July 08, 2020

Delay, Don't Deny


I'm just going to keep this super quick, because I want to get to bed soon. I'd like to get up early tomorrow to work on the garage some more. It's been SO HOT outside (mid-90's) and I'd rather work on it during the morning.

Anyway, I posted recently that I was reading a book called 'Delay, Don't Deny' by Gin Stephens (Amazon affiliate link). It's a book about intermittent fasting, and several people were curious if I was going to give it a try again.

I wasn't going to post about it yet, considering my history with this kind of stuff--making plans and then not following through--and I don't want this to be just another one of those times. However, since several people have asked, I do think that I'd like to try intermittent fasting again.

I did it as a 30-day experiment last year, and I really loved it. For once, I wasn't thinking about food all day; and I felt better mentally and physically. The problem was that I wasn't losing weight. None.

My clothes weren't getting looser either, which some people said would happen before seeing progress on the scale. So, I was frustrated. I really liked the lifestyle, but I didn't like that I wasn't losing weight.

Jerry started doing it a couple of months ago and he's dropped about 25 pounds! He really loves it, and it's inspiring me to do it as well. I listened to the audiobook The Obesity Code by Dr. Jason Fung (Amazon affiliate link) and I really loved it.


I actually bought the book (in paperback) a long time ago, but each time I started to read it, it sounded like it was going to be a low-carb, no-sugar, keto-type of book. I will never quit carbs or sugar, so I couldn't get past the first couple of chapters.

However, in listening to the audiobook, it went by much faster--and I learned that it's much less biased than I'd thought. It's very factual in HOW people gain and lose weight and it's very different from all the stuff we've heard for decades. He touches on fasting, but only at the end. Most of the book describes how weight loss works (physiologically).

I'm reading Delay, Don't Deny now, which is a much shorter, more basic book about intermittent fasting as a lifestyle. This is the approach Jerry has taken (I'll describe that in another post) and so I feel like I'd like to give it another try.

After listening to The Obesity Code, I realized a few things I was doing "wrong" (or at least things I could have been doing better) the first time I tried intermittent fasting. Now that I feel like I truly understand how it works, I think that I can work it to my advantage better and hopefully lose weight.

Another reason I'd like to try it is because of the chronic pain that I have. I've read about the health benefits of using fasting for reducing inflammation, so I'm curious to see if it would work for me.

I'll write in more detail about all this soon, but right now, I don't even know if I'll stick to it, considering my track record--so I'd like to give it some time before I write about how it's going. But I will write about how Jerry's been doing and what his schedule is as far as his fasting times.

Whether you're considering intermittent fasting or not, I highly recommend the book The Obesity Code. It's fascinating and really helps to understand how the body works (which then helps when deciding what/how much/when to eat for whatever the ultimate goal is (health, weight loss, etc).

17 comments:

  1. Gin Stephens also does an intermittent fasting podcast as well with another person - The Intermittent Fasting Podcast. I listened to it some and they are pretty good at listing their topics in their titles so you can skip around to see their views on particular questions. I would skip the topics that didn't necessarily apply to me, but I found it a good companion when I was trying the intermittent fasting.

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    1. I just binge-listened to it while I was working on the garage all morning! I really like that they answered questions to a lot of things that I was curious about. It's a good podcast!

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  2. I've read the book and listened to Gin Stephens' podcast.I tried IF for several months and used the zero app to track my fasts. I agree - I liked the lifestyle, as it was nice to have an on-off switch for eating and not worry about counting calories or anything else. Plus, I love black coffee, so that was my go-to drink in the morning. Like you, I did not lose any weight, or notice any other differences. Maybe it was good for my body? I am curious to hear how you do. It is certainly worth another try!I'd like to hear what you think you did "wrong" last time, maybe I've made the same mistakes. No matter what you do, I love the blog, and keep writing! :) (sideways smiley face)

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    1. I will definitely share the changes I make and if it works (assuming I stick to it long enough). Reading The Obesity Code was very eye-opening to me (particularly about sleep and fiber and the affects those have on weight). I'm excited to try it again and see if it'll work out this time.

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  3. I absolutely LOVE Dr Fung. He basically takes the established food guidelines and turns them upside Down. I have also read his other book called The Complete Guide to Fasting which you would enjoy. I put on some weight last year and using his techniques I’m back to my fighting weight. Yay. Ps. Check out his Facebook Group for some real motivational results.

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    1. I will have to check out his other book! I was surprised that he only mentioned fasting at the end of The Obesity Code, so I'm curious to read more about his thoughts on it. Thanks for the suggestion!

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  4. I'm so glad you "read" the Obesity Code! My husband and I read it a few months back and it was so enlightening! I am trying to make IF work for me as well. So far I've struggled with the restrict-binge cycle. I can fast for 18 hours but then I want to eat ALL the food. That's encouraging that Jerry has done so well with it!

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    1. Seeing Jerry do it has been really motivating for me. I loved the lifestyle when I tried it before, but I wanted to lose weight and my weight didn't budge. After "reading" The Obesity Code, I think if I make a few changes it might help. I'll report back if it does! :)

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  5. I'm not sure why people think IF is a good idea. We fast while we sleep. Eating regularly, about every 3 hours or so, and moving your body daily, are the keys to a healthy body, which in turn sheds excess pounds. It seems to me that you want to try everything except eating healthy and moving your body. It's like you want some "magic pill" and are unwilling to do the work.

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  6. My husband is a MD, and we’ve been doing IF for years. He talks to his patients all the time about it. The articles he has read are very interesting, in terms of longevity, and overall health. I had arthritis-ish pain for years and giving up dairy made a world of difference for me. I cheat now and then, if I overdo it then I have stop (good bye cheese 🤣). Good luck!!

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  7. I'd be interested to see how it works for you. I read a different IF book recommended by a friend. She lost 40 lbs doing it. But in this book, the author did it to lose 10 lbs and she only eats in a 3 hour window a day and it just didn't seem realistic to me. Plus she was scornful of everything people said about it not working for them in a weirdly superior way. Anyway, that's nothing to do with this, I think I just got a bad taste in my mouth towards IF because of that one book.

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  8. Katie, you were reading my mind! Yesterday I was listening to one of Gin's recent podcasts and thought of you. In the past two years I've listened to all of the podcasts. She always says, "Tweak it til it works!" The trick seems to be that each person finds their own eating window. Please keep us posted :)

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  9. Hi Katie. I have been doing IF since beginning of June. At first I was not doing it right, was putting lime juice in my water while fasting, which basically is refereed to it as dirty fasting. I stopped that in the middle of June. Since then, three weeks, I have only lost about 5 pounds. I am down to 153. I am 5'4" and want to get down to 122. Also have not lost much inches either. Only measure around my waist and chest, and have lost probably only half an inch each. I feel more comfortable in my tee and shorts now. I feel leaner, lol. I have joined a few facebook groups and everyone suggest to take pictures and look at them for motivations seeing your progress. so that is what I have been doing. I started slow, with 14 hour fast and then 16. Now I do 16 in the weekends and 19 on weekdays. I have good days and bad days. This week, two afternoons were hard, so I gave in, had coffee with two spoonful of heavy cream. Which basically is breaking my fast. I am doing it for weightloss, so I reasoned if I was able to stop myself from eating everything insight and was able to continue with these 50 extra calories for the day I am good. I don't want to get into habit of that. Yesterday was good day, so hopefully I have gotten my appetite under control again. I have done low carbs and at that point I was concentrating on having enough protein. Dr. Fung advocates healthy fats. So I have been having couple of spoonful of peanut butter and half avocado daily. These two have helped me consume enough fat to be satisfied. I have give up sugar mostly, but not fruits, or rice, or potato. I think that is why I am not losing fast. But for me, your mantra that has become mine too, lol, I have to do it so I can do it for life. I am good with losing slow, and have my healthy carbs. However sugar, as I said I try to avoid it, on Monday I had ice cream, and then Tuesday and Wednesday I had the bad cravings. Hopefully I have learned to avoid sugar. Anyhow, good luck and am looking forward to follow your progress.

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  10. Gin has a new book out--Fast Feast Repeat which I just finished today. HIGHLY recommend!

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  11. I've been doing it for several months to great success. My biggest recommendation would be to not use the eating window as an excuse to eat whatever you want; I count calories in my eating window which is what I attribute to it working. You (general you, not specifically Katie) can't eat 3,000 calories in 6 hours and expect to lose weight; you have to stick to eating the calories you should eat for weight loss (1, 300 in my case, at under 5'0).

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I used to publish ALL comments (even the mean ones) but I recently chose not to publish those. I always welcome constructive comments/criticism, but there is no need for unnecessary rudeness/hate. But please--I love reading what you have to say! (This comment form is super finicky, so I apologize if you're unable to comment)

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