As I reported in my last update, during July I relaxed my alternate day fasting routine in order to make the most of my 3-week trip to the US. In fact, I went way beyond “relaxing” and straight into food frenzy mode. Suffice it to say that it was a gastronomic experience of epic proportions (and calories).
This being my second time off of the alternate day fasting bandwagon, I knew that I would need to gradually work myself back into the routine. I’m not capable of going straight from 3-weeks of feasting to no food whatsoever. My mind and body aren’t designed for that. It basically took me a full week of gradually reducing my food intake before I could comfortably get back to a proper fasting and feeding routine. Although I will admit that I was slightly worried whether or not I would be able to make the switch back, it was, in the end, a very straightforward and smooth transition. Having now managed this transition successfully twice has given me the confidence that in the future when required I will be able to jump back and forth between alternate day fasting and regular eating without issue.
Even though I transitioned back to alternate day fasting by the second week of August, my weight did not actually drop much during the entire month. At the end of the month, I was at 65kg, which was perhaps 1kg less than where I started the month. This was not completely unexpected, though, as I will admit that I was eating immense amounts of food during my feeding days, even more than I had been consuming before my trip to the US. In fact, so much that I was, quite honestly, concerned. While my excuse for eating enormous amounts of food during my trip was that I wouldn’t get the same food back home, when I finally made it back home, I used the exact opposite logic and found myself making up for all the food I had missed back home during my 3-week trip to the US. In addition, I had this new found mission to find the best croissants in town. With these two excuses to fall back on, my eating habits were, even by my own estimation, obsessive, but what’s even more frightening is that I can’t honestly say that I had it within me to stop myself even if I had wanted to. It seemed like my belly had a mind of its own that overruled my conscious self. My cravings for sugar were off the charts, most likely due to the wild abandon with which I had devoured desserts during my trip. And it also appeared that I now had a bread addiction as well.
Fortunately, all was not lost. Given my state, I decided that now would be the perfect time to attempt a 7-day water fast. Not only would it help me lose the excess weight I had put on during my trip, but I had also heard that it helps reset your digestive system and eliminate food cravings. On August 29th, I started my 7-day water fast.
As for my strength exercises, my numbers went way down. Way, way, down. Shockingly down. Basically due to two factors: increased weight and lack of strength training. During my trip in July, whilst I hiked and biked a lot, I didn’t do any strength training, and then in August, when I came back home, August being the hottest and most humid month of the year, I couldn’t find it in myself to sweat through the workouts. This happened to me last year, too, during August, so it has nothing to do with alternate day fasting. By the end of August, I was only able to do 60 pushups and 15 pullups, whereas when I left for my trip to the US, I was able to do 100 pushups and 18 pullups. Actually, I guess the pullups are understandable, given the extra weight I was carrying, but the pushups were a shock. Oh well. From here on out the weather cools down, so I will just have to get cracking again.
Alternate Day Fasting 