IF Challenge Wrap Up - Well Done Everyone!
June 9, 2008
photo by SeraphimC
Congrats and well done to everyone that jumped in on the IF challenge (technically I think this is day 28 but let this be an early congrats then). I am hoping that everyone was able to make some great changes to their lifestyle and see some positive results. Remember, it’s not a contest…but a jumpstart into better lifestyle changes that will dramatically improve your health, increase your fat loss, build important muscle and best of all give you better understanding of how eating/foods effect you and how to control them to get the results you want!
Don’t worry if you didn’t jump in on this challenge, you can start your own at any time. Again, it’s not a contest but a motivational jumpstart to getting lasting results.
That being said, anyone that did this 30 day challenge (or does one in the future), you can submit to me your story, results, any pictures of progress and other things that will be displayed on the blog to help motivate everyone else here. Just email me at mike@theiflife.com . I look forward to hearing stories from everyone and seeing what progress you have made. Of course the journey does not end here….but now results and health are just easier to accomplish and most of all keep! (Diets don’t work….only lasting changes do!)
Congratulations to anyone who completed the challenge!
I am happy to report that I lost a dress size in the last month. I only have about ten pounds to go and I feel great. I am committed to using IF as a way of life and not just as a diet tool. Being and feeling healthy is my number one goal.
Mike OD, I never received the IF Report. Would you be able to e-mail it to me?
Lourdes
My size hasn’t really changed at all, but my eating habits are way different! My sister had even baked a cake and left it on display for a couple days (covered, of course), and I never tasted it, or even really wanted too.
I’m going out for a bit of ice cream tonight to celebrate my month of no dessert! I thought about going another 30 days with none but I decided a good plan would be to only have cake at birthday parties and other celebrations. Any thought on how that would work out? It seemed reasonable to me.
Next mission: kick out the processed grains!
I just started IF 10 days ago so I wasn’t part of the challenge.
I mainly got into it for weight loss.
I haven’t seen substantial weight loss only a pound or so.
I would love to know how much weight loss people on the challenge have seen.
Thanks
I’ve lost two pounds and had a small decrease in size. I was hoping for more weight decrease but I’m really about the body fat percentage, which I’ll be measuring on Thursday and will post back.
I started out with a daily fast with eating window of 9 am to 5 pm, but I think my problem with that was having to be home in the evening, cooking for the next day, and resist eating. There were transgressions
So this week I’ve moved my window to noon to 8 pm, which allows a nice cooked/bbq’d post-workout meal, and I think it will work out better. I’m certainly happier about it.
I also realized that only three workouts a week and very little cardio in that will not lose me the weight as fast as I’d like.
All in all I’m happy about this month and have made ajustments, we’ll see how they work out. And I’ll post the bf percentage back on Thursday. Thanks for the push, Mike
Glad everyone was able to see some progress. I will have a more comprehensive post on fat loss and how to achieve it. IF has the same rules as eating all day long, you still have to make sure you are eating the right foods (as IF is not an excuse just to eat deserts all the time). Fat loss is a journey, so taking the right daily steps are important. A good goal should be 1-2 lbs a week for fat loss (although some may drop alot more in the first 2 weeks, mainly due to glycogen/water loss). Again, more on this in the next post. Creating healthy lifestyle changes is what matters most…..as this is not the IF Diet….this is the IF Life.
I lost 5 pounds…my clothes fit better
Mary
I got heftier by listening to the advice you gave me a few weeks back.
Went from 136 to 149. I’m not sure how much of it is actually muscle but all I know is that I feel better, stronger, and my lifts have been progressing faster than my weight andI still have not outgrown my pants (yet!). So I think so far as good …
Thanks, Mike. Keep up this great site.
Mary - great job…imagine losing 5-6 lbs a month…and how much better you will feel in 3-4 months…6 months…1 year…etc. The slow and steady approach is the lasting approach…as there is no rebound effect. Well done!
Jason - I’m hoping my advice was to help you gain weight!
Good job and keep up the great progress….take some pics along the way…you may be surprised on the changes you are making….when you look back and compare you will see dramatic changes…vs staring the mirror everyday as you won’t see how far you have come.
Hi Mike,
I’m a ‘recovered’ (is there any such thing really?) anorectic and currently at a healthy weight with a BMI of 21. I started the challenge to gain more energy and muscle mass but found halfway through I was slipping back into my old habits. I was constantly thinking about food, obsessing about what foods I decided to put into my mouth, and becoming more and more depressed, moody and anxious.
Did anyone else find their mood affected during the challenge? I felt very unbalanced compared to how I feel when I eat regularly, probably because regular food intake helps to balance hormones, which in turn balance mood. I definitely feel that people with anxiety or mood disorders should think very carefully before starting IF.
IF is NOT for everyone. Before I started IF I felt very level headed and balanced emotionally. What a shock to find I had to stop because I was starting to feel so low! I’m not saying everyone is like this or that IF is not a valid method for weight control and muscle building, but perhaps you should post specifics on potential risks so readers can be more informed.
Louise - First, I suggest you to seek professional medical advice/treatment/help if you are experiencing any severe depression (or any other health concerns physical or mental). My site is informational purposes only….I am not a doctor…I am not telling people to do anything. My blog is not a substitute for professional medical advice or treatment. Anything you find here including IF is 100% use at your own risk (see the full terms and conditions of the site)
As far as IF goes, the 2 things I state all the time is if anyone wants to try any kind of IF is that they start slowly (even if just once a week) and stop if it isn’t working for them. IF may NOT be ideal or healthy for everyone as we are all different physically and mentally. So yes people need to know how to control what is happening. If something isn’t working, I’ll be the first one to tell you to stop. I don’t know people’s conditions and I don’t know what people are eating. Eating healthy should be goal #1 no matter how often you eat, but if there are negative side effects to anything you are doing the best route is to stop. I also say that people should check with their physicians before starting any dietary changes because I have no idea about anyone’s medical condition or past/present concerns like your doctor would. Also a doctor can monitor and start to notice when things may start going in the wrong direction. There is no such thing as a one size fits all approach….only what you can do to improve your life. I agree that the IF approach may not right for you at this time (although IF can be many different approaches and I have no idea what approach you were taking). People who find success with IF will understand 2 things: 1) there is no one way to do it and 2) If it’s not working there are many things that can be changed up (number of IF days, eating windows, foods eaten, exercise, taking several days off doing IF, etc…). IF is not some diet, not some quick fix….it’s a lifestyle attribute that you can fit into your life as it works for you…and you don’t have to do it all the time…hence why it is called “Intermittent”, it’s not meant to be the same thing all the time.
We should not be obsessing about foods, we should learn how to enjoy and be healthy from it. That is a journey we all face. In fact that is why I love the IF approach for me, because I am not obsessing about portion sizes and counting of calories. I am able to eat as much healthy foods I like and still indulge in other favorite foods (but of course in moderation). I know when I need to take days off from IF and because life is always changing it seems to happen naturally anyways. I choose the days I need to IF and only continue if I am seeing progress in both a mental and physical state. Through the daily journey of knowing what I eat, I can also see how it effects me….so in the long run I gain better control on knowing what to eat depending on what my goals are. I also get more in tune with what my body is telling me….so if it tells me to eat, I eat! IF doesn’t have to be daily, you can choose what foods you are going to have, there is so much freedom to the approach…and there is no one right way. It’s flexible and should be to meet individuals. I hope you can continue on your healthy lifestyle journey however you find is right for you and become healthier as you do it. I’m here to try help and support people live healthier lives whether they choose to use an IF approach or not.
As an update, my bf went from 28% at the beginning of the challenge to 24% now. Yay! I was a bit concerned about the fact the scale wasn’t decreasing much, but the bf decrease is great!
Thanks, Mike!
Katie - Great job! Now that is real progress…I bet your clothes are alot looser now too! Keep up the great work….as continuing to lose 1% BF a week is going to get you great results in no time at all….and these are the results that stick around too! (no rebounding!)