I changed my life

We all know I don’t apologise for absences anymore. I’ve been busy.

Australia is slowly returning to a new normal - even Melbourne is out of iso. I’m back in the office part time, I’m still reading a heap and even though there’s still not really a lot going on it sort of feels like there is.

Since I last updated you I’ve taken some pretty big steps to change my life and it really worked. I’m not a completed work of art by any times, always a work in progress, but I feel like a different person. One I like a lot better though I’m sure some people might find that kinda debatable. 

The most glaringly big thing I’ve changed is my diet and exercise. I used to think I worked out a lot and I was healthy,  but just by changing the way I do things I’ve realised just how much what I was doing before didn’t work and why. 

Firstly, I started doing what is known as ‘alternate day fasting’ which is exactly what it sounds like - eating every other day on alternating schedules. Say one week I’ll eat Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday then the next I’ll eat Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, rinse and repeat. On my fasting days I don’t consume anything other than black coffee and water (and a tic tac here and there) which means that I frequently go 36-40 hours without food after I finish my last meal, skip a full day then break my fast again with breakfast. For example I eat Monday and finish eating at 5pm then won’t eat again until Wednesday morning around 8am. 

Before you freak out - it’s not actually that hard once you get used to it and it probably takes anywhere between 1-4 weeks to really get used to it. After that it’s fine.

As long as I keep my water and salt up (a little sprinkle on the tongue) I generally feel fine on my fasting days. I might feel a little hungry here and there but if I have water it more often than not goes away on its own pretty quickly. Plus if I really feel like I need it, I have the safety net of being able to eat up to 500 calories on a fasting day - which can actually be a lot of food if you’re eating the right things.

I used to be one of those people who thought I’d die if I didn’t eat every few hours and the thought of skipping meals was ludicrous, but when you actually consider how much we overeat as a society I’ve really changed my outlook on consumption. I just don’t need to do it as much as I thought I did. 

I got onto alternate day fasting after coming across a really inspirational YouTube video made by Rachel Sharp about her experience over 2 years. Rachel lost over 50kg in a year and really changed her whole relationship to, and understanding of, nutrition and diet. Her video was so informative and interesting to me that it didn’t seem like I’d have anything to lose by giving it a go.

There are a lot of benefits to alternate day fasting besides reducing your overall food consumption. Here is a list of some of the best ones I’ve found so far:

Weightloss

The most obvious benefit to alternate day fasting is that by only eating every other day, you highly reduce your caloric intake per week which results in weightloss. 

As of today (November 10th) I have lost 17kg since the end of July. I have dropped 2 dress sizes, 2 bra cup sizes and I’m going broke trying to keep up with my clothing needs. I feel great, honestly, my confidence has increased, I feel happier most of the time and I feel the most comfortable in my own skin I’ve ever felt. I used to struggle to love my body in the past and now I feel good about myself even if I’ve had a treat meal (which I can do).

Autophagy 

You might have never heard of autophagy before and that’s ok, but it’s something you should definitely be aware of in the future. Autophagy is basically cell repair and recycling that’s able to take place after your body starts burning it’s fat stores which it will do when the body goes without food for about 12 hours. During autophagy the body will essentially start to turn over cells that work less efficiently and replace them with newer cells to better optimise the body’s function. 

The sweet spot for autophagy is probably about 12-40 hours of fasting, though many people do longer fasts of up to 5 days. It is tempting but I don’t recommend attempting it without medical supervision.

Body fat decrease

Fasting for more than 12 hours pushes your body into switching to burning it’s fat stores for energy (the longer the fast the longer you’re running on fat), and subsequently you will lose fat in the process without necessarily compromising lean muscle mass. The result of thing will not only be a lower overall weight on the scales, but a decrease in body fat percentage.

For women aged approximately 20-40 the ideal range for body fat percentage is about 20-33% depending on BMI. I’ve dropped about 5% body fat percentage so far.

Better sleep

There’s nothing better than going to bed after a successful fasting day knowing I get to wake up and have a big breakfast. Overall though I sleep better, more deeply and wake up feeling more energised overall. It’s not a struggle to get out of bed (even to workout at 5am) and I don’t find myself finding it hard to fall asleep in the first place. 

Staying awake to read in bed past 10pm is more the issue.

Saving money 

If you only eat every second day, your food budget is going to go a lot further and last a lot longer. I stocked up on food months ago that I’m still pulling out of the fridge and freezer now - plus I spend a lot more time making healthy, home cooked meals since I know I have most of the ingredients already. 

I eat out less (usually only if it’s a catch up) and plan my social events around my eating calendar to make it easier. I might spend some big bucks on a grocery shop every now and then still but whatever I buy lasts way longer than it used to. 

I’m more picky

I never used to be a picky eater and virtually ate almost anything with the exception of olives and most mushrooms, but now that I eat significantly less the kind of food I’m eating is so much more meaningful to me now. For example, if I want a burger I’m going to get a gourmet one instead of something trash like Maccas or HJs. I don’t spend money on fast food anymore and instead opt for a fancier version of the food that is going to satisfy me much better. 

That in mind a lot of food I used to like is decidedly less satisfying and hugely disappointing now. I’ve spent a few weeks taste testing various foods to weed out what I am and am no longer willing to splash out on. Fast food - no. Big fluffy donuts from LA Donut in Beverly Hills - a thousand times yes. 

I may be a lot harder to please now but when I do have better food I feel better, I enjoy it more and the treat actually feels much more worth it than ever before. No more scarfing junk like it’s going out of style and instead lovingly chomping something I’ve been really looking forward to. 

Whilst the benefits, in my opinion, far outweighs the negatives when it comes to alternate day fasting, I will say that it’s not all perfect. Sometimes it can be really hard to fast whether it’s because you’re feeling sickly (a soup or a barley sugar usually fixes that for me), you’re feeling lethargic, or your hangry, and sometimes you just don’t feel like it. It can be tough to navigate socially at first but you learn to work around it and it doesn’t become too isolating over time. 

I definitely don’t recommend diving right into it if you’re diabetic or have a genuine medical concern because it can be hard on the body and any kind of diet change should be best done with a doctors supervision. I do recommend giving it a go though because it’s a great test of will, will change the way you respond to hunger, food, boredom and thirst.

Overall it’s definitely changed my life - I’d say for the better, but you’re welcome to disagree. I’ve never felt better physically, mentally or felt like my confidence and sense of self worth were in better shape. I still workout a lot so I’m in the best physical shape of my life in addition to the leanest, and I am genuinely working on myself for my health. 

Funnily enough, I’ve also never been so happy to be single - even men don’t appeal to me the way they used to (no one is good enough anymore?). Not ready to bat for the other team, but I’m in no rush to meet anyone when no one seems to be ringing any gongs for me these days. Hardly a surprise, but men are actually pretty bad for my mental and physical health. Go figure. 

There is a ‘secondly’ but the first point was such a big one tied to all the rest so we’ll leave it here for now.

Happy fasting.

Sam xox