Learning to focus intentionally about stuff (and decluttering stuff) on this journey of minimalism took time. It's a continued practice for me and I have to concentrate to focus intentionally. It's becoming more natural as the years go by.
I had to learn to question why I wanted to keep an item and trust the answer. This kind of learned intentionality extended to my relationship with money, the Earth, and is now extending to my health.
How to Intermittent Fast for Weight Loss
Setting a fasting window, changing my morning coffee creamer, and generally eating better led to weight loss for me. I dropped 2 sizes in 2 weeks time, and lost 7 pounds.
Two weeks before I started intermittent fasting, I had been walking nearly every day. In the image above, the black pants have pockets and are a size 1X. The grey pants are made from organic cotton and have awesome side leg pockets for your phone or pedometer. These are a size XL and I dropped from 1X to XXL to XL with two weeks of intermittent fasting.
Always talk to your doctor before starting any exercise or healthy routine in your life, such as starting intermittent fasting. I am not a medical professional and only sharing my results in this blog post.
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How to Walk for Weight Loss
Walking for weight loss begins with one step at a time. By counting only walks, and not counting steps, miles, or time spent walking, I was able to walk for weight loss. I walk for weight loss and also use intermittent fasting to boost my weight loss results.
Choosing to be intentional with my health began with walking. On June 10, 2021 I took the first of 100 walks. I completed 16 walks in 20 days, and did not focus on distance or time. I just walked. Sometimes it was 5 minutes, and sometimes I walked longer. I also added in these one pound walking hand weights. My walking sneakers are from Vionic and help with any arch pain.
On June 26th, I started intermittent fasting. In the video above, I shared the results of IF, walks 13-28, frustrations, and success factors of trying IF. I am not a medical professional and I am simply sharing my journey and self transformation about my health, minimalism, decluttering and organizing everything that is left.
100 Walks: Walks 1-16
The first 16 walks of 100 walks boosted my energy and helped me find momentum. I didn't lose weight, but walking definitely helps my mental clarity. It's also building muscle over time as I continue to lose weight.
When I started paying attention to my health at the start on June 10, I was a size 20 and wore XXL and 1X sized clothing. I weighed 206 pounds. I use Noom to record my weight every day (not a sponsored post but you can try Noom for free), and sometimes I track my food. I quickly learned that I was eating too much and too much of the unhealthy stuff. I started changing a little bit at a time for those first two weeks. The scale didn’t budge and my pants remained at their starting size but walking did make me feel better. I slept a little better and felt less bloated and managed to eek out 16 walks in those first few weeks.
I took 5 days off between walks 16 and 17, but started fasting instead. I had results in that first week compared to being still in my original size after walking for a month.
The first week of intermittent fasting was tough and uncomfortable. It was hard for me. My energy level was hard to balance with the introduction of fasting. I did a slow build up for the week from 9 am to 10 am to 11 am. I think I was also vacation-mom-tired once we had made it back home and just gave my body rest. By the end of that first week of IF, I was feeling pretty good and had some renewed energy to get back to walking and ventured out on walk 17.
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100 Walks: Walks 17 -20
I had researched methods and watched some helpful videos from Dr Mindy Pelz, Dr. Berg, Thomas DeLauer, Lacey Baier, and Dr. Jason Fung. My favorites were Dr Pelz and Lacey Baier, probably because the information was shared woman-to-woman from women who experimented with IF enough to know what they were talking about.
I chose the 16:8 method: 16 hours of fasting and 8 hours of feasting. I do not feast for 8 straight hours. My fasting window is from 7 pm to 11 am.
I completed walks 17-20 during week 2 of IF.
So now I’m 20 walks into 100 walks and 2 weeks into intermittent fasting and I had definitely dropped one pants size. I was wearing one size down - a size 18 - and they were chaffing my legs when I walked so I decided to buy a size 16 and see if they fit. I bought a size 16 capris from Kohls. They fit!
I kept walking during week 3 of IF with walks 21-24, and kicked off week 4 of IF with walk 25. I’ve been averaging 3 deliberate walks a week but I’m not counting all the small walks that add up to one recorded walk (like walking farther when shopping, walking around the house, etc.).
I track my steps with my iPhone. I do not always keep it on me, so my daily total isn’t a comprehensive count of the steps I actually take in a day.
100 Walks: Walk 25-28
I marked walk 28 and kept going with IF to round out to 45 days of walking including 30 days of IF. Allow me to share the results, some frustrations, and the success factors that made it work next.
Intermittment Fasting Results 1 Month:
Within 30 days, I lost 7 pounds, dropped two pants sizes, and skyrocketed my energy level. Here are the results in an order I found motivating:
Energy level. No more 2 pm naps!
Dropped 2 sizes. I am now comfortably wearing a size 16 (XL) and this is the healthiest I’ve felt in 7 years.
Lost 7 pounds as I dropped from 206 pounds to 199 pounds.
Changed what and when I eat. Mostly I changed breakfast. I break my fast with avocado toast or a smoothie.
Changed hunger levels - I am less hungry now that I control how I feed my body.
Changed my coffee routine. I was putting EIGHT tables spoons of half and half into my coffee (about 40 oz of coffee daily). I am down to 20 oz of coffee with 2 tablespoons of creamer.
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Do You Have to Do Intermittent Fasting Everyday?
No. As a women, my body changes daily. Well, hourly, right? I don't intermittent fast (IF) everyday. I don’t IF on date nights, family movie nights, or towards the end of my cycle. I’m just too hungry.
Intermittent fasting is teaching me how to listen to my body's hunger cues. Menopause definitely throws a wrench in my life, and sometimes hormones tell me when to eat. Or what to eat. HELLO YUMMY POTATOES.
Does Intermittent Fasting Work for Women?
It works for me, and I'm a woman. Will it work for you? It's not like a diet, it's about when you eat and less about what you eat. You still need to eat healthy whether you are a man or woman. I
I did experience a few frustrations during the first month.
Frustration 1
Weight loss. The 7 pounds lost doesn’t feel proportional to dropping two full clothing sizes. I’m not losing tons of weight. My body is pulling from the fat stores during the fasting periods and I’m burning off fat.
Frustration 2
Tie my shoes. My initial goal was to be able to comfortable tie my sneakers. I still cannot do this and it’s still a mental boxing match every time I try to do it. I still beat myself up about it and feel defeated that I can’t do it. The other side of the boxing match is nice and encourages me to just keep swimming. Well, walking. This extends to bending over comfortably to tidy and clean up the house, but I’m hoping all will change with time. I’m thinking folding my old yoga routine back in with help me reach this goal.
Success Factors
Success Factor 1
Making friends with the monster under your bed can change your life. I’ve given so much thought these last two years as to why I hoarded stuff and led such an unhealthy life. I think the biggest change in the last 45 days that made it possible to focus on my health is that I did not allow myself to make excuses. Broken toe? Switch to flip flops. Triple blister? Change your shoes and get to walking.
Success Factor 2
Removing the “all or nothing” mentality. I did not assign distance or time goals for my walks. I just walked. I didn’t time myself or track how far I walked. I tracked steps and used that as my barometer walk after walk. Can I do 100 more steps? Yes!
Success Factor 3
It’s working because I want it to work. I’m willing to do the work to get healthy again. Noom actually brought that to the surface through the articles and questionnaires. I spent time digging deeper into the why (I think they asked 4 times to get me to think deeply). My deepest why is that I want to be here for my kids. I’m an older mom and I want to be around for my kids.
Will I keep walking and IF’ing? YES. It’s working.
I'm planning some follow up videos and posts so comment with your questions. I'm thinking "how I drink coffee with cream and still intermittent fast" might be informational. I definitely still drink coffee with cream (I cannot imagine ever NOT doing that!) everyday. Another video follow up after 60 days of intermittent fasting, assuming I have more results to share may be of interest. What questions do you have about intermittent fasting?
FTC Disclaimer: Please note that some links may be affiliate links, and I earn a commission from your purchase. These links share products at no extra cost to you. I may receive some products in exchange for my honest review. My opinions are my own and are not influenced by brand, person, or company.