I am one of those people whose weight fluctuated dramatically over the years. I have documented most of this in previous posts, but I will provide the short version here. I first gained substantial weight while my ex-wife was pregnant with our first son. Our second son a few years later pushed my weight up and my belly out.
Click here to learn more about my fitness journey
Shortly after he was born, I lost a chunk of weight but was still heavier than I would have liked. In 2009, I quit smoking and my weight shot up dramatically. I reached the heaviest of my life that winter, tipping the scales at nearly 280 pounds. Then the first overall lifestyle change ocurred. I found cycling and running and healthy eating and dropped over 100 pounds, leveling off at 168. I didn’t stay there long. A slow march over the next few years got me back up to 220.
In early 2015, my ex-wife and I (still married at the time) exerienced an extended split. During that period, I found Intermintent Fasting, or IF. I also set a goal of running a marathon, which I completed in January of 2016 at Walt Disney World. Between IF and the constant running, I got myself back down to 190 lbs.
Shortly before the marathon, I reconciled with my ex and returned to much of my former lifestyle. Again, the weight began to creep up. In 2018, the same person who turned me on to IF introduced me to the Ketogenic diet. I was aware of Keto prior and I even knew a couple of people who made it their primary lifestyl choice, but I didn’t really understand it. But it worked. I started 2018 married and 225. By fall of that year, I was 174 and divorcing (it would stick this time).
Over the last few years I have wandered in and out of Keto, Vegan, Vegetarian, Pescaterian, IF, and “eat whatever the hell I want.” I go on benders with candy and bread and wine and beer. The latter two are, what I believe, the primary culprit of why I have gained so much weight back. I also believe, as there are more and more studies to show this, that being keto for so long messed up my metaboilism. I will not get into the science of it here, but essentially your body forgots how to properly process sugars, akin to diabetes.
So between the wine and beer and bread and candy, I am once again creeping on 230 pounds. It is a new year. It is time for change. New Year’s Resolutions are a joke and we all fall into the trap because they are so often impossible to maintain. Yet here I am, about to attempt one.
In three days, I leave for Florida to compete in The Dopey Challenge. I going to run 48.6 miles over four days way too heavy. I have no idea what is going to happen, but I do nto want to do it at 228 pounds like I am this morning.
I am going to begin by fasting. I normally follow The Warrior Diet, which is a twenty hour fast with a four hour eat window. That is not going to cut it this week. I going to attempt a 30 hour (at the time of writing this, I am already 11 hours in) fast followed by a 36 hour fast. This should knock several pounds off. When you are running that much, a few pounds can make a huge difference.
I will keep you up date on the progess as the week develops. Wish me luck.
Chris
