Today, a final update on the Intermittent Fasting experiment. All your questions answered, and by "all," I mean the only things anyone really wants to know are

• did you lose weight doing this?

• did you lose your mind doing this?

• can I lose weight doing this?

First I should tell you that while there are many ways of "Intermittent Fasting," all I did was start eating later in the day. I have been a lifelong lover of breakfast, but beginning July 2019, or about seven months ago, I started waiting until lunchtime -- or sometimes brunchtime -- for a proper meal.

That's it. Nothing extreme. I even had milk or cream in my coffee which plenty of proper IF devotees would disqualify me for.

At first, this was hard. I missed my yogurt and granola. My brain and my husband told me I would perish. That I could not go on 😱

Then it became easier. Pretty soon I noticed that life was just a lot simpler when I got up and got straight into the workday and the workouts without lingering at the counter for hours.

You might have more discipline than me. But I seem to accomplish more and resist work less with a structure that forced me to just get going*, first thing. So that's the answer to the second question. I didn't lose my mind. The opposite, actually.

As to did I lose weight? and can you lose weight?, the answers are:

No I did not and Yes you can. I did not lose weight by skipping breakfast because I made up for it by enjoying things that are even more delicious than yogurt and granola, like pizza and sparkling rosé. (Which, by the way, I continue to do.)

YOU can lose weight with IF if you don't make up for the food you're not eating.

THAT'S A BIG IF. If you think there's magic in timing, well ... there ain't. It's really not about timing of meals. It's not about insulin (for most of us). There's no magic.

It's just eating less. Which is what weight loss comes from. Everything else is a distraction, and you can safely ignore it all.

So if skipping breakfast, or some other IF scheme appeals to you, try it and see. If you already have a meal structure you like, stick with it. You won't be missing out on any effortless weight loss.


*This might be the golden key to the universe. Just speculating.