06 – What I’ve Learned After Years of Dieting

Weight – We’ve all been told to eat three meals a day since we were children. We’ve been told that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and we must not skip breakfast. I want to say that as I’ve gotten older, I realize that this is not what’s best for my health, but the best way to gain weight and be slothful.

When I reached age 50, I continued to eat three meals a day, and the weight crept up on me.  My stomach got larger, my thighs got thicker, my butt got bigger and my step got slower.  And after a hard day’s work, I wanted to go home and sit on the couch.

Over the years, I’ve tried many different diets including the low-carb/keto diet and Weight Watchers. Both have helped me keep my weight down throughout my adult life. It’s been tough, but manageable. I haven’t been skinny, but when I look in the mirror, I  don’t hate the way I look. As I’ve gotten older keeping the weight off has been extremely hard so much so that I put on about 20 pounds in one year. The keto diet plan and counting points didn’t work for me. When I ask myself why I realize it’s because my body had changed.

One day my 20-year-old son talked to me about intermittent fasting.  He said that you can continue your diet if you choose, while you implement the intermittent fasting.  I had nothing to lose, so I researched intermittent fasting and started it the next day.  Then, one day the next week, one of my young employees and I were talking, and she mentions intermittent fasting.  She said this was how she ate regularly and confirmed this was how she kept the weight she’d lost off.  I needed to hear this, and her words kept me on this program. 

When intermittent fasting, I eat between 10 am – 8 pm, and I try to eat healthy, though I cheat every now and then.  I noticed within 2-3 weeks, that my waistline shrunk and my stomach was flatter.  Exciting times for me.  It’s been four months, and I’m going strong.  One thing that I believe is to not be too hard on myself.  If I eat later than 8:00 pm at night, the next day I don’t eat until 14 hours have passed, and then I only eat until 8:00 pm.  I make intermittent fasting work for me and with my lifestyle. I’m older, know my body, and the lifestyle I want to live.  The old saying, “you must eat three meals a day”, may work for young people, but it doesn’t work for me.