The Power of Fasting
I got this…
Here I was, a person on her way to recover from Binge Eating Disorder, at the movie theater’s candy shop.
I was surrounded by chocolate candy bars, peanuts, gummies and…yes, popcorn, all kinds of popcorn.
But I had a secret weapon…
I hadn’t eaten anything in the past 24 hours, and I had 24 more to go.
I couldn’t help to smile and say to myself, “I got this.”
That old evil called insulin resistance
Let’s go back a few years.
I’m 207 pounds when I should have been between 132 to 141, tops.
That’s not all. I’m on a drug called metformin to help me fight off insulin resistance (IR).
What’s insulin resistance?
Insulin resistance is when cells in your muscles, fat, and liver don’t respond well to insulin and can’t use glucose from your blood for energy. To make up for it, your pancreas makes more insulin. Over time, your blood sugar levels go up.
Every time you eat, insulin gets to work. If you are eating at all hours, then your pancreas is working overtime. As the years go by, it will get tired of producing insulin your body doesn’t know how to use anymore. Congratulations: you now have diabetes!
Luckily, I wasn’t there yet…but that seemed to be my fate.
Thanks to IR, there were patches of dark, dry skin at the top of my feet, on my knees, and elbows. It did not matter how much lotion I applied.
I was hungry ALL the time. This is not an understatement. Whenever I ate, two hours later, I would be starving again.
And brain fog was a permanent companion. I couldn’t think: it felt as if whenever I tried to focus my mind on something, the pieces fell apart at the last moment. Also, I was severely depressed.
All of this was the result of years of battling food addiction.
Something had to give.
The change
I have written before about Binge Eating Disorder and how it played a crucial role in the state of my body. In the end, a neck injury was the thing that forced me to change my habits. I needed to exercise and change the way I ate if I was to recover.
I experimented with a lot of stuff: the classic 6-small meals a day plan, the blue zones diet, the low FODMAP restriction regime…all to end in the clean ketogenic diet.
In case you don’t know what clean keto is, I can tell you it involves consuming lots of healthy fats, plenty of green leafy greens, moderate amounts of protein, and reduced amounts of carbs. Refined sugars are entirely out of the question.
But that’s not all. Whoever engages in the keto lifestyle will soon find out it has a partner: intermittent fasting (IF).
Not a diet
You have probably heard about it before. It seems to be trending nowadays. However, this is not a diet: it’s an eating pattern.
The idea is to allow your body to go for several hours without eating, instead of grazing night and day.
There are many versions out there but, the pattern that has worked for me is having my first meal of the day at 1 pm, then a second one at 5 pm, …and that’s it — no more food after 6 pm.
You can have some coffee or tea, whether you have them alone or mixed with butter and coconut oil (you can also use MCT oil). This is typically known as bulletproof coffee (or tea). If you are just starting with intermittent fasting, this will help. We’ll go back to this in a bit.
There’s more. Some people challenge themselves by fasting for 24, 48, or even 72 hours. Heck, some people manage to fast for a whole week.
Why would anyone do that?
Well, it has been found that this eating pattern has many benefits:
“…human studies of intermittent fasting found that it improved such disease indicators as insulin resistance, blood fat abnormalities, high blood pressure and inflammation, even independently of weight loss. In patients with multiple sclerosis, intermittent fasting reduced symptoms in just two months, a research team in Baltimore reported in 2018.”
Furthermore, it increases growth hormone secretion, meaning it will slow down aging.
And yes, you will lose weight. I also noticed that my mental focus increased, and it even aided me in reducing my depression symptoms.
I would add there’s an additional benefit: the power of knowing you can control your food intake as you desire.
48 hours without eating
Now, let’s go back to that day at the movie theater.
My husband and my son were at the candy shop, getting all sorts of snacks. I usually go to the movies alone (to watch what hubby calls weird movies), so I just skip that area. But this was a family outing. Once we went inside, I was going to be sitting right next to their popcorn and candy.
I’m not going to lie. It was tempting to see and smell all of that food.
When my son asked to go to the movies, I knew I was going to be in dangerous territory, full of some of the foods I crave the most.
Perhaps you are thinking, “come on, what’s the harm in a bit of candy? You are too harsh on yourself.”
However, as I mentioned at the beginning, I crave junk food. I have discovered that total abstinence is the best strategy for me. Moderate consumption always leads to disaster. If this is not the case for you, I’m sincerely happy. But I know how my mind works.
So, what to do?
Well…fasting seemed like the best option.
Twenty-four hours before, I had my “last meal.” I made sure to consume extra fat. I knew that would help sustain me. From then on, it was no food.
Finally, the day came. I was precisely on the 24-hour mark and felt great. Yeah, stuff smelled delicious, but it wasn’t as hard as I thought it was going to be. I did get a cup of black coffee and some water, just to sip something here and there.
I kept smiling non-stop.
However, do not deceive yourself. There was a lot of previous work involved in pulling this off.
Before the movie
At this point in my life, I had already been on the keto diet for several months. I had managed to go from 6 meals a day, then to three and, finally, to just two. Later on, I even went OMAD a couple of times.
OMAD stands for One Meal A Day. That’s right; I had managed to spend 24 hours without eating.
Once I did that, the natural step was a 48-hours fast.
The first time I tried it, I was nervous. “Can I do this?” I wondered. Remember, this was the woman who couldn’t go for more than 2 hours without eating.
But I had evolved. I had worked hard on healing my body, on eating healthy, nutritious foods, and on building my discipline’s muscles. So I decided to give it a try.
It was exciting. I knew I was challenging myself beyond anything I had ever thought possible before.
As the final hour arrived, I was a bit hungry (not as much as I thought I was going to be), but I was also ecstatic. I had done it. Plus, I noticed a bunch of other benefits, especially around the 30-hour mark:
Euphoria. Endless energy. Unmovable focus. The amount of shit I got done was incredible.
Soon, I set up a new goal: to fast 48 hours at least once a month.
That day at the movies? It was part of my training.
How to go about this?
I have explored the web in search of advice on how to make intermittent fasting easier. What comes below are the tips that have worked the best for me:
1. Why are you doing this?
What do you expect to get from following this eating pattern? In my case, it was to get healthier. Weight loss was no longer a goal: I just wanted to recover my health and beat insulin resistance.
Losing weight was just a side-effect.
Whatever your goal is, establish it beforehand and think about why you want to reach it.
2. Check in with your doctor and learn about your body
You have to make sure you are healthy enough before you try to do this. You need supervision. So, get in touch with your physician.
I also suggest you educate yourself. Read about nutrition, learn about how your body works. There are tons of books out there on the topic.
Get to know your organism, so you understand its inner workings.
3. Keto Diet
You could try to fast while following any other diet, but, honestly, I don’t think I would be able to do it if it weren’t because of the keto diet. I’m certain that consuming lots of fat is what has allowed me to spend hours without eating. Fat helps curb appetite and will sustain you for many hours. Keep in mind we are talking about healthy fats such as olive, avocado, and coconut oil, as well as nuts and grass-fed butter.
4. Bulletproof tea/coffee in the morning
This is an easy one: just prepare your tea or coffee as usual and add butter and MCT oil to it. The idea is to drink this instead of having your typical breakfast. Make sure to blend it or use a foamer so you won’t just have a lot of fat floating all over your drink.
Now, what is MCT oil?
“Medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) oil contains medium-length chains of fats called triglycerides. Due to their shorter length, MCTs are easily digested and many health benefits are linked to the way your body processes these fats.”
MCT oil is usually extracted from coconut oil. People on the keto diet love this stuff since it can be transformed into ketones in the liver almost immediately.
I also add a tiny bit of coconut oil. I just love the taste.
My go-to recipe: a mix of green and Earl Grey tea, a teaspoon of MCT oil, a tiny dash of coconut oil (just for the taste), a teaspoon of butter, and some sea salt. If you want to spice things up, add a dash of turmeric and ginger, as well as a bit of black pepper.
If you are more of a coffee person (I sometimes am), simply switch the tea for coffee. You could also add a tablespoon of heavy whipping cream. That stuff is loaded with fat and will make your coffee super creamy.
Be careful, though! If you add too much fat, you could end up breaking your fast, so don’t overdo it.
And yes, you could also just have plain tea or coffee. Remember: no sugar!
5. Salt in your water
That’s right: you might want to add salt to your drinking water. Especially while working out. It will keep you from feeling tired. Simply add it to your water throughout the day. I would suggest sticking to sea salt or Himalayan pink salt.
6. Busy yourself
Make sure you will have stuff to do to keep your mind occupied. It could be something physical, like decluttering that room where you have been hoarding your trinkets. Or maybe it could be an intellectual challenge, like writing the first chapter of your novel.
Or a mix of the two.
The point is not to sit around just thinking about food.
7. Exercise
Nothing too strenuous, just enough to get your mind and body going. For example, a light walk or a slow yoga session.
8. Mind your body
Pain attention to your organism. Observe the sensations. At what moment do you feel hungry? Take note of the time. Analyze: is it actual hunger, or are you just panicking?
Now, if you hit the 24-hour mark and realize you are hungry, then, please, eat. Don’t judge yourself. This is a process.
Think: what did you eat the day before? Perhaps you didn’t consume enough fat. Or maybe you need to increase your sodium intake.
The point is to learn from the experience.
9. Go slow
It would be a mistake to try to jump from 6 meals a day to a 72-hour fast.
Start by going down to 5 meals. After that, only three. Maybe later you can move on to 2…
Go. Slow.
Listen to your body. It will let you know whether or not you are ready for this.
In my case, I’m at the 48-hour mark at the moment. My long term goal is a 72-hour fast every month. It will take some time for me to get there, but I’m working on it.
There’s no rush.
How has this benefited me?
- The obvious one: I’m no longer hungry all the time
- I have stopped counting calories. Sometimes, when I eat in public, people give me the side-eye when I help myself to an extra serving of butter (which happens about 90% of the time, by the way). I don’t care. If I have finished my meal and still feel hungry, then I’ll get seconds. If there’s still food on my plate, but I already feel like I’m going to explode, then I’ll stop eating. Fasting has helped me relearn how to eat.
- I have stopped worrying about my weight. Last time I got on a scale, I was 135 pounds…that was almost three months ago. I had said to myself that I would check my weight once a month, but I’m just not interested in that number anymore. There are other ways to assess my health, such as checking in with my levels of physical and mental energy, monitoring my libido (that one is quite a bit of fun, guys!), paying attention to how my body feels when I wake up. If my jeans start feeling a bit tight, yeah, I’ll check what’s going on, but, in the meantime, I no longer need a scale to tell me whether or not I should feel good about myself.
- My skin is going back to normal, no more dark spots on feet, knees, or elbows. Oh, and I’m off metformin.
- Mental focus and an overall better mood. It does not surprise me at all that I was able to resume my creative life once I changed the way I eat.
- Increased self-esteem and a kickass discipline muscle. I know what I’m capable of, and I’m always challenging my limits. Whenever I achieve my fitness goals, I get a surge of pride. And when I don’t, I use it as a learning experience: what can I do better next time?
Final note
Remember: this is not a diet. It’s an eating pattern that, when done right, will help you heal your relationship with food.
To me, fasting is not just about physical health anymore; it’s also about working on my mind so I can get to know myself.
Also, it has helped me be more forgiving towards myself. I used to engage in such negative self-talk. Now, when things don’t go the way I planned, I do my best to learn from them.
When we are on the road to wellness, that’s the best we can hope for.
