My Weight Loss Journey: How Intermittent Fasting Worked for ME

I was never skinny. At least not as skinny as I wanted to be. I was very insecure about my weight.

I remember I was in Thailand in 2013. Most of 7-Eleven stores have this weighing scale by the door where you can slot in a baht coin and it will tell you how much you weigh.

I was outside a 7-Eleven, waiting for my then-boyfriend to get something from the store. I stepped on the scale and put 1 baht in the coin slot. All of a sudden, the screen of the weighing scale lit up as if I won in a casino slot machine and it started playing a song (you know, the kind of song that you hear when you lift the receiver on a Chinese telephone toy) and then it "shouted" how I weigh.

It said I was 150lbs.

In. Full. Volume.

It was embarrassing but I know I might just be paranoid that people around were staring at me. But still, it was embarrassing.

I am 5’3” and for that height, I was slightly overweight. To make things worse, I felt like all weight was garnered in my tummy area. And for someone who was traveling around Southeast Asia, mostly on beach destinations, I was very insecure being surrounded by lean westerners in their bikinis.

I hated looking in the mirror and getting photographed by other people because I always felt ugly and fat.

That changed when my ex and I broke up.

Yes, it sounds cliché, but I decided to lose weight not because I was heartbroken, but because I started to get more time for myself; on top of the fact that I no longer had a boyfriend who eats unhealthy food with me.

Within 8 months, I lost 30 lbs. I stopped eating sugary food, eat less oily, and went to the gym at least 5 days a week.

A lot of things changed in my life; like I was a completely different person.

My confidence skyrocketed.

I felt healthier; happier.

Then, like many people who went through the same journey, I stopped maintaining my lifestyle. Mainly because I was lazy.

Going to the gym become rarer and cheat days become more frequent. Although I still not drink soda and any sugary drink, I started eating more often than I already used to.

I regained half of what I initially lost.

New journey starts here...

One day, I was watching this movie called, Jungle, starred by Daniel Radcliffe.

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In the movie – which was based on a real-life event – his character survived three weeks without eating after getting lost in the Amazon forest. And then I thought, maybe if I won’t eat I’ll get skinny!No shit, Sherlock! But I didn’t want to be unhealthy. Also, who am I kidding? That’s going to be so difficult! I couldn't do that.

Out of curiosity, I browsed on YouTube to see if there are people who actually fasted for that long and how it affects the body if you do so. I saw this guy who did not eat anything for 30 days – he only drank water. He lost a lot of weight. But as you probably suspected, many people suggested how risky that venture was.

Then, a suggested video about intermittent fasting popped out. I did not know anything about it.

I watched it and learned how beneficial it is for the body.

If you want to know other benefits, you may refer to this link: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/10-health-benefits-of-intermittent-fasting

But what is intermittent fasting?

Basically, it is an eating pattern where you cycle between periods of eating and fasting.

There are many types of intermittent fasting, 16:8 being the most popular. This type of IF means you will NOT eat within a 16-hour period and have 8-hour food window. Some people do 12:12.

There’s no specific rule on what time you must start fasting and what food you should eat and not eat.

However, I start fasting at 9 PM and start eating again at 1 AM the next day.

I use this app called Zero. It helps me track my progress and sends me a notification when I finished a fasting period.

This is my one-week progress.

I also weightlift 4 days a week when I did this.

Here are more photos from random years when I was still heavier and now.

Sorry about the crappy quality of the photos! I might just re-upload them later :)

While my weight loss is not only intermittent fasting, I found it really helpful, healthy, and effective.

It is also very easy to get used to; at least for me.

Disclaimer: This is my own experience, don't take my words for it. If you, in any way get influenced by this content, make sure to do your own research first. Like I did. :)