Intermittent Fasting is a hot topic in the health and wellness world right now and I want to share my story and what I have found works for me.
What is INTERMITTENT FASTING?
For most people, fasting happens everyday from the time they stop eating in the evening until the time they first eat in the morning (hence the name break-fast). Intermittent fasting is when you extend your normal fasting window. This could mean stopping your food intake earlier in the evening or pushing out your first meal of that day to a later time. A common fasting window is called 16:8 – meaning that you eat during an 8-hour window (say 11 am to 7 pm) and fast for a 16-hour window. There are MANY other formulas but this one is pretty common. So this could look like eating your last meal of the day at 5 pm, and then eat your next meal again at 9 or 10 pm. To be clear: this is NOT about cutting calories. You just consume them in a shorter window and give your digestive system a break. So you still eat normal balanced meals and never binge or eat until overstuffed.
How does INTERMITTENT FASTING work?
To understand why this technique is so healing you must understand AUTOPHAGY.
“Autophagy is the process by which a starving cell can reallocate nutrients from cell machinery that is not working optimally to fuel more essential cell processes. The cell degrades its own components, including damaged organelles, cell membranes and proteins, in a tightly regulated process. Autophagy can destroy viruses and bacteria within the cell that are resistant to other ways a cell might destroy them. It can even help the cell identify a viral infection that may have otherwise gone undetected. Autophagy plays a crucial role in immunity and inflammation, balancing the beneficial and detrimental effects of immunity and inflammation, and thereby may protect against infectious, autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.” – The Paleo Mom
So, in essence, the cell is renewing itself and tapping into its own ability to heal and regenerate.
What are the benefits of INTERMITTENT FASTING?
If you are a podcast junkie like me, you’ve heard them sell this as a cure for practically everything from weight loss to curing cancer. I’m going to quote Sarah from the Paleo Mom again as she breaks it down into plain English for us:)
The benefits of Intermittent Fasting include:
- Increasing lifespan.
- Increasing insulin sensitivity, which has many health benefits in and of itself. Of interest, the resulting increase in insulin signalling in the brain is thought to be how fasting/calorie restriction works to increase lifespan.
- Lowering blood lipids, triglycerides and other markers of metabolic syndrome.
- Fighting/preventing cancer. There is also some evidence that fasting before chemotherapy treatments can help reduce the negative side effects.
- Increasing growth hormone secretion (which builds muscle and burns fat).
- Normalizing expression of the hunger hormone ghrelin, thereby reducing appetite.
- Promoting brain and peripheral nervous system health by increasing neuronal plasticity and promoting neurogenesis, which has a large variety of effects such as boosting mood, memory, and mental clarity.
- Increasing dopamine production, thereby boosting mood and increasing anticipation and response to rewards (meaning we get more enjoyment from less food).
- Increasing energy through regulating metabolic hormones.
MY INTERMITTENT FASTING EXPERIENCE.
I haven’t spoken up about this new wellness hack until now as I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. I have been intermittent fasting most days now for about a year. Although I’m not actually counting the hours, I do always try to eat before 6 pm and then delay breakfast until 8-9am. I have tried being super strict and will share how that feels as well.
I’ve always been a big believer in shutting down the kitchen early and have never been a late night snacker. I know that snacking or eating late makes me feel overly bloated, disrupts my sleep and slows down my digestion the next day. I also find it harder to regulate my weight when I eat late at night. I will easily gain few pounds if I eat late dinners for a week. So eating an early dinner has always been a routine for me.
For a while, I tried extending my fast and delayed breakfast until 10 or 11 pm. This didn’t last long. Not only did I crash later in the day, but I also found I ate MORE then usual as if I was trying to catch up. My husband, on the other hand, loves how he feels and now doesn’t eat until 12 pm! I didn’t notice the positive effects that he claims he feels. For me, pushing past the 10 pm mark meant HUNGER, less energy, less brain power and more cravings later in the day. For Travis, he feels on fire! Literally, he wakes up, does his yoga, goes for a bike ride and feels extremely productive and clear-headed all morning then eats a normal meal at noon.
This brings up an important point… we are all different and women have different hormones and are going to respond differently to intermittent fasting.
IS INTERMITTENT FASTING FOR EVERYONE?
No! You see, fasting puts stress on the body, some would argue that it’s good stress, same as exercising which also stresses the body but is it always good for you?… No! You see, if you’re already under a lot of stress, aren’t getting enough sleep or are overtraining, putting any more stress on your body could raise cortisol levels higher than we want to see them, especially since the goal is to heal ourselves, NOT overstress ourselves. I also have to say that this can be very alluring to people who suffer from eating disorders and all they hear is…”starving yourself is good for you.” even though that’s not what it is! If you’re still in the trenches with an unhealthy relationship with food, I would work on healing that before trying to fast.
MOVING FORWARDS FOR ME.
I will be continuing to fast several times a week as I do find it really helps with digestion and helps me connect with my true hunger signals. So often times we eat just because it’s time to eat, not because we are truly hungry. With intermittent fasting, I have learned that hunger is not an emergency and I’m more connected to what my body needs. Intermittent fasting has helped me become a more intuitive eater and also allows me to relax in the mornings and not rush my breakfasts. Breakfast is actually my favourite meal of the day since I am usually truly hungry and my digestion is on POINT around 8 am! Anything before that and I feel like I am forcing myself to eat. I also LOVE going to bed slightly hungry and not stuffed. Sometimes, I just skip dinner altogether if I had a late lunch and am not hungry.
What I won’t ever try to do again is a 24 hour fast. I don’t do well with extended fasts. It took me 5 attempts at a 3-day juice cleanse to actually get through the 3 days! Plus I didn’t really feel amazing afterwards, I found I actually gained more weight after the cleanse and felt more anxious and unwell. I have also tried 24-hour water fasts and again, they do not feel right for me! It just messes with my moods, sleep and stress levels too much for me to promote them:)
The key is listening to your body! If you are interested in intermittent fasting for health benefits, I would listen to this podcast-> Primal Potential
I would love to hear from you! Have you tried intermittent fasting? How did you feel?
xoxo
Rebecca