I Did Intermittent Fasting and it Changed My Life

I'd struggled with my weight for my whole life since I was a kid. But it wasn't until March 2014 that I reached an "I've had enough" moment; I'd been tagged in some Facebook photos, but I didn't recognize myself.

I weighed 222lbs. I saw myself in the mirror every day, but I had become willfully blind to my weight problem. The photos I saw that day were me from every angle, and it forced me to face the truth.

I saw that what I had led myself to believe and what was reality were two very different things.

By the end of that year, I had heard about intermittent fasting, which is where you only eat within a fixed window of time each day. In 2015, I lost about 20lbs, albeit inconsistently practicing intermittent fasting. I would start and stop because the results weren't coming fast enough.

During this time, I was also lifting heavy weights and working out hard in an attempt to lose weight. This led to a back injury while doing a deadlift. After the injury, the only exercise I could manage was walking.

But by the end of the year, I had started to regain some weight, leaving me with a net loss of about 15lbs for that year.

I was feeling very frustrated, and I was ready to throw in the towel. But something inside me just couldn't give up. I was determined to figure out what was going on.

I sat down with my tracking spreadsheet to see if I could see any patterns. What I saw was that when I was consistent with intermittent fasting, I was losing about a pound a week.

The problem was, I thought a pound a week was a failure. I was obese, and therefore I thought I should lose five pounds a week. So, I would quit for a few days or a week, and try to figure out something else that would be faster.

In the meantime, my weight loss would stall out or I'd gain. I realized that if I had been happy with a pound a week and stuck with it, I could have lost 50lbs that year. I decided I would quit quitting and be happy with slow and steady progress.

In January 2016, I focused on being consistent with a very simple plan. I committed to practicing intermittent fasting six days a week, walking six miles a day, and taking a day off from fasting, which I called my cheat day, on Sunday.

Gradually, I worked my way up to about a 16:8 fasting window—16 hours of fasting, eight hours for eating—and eventually, to one meal a day (OMAD).

Without realizing it at the time, I was practicing what's known as "dirty fasting", which is allowing yourself some calories during your fasting window. I was drinking coffee with Half & Half in it during mine.

One rule I consistently followed during my eating window was to eat whatever I wanted. I imposed no dietary restrictions on myself. I was not low carb, nor was I high protein. I simply ate whatever my family was eating, including desserts, chocolate, and wine.

By the end of that year, my consistency paid off. I weighed 158lbs, a total loss of 65lbs. I decided to maintain that weight for about a year before starting my YouTube channel, where I vlog about my weight loss journey.

Then, I decided to lose a bit more weight because, at 158lbs, I was still about 4lbs overweight according to the body mass index (BMI). Over the next year, I got down to 142lbs, making it a total loss of 80lbs from my highest confirmed weight of 222lbs.

Losing weight made my daily life physically easier. I could keep up with my kids and husband when we'd go places. Daily tasks like going to the grocery store no longer felt tiring. I could lie down flat on my back and not have trouble breathing.

The best thing, though, was that I became comfortable in my own skin. I found more energy to live life.

Once I reached 142lbs, I found the diminishing point of returns for weight loss. I didn't feel any different between 158lbs and 142lbs, so I decided to maintain my weight within about a 10lbs range, which I have done since October 2018.

What I love about intermittent fasting is how it makes eating the right amount of food for weight loss and maintenance a lot easier. It taught me the simplicity of weight loss—it's not about what foods you're eating, but how much you're eating.

I also learned that working out really hard isn't necessary for weight loss. I had the best results when I was just walking six miles a day and taking that weekly cheat day.

It also taught me that you don't have to be perfect on the weight loss journey to have good results.

Losing 80lbs changed my life. I became comfortable in myself. All of my relationships—with God, with food, with my family, with my husband—improved. And it gave me a whole new level of confidence.

Kayla Cox vlogs about weight loss on her YouTube channel, Six Miles to Supper.

All views expressed are the author's own.

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