When I first met James (my husband) it was a running joke to get me food as soon as I woke up because of how ugly I became when I didn't eat. It was bad, and I went BEYOND hangry. I became snappy and irritated and not fun to be around.  I have had a battle with blood sugar issues and was taught that small meals will help regulate blood sugar., so the minute I woke up I would be like "where's the food?"  I was a constant snacker from sunrise to   bedtime for close to 35 years. It was my normal. 

In the last decade as I've shed 100 pounds of excess weight, I have tried a lot of diet "fads." I started my weight loss journey with fat free cookies and binged ate on those thinking I was saving myself so much fat that it was okay to eat 30 of them in one sitting. I have done every weight loss program you could think of and have evolved into quite the expert at trying new health related ideas. One of the buzz words lately is intermittent fasting or IF. So when the research began showing just how beneficial fasting is, not only for weight loss, but for overall health, I slowly talked myself into trying it. 

Trust me, I didn't really want to. If you had told me 3 years ago that fasting would be a part of my every day life, I would have laughed in your face. I mean, this is from the girl that needed to eat the minute her feet touched the floor. For most of my life, I ate breakfast as soon as I woke up. In fact, my husband was trying to talk me out of it because of how HANGRY I get when my blood sugar drops. He has witnessed first hand how my mood suddenly changes when I don't eat, but I pointed out to him that he never eats breakfast and he survives.  I would call him "naturally" thin; he has never had to watch his weight, and the more I thought of it, the more I realized that most "naturally" thin people that I personally know do not eat breakfast and actually partake in a form of fasting. And I as I continued to research the benefits of IF, I knew that I had to give it a try.

What is Intermittent Fasting? The act of abstaining from food (calories even in drinks) for a period of time. There are a variety of methods to do Intermittent Fasting and I chose to try  the 16/8 protocol, which means that I fast for 16 hours and eat of full day's calories in 8 hours. IF encourages the body to burn fat while maintaining lean muscle mass. Because your mixing periods of low calorie consumption with high calorie consumption, you don't get as hungry when you aren't eating. And, unlike restricting calories, IF doesn't lower the body's basal metabolic rate long term, in fact it increases it.(1) The more I researched the more I realized the long term health benefits.

Some of those include:

• Fat loss
• Natural detoxing
• Cellular repair
• Reduction in coronary heat disease
• Decreases insulin
• Increased insulin sensitivity (extremely important for women with polycystic ovarian syndrome
• Lower risk of diabetes and Alzheimers
• Increases life expectancy
• Improves hormone profile
• Maintains muscle skeletal mass
• Reduces Inflammation

What began as a way for me to drop some weight, actually ended being up being my saving grace for a health issue that I had struggled through for the past few years. That whole "getting rid of inflammation" thing associated to fasting, actually works. Not only did my pants become looser (and I was still EATING a whole days calories) but I was sleeping more soundly, had more energy and overall just plain felt better. And that whole "is Carla going to be HANGRY thing?" I actually wasn't during the fast at all. In fact my blood sugar seemed way more regulated than it had been in the past. (but side note: James would still say I get hangry during my eating window if I don't eat enough, insert eye roll here.)

Some tips if you want to start incorporating Intermittent Fasting:

1. DRINK YOUR BODY WEIGHT IN WATER while you are fasting

2. Only consumer black coffee, herbal tea, or water while fasting

3. Track your food using My Fitness Pal, to make sure you are eating the right amount of food when you are eating

4. Try to get your work out in while you are fasting. Why? It maximizes hormonal output and increase metabolic rate

5. Stay busy during your fast

Not sure you can jump on the IF bandwagon? All I can say is try it for a week. See how you feel. I've said this before, and I'll say it again. In order to change aspects of your life that you don't like or just plain need changing....you have to go out of your comfort zone. I am finishing up close to 2 years of IF and I can honestly say it's one of the easiest methods I have ever done. I would never go back to eating all day, and my body is thanking me.

Peace and Blessings,

Carla

1. Tress, Amanda. "FASTer Way to Fat Loss." May 2019