How Intermittent Fasting Helped Me Feel 30 Years Younger

How I lost 66 pounds in 8 months with evidenced-based eating and workout strategies

Being overweight is definitely a sensitive topic. I too was overweight for over 10 years and ignored this uncomfortable fact. My health went steadily downhill and I resigned myself to the pain and discomfort.

Yet our bodies should never become our enemy but deserve to be cared for, pampered, and loved. And when we change our lifestyle to get rid of excess pounds, then this is an act of self-love.

Last fall, I decided to make a change and lost about 66 pounds in 8 months.

People often ask me, “How the heck did you do that?” and each time I get high praise for the accomplishment. But it actually wasn’t that hard.

Today I want to tell you transparently what exactly I changed in my everyday life and how I feel about it. And I hope that you can also benefit from my story and that one or two tips might find their way into your everyday life.

Healthwise a Wreck

It was in August 2021 when my mother-in-law told me on the phone,

“Jennifer, you are a very beautiful woman and I really like you. But please pay a little attention to your health. Please check your diet and see the doctor if necessary. I am very worried.”

I love my mother-in-law! She is a warm-hearted Latina who is always there for us and always finds the right words. And she was right. At 5.18 ft (158 cm) tall and weighing 184 lbs (83.5 kg), I was clearly obese.

I also felt this in terms of my health, because I had been suffering from shortness of breath for years. And this despite the fact that I was regularly on the move due to my job as a newspaper delivery person.

In addition, my exhaustion and fatigue were almost killing me. Just a few months earlier, I was undergoing treatment for anemia resulting from iron deficiency, and probably vitamin B12 deficiency as well. → Yes, one can be malnourished even with 3000 kcal a day.

The back pain had already naturally become a part of me and start-up pain was added that fall. Also, I probably don’t need to elaborate on how much the stabbing pain of lumbago can completely throw you off track.

After the phone call with my dear mother-in-law, a switch flipped in my head. I had to do something! For the sake of my family, for the sake of my child, for my sake. But how? I had no idea how to accomplish the weight loss I longed for. So I asked friends for advice.

Calorie Counting

Never in my life had I counted calories, let alone weighed food. So this was completely new territory for me.

Writing down everything you eat? The thought can be daunting since we often associate pleasure with intuitive eating. But fortunately, there’s an app for everything these days to make things easier. My favorite among the tracking apps for nutrition is definitely → Fatsecret.

Fatsecret provides all the important functions for free and is also virtually ad-free. In addition, the app includes a social media platform. This allows you to exchange ideas with others and find tips, confirmation, or comfort in the process. The feeling of being part of a community can really make a huge difference.

In the beginning, I didn’t weigh foods but mostly went by eye. For starters, that was okay. You don’t always have to make a 180° change right away, important is to be heading in the right direction.

Tracking food first made me realize how unhealthy I had actually been eating up to that point!

Over 240 kcal for a simple pretzel that has hardly any nutritional value? I’m definitely better off with an omelet spread with cream cheese and topped with tomato. The latter not only keeps you full longer but also provides proteins and vitamins.

With time, you can learn a lot of tricks for food preparation! For example, rice can be replaced with cauliflower rice, or you can spray your pan with fat instead of pouring the oil in en masse. → Food doesn’t need to be swimming in oil! Which was sometimes one of my previous mistakes.

A Book That Dispels Myths

One of my friends is a medical doctor and recommended this book to me: “Conquering Fat Logic” by Nadja Hermann.

The book was life-changing!

We constantly read about various myths such as the much-feared “starvation metabolism”. By now it is clear: the starvation metabolism as it is propagated does not exist.

→ According to the laws of physics, it is impossible to gain weight if you take in less energy than you consume.

Nadja Hermann explains in her book plausibly, why we assume nevertheless often a starvation metabolism and what manipulates our perception in such a way.

She addresses the reader relentlessly and not always with the desired sensitivity. But she speaks in a straightforward way and backs up her claims, which lends credibility to her statements.

The final message is therefore crystal clear: to lose weight, we need to eat fewer calories than we consume. That’s basically it. That’s all the magic behind it, and there’s no need to complicate it unnecessarily.

I Discovered My Love for Intermittent Fasting

There are several forms of Intermittent Fasting, for example:

• 16:8 → 16 hours/day fasting
• 18:6 → 18 hours/day fasting
• 5:2 → max 500~600 kcal on 2 days/week.
• OMAD → One Meal A Day

Every person has different needs and a different daily routine. And just from that, it depends on which fasting method or meal times you decide for yourself. For example, I have met people for whom lunch was their first meal. They simply weren’t hungry in the morning.

Unimaginable for me, I need my breakfast! And so my daily fast was over at 9 am and started again at 5 pm. As you can see, I had chosen the 16:8 method. Whatever you decide to do, you should always plan to cover all the nutrients your body needs with your meals.

Fasting can help you eat less overall. Especially our big enemy, cravings, can be effectively fought this way! Because once your body gets used to the set meal times, cravings also stop during the fasting period. This way I can do without evening chips & Co and I don’t mind it at all! Isn’t that great?

Intermittent Fasting is said to bring even more benefits! So it is said to reduce in particular belly fat, provide for an improved skin appearance, function as natural anti-aging means, and to let us sleep more restfully.

If you are still inexperienced in fasting, it can not hurt to first consult a doctor and have your blood values checked regularly. Especially with more extreme methods like OMAD, good planning is essential.

To get started, however, I would recommend beginning slowly with 12:12. This is how I also started. Then I gradually extended the fasting period.

Activity Is Important

Well, for those who suffer from high overweight, exercise plays a subordinate role. Because as long as we carry around so many extra kilos, our basal metabolic rate remains relatively high anyway.

→ The basal metabolic rate is the number of calories we consume just to maintain our vital functions.

In addition, being overweight increases the risk of injury, as the kilos put extra strain on our joints. This does not mean that you have to or should give up exercise. However, it makes sense to give priority to nutrition when in doubt. The effort involved in 20 minutes of running, for example, is disproportionate for a very obese person.

A long walk, on the other hand, makes more sense. And you should also incorporate as much activity as possible into your daily routine.

• It makes a big difference if you choose the stairs instead of the elevator.
• You can walk around your home while brushing your teeth.
• When hanging laundry, you can put the basket a little farther away and walk the extra distance from the basket to the clothesline with each piece of clothing.

I also got myself a treadmill and an exercise bike! Not for fast endurance sports, but for walking and leisurely cycling instead. There are many occasions when a treadmill or exercise bike can be really useful!

• For example, there’s nothing wrong with exercising while watching your favorite show.
• Reading also works wonderfully, whether it’s a book or stories on Medium.
• You can play mobile games.
• You can use the time to learn a foreign language on a mobile app.

And always remember: Even slow movement is so much better than no movement!

There are so many possibilities! Your imagination is the limit. You can even prepare Medium articles while doing something for your body. An app that converts speech to text can help you do that!

However, the closer you get to your normal weight, the lower your basal metabolic rate becomes. And with that, exercise becomes increasingly important.

For example, with my 54 kg (119 lbs), I have to cover about 10,000 steps a day so that I can eat 1850 kcal. If, on the other hand, I sit in front of my PC for most of the day, I can hardly exceed 1450 kcal. Unfortunately, that’s how it is when you’re a small woman like me.

Drinking Water Is the Key!

True, often we are so used to sweet drinks that we have lost the desire for plain water. But I have great news! Humans are creatures of habit. And if you give water a chance, I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before you get a taste for it again!

It doesn’t have to be still water either. I much prefer sparkling water, for example. I store boxes with 0.5-liter bottles at home and I always have one of them near me.

→ They are glass bottles, by the way, because I have noticed that the water in plastic containers takes on a slightly weird taste. But maybe it’s just me.

Water prevents the aging of the skin and also keeps it elastic. This reduces the risk of skin “sagging” after losing weight. For example, in my case, nothing hangs, although I have lost a relatively large amount of weight in a short time.

In addition, we often confuse the feeling of hunger with thirst. So if this feeling hits us apart from our regular meals, we should always drink something first.

What I have noticed, by the way, is the more often I drink water, the more I enjoy it. 💬 Why don’t you give it a try? Let me know in the comments if it works for you, too!

With Peloton Digital and HardCORE on the Floor the Dream Body

When I was at about 143 lbs (65 kilos) / a BMI of 26, I started to exercise more regularly and intensively. This included strength training in particular. And I found the perfect workout plan for me!

First, I signed up for Peloton Digital. The membership costs only €12.99 per month (in $ it should be almost the same amount). With this subscription, you have access to all live classes as well as classes on demand.

There are workouts with weights or without, as well as endurance training on the treadmill or bike. There is also a wide range of other courses, such as yoga, Pilates, or simple stretching. The trainers are top! They are very friendly, competent, and motivating.

And how lucky was I when by chance I discovered “HardCORE on the Floor”! Hcotf provides a free training plan every month, which is made up of various Peloton workout videos. You can find the group that publishes workout plans on → Facebook and on → Instagram.

I didn’t always do everything that was on the plan. My workouts can be summarized as follows:

• 5 times/week 10 minutes core training
• 2 times/week 30 minutes legs & glutes
• 2 times/week 30 minutes upper body

I did endurance training whenever I felt like it. Most important were the 10,000 steps per day.

The photos show how effective the training was. Also to consider: I am a mother of 3 children. As you can see, our bodies can achieve amazing things!

They Say the Hardest Part Is Keeping the Weight Off

I reached my desired weight of 119 lbs (54 kg) at the beginning of April 2022. Since then I have stayed between 54–56 kg, which corresponds to a BMI of 21~22. I now wear size S and feel very comfortable with it.

Maintaining the weight works flawlessly with simple math and a fitness watch such as Fitbit. With my Fitbit, the calories displayed are pretty much correct at the end of the day. I take the weekly average and calculate that to the individual day. And that is what I can eat daily without gaining weight.

But don’t worry, you won’t have to count calories forever! Depending on how quickly and how well you develop a feeling for the calorie content of your food, you will sooner or later be able to do without tracking.

It is also important not to let old habits return because that would then lead to the yoyo effect. So it’s not the “starvation metabolism” that magically makes us gain weight all of a sudden, but much more the fact that we return to the same unhealthy habits we already held when we were overweight.

Intermittent Fasting is something I’ve kept up with, by the way! For me, it relaxes my approach to food. And besides, the other benefits that Intermittent Fasting brings are not to be underestimated either.

One Year Later a New Person

The difference from just a year ago is just mind-blowing. I mean, I had hoped that my life would change for the better, but I honestly never expected such a new beginning.

All the aches and pains I listed above are gone! And I feel decades younger. → The headline of this story was no exaggeration!

I’m finally enjoying buying nice clothes again and often still can’t believe that the woman in the mirror is really me. I was hoping to be able to wear skirts again. I never even dreamed of belly-baring tops or even a bikini.

My self-confidence has also become stronger because I have achieved something I never dreamed possible.

And I really hope that many more people can experience this change. No one should have to feel like they are 60 or 70 when they are actually in their 40s.

Our body is a part of us and therefore a friend — not an enemy. And we should treat it as such. We deserve it.