many hours, but you have eliminated all of them, is the time you will be at your minimum daily weight, and therefore the best time to measure it. So get on the scale and then head to the kitchen for that first glass of water!

MyFitnessPal

Along with weighing yourself daily, you should also develop the habit of logging everything you eat into the free MyFitnessPal app. Download it to your smart phone and also log in and familiarize yourself with the web interface. MyFitnessPal has thousands of foods, including most restaurant menu items, in their database. As such, you are able to accurately track exactly how many calories and how much sugar, fat, carbohydrates, protein and sodium you are consuming.

An added benefit to tracking everything in MyFitnessPal is it makes you aware every time you eat and accountable to yourself. If you know you are going to have to log that extra donut in, you are less likely to eat it after all.

Buy a Food Scale

You can get an inexpensive digital food scale on Amazon for about $10. This will allow you to measure your food accurately (especially on fast days), so "6 oz of baked chicken" REALLY IS 6oz of baked chicken. Also, it's kind of fun to be able to weigh everything in the kitchen. Is that pound of hamburger meat really a pound? Does a pint of water really weigh a pound? Now you'll know!

Track Your Progress

If you are utilizing a weight tracking app and MyFitnessPal, that may be enough to track your progress. I also have a "Daily Food Log" spreadsheet I've developed that I use that lets me track not only my weight and food choices, but also my moods and "how I feel" each day. This can allow you to stop trends and identify if there are certain foods that don't agree with you, or interfere with your progress. For example, this is how I realized that any day where I have pizza, pasta, or go to a restaurant for dinner is not going to be a day where I weigh less the next day. Does this mean I don't eat pizza, pasta or go to restaurants? Heck no! But it avoids disappointments and allows me to plan my indulgences.

Thanks for sharing! Congrats on the progress, looking forward to reading your guide.

Fasting is a great method for insulin maturity and mitochondrial oxidative efficiency.

Great feedback!

Wife is an Aggie said:

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Do you workout on your 5/2 days?

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I advocate "Get Up & Go" - meaning move your body first thing in the morning for at least 20-30 minutes. Personally, I walk my dogs every day for 35 min - about 2.5 miles.

Mon & Thu are Fast days. On those days, I put the dogs up after the walk and then go back to the street and run 4-6 HIIT intervals. Basically just run as fast as you can for 30-45 seconds then walk for 1:15 = 1:30 to recover. It only takes 10 minutes but woah does it get the blood pumping.

On Tues & Fri I go to the gym and lift. Even though those are days after Fast 5/2 days and I eat nothing before my workout, I still have great workouts and feel good. Note I am not a power lifter and I'm a 51 year old guy so I'm not in there throwing down massive iron but I enjoy it and my wife tells me she can see the difference.

Sometimes on Sat or Sun if the weather is nice, I'll extend the walk or drop the dogs off after one lap and jog a second lap. I like running, but the older I get the harder it is on my joints so I can't run distance on a consistent basis anymore.

Thanks for sharing- after reading your story I started doing my own research to learn more about IMF, and have decided to give it a try, starting with the 16/8 fasting sequence. I figure I will stay with it for the next 30 days, see how it goes, and if it is something I can truly maintain, and will hopefully continue indefinitely.

Right now I am 5'11, 223lbs, looking to get down to sub 200. I am down from 246 this time last year. Maybe this will be the final piece of the puzzle.