Clean Fasting Mama

When maintaining weight meant deprivation.

I am a 40 year old mom of 2 boys (ages 4 and 7), and wife to my wonderful husband for 10 years. We live in Lake Mary, FL (suburb of Orlando). I am a full time stay-at-home mom now, formerly a paralegal (for 15yrs).

I started yo-yo dieting around age 16. Since then I have struggled with my weight. In college, instead of the “freshman 15” I gained about 40 pounds (18kgs). When I graduated, I lost it by working out 6 days a week, calorie counting and depriving myself constantly. I didn’t eat meat, carbs, sugar and honestly, I was miserable. I maintained (not so effortlessly) a healthy weight for about 4 years until I got married at age 30. This is when the weight started to pile on. I finally found comfort in a man that loved me for me. The comfort of marriage set in and before I knew it, I put on about 20 pounds (9kgs).

Stats

Starting weight: 185lbs/84kgs
Goal weight: 140lbs/64kgs
Current weight: 138lbs/63kgs
Highest weight: 200lbs/91kgs
Height: 5’3/160cm

Pregnancy came with gestational diabetes.

I became pregnant with our first son in 2014 and gained a good 60 pounds (27kgs). I lost it all rather quickly after giving birth but this time by joining a weight loss Multi-Level Marketing (so embarrassed of this!) and using supplements and body wraps. Hundreds of dollars a month to sustain and I lost only around 10 pounds over the next THREE years!

Fast forward to 2016-17. I was pregnant now with my second son. I was gaining just like the first time but at 28 weeks was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. Due to having to have an extremely strict diet to control my blood sugar, I didn’t end up gaining as much. It was what came in the next 2 years that was the worst.

Sugar became my answer to depression.

I tried to go back to work (I am NOT the stay at home type) when my youngest was 7 months old. It was an absolute disaster. My husband got a big promotion 9 months later and I was forced to quit my job and stay home with an infant and 3 year old in the town we just moved to. I fell into a horrible depression and developed a pretty nasty sugar addiction…you know the kind, when you’re eating an entire bag of candy in hiding, trying to cover up the wrappers in the trash. I ate ultra-processed food constantly; fast food cheeseburgers and fries were at least a weekly occasion.

Over those 2 years I gained another 25(ish) pounds (11kgs). I am 5’3” (152cm) and my highest weight was around 185 pounds (84kgs)…although I’m not 100% as I never weighed myself. I believe I hit 200 pounds (91kgs) at some point probably.

Be consistent and fast clean

Even the doctors couldn’t help with my health issues.

So many health issues started piling up at this point. I lived at the doctor’s office but none could give me any answers, and not ONE mentioned weight loss.

I tried everything to lose this weight. I would lose 5-6 pounds then it would come right back. This went on for awhile before I accepted that this is who I was now and that I would be unhealthy and miserable.

An old friend of mine had been telling me about intermittent fasting for about a year at this point. I thought he was NUTS. How could anyone not eat for 16-20 hours?! I was someone who carried snacks in my purse long before I had kids because I was taught, to keep your metabolism going you should eat 6 times a day!

When it finally clicked for me.

Fast forward to January 2020. I was getting my hair done and overheard the client next to me chatting about how she lost 30 pounds (14kgs) doing IF. I went home that day and began researching. A friend of mine invited me to Gin Stephen’s Facebook support group, Delay, Don’t Deny: Intermittent Fasting Support, where I lingered for about a week before deciding to start on January 24, 2020. I have been clean fasting every day since. I then read Delay, Don’t Deny by Gin Stephens, which completely changed my life.

Hunger is rarely an emergency

Intermittent fasting is now the passion I share.

I’ve lost 50 pounds (23kgs), meeting my original goal of 140 pounds (64kgs) in late October 2020. I have been maintaining now for over a year and a half, bouncing between 135-140 pounds. Almost every single health issue I had, gone. The best for me though- I have completely tossed diet mentality in the trash (along with my scale) and my eating has never been cleaner – out of choice! I love the flexibility and freedom of this lifestyle. I am mostly plant and fish based but enjoy some leaner meats. I do not deprive myself of anything, just delay when needed.

IF has truly saved me. The amount of gratitude I have for this community has now turned into my work and passion. In February 2022, I launched my podcast, Fast and Fabulous, which has already nearly 1000 downloads with only 4 episodes in. I love sharing my story and helping others find this unbelievable freedom. I also run an advanced spin-off Delay, Don’t Deny support group on Facebook with about 9k members, growing by the day and try to cultivate inspiration on Instagram as well.