15 Days of Intermittent Fasting

Results-some expected, some what the hey?

I started Intermittent Fasting August 20, 2022. No rationale or reason for the date. I had read several articles on medium (see links at the end) then researched the concept. I also watched multiple Youtube videos and TED Talks from a variety of yay-sayers before I started.

For the uninitiated, basically, it is an eating plan (not diet) that restricts the times you can “feed” and times you “fast.” Most people go with a 16:8 plan- 16 hours of fasting and 8 hours when you can eat.

I’m still in my Learn All I Can mode. I get like that-dog with a bone- when it comes to learning a new topic. I felt like I needed balance. I wondered what do the nay-sayers have to say? When writing my first post on Intermittent Fasting I saw a nay-sayer article in Medium. I tried to go back and read it, but 15 days in, the article was buried so deep I couldn’t find it. (Note to self: when you see an article of interest or it may be helpful, add it to your reading list! ‘nother note to self: make Intermittent Fasting reading list)

Today’s Medium search on Intermittent Fasting resulted in dozens of fresh articles on the topic plus one quasi-naysayer. I bet the quasi-naysayer used a headline app to make the story stand out amongst dozens of testimonials.

I have positive results to report

First: I started Intermittent Fasting for it’s promise of reducing inflammation and arthritis pain, as well as lowering A1C blood sugar levels. The inflammation and arthritis pain reduction was immediate, then returned, then regressed. Today is a good day and I am pain free.

Next Step: Use calendar to track high/medium/low/no inflammation and arthritis days. Cross check food choices for triggers. {I did this before when it came to depression and it helped to see the data}

For A1C levels, I have a doctors appointment in October to check overall health, blood levels, etc — good old rural America, this was the earliest I could be seen due to an extreme physician shortage.

Second: Though the scale jumps all over the place, my shape is changing for sure. Shirts that were tight across the back feel loose now. Several pair of pants/capris literally fall off of me. And NONE of my shoes fit. I never realized my giant triple E shoe-size was due to permanently swollen feet.

Next Step: Be more mindful about what I am eating. Reduce bread and pasta consumption. Replace with healthier carbs. If I want to eat grains, I need to eat them earlier in the feeding time vs my last meal of the day. Also need to increase ‘good’ fiber and protein. And, oh yay, buy new shoes :-)

Now for the weird and disgusting

In all the research, reading and video watching I’ve done, I have not come across too many articles that put the “what to expect as you progress” alongside the weirdness that is going to happen when you change 65 plus years of fueling your body.

The first odd thing was the surge of energy in the middle of the night. As my body switched to burning off my fat rather than running on food intake it woke me up. The energy surges come at all different hours of the day. By day three I was so exhausted I actually got 8.5 hours of sleep.

WOW the difference 8.5 hours of sleep made. I hadn’t been that effortlessly productive in years. I’ve been productive, but at great cost to my energy stores.

The next thing I had to suss out was the effect of having no gallbladder on this eating plan. If working, this plan regularly taps into your bodies fat stores. The answer is WATCH OUT if you have no gallbladder!! If not careful you are going to live in the bathroom. I wasn’t careful or more accurately well informed and I’ve been living in the bathroom.

My gallbladder was removed during a massive hernia operation as a result of a previous cancer surgery. The gallbladder stores excess bile produced by the liver to breakdown fats in your diet. If the intermittent fasting is working-then you are reaching the autophagy stage where your body is breaking down your stored fat for operating fuel.

Without a gallbladder, the liver is easily overwhelmed with too much fat in the system. My body’s solution was to expel it all- diarrhea.

I was trying the two meals a day within an 8 hour feeding window and 16 hours fasting. I was feeling bloated and was belching non-stop. I was eating to much food in the two meals to get the daily calories I needed. I’ve switched to three smaller meals within eight hours and am doing better.

The third weird thing that is happening is cellar repair. The process of fasting appears to increase the production of growth hormones. These hormones set about removing toxins and repairing damaged cells in the body. About 10 days into this eating plan I started getting random painful twinges around my body. I had a familiarity with this pain as two weeks after the colon cancer surgery I had searing pain in the surgical area of my colon. I called the doctor immediately to which he replied, “Oh that’s just your nerves waking up.”

Apparently nerves are waking up all over my body! Fortunately the “twinges of intense pain” are short lived and deep breathing helps me get through them.

The great news is this cellar repair job is fast! I woman who sees me once a week at our local farmers market couldn’t stop staring at me. She remarked, “Something is different with your skin. You look amazing.” I thanked her and ran off to the bathroom! Win some, lose some.

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Do as I say and not as I do disclaimer: Please visit your medical doctor before starting on a plan such as this. I am going for baseline numbers even though I will be two months in by my appointment. I’ll be curious to see if my new doc mentions the lack of gallbladder problems with this plan.

I am sharing my experience only, and not offering professional advice other than check with a medical expert and do your “homework” before starting on a new way of eating and living.

Learn more about intermittent fasting

Here are some links if you are interested in learning more about this shift in fueling your body.

The article by Dr Mehmet Yildiz is what got me started, it is full of links and references. A good place to start learning.

My first article on this topic

Thanks for getting all the way to the end!! I plan on sticking with the 16:8 fasting plan up to the start of holidays. That will be five months of data: I will evaluate at that point and decide if this is working or not.