I US born but am living with my wife and children in Tokyo Japan. I’ve been in Japan this time just over 4 years.

When I moved to Japan my weight had crept up to about 106 kg (232 lbs!) I had pretty much given up working out when my youngest was born, she is just about 13 now. However I’ve always been husky and even when I was working out really hard my weight would typically be around 90 kg.

For a little over a year I starting doing some simple HIIT workouts. I also forced myself to eat less. My weight went down to about 92 kg, my waist went from around 125 cm (never measured) to 109 cm. I was always suffering from hunger.

For the next two years I tried to lose by working out harder and harder but I did allow myself to eat a little more, but not much more. My workouts tended to be over an hour and I would often lose 3kg+ during a workout of water. I ran, biked and did a lot of body weight calisthenics. I got to the point where I could do over 40 pull-ups in a workout or a few hundred pushups. I was pushing hard and I couldn’t lose weight. My weight went from 92kg to 94kg and my waist from 109 cm to 106 cm. I was always suffering from hunger.

Then I decided to really reduce my calories a lot more and I started by cutting out all deserts. That accounted for about 350 kc / day. When I did that my hunger vanished. I was eating less and not hungry. After some investigation I found out my hunger was tied to added sugars, and I cut down to less than 20g / day. I added back calories, but just with healthy foods. My hunger at worse was mild and I lost 8kg in 4 months. My waist dropped to about 87 cm. Wow!

My investigations brought me across IF. I tried skipping dinner a few times and found it easy. I have also trying skipping breakfast but have a little harder time with that. I had an overseas trip and decided to do a 30 hour fast and start eating destination time to reduce jet lag. It worked like a charm allow fasting for 30 hours was scary.

My easy weight loss from cutting back on sugar had stalled and I either needed to do something else or put in much more effort into cutting the little sugar I have left in my diet. (Mostly from fruit.) I’ve decided to give 5:2 a run for a couple months and see what happens.

I just finished my 3rd 36 hour fast. I’m fasting on Monday and Friday because my family is busy those days and it is easiest to avoid supper. I’m not taking in any food on the fast days right now. I think eating starts hunger so it is just easier for me not to eat. This morning my weight was down to 82.9 kg and my waist was 85cm. However that will snap back over the weekend.

I’m also planning on doing more workouts. I’ve found running while fasting to be almost easy. However I have a torn muscle in my leg right now that is almost healed.

My TDEE is in the 2500 to 3000 kc range depending on workouts. So I’m eating 0 on fasts, but typically ~3200 kc day after fast, more like 2750 kc next day and if there is a third day around 2500kc. I’m not really a fan of calorie restriction since I suffered so much from trying to do it. I more motivated by health improvements and typically don’t feel think of the fasting as calorie restriction. It doesn’t feel the same. For me calorie restriction feels like I’m starving my self. Fasting feels more like I’m healing myself.

Hi Bronx,

Most of Tokyo is concert jungle, but it is amazing how polite people generally are. When I’m back in the states I find that I really miss the Japanese store clerks. There are a lot of nice places one can go in Tokyo and traveling is quite easy without a car. That is very different. However, I really like the west coast of the US. I was living in Seattle, WA before coming to Tokyo. In the US you have lots of living space, that is really nice.

I’m surprised that you are fasting 2 days a week just to maintain. However I really don’t mind the 36 hour fast much and do really enjoy the 2 or 3 days of eating, so I in agreement there.

One of the things that is attractive about fasting is my diet doesn’t have to change and I don’t really have to worry much about calories. While I’m wouldn’t mind losing some weight, I’m more concerned about building lean body mass some. Not like a bodybuilder but enough to keep a bit ahead of my 15 year old son. My current plan is to try 5:2 for at least a couple of months and see how it goes. I’ll probably be in the states next Feb. and will probably do a DEXA scan then to see what my body fat and lean mass is. Back in Aug. my total body fat was 24.1%. Most diets cost some lean body mass, so hopefully I can hold on to what I have. I’m off my peak of exercise, but will be rolling in with some HIIT and general exercise over the next few months.