I have been experimenting with fasting over the past two weeks. I became intrigued with discussions on different blogs but I was especially interested in intermittant fasting. As I understand (and have been practicing) this is when you skip eating for only a day or even part of a day. So far I have fasted on four days. Two were partial days where I broke the fast in mid-afternoon with some fruit and nuts and then ate whatever my wife had cooked for dinner. The other days I was attending a business meeting in the evening which didn’t give me time to go home and return so I fasted all day. Well, it was all day yesterday but last week, my partner dragged me to visit his brother who was being entertained by neighbors and I ended up with a piece of excelland pecan pie. Amazingly, I don’t feel hungry during these fasts. Nor do I feel week.
It is liberating to realize that I don’t need to eat three times a day and that I don’t need as much food as I once believed.
My intention was not to lose weight although that seems to motivate many fasters. It’s not that I couldn’t stand to lose 15-20 pounds – in fact my loss of about 20 pounds over the past year seems to be over. My interest was in the idea of calorie restriction and life extension. Apparently intermittant fasting produces some of the benefits of calorie restriction. (I havn’t had time to organize all my sources but that will be coming.) In fact, however, I have lost weight over the two weeks. Time will tell if it is real loss or will come back.
How interesting. I just developed an interest in fasting. Not the short ones you are doing. I have doubts that they really accomplish anything. I’m talking about fasting for 20 days or more. More in my case. I have learned that it takes about 3 days before your body really switches over to ketosis as a food source. This is the muscle sparing mode that your body uses for fuel. You still lose muscle, but you lose a lot more fat. Which brings me to my interest. I became a type 2 diabetic. I make insulin, but it isn’t used properly. Long fasts can sometimes get your body working correctly. Also, you digest all the bad stuff…fat, the artery clogging cholesterol, all the bad stuff. Before the discovery of insulin, fasting and low fat diets were the treatment for diabetes. I just haven’t decided when I might try this.
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Never gave much thought to the longer fasts. Something about it seems wrong.
Oops. Just as a precaution I better add this. An extended fast should have your doctor closely involved. Usually they aren’t dangerous, but they can be. It’s an electrolyte thing. You don’t want you heart to stop due to potassium levels being too low. There are some other dangers as well, so if you choose a long fast involve your doctor.
.-= Ray´s last blog ..How To #3 – Crafting A New Post =-.
I have never considered a longer fast but I would want to talk to a Dr about it.