Fasting…The Paige Way | intermittent fasting for beginners

See that happy girl on the left, that’s me, Paige! I’m 37, have 4 kids and this is my story on how I got rid of my grandma bod and turned it into a Baberham Lincoln situation. Schwing!

This summer was the most comfortable I have felt with my body in a long time. I honestly never thought I would see the day that I returned to my early 20s physique. Pregnancies left me with bumpy stretched out tummy skin, blown out ab muscles from diastasis recti and way too much fat I had lazily let accumulate mostly on my belly. That doesn’t even scratch the surface of the two basically breast reconstructions I have had due to how poorly the jugs handled pregnancy and nursing for years upon years.

Didn’t Paige Have a Mommy Makeover?!

Let’s first address that I have had a tummy tuck and breast lift and implants about a year and a half ago. Obviously, that is the main reason my skin is tight again and my boobs look like they belong to a person who was born in 2001.

Feel free to catch up on all the mommy makeover surgery stuff here. Every gory detail is discussed.

Hear me out, one does not just sign up for a tummy tuck and automatically come out of surgery thin, fatless and with a completely different body. You have to do lots of work first if you have weight to lose. And I did.

I Can’t Believe I’m Sharing This

Below are photos I have shown maybe 2 people, (not even bestie Jeni has seen these) very very unflattering photos, but it shows the weight loss. These were meant to be “before” photos for when I started doing the Bikini Body Guide workouts that lasted all of two weeks until I flaked.

Is this the worst body ever? No. Is this what I felt like settling for? HELL NO! This is what 135ish looks like on me, my current weight is just under 120.

A couple of months before surgery, I set out to lose, like for real this time, lose the extra weight.

I’ve tried weight watchers with some success, but was always starving and became obsessed with point counting in my head all day. I’ve tried low carb and then I mess it up and eat a cheesecake. I’ve tried smaller portions, but I didn’t really have a plan and therefore never succeeded.

What Is Intermittent Fasting?

I don’t remember why I decided to try intermittent fasting, but I kept hearing about it’s weight loss and cancer fighting benefits. For someone that absolutely hates dieting, this was so freaking simple. You watch the clock. That’s basically it.

Intermittent fasting is eating only during a specific period of time during the day. I do the 16:8 method of fasting where you fast for 16 hours a day and only eat in an 8 hour window. Some doctors recommend women only fasting for 14 hours a day, but sorry dudes y’all have to go the full 16.

The more I read about the health benefits, the more I was excited about making this a lifestyle change. It was hard to get out of the mindset of eat breakfast every day, it’s so important and eat small meals all day to speed up your metabolism, but breakfast for me is so easy to skip!

So. Many. Benefits.

When you fast, your body burns fat for fuel instead of glucose. It can lower your risk for diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, lowers diabetes risk. Mood disorders are lessened, cholesterol and blood pressure also improve. Now here was the most exciting one for me, there is more and more evidence supporting that intermittent fasting helps with cancer treatment and prevention!! The body conserves as much energy as possible when it’s not being fed. It can do this by making cell membranes more sensitive to insulin which removes glucose from the blood. So….better insulin sensitivity makes it harder for cancer cells to grow!

Whether you want to bring sexy back or take charge of your health, intermittent fasting is worth a solid try!

How I Work Intermittent Fasting Into My Life

If I’m going to change the way I eat, it has to be pretty easy and sustainable. This is the longest I have ever followed a “diet” and I can not believe how easy it is. I do not live and die by this and make people go out for dinners at 4:30 PM. I do it when I can, as best as I can, and if it doesn’t work out one day, whatever! Some weeks I do it 6 days a week and some only 2 or 3 depending on what I have going on.

The most important piece for me is making sure I eat dinner by the end of my window or before and then no more food until I break the fast the next day. Also I do not snack, just have two meals a day and lunch is usually very small. Outside of the window I only drink water, every now and then I freak out and have coffee whenever I wake up, but I at least have a huge glass of water before that. It’s really not that hard to wait until 9 to drink some coffee.

Q&A From Instagram

Q: You totally need to review the Popeye’s chicken sandwich and Chick-Fil-A and report it to us

A: A nice non related question there Lucy, but I like it. I will do a taste test on stories during my eating window. Stay tuned, I can’t imagine Chick-Fil-A would lose.

Q: Why don’t we hang out more?

A: MIXANDMATCHMAMASHAY, say when and I am there! Jeni almost brought me as her +1 on the bus! Next time, I’ll make her bring me to something so we can hang!

Q: I’ve been interested in trying this but also really need that bad coffee cream in the AM.

A: Start with keeping your coffee routine the same. Don’t eat any actual food until your window starts. I do this sometimes too!

Q: What do you eat when you break your fast?

A: Usually a Z bar, wheat thins, cheese and fruit or a Seargento balanced breaks thing. Those are my top three regular fast breaker meals.

Q: What specific schedule works for you?

A: Eating my first meal sometime between 9 and 11 and then dinner no later than 8 hours after that. I will often not eat until 11 or later and still try and be done with dinner by 6.

Q: Actual results in terms of weight or inches lost?

A: Inches, no idea because the surgery took a ton of inches off, but did not take any pounds off. I lost about 15 pounds doing this and it came off so fast!

Q: What does your average day look like when it comes to food?

A: Coffee, the first meal with one of the small meals listed above, then for dinner we do home chef 3 nights a week. Sometimes I will just have avocado toast and eggs or like a PB sandwich. If we pick up dinner one of the non cooking nights I stick to salads and lower carb options. After dinner, water only.

Q: I’ve been fasting almost a year and it’s not a weight loss remedy for me, what am I doing wrong?

A: I would start with writing down your caloric intake and see if it’s too high. You may even try shrinking your window down. Good luck!

Q: How do you not get ragey when you go for so long without food/cofee in the morning!?

A: It’s the late nights that make me start to feel like I’m about to cave. I can hold off in the mornings. You also get so used to it.

Q: Do you work in any adult bevs?

A: I’m not a huge drinker and only drink socially, so if I’m going out to dinner with friends the alcohol will be flowing!

Q: Do you indulge? When you do drink are you a lightweight?

A: I indulge here and there, I don’t like to be too restrictive or I will get obsessive and that’s not healthy. I still have sweets and pizza and stuff like that, just not nearly as much as I used to. And yes, when I drink I get tipsy on like half a drink.

Q: Workouts?

A: I try and do pilates with a trainer once a week. I also really like the Peloton app for yoga and strength and to do one of those once a week too. I also randomly do squats when I’m drying my hair and lunges when I’m waiting on the dog to pee.

Q: Why did you wait so long to post? I’m over here with my winter bod all through summer…

A: I had a winter bod for years, I understand. Here is what you do, start now and by next summers it’s onnnnnnn! I started in the winter and that first summer was so amazing to feel good in a swimsuit!

Q: I also IF and get a lot of negativity from others. Any tips on how to explain?

A: I just tell people about the cancer fighting and weight loss benefits and tell them to google it. Sometimes people make fun of me for not eating much lunch but I eat a pretty big dinner and I feel great so leave me alone and let me live haha.

My basic philosophy is fast on days you can.

Eat generally healthy.

Don’t overeat.

Drink tons of water.

Have a cookie if you want.

Don’t eat when you are done with your dinner.

Exercise a little.

Don’t obsess.

It’s ok to feel hungry and you will grow to actually like the feeling of not being stuffed and bloated. Every now and then when you do get stuffed and bloated you will realize how great it feels to be part of the IF squad. Join me!