So here are the details of my fasting project:
My goal, as I mentioned before is to lose weight, (although fasting on its own has been used for centuries for a multitude of ailments.)
I would say I'm a pretty average American woman. I'm substantially overweight, 48 years old, and have a sedentary job. Most people I talk to think fasting is pretty extreme. I have dabbled in intermittent fasting for a long time, and am totally comfortable with the idea of going without food for a day. It's not that extreme, but there is a fear that has been ingrained in us that fasting is somehow dangerous. This idea that if you don't eat six times a day, you will suppress your metabolism, and put your body into "starvation mode." For more information on why intermittent fasting is different, read this.
Fat equals energy. The reason I am overweight is because my body does not use the stored fat that it has available. Humans, like other mammals evolved to be able to store fat and to use that stored fat as a resource when necessary. Because I am insulin resistant, I cannot access those fat stores. I joined Dr. Jason Fung's Long Distance Intensive Dietary Management program with the support and approval of my current doctor. I sent them my medical records, and will meet with them via GoToMeeting every month or so for support and advice, while my doctor monitors my blood tests, and supports my health on this end.
I had a five hour class Friday as part of the IDM program. Despite the fact that I had to get up early for it (because they are located in Ontario, and I am on the west coast), it was a great class! I did learn a couple of new things. This is great because I do A LOT of reading on the topic of fasting and the ketogenic therapeutic approach to diet, and I wanted to learn more and was afraid this class would not give me the kind of information I wanted. Megan, who I am going to call my project adviser was fun to listen to and a very good teacher--she used a lot of stories and easy-to-absorb examples. This program is obviously designed for people who don't know much about a ketogenic diet, and who have not fasted or read about fasting as much as I have. I admit, I have been obsessed with it for some time, but even so, I felt the class was well worth my time, and it was a quick five hours.
Insulin resistance causes fat gain. Insulin resistance is the result of chronic high levels of insulin in the blood. This can be caused by multiple factors. One of the most common factors is too many refined carbohydrates in the diet. Another thing that can cause high insulin levels is long term psychological stress. Dr. Fung describes how this works in this post:
"In modern times, chronic, non-physical stressors increase cortisol. For example, marital issues, problems at work, arguments with children, and sleep deprivation are all serious stressors, but do not result in vigorous physical exertion afterwards to lower blood glucose. Under conditions of chronic stress, glucose levels remain high. There is no vigorous physical exertion to burn off the glucose, and there is no resolution to the stressor. The blood glucose can remain elevated for months. This chronic elevation in glucose can trigger the release of insulin. Chronically elevated cortisol leads to increased insulin. This has been demonstrated in several studies."
Much of the class was an overview of how fasting can bring down insulin levels. And the last hour or so was an overview of the recommended diet that you follow when not fasting. I started off my program with a 7 day fast. I started my fast Friday, October 23, and will eat again next Friday, October 30. The purpose of this fast is to lower my insulin levels. This will allow my body to enter a state of ketosis. When I am in ketosis, it unlocks the fat from my cells and allows my body to use them as fuel in the form of ketones. There is an excellent (and easy to understand) description of how this works on Dr. Fung's blog.
During the fast I am to drink 2 liters of water. I am allowed still and sparkling water. I can also have any kind of tea and herbal tea, coffee and bone broth. I can make Keto coffee if I want to. Recipe: 2 T. Organic coconut oil (or MCT oil), 2 T. grass-fed butter, 2 T. grass-fed (pastured, not pasteurized) cream. Adding cinnamon to coffee will help to lower insulin, so my recipe includes 1/4 tsp. of cinnamon as well. MCT oil is tricky, I end up with digestive distress if I take more than 1 T. of it at a time, although I understand that your toleration of it improves with time.
I am also advised to take 1 T. of apple cider vinegar 3 X per day before meals in water.
Obviously on fast days I won't be eating, so I will take the Apple cider vinegar before my keto coffee and before bone broth. I am starting off with 1 tsp instead, because 1 T. is a little too vinegary for me at the moment. I am going to add lemon next time I try it to see if it helps with the flavor. Apparently vinegar serves as a good appetite suppressant, and has other healthy attributes--I use Bragg's Organic, raw, unfiltered apple cider vinegar.
Once I am done with my 7 day fast, I will switch to a regular fasting schedule.
There are many different intermittent fasting schedules.
If fasting is very difficult, a good way to ease into it is to try three 24 hour fasts per week which entails eating only one meal on those three days, say M, W, F, like this:
Breakfast Lunch Dinner
T Eat Eat Eat
W Fast Fast Eat
T Eat Eat Eat
F Fast Fast Eat
S Eat Eat Eat
S Eat Eat Eat
The next step up would be three 36 hour fasts where you would choose three days to skip meals and eat the next day. This 36 hour fast schedule would look something like this:
Breakfast Lunch Dinner
M Fast Fast Fast
T Eat Eat Eat
W Fast Fast Fast
T Eat Eat Eat
F Fast Fast Fast
S Eat Eat Eat
S Eat Eat Eat
The fasting schedule I will be starting with, however is a 42 hour fast:
Breakfast Lunch Dinner
M Fast Fast Fast
T Fast Eat Eat
W Fast Fast Fast
T Fast Eat Eat
F Fast Fast Fast
S Fast Eat Eat
S Eat Eat Eat
It may turn out that I will be able to do a 42 hour fast on Monday and Wednesday, but not on Friday in which case I may be have to be happy with that--we have a lot of events on Fridays and weekends, so it may work out best for me to do two 42 hour schedules and one 24 hour schedule at least some of the time. We will see what kind of success I have.
One thing Megan did mention is that it is not a good idea to do 24 hour fasting every day and just eat dinner. We want to keep the body guessing! In the past I have made this mistake just eating one meal a day and the result was that I managed to lose weight initially, but then after a couple of months I plateaued...
For the meals I eat, I will be following a strict low carb high fat diet. (LCHF).
The rules are pretty simple: Avoid all processed food. Limit meat to about 60 grams per day (for women). Eat only organic, grass-fed, pastured and wild protein sources. Limit carbs to 30 grams. For me, (doing this for weight loss) that means eating non-starchy vegetables (veggies that grow above ground) pretty much exclusively for my carbs. I can also eat berries and fruits with skin, but those have to be within my 30 gram limit per day. The rest of my diet will be made up of fat. I don't have to limit fat, but I should only eat until I am satisfied. Fat, like the proteins I am eating, needs to be made up of healthy choices. Grass-fed butter, coconut oil, the fats that come naturally with the meat you eat. Eat your chicken skin!
If I am having a meal out, or it is a special occasion, I can have an occasional starchier treat like legumes, or sweet potato, but those need to be 10-20% of my diet and only on special occasions.
If special occasions become every day or even every week--it could derail me so I have to be careful. I know myself, and I can justify pretty much anything to myself, so it is important that I control my special occasions.
I can have one glass of dry red wine or so with meals on my eating days--for my part I think I will restrict that to Fridays and weekends, and have flavored (no sugar) seltzer water instead during the week. Alcohol can lower my resistance to the foods I shouldn't be eating...
Megan had a great rule for us that I think will be helpful. The rule of three.
In order to increase variety and add control don't do anything more than three times a week: For example: I can have chicken up to three times per week, eat Brussels sprouts up to three times per week, drink wine up to three times per week, eat raspberries up to three times per week, etc...
So today is day three. I am experiencing hunger off and on, but it comes in waves and is pretty easy to ignore. When I get hungry I have a cup of coffee or tea or broth, and it subsides. The only issue I have had so far is a difficult time sleeping. This could be because I drink coffee too late in the day, or it could be the fasting...In a few days I will be over this introductory period, and am told that I won't feel hungry, and I will be able to sleep better.
I am looking forward to the future! :)
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