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

Hi,

First the good news: I hit 303.25 two days ago as a result of the fasting twice a week. I was really surprised when I saw that number before my very eyes.

I still fluctuate up and down, but today is the beginning of my first fast day for this week so I am just finishing up my first meal of the day and will fast after that. I had just skipped eating earlier today without considering that this is the preparatory fast day. I usually try to eat two meals on this day, but, the day is half over and I cant go back. Dont think I need to really.

I decided to eat a large bowl of steamed Italian green beans, broccoli, and peas plus a pork rib for the protein before I begin the fast. That is out of the way, now, so the next time I eat will be tomorrow at 4:30.

Second the bad news: Ive been dealing with my left knee again. It went out a week ago last Thursday and was very excruciating. I figured I would treat it as I always do which is to wear my knee brace until I can again walk normally. It is Sunday and I am, day by day, seeing some improvement but it still feels "stiffish" right now and I have some small achy pains from time to time depending on the position I put it in.

I went to see Dr. Andy, my chiropractor on Friday and he aligned both the knee and my foot and I did see some improvement the next day. It seems to be improving each day. Ill go to see him again on Tuesday.

The thing I am worried about is collecting all the cookies for the bake sale that I am spear heading for Trinity Childrens center this week. The community sale is being held at the Gwinnett Braves stadium on Saturday and I hope my knee is well enough to allow me to work the booth.

It is the loading and unloading of the cookies when they reach my house that I am kind of worried about. Im thinking of asking my friend John if he will help me with that, but he is often incapacitated and unable to do those kinds of things. The cookies should not be heavy it is just that there will be so many of them. Our goal is 100 dozen and we have about eight people baking them. Im supposed to be making cookies, too.

I am simply putting my trust in the Lord. He will help me to accomplish all that I must do and heal my knee in the process, too.

Now about the fasting....

I feel that Ive done it enough times now that I kind of like the way I feel when Im fasting. I know Ive mentioned that before but it needs to be said again: fasting is really quite easy. As Ive been doing it Ive begun to notice some things that I would never have noticed without having fasted on a schedule.

For one, I think it must actually be more "normal" than I used to think. Having grown up in the US and been fed at least three meals a day for my entire life, fasting used to seem like a dangerous thing. I associated fasting with emaciation, starvation, eating disorders, sickness and disease. It just never seemed possible that there might be a healthy side to it and it might actually be a healthy thing for the overfed to do. Even though I knew Jesus fasted, many of the saints fasted, and it is a natural part of the Old Testament, too, it just seemed beyond extreme to my mind.

You know that idea that when you buy a yellow car, suddenly you see all the other yellow cars on the road? Well fasting seems to be like that for me. Now that I am fasting from time to time, I notice when someone or something points to the fact that our ancestors may have fasted as a matter of course, that I had not realized.

Granted, many of them are just "hints" but they are beginning to be seen by me. Like the idea of having a cup of some hot liquid for breakfast, be it coffee, tea, or broth. That is what I do when Im fasting, I drink lots of water and tea. I never had a liquid meal before I started fasting. Every meal had solid food. And that was part of the problem that I could not see.

Ive even blogged recently about not being able to tell the difference between hunger and thirst. I really do see now that drinking water is a valid response to the feeling of hunger. If you cannot tell the difference then they are the same feeling, arent they? I spent most of my life eating when I may have been thirsty. Ive struggled with keeping my body hydrated for as long as I remember, too. Obesity and dehydration were my two companions, but now that Im fasting, I can see the real value in drinking water and my mind now accepts the concept that I might be thirsty when I get "that" feeling.

It seemed odd to me that when I fasted I also eliminated more water than usual -- like my kidneys were functioning better. When I first noticed it, it was a puzzle to my puny brain. I was surprised that I started peeing more often when I fasted. So much more that it was noticeable to me. But really, if you are drinking more you will be eliminating more, too. Ding. Ding. It all began to make sense. My body was no longer dehydrated because I was not responding to the "feeling" that I call "hunger" with food but with water or tea. My body liked the change. So the solution to the obesity is also the solution to the dehydration. Eat less. Drink more.

I dont resent having been fed, that is not the point. I am relieved that it is OK to not eat some times!! In fact, it is a good idea, for me to drink water and skip the food from time to time. It just seems so natural and so obvious. I wonder why I never saw it before. Dont know why. Just glad I stumbled upon that one. LOL

So this means my inner core ideas about food and eating were based on belief and not fact. My body never did seem to match my beliefs about food. It has been a struggle all my life. The fasting seems to be the best solution to my particular dilemma. It reduces my calorie intake without me having to fight and to measure and to control every morsel that goes into my mouth -- which I was never good at, anyway. It also increases my water intake and helps to make my kidneys function better. So amazing to kill those two birds with that one stone.

I wish I had something more profound to say but that is about it. The fasting is working. The fasting is easy. The fasting makes me feel good and my body function better. Praise the Lord!!

Be back soon,

Marcia