Approaching 70, I was Depressed, Unhealthy and Overweight

Before I found Intermittent Fasting

Before I found intermittent fasting I was very unhappy with the way that I looked, in fact I’d say I’d lost myself. I always had the biggest smile on my face socially but was so unhappy inside. My husband was getting worried because it was increasingly obvious that I was depressed. 

In part it was because I was hitting my seventies and my health was beginning to deteriorate.  I had thyroid and heart issues which made me feel like I was failing at life because it was my fault I had put on so much weight. If guilt and ill health weren’t bad enough, my self-esteem was at an all-time low because I was also ashamed of the way I looked. I’d see a photo and want to curl up in a ball and cry.

When I look back, essentially I was desperately sad inside and really didn’t like myself very much, let alone love myself.

I discovered the long-term sustainable solution

It was then that I saw an ad for SuperFastDiet, and I was intrigued by the idea of an online, intermittent fasting program. I figured, why not give it a go? I’d tried pretty much everything else so what did I really have to lose, except the weight of course.

I did the 3-Day method and found that it wasn’t actually very hard to diet only three days a week then eat what I liked the other four days. I didn’t expect to drop much on the scales but I was pleasantly surprised to find that I started to lose weight immediately. That made me really excited right from the first week. This continued on for weeks, then months, and the number on the scales kept going down, lifting my spirits, but of course eventually I faced pitfalls. I’m a human being after all.

Intermittent fasting was a lot easier than I expected

Strangely, the challenges weren’t in the fasting lifestyle itself, it was the comments from other people that threw me. There were times when I felt they were trying to entice me to stop, saying things like ‘Oh I forgot, you can’t eat that or you can’t drink that, you’re on a diet!’ or ‘you look too skinny- you need a good feed!’ – even when I told them I would eat whatever I liked tomorrow and this was just a fasting day.

People can be funny like that sometimes but I got past it after a while. I decided to pull up my big girl knickers and not let them get under my skin, after all I was doing this for me, not for them. And this was my actual life we were talking about.

Other than that, I found intermittent fasting easy. I can have all the treats I want on non-fast days and a few glasses of bubbly on the weekends too. I never feel deprived and I never feel guilty. That’s what I love the best. No guilt. Not about food, not about drinks and now, no longer about my health or my size.

Now I feel as if I’m in my 40’s

The rewards have been life-changing. At 72, I am now 3 sizes smaller and 15kgs/33lbs lighter and have kept it off for nearly two years. My thyroid has levelled out for the first time in 20 years and the medication I take has halved. 

I feel as if I’m in my 40’s! I’ve always loved fashion but now I can wear it again and feel amazing. I absolutely love dressing up and going out especially that I’m now the same size as my daughter.

That depressed, unhealthy woman has long gone. In fact, sometimes I have to pinch myself because I find it hard to believe that the person I see in my reflection is actually me.  My children and my husband say I am always laughing and happy now. They love the ‘new me’ and amazingly, I love me too. I have been given my life back. I feel healthy and free.

Intermittent fasting is just an amazing way of life, one that I will never give up.