Every year the North Central Board of REALTORS holds a fishing derby for Special Olympics athletes. It always happens this weekend and it was yesterday. This morning, in my timehop, a photo from last year popped up.

I’ve lost a lot of weight since last year! As I mentioned in my stories the other day, I try to stay off the scale. I come from a history of disordered eating and the attachment to the scale was really hard for me to let go of. But it messes with my head! So, I take my measurements every month or so and just base my success on how my clothes are fitting. But, I don’t often see any appreciable difference in how I look to myself. When I see people I haven’t seen in a while, they always comment but when you look at yourself every day, it’s harder to detect.

But here, in front of me, was the photo from last year. I had to put them side by side and, wow! There is a really big difference and that’s exciting!

I broke my ankle in November of 2018. That happy occurrence coincided with menopause and I gained a lot of weight because I couldn’t be as active as I used to be. Then, once it was there, I had a harder time losing it than I ever have in my life. I started following a carnivore diet and not only was I able to lose weight, I also felt better than I’d felt in a really long time. I coupled the diet with intermittent fasting.

I LOVE fasting! Mostly, I eat one meal a day, or OMAD. But, at times when schedule or social events dictate, I extend my window and number of meals. This has proved to be the perfect combination for me. I like to fast long enough to experience autophagy. This happens after 20-24 hours so I often will do a 42 hour fast once a week. Autophagy is the body’s way of cleaning out damaged cells, in order to regenerate newer, healthier cells. I think that’s the coolest and I know it’s helping me to be healthy.

I’m not a doctor and I don’t play one on the internet so please don’t take this post as medical advice. The books that helped me to understand fasting best are (and I read them in this order) Delay Don’t Deny by Gin Stephens, The Obesity Code by Dr. Jason Fung, and Fast, Feast, Repeat by Gin Stephens.

If you have any questions about the carnivore diet or fasting, don’t hesitate to ask. I am one step away from achieving my Carnivore Diet and Fasting coaching certificates!

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