Intermittent Fasting + My Weightloss Journey

I started my weight loss journey in January of 2017, when my youngest was 18 months old and haven’t looked back. Since then, I have fallen off the track a bit and sadly gained 15lbs – thanks a lot sweet tooth! However, I’m working on getting back on track and taking myself to where I want to be physically and mentally. I had put off losing the weight after having my babies for sooooo long because I was completely unmotivated and drowning in a never-ending circle of negative thoughts.  Once I started exercise I noticed that naturally I started feeling so much better about myself not only physically, but mentally as well.

Ask Harbir!

That’s what I did! I came across a post on instagram by @askharbir on Intermittent Fasting (IF) and it sparked my interest. I direct messaged him and asked a bunch of questions about how IF worked and how to do it, his responses were quick and he addressed all of my concerns. Not only did he provide guidance and encouragement, he also continued to check in on my progress every few weeks. With a combination of his encouragement and my very own determination, I was able to stick to this weight-loss plan, and I have been doing IF (on and off, mostly on) for 2 years now! I had lost 35lbs from January 2017-August 2017. It has become a lifestyle for me and my body has gotten used to this way of eating as I’ve been doing it for 2 years now! Check out Harbir Singh’s website and Instagram for more motivation and detailed information. He also offers a free downloadable guide on IF and how to get started.  I had the pleasure of meeting him and his family in person this summer at Rahaao Camp.  His wife (Dr. Darshan Kaur) and I bonded immediately, we both felt a very strong inner connection to one another and developed a very close relationship in the few days we had spent in each other’s sangat. Darshan Kaur is a clinical psychologist and has amazing advice. Give her a follow on Instagram too! @drdarshankaur

What is Intermittent Fasting (IF)?

IF has taken the world by storm in the past few years.  The long story short is that it is basically an eating pattern where you cycle between eating and fasting, it is important to note, that it is most definitely NOT a fad diet! The exact foods you should eat are not outlined, however timing is important.  Obviously the healthier and more whole foods that you eat, the faster you will see results.  Here are the basics:

• RULES: restrict your eating to an 8-hour eating window (my personal eating window is 11am-7pm)
• before or after your cutoff times, no food is allowed but you can drink any non-caloric beverage (water, coffee, tea)
• BENEFITS: weightloss, metabolic health, disease prevention

My IF Journey

When I first started IF, I was a little concerned about not having enough energy to workout in the mornings.  I found that in fact, the exact opposite happened.  I had a lot more energy than I did before starting IF.  I used to be very lethargic and chalked it up to being anemic.  However, I found that IF in conjunction with exercise really helped increase my energy levels.  Basically, I just made sure to eat between my 11am-7pm eating window.  Before and after my cutoff times, I just drink water.  I read somewhere that as a rule, you should drink half of your bodyweight in water. So for example, if you weigh 140lbs, divided by 2 that equals 70 ounces…which translates to 8.75 glasses of water.  Uusually just to be safe I drink 9-11 glasses per day.  It is actually pretty easy to get the required amount of water intake in per day, because when I’m not eating – I’m drinking water!  I think it honestly only took me about a week to get used to the IF eating schedule.  It’s really not as tough as it sounds.  At first, I was eating mostly bad stuff, so my progress was slow.  Naturally as I started to get used to exercising, my body just craved good, whole foods. I would reach for something sugary and then retract my hand remembering how hard I had worked out in the morning! If I am really, really, really craving something sugary, I will eat a couple of dates. 

This is how my typical day looks on IF:

1. 11am – break my fast with a banana and handful of nuts, or banana dipped with a spoonful of almond butter
2. 12.30pm – have a proper lunch (usually just leftovers from dinner the night before)
3. After that I just eat as I’m hungry.  If I find myself craving food, I try to eat healthier snacks: seed crackers with hummus, veggies with hummus, etc.  I can give you more ideas and suggestions of healthy snacks in a future post.
4. I make sure to cut off dinner by 7pm. I just drink water after that, and usually there isn’t much time to crave anything because of the hullabaloo involved with getting three kids to bed! I’m usually so exhausted I just fall asleep with them.

What I love the most about IF is how forgiving it is – there is no calorie counting, or required supplements, protein powders, etc. It’s plain and simple and only requires a personal investment, not a financial one! I am able to eat that piece of cake if I want it without feeling guilty.  Yes, I gained some weight back, but that is solely because of my choices.  I chose not to stick to my IF, and to stop exercising, and to eat too much sugar. That’s okay, I’m back on the exercise and IF train and I know I will accomplish my goals!

Exercise

Personally, I could not invest in a gym membership because I’ve done it before in the past, and it ended up being a waste of money for me.  I wasn’t able to stick to a proper workout schedule, because let’s face it, I get lazy a lot of the time or get preoccupied with everything else mom-related.  I know myself too well and know that the motivation would have fizzled out for me really quick with having to travel to wherever my gym was located.  I’m all about the home workouts – it works for me!  At home, I can workout with the internet at my fingertips with very little investment involved.  Now you’re talking! I started out by using Jillian Michaels’ 30 Day Shred DVD which I had originally purchased when I had my first back in 2008.  I did level 1 for 4 weeks, and then moved up to level 2 for another 4 weeks, and level 3 again for 4 weeks. Within that time period (3 months) I had lost close to 15lbs.  Slowly, but surely.

Fitness Blender

After that, and as of today, my go to workouts are the free workout videos provided by the amazing husband and wife duo Kelli + Daniel of Fitness Blender on YouTube.  What I love the most about their workouts are

a) The workouts are absolutely free  

b) There are 500+ workout videos to choose from on their channel! That means you can choose from a variety of different workouts based on the level of difficulty, the type of workout (cardio, HIIT, low compact, etc.), how long of a workout you want (I typically choose the workouts that are between 30-50 mins long), and whether you want workouts with just bodyweight, or weights – they have it all.  

c) There are no gimmicks whatsoever. They do not pressure you or yell at you, in fact they encourage you to take a break if you need to.  They tell you to modify the exercises, and how to modify.  They just seem so relatable and normal!

There is a reason they have over 5 million subscribers!  This article from WSJ put it perfectly:

Fitness Blender workouts have no music, no yelling, no fitness models glistening in the background. Most workouts require little equipment, such as a set of dumbbells, or none. The company employs one full-time staff member, one three-quarters time and six to 12 contractors. It doesn’t sell nutritional supplements, a lucrative part of the fitness industry.

“The usefulness of any kind of supplementation is nowhere near the potential risk or financial cost of them,” says the 36-year-old Mr. Segars, who has a degree in food nutrition from Texas Tech University. “You simply just don’t need them.”

 They also offer paid workout programs through their website.  I just recently purchased two of their bodyweight-only programs which range from 30-40 mins long, and they were only $9.99 USD each, so it’s really quite affordable for those of you who might be on a tight budget and want something budget and mom-friendly!  What I like about their workout programs is that each day is laid out for you in your personal calendar when you login to their website.  You know exactly which workouts to do on each day, and once you are done, you click the “workout complete” button, and you will see that all of those check marks on your calendar really motivate you!  If you are just starting out, I would recommend searching their YouTube channel for “low impact” workouts, and then as you feel yourself progressing, start to move towards the more challenging ones.  They have the workout difficulty ranked out of 5, with 5/5 being the most difficult. 

I am someone who started off in the first weeks of January 2017, struggling mentally and thinking to myself “what’s the point? this is too hard! I can’t do this!” to becoming almost addicted to working out… At one point I was working out 5-6x a week, sometimes twice a day! If someone like me can do  it – YOU can too!! If you have any further questions – please feel free to DM me on Instagram, or email me!

If you are new to starting on Intermittent Fasting, want to start working out, or are just getting back on track like me, I’m here with you! Stay focused and you will find the motivation come from within!

-ThatSikhMama