I met Stephanie Collins at a coffee bar where she ordered a black coffee that also fit me since I was having intermittent fasting as well. Stephanie Collins has lost 36lbs through intermittent fasting and she’d love to share her experience with fasters. As she said, fasters need unstoppable encouragement. If you can’t get it from yourself, ask others for it.
My Experience with Obesity
I had a pretty good figure when I was a kid. After I started working, I was under increasing pressure, so I often bought a lot of food and put it around me to relieve pressure. When I realized that this was not healthy, I was already very fat, about 200lbs, which even affected my health. I tried many ways to lose weight over a period of 2 years.
Some of them made me lose weight but were very painful, and I found it very hard to stick to them. Some of them didn’t work at all, which made me really frustrated. What’s more, sometimes I got angry with people around me and it was hard to control myself.
Last year, I had to stay home for a while because of COVID-19, which made me even fatter! I was eager to find a way that really suits me to lose weight, so I almost bought weight-loss pills. Later, a friend told me that I could try intermittent fasting, which would be less painful. After googling it, I decided to try the 16:8 fasting plan. Anyway, I have failed so many times in the past trying to lose weight, if I failed one more time, it didn’t really matter. My confidence was already at an all-time low.
My Experience with Intermittent Fasting
Day 1
After 3 hours of fasting, I was a little hungry. I still had 13 hours to go. How could I keep it up? I watched a lot of food videos and everything looked so delicious, but they were not doing me any good. So I drank 1000ml of water, but there were still 3 hours left before it was my bedtime. I actually opened the refrigerator 3 times, and the third time I took out a sausage, but my willpower kicked in before I put it back in the refrigerator.
I was thinking to myself that this was just the first day. If I can’t make it on day one, how can I continue with intermittent fasting and actually lose weight?
Day 2
When I woke up in the morning, I didn’t feel so hungry. Although I clearly remembered that I ate a lot in my dreams. Maybe because of this, I felt energetic when I got up. There were about 3 hours left till the end of the fast (actually only 2 hours were left to enter the eating window at that time, but I was poor at math, so I made a mistake).
I originally thought I could make it to the end of the fast, but I didn’t.
I had suddenly felt very hungry after getting up. I felt I would faint if I didn’t eat, so I stopped fasting and ate eggs, bread and biscuits, and some fruits. I ate a lot and filled my stomach full before I was satisfied.
After I ate, I suddenly remembered when I got up that I forgot to weigh myself. It was taking me a bit to get the pattern down.
In the evening, I decided to change to the 14/10 plan. I felt frustrated that I couldn’t finish the original plan. I thought maybe I should start with an easier plan.
Sure enough, it was similar to the first time. I was really, really hungry when I went to bed. If I wasn’t too lazy to get out of bed to get the food, I think I could not have helped myself. But instead, I fell asleep with my phone.
Day 3
I weighed myself immediately after I woke up. I lost 5lbs!!! It’s incredible! I’m really excited because I didn’t have any symptoms of discomfort, but at night I was very hungry before going to bed, and I ate a lot of food and drank a lot of water the day before.
I decided to stick to this plan and see how much I can lose in a month. I started to search for various content about fasting. This is the first time I downloaded Fastyle and tried to use it. Compared with services of similar apps, it is really very inexpensive. This tracker perfectly solves the problem that I can’t calculate the time. Sometimes I forget to click Start, but in order to generate correct tracking data, I made up the records later. I liked the feeling of tracking my body data!
Month 1
Persistence didn’t go very well. Most of the time I followed the 14:10 plan, and sometimes I chose 16:8 when I felt very good. I only stuck to about half of these plans and the rest were either broken by events or I just couldn’t resist.
After eating, I also blamed myself, “Why do you want to eat so much?” But I had not given up on intermittent fasting. In fact, this month, I really did not feel hungry so easily. Many times I could distinguish between hunger or appetite.
There is another surprising thing: intermittent fasting made me get rid of the habit of eating anytime and anywhere. Plus, I didn’t pay special attention to not eating just because every time I could eat, I would eat a lot of my favorite food at once. This led me to be unable to eat anything for several hours, and slowly I forgot that I wanted to eat snacks.
This month, I lost 10lbs because I didn’t stick to it at all times. After all, at first, I thought I could lose 20lbs in a month! However, 10lbs is quite a lot, and this success also makes me continue fasting.
As fasting is my way of losing weight, it is really much gentler than the diet and exercise I tried before. I also hate to record my diet calories every day, which are very complicated to calculate. However, I will still choose the healthier food I want to eat because I know that I must pay attention to healthier eating to lose weight, and I really really don’t want to exercise.
Recent Feelings
It’s been half a year. Good news! I only weigh 160lbs now! Not only that, now I don’t eat junk food anymore. I have learned a lot about healthy simple meals, and I’m learning more about how to eat healthy and delicious food. I’m more confident and into myself more!
Many people have asked me how I lost weight. I would recommend intermittent fasting and Fastyle directly. It took me a long time to find out that it has a real-life coach! I thought it was a robot, but it was a real person! I asked a lot of practical questions, such as what to do if I am so hungry that I can’t keep going, what to do after eating a big meal, how to start fasting again. Even if I didn’t poop for two days, my coach Laura would give me some advice, which made me feel very good that she was always there for me.
About Cheat Days
At first, I couldn’t stick to it all the time. However, as time went on I would try my best to follow the original intermittent fasting plan. Because my good friends know that I really made up my mind to lose weight, they never said to me “Eat some! Eating a little won’t make you fat.” They are always waiting for me until I think it’s time to reward myself and invite them to eat my favorite food.
A proper cheat day will let you relax for a short time, and it feels really good. You have to know that after you have spent so long losing weight, a cheat day won’t bring you back to before, so it is feasible to reward yourself appropriately.
But your self-control must be strong! One meal is enough, don’t be greedy!
Experience and Encouragement
Set weight loss goals based on your height and weight.
For instance:
● I’m 165cm and 200lbs. I want to lose 50lbs. That’s normal.
● I’m 175cm and 160lbs. I want to lose 50lbs. That’s crazy.
Eat regular meals during the eating period.
If you are hungry, you can replace the snacks with healthy fruits and vegetables.
You can eat apples, dragon fruits, and fat-free yogurt, but eat in portions, such as one-half or one-quarter. If you’re hungry during the fasting period, you need to go to bed. If you’re too hungry to sleep, eat a little if you have to, but don’t eat too much. Sometimes, food substitutions bring forward surprises.
Get enough sleep.
Go to bed on time so you’re less hungry.
Do fasting based on your actual physical condition.
Stop immediately if you feel unwell.
Write down some quotes to get motivated, such as I am still energetic if I don’t eat.
Buy a few pieces of clothes, skirts, and pants that fit you right.
If you overeat or get a little bit fat, you will be very concerned about it and limit dining out.
Bottom Line
- When you really lose weight and want to continue, you won’t allow yourself to get fat again. If you didn’t lose weight, you would be worried about everything. After you lose weight successfully, you will know what’s going on. This is real!
- In short, eliminate all excuses for your laziness, such as being afraid of the yo-yo effect, being unhealthy, stretch marks, shrinking breasts, and unaffordable bodies. Is your laziness beyond your determination to lose weight?
- Many people who want to lose weight ask me, “I’ve worked so hard, why am I still not slim? Why have you lost so much in such a short time?”
- She doesn’t believe in No Pains No Gains, so she has to doubt my method. Losing weight is a chore. If you can bear it in the early stage, it will not be so painful for you in the later stage because you are used to this kind of life. This is no longer a task you have to bite the bullet to complete, but a part of your life. Unknowingly, intermittent fasting is the same as sleeping and eating, not something I’m forced to do but something I’m going to do.
- Fasting is a simplified yet scientific way of feasting and getting your health back. If you truly want to lose weight, don’t just talk about it, take action and give it a try!
Here is the story of Stephanie Collins, who has lost 55lbs based on intermittent fasting and has achieved a healthy body status. Apart from Stephanie, we still have other users who have shared their intermittent fasting experiences.
