For me, intermittent fasting is a time travel machine. I started my weight loss journey (in the modern era) a few years ago. I’ve been overweight since I finished college in the mid 90’s, and though I used to run marathons, I did not run for about 20 years and gradually got heavier and
Heavier through 2019, when I used the advice of a dietician to briefly lose about 20 pounds from 240 to 220, but then went back up when I couldn’t maintain my food habits. I got to be my heaviest soon after, when I ballooned all the way up to 257, which is the highest I ever remember being on the scale. I was extremely uncomfortable and not enjoying how my clothes fit– ’cause they didn’t. Though the exact timing is foggy to me, I chose to begin running again in early 2023, when I had gotten back down to 242. It was also around this time that I fully transitioned into a newcareer. My last career, though exciting, was not conducive to establishing a daily routine—a daily routine is very important for establishing a fitness routine and reducing friction in healthyhabits. My new career is as a carpenter, which I’ve been doing since 2020. My old career was as an ice sculptor–yes, I am that guy. Both careers allowed lots of physical activity, butmy new career was not seasonal–thus daily routine became possible. Therefore, a fitness journey became a reality. Running helped my state of mind and helped me lose weight—I steadily lost weight all the way down to 209-213 and then hit a plateau I could not get past. On October 13th of 2025, I had my annual Doctor’s appointment, where my Doc usually tells me my cholesterol is high, my A1C is high, and I’m pre-diabetic–only this time he didn’t say any of that. My cholesterol was fine, and my A1C wasn’t outrageous–maybe 6. This was the first Doctor’s appointment I remember where one of those wasn’t too high. He said to keep doing whatI was doing, but I said I can’t get past 209, so I’m thinking of trying Intermittent Fasting. He was supportive of the idea, saying he had to change the routine whenever he hit aplateau, so I thought to myself, I can try this (for 30 days). I can do anything for 30 days, so I started that day. Four days later, I said to myself–I feel so good, I think I can do this for the restof my life! Also, during that time, I fully immersed myself in all IF podcasts and YouTube videos. I listened to a lot of Gin Stevens’ podcasts, and that’s where I heard about your podcast and then listened to yours for a while–(which I appreciate as a man). The IF journey is individual for allof us, but I really wanted to hear about the experience of men since I cannot relate to anything related to menopause. I also watched a lot of Jason Fung on YouTube. I stopped eating breakfast–I just drank black coffee and went to work. At lunch time, I ate the lunch my wife had made for me, and at 5 pm, I went home and ate dinner—then I did it all over again
the next day and the next. I started losing weight again right away–I was at 213 on October 13 and lost 2 pounds per week
for the next month…Around December, I got to around 199, but December is filled with culinary delightsand hazards–I still fasted every day, but I ate richer and sweeter foods, making it throughthe holidays, maintaining my weight instead of gaining (which is what I’d do every other year). In January, when my food became more routine again, I started losing again. I got down to 193 at theend of January, and now I am at 191. I say IF is like a time travel machine because every week I am lighter than the week before, I have to look further back in time to find the last time I was that weight. I am encroaching upon 1996 when I was working my first job out of college. The weight loss is not quick on 16:8, 17:7, or 18:6, but it is fairly steady, with some weeks showing gains and a big loss, and some weeks showing little to no change.
More in the episode.
New Zealand