I was moving along well with the liquid diet. I was comfortable with it, and my body has gotten used to it. Then I decided that this intermittent craze that was going around sounded good and I was going to try it in addition to what I was already doing. All to lose more weight, rapidly yet, safely.

I did my research about intermittent fasting. This fasting meant avoiding solid food for at least 16-18 hours, within a 24hour period. It also did not allow any high calory liquids. Therefore, no juice or tea/coffee with sugar etc. In my case, that would mean that I had to have my last meal by 7 pm and would not be able to eat again until midday the next day. My eating window would be 12noon to 7 pm each day. 

Within this fast, I was still able to drink water, with lemon, coffee with no sugar or milk unless low-fat milk. I did drink coffee with whole milk. However, since I am not a fan of milk, it was very little and probably made very little difference. 

I was already on all fluids, though my fluids did contain calories. All in all, I was ingesting approximately 700 calories a day. To do the intermittent fast, I tweaked my diet by moving my smoothie intake to midday. I would then have my soup about 4 hours later. If still hungry I would have another bowl of soup before 7 pm. 

Again my existing diet made adding intermittent fasting easier. I would ordinarily have my evening soup between 6 and 7 pm so not much of a change. And because the smoothie was quite heavy, I discovered that I could not have that and two sets of soups each day. 

With the new diet, I would begin the day with a glass of fresh ginger and lemon tea. Later, I would have a cup of coffee with milk, no sugar. I could afford it in my diet because with the fasting I reduced my eating twice a day. I also drank water with a slice of lemon (for taste). At noon I would have my smoothie. In the early evening, before 7 pm I would have my soup. 

The liquid diet allowed me to transition into the intermittent diet quite easily. My stomach had already shrunk decreasing the difficulty of adding the intermittent fasting to my weight loss program. A year later, I am still doing intermittent fasting. I begin my food day at 12noon. Before that, I drink water with lemon, or ginger tea, if inclined. 

I have been doing it for so long that I find it hard to ingest solid food before midday now. I still eat dinner at 6 pm and stop eating at 7 pm every night. 

My initial weight loss goal was to approach my target weight (determined by your height and other parameters- if you go to a website like Calculator.net, you can find that and other metrics). Or at the very least, drop down to a US size 12and I was determined. Starting from a size 16/18 this was no easy feat for me, particularly considering how many times I had tried and failed before. 

I have to admit the biggest fear in my mind about my diet was to stop the liquid diet and gain all the weight back. I had seen many people go through this. Begin a diet, begin to show positive signs of weight loss. Persevere through all the hardships of dieting, only to gain all the weight back once the diet stopped. 

Due to this fear, I stuck long to the liquid diet than I was supposed to. I also spent a lot of time reading, learning and understanding my body vis a vis food. Understanding my food habits, the prevailing food cultures. What was trending and why in terms of weight loss. Success and failure of weight loss. I also spent a lot of time researching different dieting options. Looking for alternative diets, better diets I could tack onto mine to make for increased weight loss. I was obsessed.

The first month ended with me still on a liquid diet and now on intermittent fasting. I made my diet, a mishmash of all I was learning. This meant that I could easily change, amend or even overhaul it month to month. I began planning my diet for the next month. Wanting to continue the same yet change it a bit so my weight loss did not plateau as my body adjusted to my new “normal”. 

I spent a lot of time looking up different soup recipes to ensure that had a variety of yummy soups to choose from. Changing up my smoothie recipe, whilst still maintaining the core ingredients in each smoothie. I shared some of these recipes in https://lifestyle.i-solf.com/thandis-smoothie-recipes/. Every day I journaled from the first day of my diet. I wrote down what I ate each day, how I felt, what I struggled with. It is from these notes in my journal that I can do this blog. 

At the end of my first month, as I reviewed each day what ate, some of the challenges I faced and how I overcame them. I realised something interesting, though not done deliberately, I realised that I had not any pure start single starch in a month. Though I had successfully managed not to eat any pure starch for a whole month, I still had a lot of energy. Albeit I could not have had the energy to run a marathon, but I functioned well each day of my new diet. 

So to recap, I began the weight loss journey, starting with a liquid-only diet. I started the intermittent fasting, intermingled with the liquid-only diet. I read a lot about intermittent fasting and watched as friends of mine tried it and failed.  Primarily I believe they failed because they saw the eating window as permission to eat whatever they wanted, and in whatever quantities. Often the wrong food and wrong quantities for dieting. 

Many of my friends were eating more, within the short eating window, with intermittent fasting than when they maintained their regular eating habits. I saw this a great addition to my diet and successfully added it to my diet. intermittent fasting so much that I still practice it now, a year later. 

This whole weight loss process has taught me a great deal. Following my diet with discipline has helped me lose weight. Subsequently, all the knowledge has helped me change my attitude and relationship with food.

With the new knowledge, I understood a lot more about what my body needed. I got over the cravings, which were a result of my mind trying to reset back to known habitual behaviour. Listening to my body each time I ate and following the cues. I knew when I was hungry and when full. I was able to understand the importance of self-discipline in a world where we are all too indulgent.