Intermittent Fasting

I love food.  But I want to fit into my pants so I’m trying it.

When I heard about intermittent fasting I was VERY skeptical.  My mom bought me a book.  I was still skeptical because the author only had a Bachelor’s I think.  But he name-dropped Marion Nestle and I have 3 of her books and trust her knowledge for the most part (I can’t get on to encouraging owners to make their own pet food).  So I hung in their and finished the book.

What I like about it is you don’t have to moderate your foods and portions and think about what you’re eating all the time.  And I like that you net less calories during a day even if you have say, Taco Bell.  I also like that fasting is giving the middle finger to big food corporations that are marketing abusively and hurting us ultimately for their own profit.

I was/am suspicious about hypoglycemia.  The author says the disorder is under diagnosed, overrated, and probably people who think they have it are actually just anxious about not eating.  Except, I had symptoms before I ever knew what blood sugar was, let alone hypoglycemia.  I wasn’t making shit up or having symptoms because of some anxiety.  I had and have some low blood sugar side effects.  But I tried to disprove it by looking up real research on Google Scholar, and everybody across the board was complementary of Intermittent fasting.  They even said it could be a cure for diabetes!  So I figured if people on insulin could fast without a problem so could I.

I tried it.  At first I wanted to get used to it so I just skipped breakfast and snacks every work day.  Which amounted to a 16 hr fast.  And it was kinda sucky.  I thought about food a lot.  Felt hunger a LOT–not just briefly either like the book promised.  And my stomach growled loudly, despite (always) drinking copious amounts of water.  I felt like I might get a headache and had a sort of lightheaded feeling.  Concentrating on work was difficult.  I felt like I looked pale, and I was definitely peked.

We started having a spoon of that super-food powder and on the 16 hour fasts, that does help take the edge off and fix the headachey/lightheaded feelings.  Not so much for the 24 hr fasts.  That headache is here to stay despite many asprins and boat loads of water.

Finally after 3 weeks (taking of weekends) of fasting for 16 hr every work day it wasn’t totally terrible.  So I thought I might try 24 hours.

I went dinner to dinner and got so hungry by noon that it was suffering until 5 Pm when it was time to break the fast.  I skipped our run, strength workout, and our creative intervals because I was so hungry.

The book said if one time doesn’t work, just shift the fast to a different time of day.  So even though my lunches are usually a smaller portion size, and less substantial foods than dinner I tried going lunch to lunch.  Oh and it made a big difference.  I still got hungry in the morning, but only for a few minutes at a time (vs. voracious and constant on the other).  So I have no idea what the difference is, but lunch to lunch is what my body prefers.

So after having finished 3 weeks of 16hr fasts per day and now 24 hr fasts twice a week for 2 weeks:  I don’t like how hard fasting is.  Nor do I like how I feel during a fast.  I do think I’m fitting into my clothes better and I like being able to eat the same as always at other meals and not upset my entire eating everything.  I also really like sticking it to the crooked food companies.  I do not think this way of eating will be a long term thing, and I don’t think I could sustain it over the long term.  Just because being hungry sucks.  But I will try–and hopefully with practice it will get easier.