This turned into a MUCH longer post than I intended, so I’ll make a list of what I address

Intro

Starting Stats

Backstory

Diet

Exercise

Pros

Cons

MASSIVE CON (if you are considering doing ADF, if you read nothing else I write here, please read this) Final thoughts and before after info

From March 19, 2022 to August 10, 2022, I [then 37M] did steady ADF along with exercise and a (mostly) controlled diet. In that time, what came out to 20 weeks and 4 days or 144 days, I went from 295lbs to 195lbs. Due to depression, work, and bad habits (along with other excuses) I am back up in weight and about to start the process again.

I wanted to share some experiences both to refresh myself and to offer perspective for people whom might be interested.

Starting stat: M//5’11”//295lbs

Backstory I was bloated, tired, and drinking too much. Like many, the pan dandy isolation had led me to take a bad toll on my health, but I was already in poor health before.

Speaking to that, I was suffering many medical issues and heading down a really bad path. I was pre-diabetic with a fatty liver, had pre-hypertension, severe sleep apnea, GERD which I took medication for, and was about to start medication that would have been necessary to take for the rest of my life

I had seen another person online find great success doing it and needed something to make a radical change. I did my homework and decided on March 19, 2022 to give it a shot!

It was definitely a process over the months, but I hit my stride around May and, honestly, it was not a lot of work, but there were definitely pros and cons which I will share

Diet Schedule: I stuck consistently to one day feast, next day fast, repeat. However, if for whatever reason I chose to eat on a fasting day, I didn’t restart the schedule. I just ate 3 days in a row and followed the original pattern. It helped me mentally and, in my mind, it was likely my body wouldn’t mind the extra day.

Food: by the end, it was high protein and high fiber. I made sure to get 1g of protein per lbs of body weight I WANTED to be, not where I was. I built it around the following:

Meal 1: started with a cup of bone broth with a dash of cayenne pepper an hour before eating, then egg whites (25g of protein) with a dash of low fat cheese and a high protein, high fiber wrap (10g of protein, 6g fiber) with 1 serving of non-fat Greek yogurt (9g protein) with pb2 powder (6g protein) and a serving of honey

Looked forward to this meal every morning and it’s still my go-to. Easy, filling, and malleable. Sometimes, I would just have regular eggs or no wrap. There was room to play

Meal 2: deli meat and cheese sandwich with low fat mayo and keto bread

Forget the macros on this one, but it was just a small meal to make sure I got protein and fiber

Meal 3: chicken to 45g of protein and either veggies or rice

Here, hot sauce and spices made all the difference. Premade the chicken for the week at first, then just got lazy and bought pre-cooked which cost more but was infinitely easier

Snacks: omg, reduced fat cheese sticks were a life saver. Low calorie and great protein for the price

Also, a glass of water with himalayan sea salt and a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar helped

Mistakes I made: I did not seem to lose weight at first because of my original meals. I basically hit my body with everything it needed. I did a fruit smoothie with almond milk, steel cut oats, and almond milk with about 3 scrambled eggs. Let me be clear, it was a head rush and pure pleasure, but it outright shut down my metabolism. Once I leaned it out and paced out my first meal, weight loss was consistent… mostly. I’ll get more to that later

Honestly, I’d also just snack and didn’t really deprive myself of fruits, veggies, or maybe even a few of my son’s graham crackers lol. Weight was not tough to lose, so I trusted my body needed the food

Exercise: While I did go to the gym to do cardio, the vast majority of my exercise was walking. I lived in an area that made this extremely easy, so I walked anywhere from 5 to 15 miles a day.

There is very little I would EVER recommend someone do from what I did. Your personal experience in taking care of your body should be one you cater to your immediate condition. However, one of the very few things I learned I would recommend confidently is WALK! Going for a walk was addicting for me and my family because it didn’t just get a comfy cardio in, it was unreal in its mental health benefits. Seriously, if physically able, just consider taking even a mile walk. If you just walk, you’ll open yourself to so much more. Can’t say enough and I would be happy to elaborate. Moving on…

Now, let’s get into it… Pros: Results. Once I locked it in, the weight melted off. In average, I lost about 5lbs a week or about .7-.75lbs a day. The change was undeniable. From the beginning of spring to mid-summer, my life had completely turned around. Not just with weight loss, but my health. Every ailment I had and was facing evaporated; I didn’t need a sleep mask anymore, hell, I didn’t even snore anymore; I was no longer pre-hypertensive; I didn’t need to take GERD meds anymore; no longer pre-diabetic. Gone.

People were actually shocked at my progress. My doctor nearly cried and let me know she never gets to see people make this kind of change. Said it gave her hope. Not to mention, I have worked as a nude art model for life drawing classes since 2012, even while obese, and seeing the progress in the art made of me was… I can’t truly express it. Just unreal.

I looked forward to trying clothes on. I remember walking through target with my wife and, on whim or even just to see how much more work I had, I tried on a medium shirt. It fit. I walked out of the changing room, eyes wide and jaw on the floor. My wife was doing ADF with me and did the same thing with size 0 pants. It’s perhaps shallow, but after dreading buying clothes now I could shop places I couldn’t before because they didn’t have my size.

It was also easy for me. I actually looked forward to my fasting days because it was just… easier! I didn’t have to cook or find food. I also just felt more relaxed. Then the food became even more enjoyable to eat, as well. I appreciated it more and was able to clean up a bunch of bad habits.

Cons There is one MASSIVE con I will address after this, but this will be the basic ones.

It can require a lot of discipline at first. You are not just managing physical symptoms of not eating, but mental. When someone like me who was dependent on food and drink to balance their mental self, it can be jarring.

Especially, when it looks like you don’t see results. Our bodies aren’t monolithic. We hold water and resources when they feel they are needed. Also, not eating does not mean your metabolism will work faster. I would be stellar with my diet and exercise over 4 days, only to see the scale not even move or, worse, go up. Only to drop like 3 lbs 2 days later. This can wear on you mentally. I just stuck to it and trusted it, that there was no WAY I wasn’t losing body fat.

I also lost muscle. Weight training was not possible for me doing ADF. I nearly blacked out each of the few times I tried. My goal, overall, was to do ADF to a certain weight THEN switch over to eating every day and focusing on building up muscle, so I stuck to getting the weight off my body

And I sweat… A LOT. I believe this was due to ketosis, but I would run on the treadmill and turn into a waterfall or, worse, a sprinkler. I had to thoroughly clean it. It was disgusting

MASSIVE CON IF YOU READ NOTHING ELSE IN CONSIDERING PARTAKING IN ADF, PLEASE READ THIS AND KNOW THERE ARE DEFINITE RISKS!!! 195lbs was not my goal weight. My goal weight was 165-155lbs. I was likely switching over to weight training at around 180-175lbs, but I had to stop due to a traumatic health issue caused by an important factor I did not take seriously in doing ADF.

IF YOU ARE GOING TO ATTEMPT ADF, MAKE SURE YOU HYDRATE AND INGEST AT LEAST YOUR AMOUNT OF DAILY FIBER.

When fasting, your body will hoard resources. You are also in a ketogenic state for a long time which can cause dehydration and crystallize cells, including those in fecal matter

I knew constipation can be an issue, but I did not appreciate what that meant. I just thought cramps and bloating which could be relieved by some stool softeners. That was not the worst of it

Essentially, my poops became dense hard rocks. Add the lack of appropriate hydration which made muscles and tendons less pliable and you have the recipe for anal fissures.

I have felt massive pain in my life, but nothing like this. It was absolutely debilitating and nothing could stop it. There were a couple nights I considered banging my head into a wall just to knock myself out. It ultimately led to me having to get a Botox injection in my rectum to stop the spasms and excruciating pain. After that, it healed but I decided it was time to pause ADF.

Please, if you do anything extreme like this, take fiber and hydrate well, at lease 0.5oz per lbs of body weight you are. If you haven’t pooped in a few days, consider a stool softener.

Final Thoughts: Even with the cons I mentioned, I know it was my lack of respect for the entirety of what I was doing that lead me to stop short. Honestly, I loved my experience except for that one MASSIVE CON, lol. Moreover, ADF is not at all how I want to live my life. I have a plan ready for when I get close to a healthy weight then one for when I reach my goal to maintain and stay in check. I adore the clearing of the cobwebs ADF offers and a chance to take a huge leap to make myself better.

But that is my choice. You will NEVER get me to recommend it to anyone as there can be serious health issues if you’re not alert and it can also trigger unhealthy behavior like eating disorders.

If you want to see results, check my profile but the pics are NSFW.

Feel free to ask any questions!