One Week and One Day
It was December 31, 2017 when I decided to take the plunge. It wasn't a New Year's thing, even though it seems like it from the timing. I really wasn't interested in any sort of "new year's resolution" - that's just not how I roll, not my thing.
But what IS my thing is health. And longevity. I'm convinced that there ARE ways that I can find to trick my body past cancers, heart problems, and popular diseases of the modern-era, and benefit from a long and productive life.
So a few weeks ago, I had an interesting ad that flowed through my Facebook feed. This guy - this trainer - claims that his wife achieved a flat tummy and regained incredible strength and energy after chemotherapy by doing a 12-minute interval training. Blah blah blah. I wasn't concerned with the exercise - I exercise regularly already. But he had me caught on promoting the idea of *exercising while fasting*. That, apparently, kicks in hormones that will trigger the body to tap into fat cells for energy. Like many (most?!) Americans, I have more fat stores than is healthy, so I thought maybe this guy is onto something...
Then, on December 31, I saw an ad for a documentary called "The Science of Fasting". I took a peek and decided there *definitely* seems to be credibility to what limited research is out there. I decided that since I'm generally not hungry for breakfast, I'll skip it and go from dinner one night until lunch the next, without any snacks or calorie-intake in between. If it translates into a new lifestyle, it's not so different from my current one (just skipping breakfast, after all!) So why not give it a shot?!
Now, I'm a week and a day into it. On the scale, my weight dropped from a solid 167 to 164. Since I'm 5'3" that's the difference between being technically "obese" to being "overweight," which makes a huge difference in statistics of longevity.
WOW - one week and what a difference! And I'm not doing this for weight-loss per se, I'm doing it to make sure my system runs at optimal performance.
As to how it's going? I really don't feel much of a difference in my lifestyle or energy or abilities. I do have to be mindful of not inadvertently snacking (out of boredom, habit, or whatnot). And I drink black decaf coffee to get through the morning (unsweetened, of course), which was my norm to drink, anyway.
I do feel weaker while exercising, and that may be more psychological than physical, since I'm very aware of the fact that I'm working out with no calories in my system to burn. But I just listen to my body and take it easy if I need to - whatever exercise I get is mostly feeding off of fat stores that I really don't need, so it's a "win" even if I just take a light walk!
My system for the past week and one day is: skip breakfast and eat at lunchtime (nothing before noon), and eat as much as I want of whatever I want until after dinner (8/9pm). So out of my 24-hour day, I'm eating for 8/9 hours and fasting for 16/15. Said differently: 16:8 or 15:9 (I'm not sweating the minutes, really).
And let's see how this develops...
But what IS my thing is health. And longevity. I'm convinced that there ARE ways that I can find to trick my body past cancers, heart problems, and popular diseases of the modern-era, and benefit from a long and productive life.
So a few weeks ago, I had an interesting ad that flowed through my Facebook feed. This guy - this trainer - claims that his wife achieved a flat tummy and regained incredible strength and energy after chemotherapy by doing a 12-minute interval training. Blah blah blah. I wasn't concerned with the exercise - I exercise regularly already. But he had me caught on promoting the idea of *exercising while fasting*. That, apparently, kicks in hormones that will trigger the body to tap into fat cells for energy. Like many (most?!) Americans, I have more fat stores than is healthy, so I thought maybe this guy is onto something...
Then, on December 31, I saw an ad for a documentary called "The Science of Fasting". I took a peek and decided there *definitely* seems to be credibility to what limited research is out there. I decided that since I'm generally not hungry for breakfast, I'll skip it and go from dinner one night until lunch the next, without any snacks or calorie-intake in between. If it translates into a new lifestyle, it's not so different from my current one (just skipping breakfast, after all!) So why not give it a shot?!
Now, I'm a week and a day into it. On the scale, my weight dropped from a solid 167 to 164. Since I'm 5'3" that's the difference between being technically "obese" to being "overweight," which makes a huge difference in statistics of longevity.
WOW - one week and what a difference! And I'm not doing this for weight-loss per se, I'm doing it to make sure my system runs at optimal performance.
As to how it's going? I really don't feel much of a difference in my lifestyle or energy or abilities. I do have to be mindful of not inadvertently snacking (out of boredom, habit, or whatnot). And I drink black decaf coffee to get through the morning (unsweetened, of course), which was my norm to drink, anyway.
I do feel weaker while exercising, and that may be more psychological than physical, since I'm very aware of the fact that I'm working out with no calories in my system to burn. But I just listen to my body and take it easy if I need to - whatever exercise I get is mostly feeding off of fat stores that I really don't need, so it's a "win" even if I just take a light walk!
My system for the past week and one day is: skip breakfast and eat at lunchtime (nothing before noon), and eat as much as I want of whatever I want until after dinner (8/9pm). So out of my 24-hour day, I'm eating for 8/9 hours and fasting for 16/15. Said differently: 16:8 or 15:9 (I'm not sweating the minutes, really).
And let's see how this develops...
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