Well I have more or less ditched my nine week self-imposed healthy living project. I just wasn't following any of my guidelines.

I'm the type of person who needs to be told exactly what to do and then I'll happily do it. I'm not a self-starter or self-motivator. The other day on line I came across the idea of intermittent fasting. I think I've heard about it before but I don't remember. I decided I would try it as it's pretty specific about what you do. There are numerous ways to do IF. I've settled on a method called the IFast method found on ifasters.com. It combines what is called a 5:2 fast with a 24 hour fast. I've also added a few of my own things into it (things I've done before that have worked).

Generally IF doesn't include counting calories but it is an absolute must for me. I do a horrible job guessing calories.

I just started on Tuesday night. I stopped eating at 6 pm after eating a full day's worth of food, and then did not eat again until Wednesday at 6. This method recommends fasting between 18 and 24 hrs, I'm shooting for 24. At 6 pm on Wednesday I had a meal totaling about 550 calories. On Thursday I ate normally and today I ate normally but once again I stopped eating around 6. I will not eat again until tomorrow (although it might not be a full 24 hours, it might be closer to 22 or so). Anyway, I will then eat no more than 25% of my regular calorie allowance. I'm making Sunday a modified free day allowing myself no more than 500 extra calories. I'm doing the same thing on Thursday. In total it's two days of 550 calories, 3 days of 1500 and 2 days of 2000 calories. It averages out to be about 1380 calories a day.   I want to do this for a few weeks and see how it goes. I like it because it should train me to eat within boundaries which is my biggest issue. I count calories but then I keep eating even after my calories are gone.