Current weight: 293 lbs,
Total weight loss: 12.8 lbs.
I’m in my second week of the program on a ketogenic diet, and so far things have been going well. Here I am day #13 and so far I’m down 12.8 pounds. And although my energy level isn’t great, I really haven’t been feeling that hungry or had major cravings. Part of it may still be the excitement of starting a new program. Let’s see how I feel in a few weeks:)
I did want to talk a bit about intermittent fasting, which is one of the elements that I’ve incorporated into my wellness endeavor.
Intermittent Fasting
Intermittent fasting seems to have become more popular in the last few years, and there are a variety of ways to do it.
At the most basic level, intermittent fasting means that there is a specific fasting period that occurs between eating periods. How long the fasting periods and the eating periods last varies from program to program. And like other nutritional advise, I think different programs work better for different people.
The main rational behind intermittent fasting is to give your hormones and digestive responses a rest. Every time we eat – and especially if we eat high sugar and protein meals – our pancreas has to release insulin to deal with the food. This is a normal hormonal response to eating.
When we constantly eat, our insulin levels are constantly elevated. And for some people, a constantly elevated insulin level can contribute to insulin sensitivity. This means that you require more and more insulin to deal with the same amount of food. And this can be a risk factor for developing diabetes, weight gain and possibly other metabolic disorders.
As I mentioned before, I generally haven’t been eating breakfast over the last year, and that is a form of intermittent fasting. With this, I shorten my eating window to 8 hours and then I fast for 16 hours. (My last meal is at 7pm and the next meal is no earlier than 11am the next morning).
Alternate-Day Fasting
Recently, I have been learning more about other types of fasting, including alternate-day and prolonged fasting. I read the book The Complete Guide to Fasting: Heal Your Body Through Intermittent, Alternate-Day, and Extended Fasting written by Dr. Jason Fung and Jimmy Moore.
Dr. Fung is a nephrologist and obesity doctor who incorporates fasting as treatment for his obese and metabolically ill patients. His Intensive Dietary Management program helps all types of patients lose weight and get healthy through different types of fasting.
Jimmy Moore has one of the longest lasting health podcasts and has lost a significant amount of weight and regained health through a ketogenic diet and intermittent fasting.
One of Dr Fung’s program strategies is to use all-day fasts three times a week.
Yes – you heard that correctly.
That means that you consume no food over a 36 hour period three times a week. Drinks – such as water and bone broth – are allowed. Diet drinks and artificial sweeteners are discouraged. On eating days, Dr. Fund encourages real, whole foods and not restricting calories – just eat until you are full.
And of course, this does not mean you are allowed to eat any junk you want the rest of the days.
As part of my wellness endeavor, I planned on using some form of intermittent fasting at least three times a week. Initially I was just going to continue skipping breakfast to accomplish this. This would mean that I would be fasting about 16 hours every day.
But, after reading more about fasting, I decided to try Dr. Fung’s alternate-day fasting approach.
This means that every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, my plan is to try all day fasting. My last meal will be the previous evening around 7pm. I will fast the whole next day and not have my next meal again until 7am the following morning – a total of 36 hours. (And if I continue skipping breakfast, my next meal would actually be at lunch which would be about a 41 hour fast.)
Before starting this process, I had tried some day-long fasting in the past (I survived!) as I was reading more about it, but I have never consistently tried the three times a week alternate-day fasting program.
So……tomorrow will be my first day of the alternate-day fasting program. The plan will be to try and incorporate this every Monday, Wednesday and Friday — with the understanding that I can be flexible if needed. I will see how it goes (and of course report the good and the bad here!). And two great things about fasting: you can stop if you want/need to and it can be incorporated into different dietary approaches.
Like the ketogenic diet, I am not sure that alternate-day fasting is something I want to do forever. Or that it’s even healthy to do forever. But what I do know is that in this moment, I am not healthy. And I want to do whatever I can to improve my health as quickly as possible.
And right now and for the next 100 days, that will include some type of fasting.
Wish me luck:)
Day #13:
Current weight: 293 lbs
Total weight loss: 12.8 lbs
– Previous Post –
– Next Post –