Health for life

Hi,

Ive tried out a couple of fasting ideas and found some more useful information on the subject of intermittent fasting.

I was in the process of beginning to do 16 hour fasts with 8 hour eating periods when, on day three, an appointment got in the way of ending my fast. I had been reading about doing 24-hour fasts once or twice a week and I decided to just let the appointment have its way and continue to fast.

It was quite interesting to me. I did not feel stressed out as I would have, had I not been reading about fasting and realizing that missing a meal or two is not the end of the world. I decided to just observe what it was like to do the fast. It ended up that I did only 21 hours but, hey, I think that was pretty good, considering that I am a newbie, and this was a spur of the moment decision.

My plan had been to continue to eat what I am now eating which means the only change I was introducing was the amount of time between meals rather than anything about the content. The actuality was not quite that.

It ended up that at about 4:30 when I decided to end the fast I felt this compulsion to get a pizza and eat. I tricked myself! I should have eaten a real meal, but instead, I ordered a medium pizza and for some odd reason, I felt compelled to eat the whole thing, even though I had to force the last half of it down. So odd. But that is what happened.

I had one more meal and a snack after that before going to bed -- the snack came first because I was still feeling stuffed from the pizza. But I began again the next day. I finished my last meal at about 1 a.m. that night, and did not eat again until about 4:30 p.m. the day following. That turned out to be a 15.5 hour fast. Again I was really hungry at the time I ended the fast, but I was more sane this time. I really did not want to experience the compulsive stuffing again so I thought about how I was going to end the fast in a better way.

I decided to go to Panda Express. I still could not wait to eat so decided on fast food rather than prepared at home food. ( I was hungry NOW.)  If I had had a salad already made that would not have happened. I ordered the Shanghai beef, green bean chicken, and mixed veggies, plus one chicken egg roll. Wonder of wonders I could only eat half of it. Actually the same thing had happened the day before but I ignored my body and ate the pizza, but today, I did not ignore my body. When I felt full I stopped eating. Yeah! That felt better!!

I actually put on about 3 pounds overnight with the pizza stuff! But Im not stopping the fasting experiment, just yet. I need to give it some time and see what really happens after I get settled into it.

Ive been really impressed with two sources of information I found on the internet which are:

1.  http://eatstopeat.com/ -- which is a book you have to buy [$37] (but the infomercial part has a lot of good information about the author and fasting) even if you dont buy it. I bought it because I wanted to get as much information as I could. This plan advocates the 24-hour, once or twice a week fast, and has a ton of just good information about fasting, itself.

2.  http://www.precisionnutrition.com/intermittent-fasting -- which is a free book-sized PDF -- this one has a more "this is my story" approach but still backs everything up with research. This one also advocates more of a DIY fasting with instructions on how to fast according to your life style and goals. This one recommends a daily 16-hour fast/8-hour feed for men, daily 14-hour fast/10-hour feed for women or newbies of either gender, and also the 24-hour once a week fast just like number one above suggests. Dr. Berardi makes it perfectly clear that you can choose to do a 12-hour fast/12-hour feed, too -- or any combination that you are able or willing to try -- with guidelines.

I got a lot of good information out of both of them. The "Eat Stop Eat" has much more of the science and reasons and background of fasting and how the body responds over differing fasting time periods. It gave me enough proof to believe that fasting will end up actually being good for me health wise and also help me lose weight. The author, Brad Pilon, shares his own education background and I really do recommend his book to anyone else who is interested in an excellent basic primer on fasting.

The second one "Experiments with Intermittent Fasting" by Dr. John M. Berardi with Dr Krista Scott-Dixon and Nate Green will give you all the information you could ever use about how to incorporate the fast neatly into your life. It will help you figure out which one to start with and how to go about it. I highly recommend this one, too. And of course number 2 is FREE which is always a plus!! They are both PDF downloads, too, so you get the information instantly, which I always like.

So far, for myself, Im enjoying the new experience of feeling what hunger really feels like. It does not come with pictures in my head, which is a sure sign of "mental hunger" and addiction rather than actual physical hunger. There is a particular feeling that shows up in my stomach area and since I now know that fasting for a few hours is actually healthy, I embraced it and enjoyed the new experience!!

Of course, I have actually felt this before, but now that I am better educated on the subject of fasting, I did not feel alarmed or compelled to go and get something to eat right this very minute. I could wait and knew that it would not cause trauma or injury, of any kind, to me. The new "fast" information set me free from the fear that I might injure myself if I missed a meal or two or three in a row! It is so funny that we actually fear missing a meal. We dont think about that. We just feel it and eat, but once you begin to notice it, and have backed up the experience with education, then it is simply NBD (No Big Deal).

I kind of like it. Of course, what you eat in between the fasting hours is also important. Both of these men suggest that you not change "what" you eat, just "when" you eat to begin with. Especially if you are already following a particular eating program. Brad Pilon even suggests that you dont have to diet at all, if you follow his program of twice a week 24-hour fasting. The fasting will be the thing that reduces your caloric intake and you wont have to weigh, measure, and count what you are eating the rest of the time. You should eat sensibly meaning healthy kinds of food, in healthy amounts when you eat, and simply stop eating for a short time and then eat again. That is why his book is called "Eat Stop Eat."  You eat good food, not junk food, then fast, then eat good food again.

Im still not exactly sure which one I will end up doing. I would like to do the 16/8 but since I am a woman maybe I should do the 14/10. So far it is not so bad. Ill let you know how it goes.

Be back soon,

Marcia

For years, I have been brown-bagging my lunch, cooking most meals at home, and living what I thought was a fairly frugal existence, especially when it comes to food. But I’ve been living a lie.

Okay. Maybe “lie” is too strong a word. I’ve been living a fib, though. My big weaknesses are the inability to get a handle on weekly meal planning, reign in my impulsive food shopping, and stop eating cookies for dinner when I’m too tired to cook.

I’ve read and reread Kris’s article on meal planning, but to no effect. I wander aimlessly through the grocery store trying to remember what’s in my kitchen and then buy what I already have. I waste food—particularly produce—because I buy what looks good instead of what I need and often can’t use it before it goes bad. And when I’m tired, I stare into the abyss of my fridge, then eat cookies instead of cooking something.

Well, a few weeks ago, a delightful convergence occurred. I woke one morning with the compulsion to clean all the clutter off my fridge: sticky old magnets, food-stained recipe clippings, out-dated coupons.

I took a quick scan of the cupboards, looking for oatmeal, and realized I had two huge containers of kasha. I’ve never used kasha before, and I’m not quite sure what to do with it. Direct evidence of shopping without a list.

So I went online to look up a kasha recipe. But first I checked my Google Reader. There I saw an online posting (by Kris’ Husband-Elect—cue Twilight Zone music) of this totally rad magnetic clipboard and pencil cup at Design Sponge via LifeHacker.

The Hypothesis
I was in love with the jazzed-up office supplies and clean, visually compelling, downloadable menu and shopping list templates. Kate from Design Sponge stole my heart.

This is the kind of thing I need to get me to plan my meals: it’s simple, allows my list-making flag to fly, and it’s pretty. I really just needed someone to SHOW me what to do. With pictures. And a craft project. Because I’m 4.

Overcome with enthusiasm, I decided to plan my meals for the week and set several goals for the project.

1. Weeklong success
2. Less food waste
3. Savings on the grocery bill
4. Lower rate of cookies-for-dinner consumption

The Preparation
With orange and red paper and recycled magnets, I had tricked out my old, graffitied, high school clipboard and converted an old Tootsie Roll bank into a pencil cup. Pretty!

Then, I got (really) busy: I pulled down a few of my favorite cookbooks for perusal, scoured my cabinets and fridge for main ingredients, and started list making. It only took about an hour to come up with a viable menu. I was stoked!

And I couldn’t believe how many groceries I Didn’t Need to Buy. My pantry was so well stocked, my weeklong grocery list only had about 10 items, including produce and fresh herbs for four recipes and several miscellaneous items like seltzer, dog treats, and, yes, cookies.

The Results
1. Weeklong success—achieved. To my great surprise, I stuck to the menu all week. I loved looking at my pretty clipboard and checking off the days when I ate the meals. Some of the leftovers from scheduled meals out pushed back a couple of recipes into the next week, but …

2. Less food waste—achieved. Nothing spoiled in my fridge! Nothing! I only bought what I needed (sorry beautiful cabbage…maybe next week), so nothing went to waste. I really turned a corner.

3. Savings on the grocery bill—achieved. My total food bill for the week was $23.57, a savings of at least $15.00. I’m such an impulse food shopper, having a list was a godsend. Plus, I finally started making a dent in my overflowing pantry.

4. Lower rate of cookies-for-dinner consumption—achieved. I ate a grand total of 0 cookies for dinner. Don’t get me wrong, I ate cookies, but at more appropriate between and after meal times. And they were so much better that way.

Bonus result: Conversion—achieved. I am a meal-planning convert. I haven’t been to the store without a plan or a list (except for seltzer) since. I’ve saved a considerable amount of cash and tossed out much less food. And this week, I haven’t even bought cookies.

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If you dig this article, you might also like:

• The Hour: How 60 Minutes a Week Can Save Hundreds of Dollars on Food
• Recession-proofing Your Diet: Food Strategies for a New Economy
• Weekly Menu Planning for Singles, Couples, and Working People

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Photo from Design Sponge.