Dear Annie: Fan of fasting

Dear Annie: I cannot tell you how elated I was to read the letter from “Eating and Satisfied.” I, too, found success with intermittent fasting even to the extent of losing more than a hundred pounds.

The experts have found that going without food for 16 to 18 hours straight will facilitate faster weight loss by using up your glycogen stores. Unless you are an athlete, which most of us are not, one of the worst things you can do for your weight is to eat every few hours.

I found success with the two most common forms of fasting: the 18-hour fast and the 24-hour fast. One month I will do the 18-hour fast, where I will finish eating for the day by 6 p.m. and not eat again until noon the following day. I can then eat as much as I reasonably want (the key is “reasonably”) between noon and 6 p.m. The cycle starts again after supper and continues on a daily basis.

he following month I switch to a 24-hour cycle, where I will eat whichever meal I choose, generally lunch, and then not eat again until I reach that meal hour 24 hours later but only twice a week. My fasting during that cycle amounts to only eight to 10 days for the whole month total.

Intermittent fasting has become the silver bullet that has killed my lifelong struggle with weight loss. The residual positives are that my cholesterol and blood pressure have gone down, my HDL’s have shot up, and my LDL’s have dropped dramatically, along with increased muscle tone and energy. I’m 64 years old, and I now look like I’m 40, and love the admiring looks from both men and women.

Intermittent fasting has changed my life, and if I could stand on the street corner and shout from a pedestal, I would do it. Going without food for 18 or 24 hours is not as hard as you may think. I tried every diet plan available, including all those you see advertised on television that will cost you beaucoup bucks, and something free that was inside of me the whole time was the key to success. Thanks, Annie, for letting me share. Skinny and Happy

Dear Skinny and Happy: Yours is such a cool story. Thank you for sharing it.