As 2018 ended, I kicked off 2019 in a manner that many try so hard to tackle, but never really stick with. I made the commitment to myself to try and get myself out of my comfort zone more often, as to force myself to grow by being more comfortable with being uncomfortable.

The annual Jax Beach Polar Plunge (STFU, I know it’s Florida so it’s not exactly polar for most people) happens on New Year’s day, so I like to treat it as my yearly baptism to cleanse myself of all the previous year’s funk, and wipe the slate clean for a new year’s worth of living life.

This year was a MUCH warmer year than last (mid 60’s morning air temperature) compared to last year’s truly polar feeling (mid 30’s wet and windy). I normally like to do all of my workouts/runs/activites in solitude, because it’s a time where I can reflect and get in my own head. However, this year I brought two very close friends of mine to join me. The extraordinarily warm weather was a perfect way to totally sucker people into doing it with me every year.

Anyway, as I was frolicking in the (not very) cold water, I decided to try to do something different with my workouts as well as my diet. Yep, I’m a sucker for the latest craze in “fad diets” and eating templates.

I’ve tried keto, paleo, flex diets, and all of those were too difficult for me to stick with. Yeah, call me a puss but I’m old, have a family, a career, and I FREAKING LOVE FOOD.

I heard a while ago about time restricted feeding and intermittent fasting (probably on the Joe Rogan show), but I never gave it a thought…

Until I watched some guy on YouTube that apparently was a male model and claimed to have decent success with IF and eating Chipotle, whilst trying to prep for a photo shoot. Yeah, it was a little clickbait-ish, but then I stumbled upon more and more people that said it helped.

So for the uninitiated, the gist of IF and TRF is that you fast for a certain number of hours, and then you eat the rest of your meals in the remainder of the time. So if I were doing a 12/12 fast, I can fit all of my meals in 12 hours, and then I can’t have anything (but water) during the other 12 hours. For example, if I eat dinner between 7-7:30pm, I can’t eat anything until 7:30am the next day. I’m allowed to eat my normal meals (semi-clean, and preferably fitting my macros), but as with the day prior, I would consume my last meal before 7:30pm.

According to all of those posts, videos, and IG posts, the optimal fasting ratios are around 16 hours fasted to 8 hours fed, but you still gain benefit from as little as a 12/12. Perfect!

I know I can handle 12 hours of non-eating, but I’m known to get hangry, so I decided to set a 14/10 fast as my goal. I’ve been on it now for all of January and so far it’s TOTALLY doable. I’m able to flex down to 12/12 if I need to, so it doesn’t really hamper my lifestyle significantly. Yes I get hungry at night, when I normally like to snack and destroy a bag of doritos or eat KitKats or whatever’s in the pantry for the kids…but I can generally control myself.

The hard part is the mornings, when I want coffee to help wake up. Supposedly you can have black coffee, but I love myself and drink mine with cream and sugar. Even if I liked my coffee black, I think I still would pass because I don’t want to consume anything that causes any metabolic (insulin) response to break the fast prematurely.

Wow, that was wordy. I’m sure y’all don’t really care about that other shiz and just want to know if it works.

Well, for me, YES.

I don’t feel bloaty, and my weight is super consistent now. The 1-3 pound fluctuations are pretty much gone, and I do feel that my abs are popping more (actually they don’t really pop at all but I think now they’re more visible than they’ve ever been). My mood is pretty stable, and I haven’t had any weakness or hunger crashes at all, even when I do higher intensity workouts in a fasted state.

In terms of my weight, I’m maybe 1-2 pounds lighter, but as mentioned, I feel like my body fat is slowly decreasing.

Bottom line is that for me, this shit works. And it’s sustainable, so I’ll stick with it. I’m curious to continue on with this when it starts getting warmer- I spend a lot more time outdoors and like most I’m WAY more active when it’s not cold outside.

Try it if you haven’t…and if you have- let your boy know how it worked for you!