It’s Friday night here, after a long week. I don’t know if anyone else has ever had a problem with this, but back in the day, Friday night would be the night I bought/cooked/ate something “special.” It was often a “reward” for surviving a challenging work week (and most of them were, it seems, when I was hooked on carbs and morbidly obese.)
It was like clockwork. Go to store on way home, or order something, or plan to eat some sort of carbage-rich substance. And I wouldn’t do this alone. I would bring the kids and spouse along for the “treat” too.
Photo by David Vexler / Unsplash
Fast forward. I began changing my habits a few years ago because it became glaringly obvious that weekends (starting Friday night) were my kryptonite. It was a food free-for-all, and I was not reaching my health goals. I would work really hard during the work week, only to sabotage my progress in a few bursts of bad choices.
I started buying new varieties of herbal teas to try on Friday nights. A new magazine. A new brand of decaf coffee. Something out of the ordinary, to give me a sense of celebration. I was still buying stuff, but at least it wasn’t food.
Last week, I had my Friday night planned meal (LCHF) and jumped into my first 48 hour fast ever. ON.THE.WEEKEND. Six months ago, this would be completely alien and terrifying. I completed that fast.
Today, my 48 ends in about 10 minutes. But I’m not hungry, I don’t feel deprived, and I have something else to do later.
So, it looks like I will be riding this new wave into morning, completely avoiding purchasing any kind of “treat” to satisfy my need to reward myself. Fasting aka Healing is becoming my reward. That buzz after going enough hours for some sort of chemical buzz. The feeling of “I’m doing it!”
THAT’S the reward. Feeling good. Feeling empowered. And, with the help and gracious assistance of like-minded individuals on this journey, feeling supported.
And also, inevitably, feeling and becoming much healthier. That’s my Friday Night Special right now. I’m glad to be here.
I’ve been reading about and practicing Intermittent Fasting for about two years now. Fasting is something that came naturally as a kid–you eat your three small meals a day, and nothing in between. (Yes, I’m THAT old.) I didn’t struggle with my weight until I was age 10, we moved out into the country, and there wasn’t much for me to do except stay in the house and eat. I gained an astonishing 70 pounds in six months.
It has been a challenge to keep my weight in the reasonable ranges ever since.
A little family history: my family of origin is rife with Type 2 Diabetics. Parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, grandparents. Many are overweight. Many eat pasta (the Italian side) and many eat potatoes (the Pennsylvania Dutch side) liberally. While pregnant with baby #4, I was given a diagnosis of Gestational Diabetes. At some point, my medical team told me that I would likely develop full on Type 2 within five years of the diagnosis. The docs were pretty certain I was going to be one of those statistics.
No thank you. No way, no how. I had to do something to stay out of that statistic. I didn’t want to be part of the typical group–I’ve always liked to “blow the curve” by having results better than the norm. Just one of those personality characteristics, I guess.
So, I took what seemed like a fail-safe route a few years back. I joined a commercial diet program that included a coach and pre-packaged meals. I worked hard for a year. I ate six times a day. I bought boxes and boxes of meal replacements.
My success was phenomenal.
Until it wasn’t.
We had moved from city to country (notice a trend here?) and I had started a very stressful job that required 24/7 attention. I developed a craving for fattier foods. Soon afterwards, I developed anemia, discovered I had a severe Vitamin D deficiency. I had a few other abnormal labs, too. Enough to make me wonder what the heck was going on with my body. And the weight started coming back. Not all of it, but much more than I ever hoped to see again.
I knew about ketosis, because the meal replacements I used were designed to help a person get into mild ketosis. Ketosis, if you haven’t been reading up on it already, is where the body relies on fat for its primary fuel, not sugar. (Not to be confused with ketoacidosis, which is a dangerous condition and should be treated immediately by medical professionals.)
I watched some videos on how to get into ketosis while eating regular foods (not the “processed chemicals” I was buying every month — my spouse had some concerns). I listened to some Podcasts. And went further with the ketosis by whole and natural foods idea. I watched Thomas DeLauer, Dr. Berry, and Dr. Boz. I looked at Keto sites, like Keto Connect and Diet Doctor.
Then I came across Dr. Jason Fung and his colleague, Megan Ramos. Dr. Fung has a pretty simple message. Just stop eating. Start fasting.
Wait, what?
It made perfect sense. And so I started devouring books to help me understand how to be successful with fasting. For the non-book-readers, you can check out The Fasting Method, which is a site led by Megan Ramos and features visits from Dr. Fung and other top professionals in this health revolution. Another helpful online resource is run by Gin Stephens on Facebook. If you do a name search, you should be able to find her support groups.
The following books are my top 5 books (in ranked order) for someone just starting out or for those who want a comprehensive and/or clear view of fasting and how it works (and yes, I’ve read them all, plus many more that didn’t hit this list):
The Obesity Code is the most science-oriented of all of them. You might want to listen to it, rather than read it. Dr. Fung is no-nonsense in the book. He provides clear evidence for the proposal to just “stop eating.” We don’t need to eat all day long. We weren’t designed that way. This book has template fasting schedules and also lists recommended dietary changes that go hand in hand with fasting.
Fast. Feast. Repeat. is a truly a comprehensive overview of “One Meal a Day” (OMAD) type fasting. It also includes sections on Alternate Day Fasting (ADF) which may be helpful for the more insulin resistant among us. Gin Stephens is down to earth and helpful. She reads the studies so you don’t have to (unless you want to) and has parsed it out for us.
Delay, Don’t Deny is Gin Stephens’ first book and explains how to improve your health without having to give up your favorite foods. You simply delay when you have them, and you learn quite a bit about eating windows and what not to do when it’s not time to eat. It’s a friendly, accessible book, especially for folks who are just dipping their toes in the fasting waters.
Life in the Fasting Lane feels like it was written just for me and any middle(ish) -aged woman who has struggled with emotional eating. It has the fasting, eating, and emotional components all in one book, along with helpful starting tips for those who are serious about “trying this fasting thing.” Plus I think Eve Mayer has a friendly and inspiring writing style. So this was an easy read, actually.
The Complete Guide to Fasting is a “how to” book. It’s a great book to get started, with lots of great advice from renowned fasting experts. I should note that it may have some outdated advice as to how much fat should be used as a fasting aid on fasting days. The book says up to six tablespoons of fat on a fasing day, but I’ve confirmed that The Fasting Method (and Megan Ramos) recommends up to three tablespoons of fat, and ONLY if you need it. So, Bulletproof Coffee is best used during a mealtime.
NOTE: if you are interested in fasting but scared, take a look at one of these five books. Many are in the library. The results can be transformative. At the very least, if you know what it is, you don’t have to be afraid of not eating anymore. It’s OK to go more than a few hours without a meal. Your body will not shut down.
On the contrary, after you get past some of the early days (entering ketosis), you’ll feel better than ever. That’s my experience, anyway.
And for the record, baby #4 is almost TEN years old. Mama (that’s me!) has not developed diabetes and does not have abnormal blood sugar readings. That, in and of itself, is a major win.
This week I am focusing more on active minutes, such as standing and stepping. Stuff I can do indoors. We’re going to take it easy this week. If I go outside (and I make a point of it), it won’t be to any city centers anytime soon.
Running is waiting for me, and I look forward to getting back out on the trail just as soon as I’m able.
I debated with myself a bit yesterday about how I would approach the morning. I needed to complete two runs by Sunday to stay on track with RunBet but the air and the heat this week have been unusually challenging. The sky has been red–the sun blocked by haze and smoke. I posted before and after my run on FB:
Today I will be running with a mask. Or, I guess I should call it, jogga-waddling. I’ll be moving as fast as I can for about 40 minutes. Then coming inside and washing the remains of someone’s worldly possessions off of my skin. 😬 It has to be done. The jog and the wash. I will be testing the theory that you should not run with a mask on. I’ll let you know how it goes.
ON Facebook
Smoke occludes the morning sun in Sacramento, California, due to ongoing fires
When I was out there, I had time to think. It wasn’t as bad I thought, getting outside about 40 minutes before sunrise. I did check the AQIand was well hydrated. And I got my run done. As promised, I reported the mask experiment on social media.
The morning run is done. What I learned: masks while running suck. Even lightweight medical office masks. About 5 minutes in, I had to take mine off. I felt like I was suffocating. I’d rather get a whiff of faint campfire than slowly choke on my own exhaust. Two, it’s wonderful to run in my neighborhood before dawn. No one was out. It was me and a canopy of trees. Divine. And three, the level of commitment I seem to have recently made to running is nothing short of surprising. I wasn’t able to talk myself out of it this morning. Now to dissect why that is and apply it in other areas of life. I think the key here is #commitment. In any event, hope your Friday is good and that you are safe wherever you are.
FACEBOOK POST
A friend of mine commented that he “wussed out” on his run today. I responded — barely recognizing myself. Who have I become? It’s mind-boggling.
It wasn’t as bad as I thought. If you keep an eye on the AQI and go when it’s clearing a little do to dew in the air, you should be fine. Depending on how long you’re going for, though! Plus give yourself permission to go slow and to tap out if you need to. I feel MUCH better now that I got ‘er done!
After a couple of sleepless nights and a day off from running, I decided I had better get out there and run. I’m particularly a super committed runner, but when I have a #RunBet going (and I do at the moment) it is enough to make me push my limits. I knew it was going to be challenging with the record-breaking heat in the area, and now the smoky, ashy air quality.
A little after dawn, I laced up and got out there. The air was still and generally thick, as it has been, but the sky was a goldish reddish color that reminded me of the Wine Country fires in Napa County in October 2017. We were there then, and it was not anything but stressful and frightening. 2017 had been my first up close and personal experience with fire.
I knew I was going to be slow, but as long as I got my minimum pace for the challenge, and my minimum time, I was good to go.
Few people were out. Even fewer than the recent hot days. We’ve had at least 5 days in a row of over 100 degree Fahrenheit heat. That’s not too big a deal if you know Sacramento and the valley. But the heat has been humid, with thunder and lightning (the lightning out of nowhere caused many of the fires) and that has been new.
I took it easy, but my adult daughter was out on the street looking for me. She had a bandana over her mouth and nose. She tells me, “It was bothering me, and I figure if I had trouble with the ash and air, you would.”
Surprisingly I wasn’t too troubled. I actually didn’t even notice the cars coated with white and gray ash until I came back from nearly 40 minutes of a slower zennish jog.
Here is my FB post shortly after I got back, with the photo above.
The car was clean, actually, yesterday. This is ash from the fires. And yes, I ran in it. Really slowly, but I got ‘er done this morning.
It’s amazing what we can do when we put our minds to it. My mind was set on running. Now I’m wondering if I did any damage. I hope not. But as there are no N95 masks to be had, I guess the damage is already done.
I’ll probably wait another day before I go out again. But I know that I will want to get my scheduled runs for this week done, as soon as I can, as best as I can.
The Bear View 