Fast Diet Review – Evaluating My Fasting Experience

Fasting Diet Results

It is now three months since I abandoned my attempt to fast my way to better health. There were some definite benefits to fasting, but I’m not sure if this is a path that I’ll be returning to in the future – at least not the way I was doing it. I thought it might be helpful to review my results, and to discuss where I am now in regards to weight control and diet. I experimented with fasting over a four month period last year between August and December. I began with seven weeks of 5:2 intermittent fasting and followed this with a couple of periods of juice fasting.

My Experience with the 5:2 Fasting Diet

I’d originally aimed for 10 weeks of 5:2 intermittent fasting, but I ended up going off the rails on week 8. I actually found the diet easy to comply with in the beginning. I would have at least 48 hours of fasting each week, but I did this in such a way that on my fasting days I could eat in the mornings. I noted an increase to my energy levels on those days when I wasn’t eating, and I also felt mentally sharper. The one disappointment was the lack of movement on my weighing scale. I kept on saying that losing weight wasn’t my priority, but I would still feel a bit disillusioned after starving myself for 48 hours and not seeing much difference to my weight.

By the time I entered week eight of my 5:2 fasting diet I’d become disillusioned with my progress. It felt like too much effort to continue, and I couldn’t even remember why I was doing it. I’m sure that things would have gone better if I’d done more research before commencing this diet, but, to be honest, I don’t believe that this approach could ever work for me in the long term. If I do ever return to this type of fasting, I’ll limit it to 5 weeks.

My Experience with Juice Fasting

For a few weeks it felt like juice fasting was the answer to my diet problems. I first experimented with a gentle three day fast, but things went so well that I continued for five days of juicing. My energy levels surged initially, and it did feel like my body was dumping toxins, but I felt tired by day five and decided to stop.

In November I attempted a 15 day juice fast, but by day 10 of this attempt I felt so ill that I decided to quit early. This failure to meet my target was again mostly due to poor planning and lack of research. I also made the mistake of trying to save money by using the cheapest fruits and vegetables I could find here in Thailand. I felt so bad at the end of that juice fast that I’m not sure if I’d ever be tempted to try again. I only managed to lose 2.6 kg (6 pounds), and I’d put that back on in less than a week. I didn’t notice any significant change to my health, but that is hardly surprising because I visited Ireland for Christmas and ate a ton of junk.

Eating Small Meals Every Four Hours

Back in 2011 I was able to bring my weight down to 67kg (147 pounds) using a combination of intense exercise and eating small high protein meals every four hours. During this three month period I was training full time for a Muay Thai fight, so I must have been burning at least 5000 calories per day. Despite my tough exercise regime though, I found it difficult to get my weight below 73kg. This was a problem because I needed to get down to at least 67kg so I could fight in a suitable weight category. I actually felt reasonably slim at the time, but the trainer warned that if I fought at that weight I’d be demolished – I was still carrying at least an extra 5kg in fat.

I ended up going to see a sports nutrition expert here in Bangkok, and it was him who advised high protein 500 calorie meals every four hours. I had four weeks to lose 5 kg, and I needed to do this with as little muscle loss as possible. I felt skeptical about eating 500 calorie meals every four hours because it actually meant that I’d be eating more than I had been. The nutrition expert had explained that the reason for eating so frequently was to keep my metabolism going. My weight began to fall almost immediately with this diet. By the third week I’d lost all the weight that I needed to lose. I had not been 67 kg since my teens, and it did feel great to reach this weight in my forties. Once I stopped training my weight shot back up to 75 kg in just a few weeks.

Mindful Eating

The diet approach that has worked best for me has been mindful eating. In 2009 I effortlessly saw my weight fall by 10.4kg (23 pounds) just by thinking a bit more about what I was shoving into my mouth. I’ve achieved some superb results with this approach, but the problem is that it takes persistent effort for me to remain mindful around food. I find it easy to stay mindful when things are going smoothly in my life but once the shit hits the fan my mindfulness goes out the window. It only takes a few weeks before my weight is back up above 80kg, and I’m once again feeling like an unhealthy slob.

My Struggle to Give Things Up

I’ve never been much good when it comes to not doing things or giving things up. I struggled with a nasty alcohol addiction for almost two decades. I was in and out of rehab from the age of 18, and I tried all types of solutions. I’d promise to quit, and I’d really mean it, but after a few weeks my motivation would begin to wane. I’d soon be back to square one. I found that fear and remorse can only keep me on track for a short time. It wasn’t until I finally realized that sober living was all about gaining stuff, and not giving stuff up, that I developed the motivation to quit for good. That was almost seven years ago, and the idea of drinking alcohol never enters my head– it is just no longer part of who I am.

I’ve found that my main obstacle to enjoying good health is the word ‘should’. This is such a useless word. When I feel that I should be doing something, it is a fairly good bet that I won’t be doing it. I then feel guilty and remorseful about not doing the thing that I should be doing. I allow that horrible word ‘should’ to have way too much control over my life.

I’m happy enough when my body weight is anywhere below 80 kg (176 pounds), but there is this nagging feeling that I should be lighter than this. It makes me do stupid things like keep buying clothes that are way too small for me because I expect to fit into them soon. I can only sustain long term commitment for things that I want to do not for things that I think I should do. It is this reason, more than anything else, which accounts for my lack of success with diets. I just do not have the motivation to stick to this type of routine. What does work for me is getting enough exercise and eating the right things because it makes me feel good.

The Fast Diet Success Stories

Despite my lack of success with fasting, I still believe that it can be beneficial to health. I’ve received plenty of feedback from people who have achieved impressive results – not only weight loss but also blood results that show significant improvements in health indicators. I’ve no problem accepting that this is a path to better health that will work for some people, but I just don’t think that it is something that is going to work for me.