Losing 60lbs, and feeling good….

It was April when I last wrote about dieting, Paleo and weight loss.  It was January 15th when I decided to change the way I live my life.

It is now June 30th, and I thought it was worth mentioning that as of today I have managed to lose 60 pounds.

How I feel right now…

People have noticed and said nice things which is lovely.  Oddly no one said much as I climbed the scale in the other direction.  I did gain the weight much slower than I have shifted it.  Perhaps that is why no one commented how much I was rocking the double chin look.

I am not going to lie to you.  Losing 60 pounds has made me feel a hell of a lot better about everything.  But I really think what makes me wake up glowing is the clean food I am putting inside me and the new style CrossFit workouts I am trying to figure out.

The weightloss was always desired but it has become a side effect to the feeling of fantastic-ness that I have pulsing through my veins.  I feel in control of my today and tomorrow, my sleep is better and deeper, and my energy levels are pretty boundless as long as I keep eating my protein to balance out my workouts.

I am pretty much where I want to be weight wise now. I want a bit more definition, an ab or two would be nice. I don’t think I need to lose anymore weight to get them, I just need to learn to lift a bit more, and find a way of getting my toes to the bar.

The final bit to go…

After our holiday to France last month I decided I wanted to lose a final nine pounds, to get me back to the weight I once was long ago…

It was a number I never really expected to see on the scales again.

Annoyingly the number on the scales wouldn’t budge.  For the first time since eating 90% Paleo I seemed to be stuck on the scales.

So I spoke to my friend, Ruth from Let Her Eat Clean, and took her advice and have embarked on three weeks of intermittent fasting in an attempt to get rid of those last bits.

And to my surprise it worked.

Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent fasting is where you starve your body for 16 hours and eat for 8.  So I finish my dinner by eight pm and start my eating day at midday.  I don’t restrict carbs (my obsession with sweet potatoes continues to grow at an alarming rate) nor do I count calories.  I just eat and then stop.  Always finishing the day with a few squares of dark chocolate.

The only thing I have cut out in the short term is fruit, and I think it was the sugar in my excessive amounts of grapes that was halting the weight loss.  For anyone worried I am not getting my nutrients, I have upped my Kale, spinach, lettuce and broccoli intake.  I am surprised I don’t pee green.

Intermittent fasting works on the theory that during a fasted state your body doesn’t have a recent meal to use as energy. Therefore your body is more likely to grab energy from stored fat.

Burning fat works well when trying to shift extra pounds.

Plus, when you are fasting your growth hormone has a bit of a boost, your insulin needs decrease, and your body gets itself all sorted out for muscle growth and fat loss.

Also I can just focus on cooking two pretty huge and delicious meals, rather than three smaller ones (time is precious in my world).

I like this style of eating and I think I am seeing an improvement in my workouts (I am not sure my coach would agree).

And I am rarely hungry, except for that pesky 5 minutes whilst my meal is coming together on my plate and I feel like I could gnaw on a child for a snack.

What’s next?

Now I am intrigued to see what happens to my body.  I am not fussed about losing any more weight, but wouldn’t be heartbroken if the scales continued to go down.  Unlike previous diets, I don’t feel an urge to stop eating Paleo, that would be silly when you feel like I feel, and I don’t need any more food that what I already eat.

Although I could always manage a bit more chocolate…

The up to date obligatory before and after shots…