melly37
Intermittent Fasting
Apr 15, 2013
I typed up a very long (and of course brilliant) blog on Friday, but alas, when I went to post, it gave me an error and I lost the entire blog! 
Needless to say, I was too disgusted that day to re-write the entire thing.
Okay, on to my updates.
I decided to dump the eating disorder therapist. I really wasn't feeling a connection with her, and knew I needed to just move on. I know that I still have issues with food, so, if I feel the need to try therapy once again, I will just try out another therapist.
For about 3-4 weeks now I have been doing my best to stick to "primal eating". This way of eating is mainly just taking in meats, veggies and small amounts of fruit. I am sure many have heard of "Paleo" diet or eating, it's pretty much the same concept, but with dairy being allowed and a bit more fruit. I am just not willing to give up half and half in my coffee and a bit of cheese here and there. ha ha
I tend to eat primal most of the week, with kind of letting loose on the weekends. I could definitely tell that I felt better, staying away from processed carbs is always good for me. However, I wasn't seeing a big loss on the scale. I did notice several "primal" followers on a blog were talking about intermittent fasting. Hmmmmm
My son (he is 21) started intermittent fasting (IF) last summer. There are many ways to go about it, and he decided to give himself an eating window of 6-8 hours. The other 16-18 hours in a day were fasting. I was skeptical when he told me he was embarking on this. It just sounded a bit unhealthy. However, he proved me wrong. He didn't have a lot of weight to lose, but he did lose quite a bit.
Seeing that other people were trying this with success, I decided to give it a whirl. I honestly didn't think I could do it. I decided to give it a whirl 2 weeks ago. I started on a Monday, of course. ha ha I brought a couple of snacks with me to work, JUST IN CASE. My plan was to not eat anything until 3pm, and my eating window would close at 9pm.
The first day wasn't too bad. I made it. So, I decided to incorporate this IF Monday through Friday, and not have an eating window on the weekends. The first 2 weeks have been very successful. I am still tweaking it, as I know I am not getting enough protein in, but my calories are way down.
The surprising thing for me has been my blood sugar. I take Metformin, and I worried that going that long without eating might make my blood sugar drop too low. However, every time I check my blood sugar, it's been great. Sometimes it's in the high 70's, but mostly it's been in the 80's and 90's. After eating dinner, my blood sugar is either just below or just a tad above 100. So, that's been a great benefit!
I am down to 174.6, which is my lowest weight with the sleeve!
I have been letting myself have crap on the weekends, which sees the scale go up a couple of pounds, but they have been disappearing pretty quickly, usually by Tuesday. It's pretty much water weight from carbs, etc.
This last weekend, I noticed that my blood sugar numbers were STILL very good, even after eating some crap. So, I am thinking my body likes the IF. It makes life easier, as I don't have to have worry about breakfast and packing a lunch, etc. I just come to work and drink coffee and water.
A big part of this journey is finding what works for YOU. Doing IF has even seemed to have shrunk my sleeve a little bit. So, for now, I am going to say this is working for ME, I will stick with it while it's working. It's great seeing the scale go down again! Hope everyone has a great week!
