Intermittent Fasting

[ElfiePoo 109]

I tend to read...a lot...and I make copies of articles, studies and lists of books and take them into my diabetes specialist and primary care and we talk about it. Well recently, I came across several articles that said one way to quickly reverse insulin resistance is through intermittent fasting (IF). It can be done with low carb or regular diets. I took these articles into my doctors to find out what they thought and was surprised to find that not only had they heard of it, but they recommend it!

There are a number of ways to do IF, but their recommendation was 24 hours of eating followed by 24 hours of no eating and the 24 hours should run from 6 pm to 6 p.m. That way you actually do get to eat something each 'day' even though the 24/24 rule is still in effect.

So yesterday I ate Breakfast and lunch (my typical low carb fare meals. I had a small Protein snack (3 oz of cheese) around 5 p.m. Nothing after 6 p.m. Today, no Breakfast or lunch but I'll get dinner at 6 p.m. I'm planning on a 4-6 oz burger with cheese and salad with blue cheese dressing. Then I'll get breakfast and lunch, but no dinner the day after...and so on.

Apparently, another side effect they've found is that over time the body stops producing as much ghrelin, and the appetite is suppressed. I like this better than the 'pushing protein' (even though it seems to be working) because it has the added benefit of helping me become insulin sensitive...which will also help with faster weight loss.

Am I hungry? Not so far <fingers crossed>...but even if I am, I know I'll get to eat at 6 p.m.

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[emptyNest 4]

That sounds really interesting. I find that switching things up tends to help me lose faster, but I haven't tried anything like this. I will be really interested to see how it works for you.

Good luck!

[reverie 49]

IF is very interesting! I've read about it when browsing fitness/bodybuilding forums and it seems very doable, especially if you have a busy schedule. I have never read it being done in 24 hour formats though, but I guess if it works for you, it works, and that's all that matters! From what I've read people fast for 14-16 hours then eat all of their calories in a 4-6 window frame.

I love how IF disproves the whole 6 meal a day thing/frequent meals belief. The fact is, despite what anyone wants to think, that you can eat one huge meal a day at 10:00PM and be fine, or you can eat 20 small meals; meal timing is so irrelevant and has NOTHING to do with your metabolism!

I've read it works best for men but if studies have proven to work to help with insulin resistance and ghrelin, I say why not! Good luck and have fun testing the waters I always look forward to your posts.

PS. I still love my Protein but I've dropped mine a bit; carbs were much too low and fats too high, I think. But I still love what low carb dieting did for me

[ElfiePoo 109]

From what I've read people fast for 14-16 hours then eat all of their calories in a 4-6 window frame.

Rev,

yes, that is one of the ways to do IF. I'm pretty excited about this but never thought it was possible for a diabetic since you're slamming your body with all your calories in that short time frame (which logically would mean a huge insulin response and a problem for diabetics). That's why they prefer I do the 24/24 but from 6pm to 6 pm. It's a bit closer to still spreading your calories out through a 24 hour period...just with your sleep break in the middle of it instead of at the end.

I'll keep you all updated. One bit of advice was to make sure that my meal before the fast was sufficiently high in fats so I didn't binge at the end of the fast. I shouldn't wake up hungry in the morning. So I had wings for dinner last night, figuring the fat was high enough to ensure getting through my first day of fasting.

I'm not hungry this morning, but my stomach is certainly asking, "Where the heck is the food?"

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[reverie 49]

Rev,

yes, that is one of the ways to do IF. I'm pretty excited about this but never thought it was possible for a diabetic since you're slamming your body with all your calories in that short time frame (which logically would mean a huge insulin response and a problem for diabetics). That's why they prefer I do the 24/24 but from 6pm to 6 pm. It's a bit closer to still spreading your calories out through a 24 hour period...just with your sleep break in the middle of it instead of at the end.

I'll keep you all updated. One bit of advice was to make sure that my meal before the fast was sufficiently high in fats so I didn't binge at the end of the fast. I shouldn't wake up hungry in the morning. So I had wings for dinner last night, figuring the fat was high enough to ensure getting through my first day of fasting.

I'm not hungry this morning, but my stomach is certainly asking, "Where the heck is the food?"

.

Got it!! I love how you can personalize things to fit your needs/health needs. I hope it works well for you! The people I know who do it look great and feel great. It amazes me that they are never really hungry after a week or so. The body is amazingly adaptable.

The things you find out after being banded! At least I have plenty of options if I ever lose my band.

[ElfiePoo 109]

Ah pfooey...just found an updated article from Dr Michael Eade's website (love him). Several years back he gave a thumbs up to IF, but in a more recent update, he said that it just hasn't panned out over time for helping insulin resistance or even losing any noticeable weight. In fact, some people gained. It's good for other things, but doesn't seem to be so for the thing I'm particularly interested in. Now he did say that studies were of such short duration that they don't know if the problems (increased blood sugars, development of insulin resistance) would resolve over time so I'm tempted to at least try it for a few weeks and/or until my blood sugars become worrisome. I *am not* going to go back on insulin.

Note: This obviously isn't an issue for people who do not have metabolic disorders and he did reiterate that ghrelin production did seem to lesson over time with IF so it might still be a good thing for others.

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