I decided to leap in, and got the Zero app and subscribed so could get all the extra content and details.
I thought my first fast would be a miserable, tired, cranky, dizzy ordeal. Nope. Felt just fine. By the morning, about 15 hours into my first fast I decided to go for a 30-ish km bike ride to see how I felt during and afterwards, compared to how I usually felt on similar rides (to be honest, I didn’t look up whether this would be a bad idea or not, which was pretty dumb). I track my rides with Strava, so I was looking for unusual dips in speed, or changed in heart rate, yada yada. Nothing. Aside from the cravings I later learned were as much about ritual/patterns as anything, I felt fine. So much for the “ordeal” I was bracing for.
A week later—coached along by the articles and videos in Zero—I had settled in and was even seeing results. Not just scale and clothes-fit results, but a newly discovered sense of discipline, and being consciously in control of food, not in constant reaction mode. No stress eating, no bored eating, no “it’s payday, I’ve earned a treat” eating.
It’s been 53 days now, and I’m down 9.5 kilograms (sorry, I’m from Canada—I can’t even visualize a pound), I’m up a bunch of money I’d normally have blown on snacks (I’ve actually logged each time I would have felt like a snack or a fast food meal, and put that money into my Questrade account). I’ve also never felt more optimistic and equipped to reshape myself. **It just works.** I love it.
Thank you all for sharing *your* stories and giving me the sense of hope to finally try IF.
https://i.imgur.com/Uj34TBa.jpg
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This is a spooky post, you’re time range and weight drop tracks mine very very closely haha as does your obsession with tracking your rides via Strava to see if there was a change! Well done. I’m still in awe of how ‘doable’ this whole thing is . One thing that really surprised me with the cycling was that I’d go out and do a ride (small ride - 25km or so) while fasted and fully expected to be really slow… and to be fair I did feel tired, but lo and behold I’d get home and my segments would be in the normal range and quite often new PR’s too! Keep on going! :) I can’t wait to see what my chart looks like in November.
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I think there’s something to be gained with fasted exercise. I ride avidly (power meter-Strava) along with the power to weight advantage from losing with IF. I feel so much better on fasted 12-25 mile rides. If I hit a GU gel on a short ride it just doesn’t add up to better numbers.
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>Not just scale and clothes-fit results, but a newly discovered sense of discipline, and being consciously in control of food, not in constant reaction mode.
This is exactly what I’m experiencing right now. I’m on my 2nd week of 16/8 and aside from the small loss of weight (2kg in 2 weeks, which could’ve been from the fact that I’m eating healthier, cutting out snacks and drinking tons of water) the thing I’m most proud is that I have control over my life and my body. I’m in a good mood right now and if I can make this stick and make it a habit I think it’s going to work on the bad days too.
Well done to us!