Intermittent Fasting Review: Week One

 

I haven’t posted anything in this space for awhile now but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been writing…I just haven’t been sharing. I have two pieces going right now – the first is a review and summary of Ann Voskamp’s second book, The Broken Way, and the second is a piece on Authenticity [Warning: I cringe at that buzz word] . Neither of those writings feel finished so I set them aside for a while, and come back to them later, but still no closure on either so…

On a lighter note, I turned fifty this past week and in the winter months leading up to that I have gained some weight, putting me at a place that, while certainly not overweight, is more than my personal ideal weight. I tried all of the little tricks that used to work to shed a few pounds to no avail [yeah for middle age metabolism! ] Awhile ago, in my research, I came upon this pattern of eating called, “Intermittent Fasting. ” There is alot of scientific explanation behind it and you can find tons of articles on the internet about it (Check this one out!) but basically it’s the idea of fasting from food for 15 to 18 hours per day and eating during the other 6 to 9 hours. You can have water, tea, and coffee during the fasting hours but no food. Generally you start fasting in the early to mid evening and don’t eat again until lunchtime the next day. I know this goes against the popular belief that breakfast is the most important meal of the day but since I am not very hungry in the morning and only grab a handful of mixed nuts each morning, I knew that wouldn’t be hard for me.

I was curious if taking a very simplified approach to this eating pattern, without monitoring or restricting what I ate would work to shed those 5 to 7 pounds I’d gained. The hardest part for me would be eating less in the evening since I tend to snack quite a bit through the evening, right up until I go to bed. It is nothing for me to eat 400-500 calories through the course of the evening [In my defense we eat dinner by 5 or 530pm so its a long time until bedtime! ]

Day One – I weighed myself to have a baseline. I ate normal all day but stopped my eating by 630pm.

Day Two – I weighed myself and was the same as the day before. I did not eat until 11:30am [17 hour fast]. It wasn’t hard and I didn’t feel overly hungry. That night I stopped my snacking by 8:30 pm.

Day Three -When I weighed myself the next morning I’d lost 2.2 pounds. I ate at 12pm     [15.5 hour fast] and  I stopped eating by 7 pm.

Day Four – I weighed myself and had lost another half pound [2.5 total]. I ate at 12:30pm [17.5 hour fast] and stopped eating by 9 pm.

Day Five – .5 pounds more down [total 3 pounds]. I ate at 12 pm [15 hour fast] stopped eating by 900pm.

Day Six– Gained back 1.2 lbs [still down 1.8 lb total]. Ate at 1 pm [16 hr fast] and stopped eating for the day at 6:30 pm.

Day Seven– Weight stayed the same [still down 1.8 lb total]. Started eating at 12 pm (17.5 hr fast] and stopped eating by 7 pm.

Out of these seven days I exercised six of them.  Usually just my 30 minute walk or work out (however, one day I did walk seven miles with a friend). To be honest, compared to my normally healthy, balanced diet, my eating was pretty bad all week. The week of your birthday is probably not the best time to try a new eating plan!  For my birthday, I ate a huge turtle waffle [think chocolate, caramel, pecan, pretzels] and an enormous triple berry milkshake. During this week I also consumed a Wahl Burger [think greasy burger with ham, cheese, and special sauce!] and had various other sweet treats almost daily. I definitely ate worse than usual so to still be down 1.8 pounds overall at the end of the experimental week gave me some hope that on a “good week” I might even lose a bit more. I will definitely continue to try it for awhile longer and see how it goes over the long haul to maintain my ideal weight.

Thus far, my very unscientific review would be in favor of Intermittent Fasting so far. It is totally sustainable to me and seems effective without changing my eating habits much. My goal has been to do it most days but not be legalistic so if someone invites me for pizza at 10pm I will certainly eat it without a thought. I may eat lunch a little later the next day to still meet my fasting hours or I may not worry about it… cuz that’s how I roll. 😉   I did feel hungry quite often in the evening hours (between 8-11 pm) but I think an added benefit to this way of eating is the discipline and self control that are required. It’s good for me to remember that I don’t need to eat every time I want to- or even every time I feel a tiny hunger pang. Research also shows that fasting is good for your blood sugar levels, your cholesterol, and your blood pressure.   While this certainly isn’t a spiritual fast, as is talked about in the Bible, I do believe the principle is one that God knew it was good for our bodies when He put those principles in Scripture.

I know the same things don’t work for everyone but sometimes it’s fun to share ideas and try new things on this journey of healthy living! If you have some weight you’ve been wanting to lose, or just feel like you need a little more discipline in your life,  I’d love to have you give it a try for a week or two and let me know your experience. My plan is to continue for another week and try to eliminate more of the sugar in my diet at the same time to see if that increases the benefits and results. I’ll check back in again soon with another update.  Happy Fasting!

(Photo credits: Katie Smith at Unsplash)