I tried Intermittent Fasting and lost a lot of weight easily.
Intermittent fasting has become a trend recently. I heard about it many years ago, though. And I had tried it on and off with not much of a difference. Because I wasn’t doing it correctly.
Then last year the pandemic lockdown happened. It gave me the perfect opportunity to sit at home and eat or fast as I wished. So I made full use of the time and got into a regular schedule of intermittent fasting.
In daily intermittent fasting, you do not eat for a specific window of time every day. Anything over 12 hours of fasting is good. I started at 15 since I never eat breakfast, anyway.
I changed my regular coffee in the morning to black only, with no milk or sugar. That ensured I didn’t take in any calories as I fasted. I finished dinner by 9 pm. And ate only after 12pm the next day.
So that was 15 hours of fasting and it was easy. Within a week, I increased it by 3 hours to eat only after 3 pm. Making it 18 hours of fasting. For the first few days, hunger pangs would hit after 12 pm, making me feel ‘Hangry’.
I used Eno (sodium bicarbonate antacid) to douse my acidity. And fasted until 3pm. It became easier in a few days. The hunger pangs went away and my mood was as good as ever.
Within two weeks, I noticed my weight had gone down by 2 kgs. This was great encouragement. So I followed this schedule of eating after 3 pm and nothing after 9 pm rigorously.
Once I got used to that schedule, and my weight kind of plateaued. I extended my fasting to 6 pm! That’s 21 hours of fasting. Which is when I started losing 2 kgs a week. And in the next four weeks, I lost 8 kgs.
People were telling me I was getting thinner. Those who knew my intermittent fasting were cautioning me, scaremongering. But I knew what I was doing. I knew the benefits. And I was feeling super fit and energetic.
I kept doing intermittent fasting for a few months continuously. But once my body touched 85 kg, weight loss stopped. It has just hovered around there, even after I left intermittent fasting.
Intermittent fasting daily puts your body into a mode called Ketosis (very mild) regularly. Ketosis happens when your body loses all glucose and glycogen reserves and starts burning fat. That’s why you lose weight.
Research shows that intermittent fasting is a way to manage your weight and prevent, or even reverse some forms of disease. Heart health, memory, diabetes, obesity — all improve.
Of course, if you have blood sugar problems like any type of Diabetes or heart health issues, it is best to consult your doctor before you take up intermittent fasting.
But I would highly recommend intermittent fasting to lose weight, feel great, and keep fit. It is an easy and lazy way to health. Combine it with some exercise, and you will burn away Kilograms of fat in no time.
