Resulting in at least 16 hours from my final meal to my first meal of the day.
That sounds like good spot to be. Another user here tipped the concept of "eating windows". A 16 hour fast corresponds to an 8 hour eating window. My best days have 2 hour eating windows.
Fasting more than 24 hours is impressive! My shorter fasts already have very good results and I have not explored longer fasts.
HEALTH - From a mental standpoint the vacation was pretty stressful, and then hosting Thanksgiving was also an added burden. Our family wasn't as grateful or helpful so we will probably re-evaluate how we handle travel and holidays in the future. Overall the work I have been doing to improve my mental health has helped, but I am not quite there. I have recommitted to eating a clean healthy diet and not cheating on my diet since 11/3/23. My goal is to not cheat for an entire year. I made it through the holidays by bringing food that I prepped, and being very selective in the foods that I do eat. I have started lifting weights again after a brief break to increase the amount of at home physical therapy I have been doing. My Achilles is about 90% better. The pain is pretty much gone but they feel "tight/stiff", and I need to build up a lot of strength in my feet, ankles, and legs. Overall I feel like I am going in the right direction I just need to take small steps on a daily basis.
JOB - I officially got re-coded in the system as full time work from home. They were trying to get us back into the office, but I made the case to continue to work from home. My boss agreed, but had to get approval. Luckily work has slowed down so that also reduces my daily stress. I like my job but I didn't realize how much stress it added now that we have 3 kids. I have been thinking about my future in my current role. I have hit the top level of my current career track. If I want to continue to advance I need to move into a management track. I don't have the greatest people skills so I would need to work on those skills. I think I can learn the rest of the job requirements pretty easily, but I am unsure if I would enjoy the people aspect of the new role. I don't need to do it for the money it would just be to continue to challenge myself.
MONEY - All our credit cards are officially closed. We will use mint for the rest of this year, and I built out a very detailed excel budget so we can manage our cash flows. Because we only use one account for everything it should be relatively painless to manually enter the transactions into the budget. I was spending a bunch of time categorizing budgeting apps so it will probably be just as difficult. Except now I get to keep and manipulate all my spending data for free.
TRAVEL - The NH trip was exhausting. The drive up and first night were terribly difficult with 3 kids, but after we got settled in the following days it got easier. The trip was slightly more expensive than we were expecting, but I won a poker game with the family which paid for some of our expenses. Overall it was fun we got to go on a hike, see a bunch of trains, and the kids loved seeing Santa.
KIDS - We are going through it with the kids right now our 5 year old has always been challenging she has a lot of sensory, OCD, and ADHD type issues that challenge us daily. It seems to be getting worse so we are getting serious about addressing it. My son who typically is very easy turned 3, and he has gotten increasingly challenging. He is mimicking some of my daughters bad tendencies, and he is becoming defiant. One-on-one they are OK, but all together it is really hard. Some steps we have taken have been getting rid of TV completely, giving them more activities/tasks to do (they love to cook and clean), enforced a time out system, and will look into getting a child behavioral therapist.
READING - I finished reading the Obesity Code by Fung. I actually went back and re-read specific chapters to really grasp certain topics. I thought it was very well written, and makes complete logical sense as to why we get fat. The way my weight loss journey played out was exactly how he described it I went from ~200 lbs to ~170 lbs initially, and then even though I wasn't eating a significantly different diet (low carb) my weight gradually increased back to 185-190 lbs. I was an active skinny kid, but a picky eater (high carb/sugar). So my weight gain was slow over a long time. Now that I have corrected my diet my weight has come down. I still struggle with snacking so my insulin is constantly going up. This is where fasting comes into play, and having long periods where insulin is low since insulin is what makes us fat.
I have recommitted to eating a clean healthy diet and not cheating on my diet since 11/3/23. My goal is to not cheat for an entire year. I made it through the holidays by bringing food that I prepped, and being very selective in the foods that I do eat.
One thing I learned about "cheating" is that the very thought means you see unhealthy eating as a reward. As in, "I deserve cake on my birthday". What I should think instead is "I deserve poison on my birthday". The mental switch is very hard to make and I'm not quite there yet.
Another thing I've learned is that willpower is a limited resource. Nobody has enough willpower not to cheat for an entire year. I roll with the punches. After "cheating" I don't punish myself but slowly resume the diet. Dealing well with setbacks is what allows me to keep dieting.
Best of luck with your weight, and looking forward to more updates!
One thing I learned about "cheating" is that the very thought means you see unhealthy eating as a reward. As in, "I deserve cake on my birthday". What I should think instead is "I deserve poison on my birthday". The mental switch is very hard to make and I'm not quite there yet.
I 100% agree.. the term "cheat" isn't the best way to frame it. When I do start having cravings I start recently to tell myself it is poisonous, and that usually helps me make better decisions. What helped me make that connection was the last time I drank alcohol. I will have a glass or two of scotch socially, and feel terribly ill. I never felt this way in the past when I was eating poorly, and drinking more often. Now it feels like I am being poisoned. My body is rejecting these foods and drinks. You can only feel this way so many times before you just stop consuming them completely. At this point I think I will quit drinking completely which I never thought I would do.
It has been awhile since I have been back on the forums. I have intentionally been staying away from screens. I find it is so easy to get sucked in Youtube or Facebook, etc.. I help my grandma with her investments. She asked me to check something out for her so I went on, and then 5 minutes later I was scrolling around and wasted an hour or two. Also, life has been busy with holidays, and everyone is getting sick. We spent 12 days in quarantine due to covid. With the cold weather it was a really long 12 days mostly indoors with 3 kids, and 2 dogs. I ended up reading 2 books, and almost finished a long 3rd book that I had started pre-getting sick.
I am still working on eating healthily, exercising, and going to therapy. It took a few months but my ankles are 99% better which has been a great relief. I am hopeful that I can start running again soon. I would also like to start rucking with my wife, and kids. My eating ebbs and flows as does my ability to control my anxiety, and emotions. But I am working on that as well. My goal is to have some decent results by the time summer is here. Which doesn't necessarily mean a number on the scale, but my body composition, and body fat. I actually am hoping to put on more muscle, and lower body fat without much drop in body weight. I had a glass of scotch on 12/31/23, and haven't had one yet in 2024. I think I am going to go without for the entire year. I feel better not drinking, and it really impacts my sleep which is a high priority.
We had a decent year for savings although not the best since we had a kid, and maternity leave. I think 2024 will be much better. I started a pretty detailed spread sheet for tracking our expenses. It won't be as real time as an app, but we rarely spend money on a whim without knowing how much we can spend ahead of time. Yesterday was the 1 year anniversary for the day that we paid off our home. This was the second time we paid off our home. We paid off our starter home then sold it. Bought our new home, and paid it off quickly. I know a lot of people debate about this, but I don't regret it.
I watched the show my dream farm on amazon which has gotten me thinking about having a plot of land to start an animal farm. I would like some cows, lambs, pigs, and chickens. I am holding out one day having a farm not as a business, but to raise our own food. Land is expensive here so when we don't have as many ties to our location I would be happy to move. We could down size to a smaller cabin with a large plot of land with animals, have a garden, hunt, and fish. I think that would be a rather satisfactory life, and keep me busy. I saw what inactivity can do as you age, and it is not something I want for myself. It most definitely leads to an early death.