Unconventional Maintenance

I'm overdue for a blog update! Let me preface the description of my unconventional approach to maintaining my weight loss by saying: we are all an experiment of one! By no means am I declaring my approach as the be-all, end-all for everyone! I've stumbled across this approach over time, trial & error and have found what seems to work for myself. I have to say, I continue to read nothing but good about fasting and intermittent fasting and believe it is the simplest approach for me to manage my weight. And I'm all about SIMPLE, lol!

I fast every week from Sun. night through Tues. noon. @ 36 hours. If I don't like the number on the scale at the end of 36 hours I'll toss another 24 hours on the fast and stretch it out to Weds. noon for a total of 60 hours of fasting. During the rest of the week I do intermittent fasting between 8 pm through noon the following day. My food choices mostly stick with lower-carb fresh veggies, fruit, yogurt, cheese, eggs, tofu, nuts, and oil/vinegar salad dressings. I do not worry about portion control, just snack, graze as I wish.

Processed carbs such as cakes, pies, cookies, candy, cereal, crackers, chips are off-limits aside from a few "tastes" here & there while out with others. Carbie Crack is "disallowed" in the home! No choice!

I do have occasional indulgences while dining out and also may sample my wife's treats. I'll have a beer or two once in a while, perhaps a few times a month. Otherwise I do not drink any caloric beverages and drink mostly water, black coffee and the occasional sugar-free soda.

Despite all of these measures, I do not lose weight over time. This plan simply allows me to maintain my weight between 210-220 pounds. Each week I pick up 8-10 pounds during week and shed the same poundage during my fast. It's sort of a roller-coaster, but a small one and the weekly fasts feel like a cleansing sort of re-set for me that works in its own quirky manner. I feel good about this maintenance routine and have sustained it for a few years now and see no need to change.

One limitation this presents is that during my fasts I've learned the hard way not to overly exert myself physically as once I bonked on a long bicycle ride that really left me feeling woozy and loopy. I can still workout, just not a HARD workout.

It's the workouts that have been my Achille's heel this past year or so...the down side of my successful weight maintenance! If I have mastered maintaining my weight through my food regimen, who needs to work out?!? How to allow success to harm myself, right, lol?

Losing my workout mojo has not been a good thing. My strength and stamina isn't what I want it to be, so I've joined with my wife in following through with a morning workout regimen which for me includes yoga / body weight exercises / strength training with dumb bells & resistance bands.

Take care, everyone, let's SPARK our way through this holiday season and keep our eye on the delightful prize of our health & wellness!

Don