So I have talked at length about 500 calorie down days or down days in general. Mainly I focus on them because they take much more effort than the up day. however, I have realized I need to share more on the up days so that you can see just how freeing they are.
So here is a recent up day that I had. This was following the down day where I ate two chicken sausages and a scramble. I mentioned that I planned a down day so that I had the ability to meet my husband for lunch and still enjoy the rest of the day.
The crazy thing was my up day turned into a nearly 12 hour eating window. And guess how much I stressed about that? Not at all! I enjoyed lunch dinner and we went to an outdoor movie event where I enjoyed concessions and s’mores. I was able to enjoy this day and a fun summer event with my family without feeling left out from the food or feeling guilty for partaking in it. previously it would have been a nightmare if I were dieting or even without fasting and not dieting. I would have either skipped out because I thought I couldn’t and obsess about what I missed out on. or I would have enjoyed the food while I was there and regretted it later when I felt like I made the wrong choice.
The amazing thing with down days and up days is I was very intentional with my fasting schedule and that gave me peace of mind and the freedom to fully enjoy the wonderful fun we had.
First of all my husband and I had lunch at one of our favorite spots. It’s carry out only so I picked up a dr. pepper for me to drink from Panera, I picked up an Apple Fritter from our favorite local donut shop, and finally tots and a chicken sandwich from the local restaurant.
The Dr. Pepper was part of the Panera Sips club and I generally don’t drink that much pop but it sounded good because it was a hot humid day. My husband and I split the apple fritter once our meal was done and it was absolutely delicious… however I did make sure I gave my husband a little bit more than I ate to be a fun wife 🙂
But the star of my lunch was the Korean style Soul fried chicken sandwich. it had kimchi a Korean coleslaw and a delicious Hand battered fried chicken chicken chicken patty on a brioche bun. I have had the sandwich many times but every time I returned to the restaurant I don’t want to try something else I love it that much!
Now imagine eating this chicken sandwich while I’m calorie restrictions or Weight Watchers. It may have been impossible to enjoy because it’s a small family-run restaurant they don’t have to share calories and I would simply be guessing. To be honest that probably means I would be avoiding it. even if I did eat it I would feel like I maybe made a mistake because I wouldn’t know exactly how to account for it and whatever diet program. I have been able to completely lose that mental restriction thanks to intermittent fasting.
I’m always asked if I’m going up day I snack in between meals and the short answer is yes! I actually didn’t eat dinner with my family cuz I was still full from lunch so I snagged on a few Doritos and a giant bowl of watermelon while they ate dinner.
Eventually when I was hungry I heated up some leftover pasta and mix it with cottage cheese. I don’t know what gave me the idea but when I was little we used to eat cottage cheese with spaghetti and it suddenly sounded good. since the meal didn’t have any protein with meat I made up for it with cottage cheese and let me tell you OMG it was delicious! Once again the only day that I count measure or consider calories is on a down day.
So the local high school was putting on a fundraiser and showing a movie out at a local baseball field. the concession stand was open and I enjoyed some hot popcorn. This is the same concession stand available to me my son’s entire t-ball season. It always smells good, but it never seemed window worthy until today. And how fun was it that because I planned for it I was able to do it. And it was delicious. I didn’t get a drink at concessions because I brought my own water mixed with watermelon salt LMNT electrolytes. This is my favorite LMNT flavor and it was super refreshing to have on the ball field especially while the sun was still out.
My son also got skittles while the movie was on and shared some with me. Since the movie didn’t start until it was dark we didn’t end up going to bed until past midnight. Right before bed we surprised our kids with an evening swim under the glow of our outdoor lights. And we finished the night off with s’mores. Now I’m not a traditional s’mores partaker, but I love, love, love roasted marshmallows. And when I say roasted, I mean burnt chard and gooey. So I had several right before I close my nearly 12 hour eating window. I went to bed with a full belly & heart!
Most of my up day is do not look like this. They are usually much closer to 12 hours and include lunch and dinner, with at least one of them being homemade. But I love that I am able to have up days that look like this as well and not carry any stress associated with it. I know some people judge my food choices, but what they fail to realize is this was my diet before fasting as well. I am now able to give my body the benefit of a long fast and less time to consume the foods that sound good to me. I have found balance and I have found freedom and for that I am so grateful.
