I've long thought that eating as our ancient ancestors did has some keys to health. The latest research in paleontology suggests that they didn't have a constant supply of food, they might have gone for short periods (like a day or so) without eating. Having read the benefits of intermittent fasting, I decided to give it a try. Today, I put off eating until 6 p.m., consuming nothing but water.
The upsides:
My blood sugar was in the 70s during the fast(that's the low end of normal). And I had no nasal congestion.
The downsides:
I was hungry all day! If one of the points of fasting is to avoid thinking about food, it didn't work. I took a nap in the afternoon and dreamed about food. Then I got up, prepared a feast, and ate for two hours. I had two plates of sausage and vegetables, eggplant with cheese, tossed salad and goat cheese. Then a tablespoon of honey, low-carb hot cocoa, low-carb ice cream, and coffee. After taking a break to talk on the phone, I went to the grocery store and got some more food, even though I was full: two nut/coconut bars. My day from 4:30 to 9 p.m. was devoted to cooking and eating--no time saved there. This, even though I've never, ever been a binge eater.
An hour after I finally stopped eating, my blood sugar was 146--the highest reading I've ever had. Since starting low-carb, I've never had a triple-digit reading until now. So if the point is to control blood sugar, it didn't work out. And I ate more today than I do on a typical day. Normally, I stop eating when I'm full; even now, I could put away another bowl of ice cream. So if another point is to eat less, that didn't work out either.
I also had a headache during the late afternoon.
Conclusion
Even though I wasn't trying to lose weight, for me, it was true what they say: you can't starve off weight. I ended up eating more than I would have.
However, I've read several comments on various blogs that people have had good experiences doing this. As for me, I find it easy to stop eating when full if I don't start out ravenously hungry.
The upsides:
My blood sugar was in the 70s during the fast(that's the low end of normal). And I had no nasal congestion.
The downsides:
I was hungry all day! If one of the points of fasting is to avoid thinking about food, it didn't work. I took a nap in the afternoon and dreamed about food. Then I got up, prepared a feast, and ate for two hours. I had two plates of sausage and vegetables, eggplant with cheese, tossed salad and goat cheese. Then a tablespoon of honey, low-carb hot cocoa, low-carb ice cream, and coffee. After taking a break to talk on the phone, I went to the grocery store and got some more food, even though I was full: two nut/coconut bars. My day from 4:30 to 9 p.m. was devoted to cooking and eating--no time saved there. This, even though I've never, ever been a binge eater.
An hour after I finally stopped eating, my blood sugar was 146--the highest reading I've ever had. Since starting low-carb, I've never had a triple-digit reading until now. So if the point is to control blood sugar, it didn't work out. And I ate more today than I do on a typical day. Normally, I stop eating when I'm full; even now, I could put away another bowl of ice cream. So if another point is to eat less, that didn't work out either.
I also had a headache during the late afternoon.
Conclusion
Even though I wasn't trying to lose weight, for me, it was true what they say: you can't starve off weight. I ended up eating more than I would have.
However, I've read several comments on various blogs that people have had good experiences doing this. As for me, I find it easy to stop eating when full if I don't start out ravenously hungry.
Comments
First time commenter, but I love your blog.
Just wanted to say that I had a similar experience the first time I tried intermittent fasting. I borrowed the IF plan from Mike Eades' blog, proteinpower.com. It was basically 24 on / 24 off. So, I ate Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and fasted on Tuesday and Thursday. I committed to do two days of fasting during that week.
That Tuesday, I was absolutely obsessive about food. It was ridiculous. I found, however, that Thursday was a much easier fasting day. I wasn't uncomfortably hungry, and I didn't obsess. I didn't gorge either, once I was done with the fast.
My notes on the experience are on my own blog, www.getfitkatie.blogspot.com, they are dated from June 13 - June 17.
The most surprising (and unexpected) result of my IF experiment was the dramatic improvement to my existing psoriasis issue.
In fact, I would continue to do IF, but just found out that I am expecting and it is not recommended during pregnancy.
Kate
I see from your blog you had a bad experience eating bread. Last year, I had a cookie after I'd been off wheat for awhile, and it made me miserable.
http://relievemypain.blogspot.com/2010/04/homage-to-low-carb-cookie-god.html