During the pandemic, I’ve spent a lot of time on the couch watching tv and eating whatever I wanted. My laziness led to me not feeling my best or looking my best or even being my best self. I haven’t been able to commit to anything in a while. I’ve been in limbo and unable to lose any weight in quite a while.

Five weeks ago, things started changing gradually when I discovered intermittent fasting (IF). I didn’t know anything about intermittent fasting, so I did a little research. Intermittent Fasting For Beginners: A Complete Guide to the Fasting Lifestyle by Amanda Swain was a good place to start. I didn’t want to set myself up for failure by fasting too many hours in the beginning, so I started with the 16:8 plan. Ms. Swain defines the 16:8 plan on page 4 of her book as, “Each day you fast for 16 hours and eat all meals within the other 8. I ate between 11:00 am and 7:00 pm for four weeks, and it was a huge success.

On week five, I started 18:6 by eating 1:00 pm to 7:00 pm. Additionally, I started back on WW with their brand new Personal Points program. The only thing that I thought might trip me up is that I’ve been cooking Hello Fresh meals for dinner, and they use full-fat mayo, butter, and olive oil. It has been much easier than I expected. I’ve been able to plan ahead and have 0-point or low-point foods at 1:00 and then my Hello Fresh at dinner at 6:00. The photo above is the Hello Fresh Firecracker Meatballs with jasmine rice and green beans.

I’m loving this new lifestyle, and I’m feeling great. I have a lot more energy, which means I’ve gone from zero energy to a solid four or five. Not bad for five weeks.