Throughout my 30s I've had struggles with weight loss. I have tried lots of strategies, including the 1000 cal and HCG diets, diet pills, brutal exercise regimens....you name it, I tried it in my quest to lose and keep off-the-shelf weight. In the end I would regain all and more. Why? Because I love food, would eat whatever...whenever, and have the stuff that I restricted in abundance once I reach my goal after dieting. In August 2016, I was starting my 29th year of teaching. The beginning of every school year is always very busy and I usually lose 15-20 pounds without really trying very hard, just from being very busy and not having time to eat. Having (probably) topped 250 pounds during the summer, and fighting with a host of medical issues such as chronic knee pain, Type II diabetes, and high blood pressure, I decided to really try to put that time of “easy” weight loss to work and see if I could make something of it. I love fasting. This lifestyle is something I share with anyone who wants to listen. I carry a copy of DDD in my work bag and help other flight attendants if they want to learn the lifestyle. Our job sets us up for random eating, late hotels drinks with bar food and heavy airport meals. Its not uncommon for a flight attendant to gain weight and have a hard time losing it. I love getting others started on this way of life.

Delay, Don’t Deny | The Fast Solution Delay, Don’t Deny | The Fast Solution

Several years ago, I walked happily into my doctor's office seeking treatment for my cold/flu that I had for several weeks. Not a big deal. As my eyes met the doctor's, my heart sank. Right away, I knew that the words that would soon flow out of his mouth would be words of despair. As I felt the heart-breaking energy in the room, it happened. He announced in the same tone that he would a death that I was a diabetic. He went on to inform me that it was due to my weight. She talks about the different types of fasting styles, and she offers some pros and cons for each approach. Besides all of the scientific evidence about the health, there’s also the benefit of appetite correction. I’m not sure how it works, but it does seem to work! Monica has lost 80 pounds and is off her acid reflux meds. She has never felt more confident and free. IF is free. You don’t need to join our community to fast. But if you’re looking for support from a community of like-minded IFers, we are here for you at ginstephens.com/community. I still eat carbs. I still have dessert (though I try to not do it as often). There is no forbidden food. The only limitation of this lifestyle is the time-- limit the number of hours in which I consume food.This trainer had included fasting in my regimen – two 24-hour water fasts a week. With little idea of protocols and no proper understanding of the science, unsurprisingly I failed miserably. I was starving, dizzy, cranky and weak. I lasted 22 hours the first time, 20 hours the second time and after that I just lied to her that I was doing it, but gave up completely. My first experience of fasting was a total disaster.

The Stages of Intermittent Fasting - Gin Stephens, author and The Stages of Intermittent Fasting - Gin Stephens, author and

That's not going to happen, babe," said my husband not amused by my realization. :) So I thought harder and I realized I had simply been eating earlier, and I had been fasting all along!No matter if you’re looking to lose some weight or gain a healthier body, intermittent fasting is a good way to go. First of all, intermittent fasting is simple. It’s not about what you eat, it’s about when you eat. There are all types of plans out there that will help you decide what works best. Morbid obesity plagued me for 15 plus years. I used every excuse I could to justify eating: celebrate, happy, sad, holidays, even the death of my mom. I even told myself I’m fat and happy. That was one of the many lies I told myself about my weight. I was at 265 lbs at the time (April 2017). I had what I thought was bad knees and hips due to old age and, though a pretty avid bike rider, would tire easily. I had quit wearing jeans after being unable to button my 42 waist and had switched to full time overalls.

Gin Stephens, author and intermittent faster - Home

When I was old enough to be interested in boys and care what I looked like, I assumed the responsibility for my own dieting. Through high school, I’d yo-yo between 120 and 135 (115 would have been ideal for my frame); in college, it was between 120 and 160. By the time I married at age 25, I was up to 200. It was the usual story. Get hooked on a particular diet, lose 30 pounds, get to the unsustainable point and gain 45. By age 34, I was up to 225 and feeling pretty desperate...didn’t seem like there was anything new to try. And then I learned about self-hypnosis. And then we found fasting. One year later, we decided to re-create our photo shoot to celebrate the twenty-first anniversary of our wedding and the first anniversary of our lifesaving health transformation. That’s the same scarlet dress, which my seamstress took in by twelve inches to fit my current body. Following the advice of Dr. Jason Fung and the supportive community led by Gin Stephens, we've lost a combined 232 pounds so far and watched all those health problems disappear. Then, at age 61, I stopped eating animals. I’m an artist and was doing illustrations of adorable creatures...and something snapped inside. Practically overnight, I became a vegan. I immediately lost 20 pounds while I figured out what I could eat. Within a few months, I realized there were some astounding health benefits to my new lifestyle. My blood pressure and cholesterol plummeted enough that I no longer needed medication. Acid reflux disappeared as well. That encouraged me to start researching plant-based diets. At age 63, I discovered Dr. John McDougall (and several other plant-based physicians) and started eating high carb low fat. That’s also when I started following Dr. Douglas Lisle, psychologist, and learned the why’s and wherefore’s of so-called emotional eating. I credit these two doctors with saving my life and sanity. By age 68, I was down to 147 pounds...but couldn’t seem to get any lower. I wondered if that was going to be my body’s final resting weight. Oh, I could have sacrificed and severely dieted my way lower, but I was trying to get out of my diet mentality, not sink further in. My wife asked me if intermittent fasting is something I could continue. I told her absolutely. I am not deprived, just delayed! I turn 60 this month. I weigh less than when I was 40. My blood chemistry is as good as when I was 35. Thanks to autophagy, I don’t have any hanging skin and look pretty trim. My wife says when I turn sideways, I disappear! I’ve lost almost 50 pounds. There were weeks when my weight didn’t change but I knew from DDD to stay the course and trust the science. April is a portrait photographer. She struggled with her weight her entire life. On a camping trip with her husband and best friend, April realized she was unable to move without a great deal of effort. Her best friend shared IF, and April came home and researched fasting. She listened to all of Gin’s books and began her IF journey.If you normally eat every 3–4 hours and then suddenly shrink your eating period to an 8-hour window, you’ll likely feel hungry all the time and discouraged. “Some people quit if they start out by fasting for too many hours without an adjustment period from a previous eating style,” says Krista Varady, PhD, associate professor of kinesiology and nutrition at the University of Illinois at Chicago and author of “The Every-Other-Day Diet.” It may take 10 days to two weeks until you stop feeling hungry when you’re fasting. Eat ghee, it will give you strength and make your skin and hair shine!” advised my Ammamma (maternal grandmother), a spry little bird of a woman. She walked long distances, read scriptures and meditated everyday. She ground her own chutneys in a stone mortar, suspicious of electric blenders. She was healthy almost her whole life and beat cancer in her 80s. Ammamma knew a thing or two. But did I listen to her sage advice? Over the following 3 weeks I lost 8 lbs and several inches, and I felt amazing. I increased to 18:6 as wasn't feeling hungry at 16 hrs. In a nutshell, you can fast anywhere from 12 hours in between meals - to one meal a day (OMAD) - to anywhere in between. There’s no fasting police out there to shame you, and there’s no perfect solution. It’s a personal choice. For those of us who get rebellious the second someone starts to make some rules, fasting is a wonderful alternative to something like counting points or restricting carbs. Leah is currently five months pregnant and has paused IF. She will resume her IF lifestyle after she has her baby and once she is past breastfeeding.