I don’t like to talk about losing weight too often because it’s crazy making and there’s a lot of conflicting information, but I am going to make an exemption here because I have something worthwhile to share.

A little about my weight history: I was very slim in my youth and even into my late twenties and early thirties. Clothes fit easily and I was able to ignore most of the diet culture surrounding me. I figured it was genetics and went on with my life.

This ease at staying a steady weight was in part from living in Asia in my mid-twenties where they had smaller portions and fewer labor-saving devices. I lived on a fifth floor of a building with no elevator and didn’t own a car. Also, my busy teaching schedule didn’t leave time for frequent snacking. I weighed about 135 and wore a size six pants—the same as in college.

Then I moved back to the states where I bought a car, and got an office job. To my shock, there were even more high calorie, processed foods than I remembered and the portions were huge. Further, the institution I taught at gave instructors access to free food and soda. I gained a freshman fifteen at age of thirty-two.

When I got married, I was a size ten. With each kid, I added more weight and a pant size. The stress of Covid-19 and basically living in my kitchen and added a few more pounds. My doctor informed me I had gone from normal to overweight. Waa! Additionally, my blood work came back showing that I was pre-diabetic. Boo! I signed up for the insurance company’s nutritional support group and each week I tracked my calories and steps. I cut out all sugary sodas. Nothing changed. I ate more vegetables and fish and baked less desserts. Slowly, I lost a few pounds, about a pound a month. It was a lot of work for not much reward. Then, I put all the weight back on over Christmas and ended the year where I started. Oof. I had thought losing weight was just hard for other people, not me. Apparently my genes aren’t that special.

This spring, at a peak of 190 pounds squeezed into size 16 pants, I decided to try intermittent fasting. I liked that it wasn’t a specific diet and it didn’t cost anything. I refuse to pay more to eat less. It can not be like that. With IF, all one needed to do, apparently, is to pay attention to time on a clock.

I printed out a little chart and I started out with a 12/12 schedule. That means 12 hours of eating window and 12 hours of fasting. Seems very straightforward. I would eat between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. and fast over night.

Right away, I discovered part of my reason for gaining so much. I’d get up with a Eliana at 6:30 in the morning and have breakfast with her, then later at eight with Ivy. I’d have lunch at noon, eat dinner with the kids at five, then again at seven or eight when Tim came home. Additionally, I was snacking on the leftovers when I cleaned up the dishes in the evening. I was eating all day and I felt terrible. I had to let go of my internal voice that told me not to throw away food. We have chickens, so it’s not really wasted. I reminded myself, “I am not the garbage disposal for my family.”

The first month, I didn’t gain weight, so that was a win. The second month, I switched down to 10/14, and then quickly to 8/16. I realized that I wasn’t getting hungry anymore during my fasting. My brain just turned off the hunger after a little bit, like when I lived in Asia where I only ate at specific times. The point of intermittent fasting is to force your body to start burning its own fat storage. The second part, is to not replace all those missing calories, but to eat a healthy balanced meals during your open eating window. I lost about a pound every two weeks, and it took me about four months to lose 15 pounds.

During the fasting window it’s encouraged to drink water. I did that and for a while added calorie-free flavors. The problem with those is that they make you think you’re eating, but then when your stomach learns it’s been tricked, you get extra hungry. So now, I just stick to plain coffee and tea in the mornings and water in the evenings. It’s easier for me to just stick to a schedule.

At first, I was kind of cramming all my meals in to my shrinking window, but that is also not helpful. Turns out, you actually have to eat less food in order to lose weight. When I got down to just two solid meals per day, I started losing about a pound a week. I lost five pounds in September. I also feel better and am wearing my size 12 pants again too. Our vacation last week didn’t even ruin it because I just adjusted the window to suit our trip. I still make cakes, cookies and pies, but only eat them during my window and in moderation.

So there you have it, 20 pounds and two pants sizes in 5 months, with no extra cost except for a $1 app and a cute water bottle. It’s very doable. There are also lots of books and YouTube videos explaining everything. Again, there is some conflicting information out in the wild, so you just have to try different things and see what works best for you.

TL;DR Losing weight can be hard, but intermittent fasting works for me.