Wednesday, June 2, 2021

How I lost weight with spiritual intermittent fasting


I've been blogging about how I lost 100 pounds without gastric bypass. But did I ever tell you the story of how I lost 35 pounds without even thinking about weight loss? 30 years ago, I followed a Catholic bread and water fast. It never entered my mind that I would lose weight. And I realized that this spiritual fasting is the same thing as the trending intermittent fasting diet AKA ADF (alternate day fasting) or the 5:2 diet. 

I started spiritual fasting after attending a retreat devoted to Our Lady of Medjugorje. In her apparition, the Blessed Mother Mary called the faithful to a bread and water fast on Wednesdays and Fridays. For a few months, I practiced alternate day fasting, or the 5:2 diet (eat normally for five days, restrict calories for two). This also resembles time restricted feeding where you only eat during certain hours of the day. 

I'd given birth about six months previous and was still carrying some baby fat. I never worried much about weight loss after having a baby. Being a busy mom, time restricted feeding and intermittent fasting was no problem, LOL. Active parents usually eat too little, not too much! In this pregnancy it  took longer to lose weight but I didn't notice. However, after a few months of the bread and water fast, someone mentioned how much thinner I looked. I had lost 35 pounds. 

Is intermittent fasting just a fad? Is it safe? Well, the 5:2 diet helped me lose weight. Maybe it was because I was focused on spiritual improvement and not just weight loss. I can't go all day without eating so I do time restricted feeding (the 16:8 diet, fasting 16 and not fasting for 8 hours). I never got cranky or felt starved. In fact, I felt great on the bread and water fast. 

Do you have to eat keto bread on the bread and water fast? Nope, I just ate good ole cheap Admiral bread (about 3-4 slices during the spiritual fasting period). I didn't adhere to any time restricted feeding, per se. And if you're going for weight loss you can eat other foods and lose weight. Neither the 16:8 diet nor ADF (alternate day fasting) specify what you eat. In fact it's sometimes called the fasting and feasting diet. This works great for gluten free and keto diet people. 

Stay tuned for more on how I lost 100 pounds. 







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