Crush the Course

My blog is to help others to keep going and my tips that have helped me. In a previous blog (The Diets, 02/14/2019), I listed all the diets I had tried that did not work.   However, a couple of years ago I had heard of a new method of weight loss called “Intermittent Fasting”.  I was in a slump and thought to truly be able to speak about the best method for weight loss maybe I should give it a try.

This diet requires you to pick two days within the week, not consecutive, and limit your calories to 500.  The other six days of the week you eat whatever you want.

When learning about this diet it stated that most people end up eating less overall on the non-fasting days.   When I read that I thought… well not me.  If you tell me I can eat, then I will definitely eat and eat very well.  So that’s how it started.   I did great on the fasting days and ate very well on the off days.

Here’s what I noticed…

• On the fasting days I had planned meals that I knew I would like that stayed within the daily goal of 500 calories.
• I didn’t have to think during the day what I was going to eat – I had it already mapped out.
• I got through those days knowing I could eat anything the next day. I just needed to hang in there for those days.
• On the non-fasting days, I was elated, tickled that I could eat anything. It was as if the diet “burden” was lifted.  I started out doing exactly that – eating whatever.
• I noticed weight loss fairly early on, albeit slight, but it encouraged me
• I had a new perspective on the calories I was consuming on the non-fasting days.
• I started cutting back on the non-fasting days. Partly, because I didn’t want to undermine my results, and because that “thrill” of eating anything had worn off.  I really didn’t “need” to eat all those things I thought I would love eating.  The excitement wore off.

Fast forward, it was very successful but low and behold I was in slump mode again.  I came upon an app that was for the fasting method of weight loss.   I wanted to try something new, especially an app to stay current with society.

This app was a little confusing, not intuitive as I had hoped, or perhaps it wasn’t a great app.   My one take-away was that I would get little reminders during the day… “your fasting will start in an hour”, or you’re doing great, your fasting will end in an hour”.   It’s not that I like the focus on eating.   That part was a negative to me but what I did like is the little pop up communication.

I decided to use my reminder feature on my phone that I already had to create my own notes of encouragement.  At first, I started with “don’t eat…”.  But then I decided that it was better to stay positive and not focus on the eating.   I changed it to “Stay the course”.   Then, I decided that was boring and changed it to “Crush the course”.

I’m having fun with this reminder feature.  It can be anything you want it to be.  It can be something funny to make you laugh during the day or it can be a reminder to take a break and meditate for 5 minutes.   The objective is to encourage you and, in a sense, remind you that you are your own best advocate and cheering section.

So, go out there and CRUSH IT, HAVE FUN, BE HEALTHY, BE STRONG… AND LIVE!!!