I missed my 1 year Time Restricted Eating Update by about 6 months. Lots of changes resulted in many lessons learned. The good news is aside from adapting and taking breaks as needed, I have managed to stick with this for 1.5 years now. I first wrote about Time Restricted Eating (TRE) in July of 2022. Quite honestly based on some of the aforementioned changes, I did have some setbacks.
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Changes/Challenging Factors
Here are the challenging factors that made it difficult for me to stick to the 14 hour Fasting window I claimed as my personal “sweet spot” in this earlier TRE follow up blog post.
- Changed Work Schedule/Setting – TRE is more of a challenge when not working from home
- Traveling for Work – TRE is more of a challenge while traveling: More eating out; Less activity
- TRE While Sick – NOPE! This is a valid reason for a break. (I had not been sick since starting TRE so I never thought about this before)
Getting Back On Track
I love that I am the architect of my TRE journey, so I get to make and adjust my guidelines. Having experienced the challenges and the resulting setbacks (inches creeping up), I decided to recommit and get myself back on track by taking the following actions:
>>>Tracking
Speaking of getting back on track, Tracking helps me do just that. Here’s what I currently track:
- Hours: I generally focus on having a longer Fasting window and had previously gotten to 14+ hours. That’s tougher for me. Rather than quit, I now shoot for 12-13 hours Fasting when I need to be onsite, and 14+ hours when I am home.
- Activity: How much activity have I had? This includes walking, yard work, workouts etc.
- Measurements: Sticking with the measurements are key…even when they’re going in the wrong direction! I recently got a new *Digital Body Tape Measure to help with accuracy.
- Weight: I don’t weigh myself but I am weighed when I go in for my annual exam. This year I was up 1.6 lbs from last year. Initially I was pretty bummed, but then I realized it could have been much worse had I not been doing TRE.
>>>Resumed Short AM Workouts
Previously, I would often do 7-10 minute morning strength training workouts 3 days a week, and a Qigong Yoga Fusion Flow I put together on the off days. However I dropped them totally when time got tight. I quickly learned that they were helping once I stopped doing them. 😀 My Sculpting RX blog post is just one of the resources I leveraged. Additionally I decided that adding in pushups regularly (even only a few from my knees) is a great idea. As a further challenge, I found this 15 Second Pushup video. So far I can do ONE – from my knees – but it is actually more doable than it sounds. Check it out! BTW, don’t get distracted by the extreme stuff in the intro – unless you want to. I really like that he mentions modified versions too. We each start wherever we are and build up whenever we can.
>>>Resumed Kickboxing
I had previously learned that Kickboxing is an awesome total body workout that’s great for whittling away inches. I once dropped a dress size while the scale never moved! Naturally the resources I covered in my Kickboxing Rebounder Workout blog post came in very handy.
>>>Planning/Strategies
In my earlier follow up, I discussed minimizing evening and other commitments that delay dinner. That’s never more true than when working away from home! In addition to running errands during lunch, it’s important that (as much as possible) I know what’s for dinner, before dinner. That requires a bit of creativity and/or planning ahead. I’m getting better, but I like a little spontaneity too.
Kudos
Having shared the challenges, fortunately some kudos are also in order. I recently re-checked my measurements and some of the numbers are going back down. Clothes are beginning to fit looser again as well. I also see indications that I am losing inches in areas I don’t measure. That’s fine with me!
Conclusion
Is TRE working for me? I know it is, but I can also see that my progress is a direct reflection of my efforts – or lack thereof. There definitely have been challenges and setbacks as a result of changes. Should I quit? Nah! There will always be changes. I still take breaks for weekends, holidays, celebrations. That helps me stick with it. I also believe that there may be intangible health benefits that cannot be measured on the scale nor with a tape measure. Those intangible benefits have always been my primary focus. Recently I saw these 2 t-shirts on Etsy that I should nab. *Come to the Fasting Side is a bit of Star Wars humor. *Fast/Feast/Sleep/Repeat sort of sums it up nicely as well. While funny, each one reflects my commitment to sticking with what I started. That’s it! I hope your upcoming New Year is absolutely awesome!
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