Intermittent Fasting, and My Personal Experience

By Dahlia Acevedo

My mother was actually the first person to enlighten me about intermittent fasting. I remember her being really excited about the prospect of not being on an actual diet, and having to constantly think about what you put in your mouth. She explained that participants in a recent study continuously lost weight every week without changing anything about their daily routine (this includes what they ate and how often they ate). They simply stuck to a 12 hour on / 12 hour off fasting period. For example, if they had their first meal or snack at 9am, and their last meal or snack at 9pm. They would then refrain from ingesting anything but water, from 9pm until 9am. This means, no liquids (milk, juice, soda), no alcohol, and no sugar. And let me tell you, this is doable! The last time I saw my mother (a few weeks back), she told me she has lost seven pounds fasting twelve hours a day. I was so excited for her! Now, to be fair, I  asked if she has been eating any differently. She told me she has been eating less pasta, rice, bread and potatoes. As you have heard, starchy carbs that when eaten in excess, contribute to weight gain. Especially if a person isn't active enough. I'll never know if her weight loss is the direct result of her fasting, or is due to her cutting out starchy carbs from her diet,

So what is happening in your body during intermittent fasting, you may be wondering. Really, what I took from the literature was, that since your body doesn't have too work so hard to constantly digest food, liquids like milk, and sugar, than it has the chance to rest. The body can instead focus on healing itself: work on regulating your metabolism, blood sugar, blood pressure, cholesterol. And work to reverse allergies and certain diseases. Think sore muscles (tears in muscles), after working out. When we sleep our body gets to work repairing (or healing) those muscles. Secondly, during the fast period (yes a period of elected starvation) your body is forced to feed on its fat reserves, which is when weight loss starts to occur. 

A while back I tried intermittent fasting for four weeks. I felt for the most part okay, until I moved into the week of a fourteen hour fast. Keep in mind I have a history of suffering terrible migraines, mood swings and nausea when I go too long without eating, or when I don't eat enough. I am hypoglycemic AND have a high metabolism. Thankfully with age I no longer experience extreme variations of these horrible side effects.

The following is my experience with intermittent fasting:

• Week one I fasted 12 hours on / 12 hours off. The first couple of days were really hard, I woke up in the middle of the night feeling hungry and couldn't eat. Needless to say, I didn't sleep well. It was easy to stick to however, and by the third night I wasn't waking up hungry. 

• Week two I fasted 11 hours on / 13 hours off. My stomach was shrinking, especially since I stuck to the fasting routine through the weekend. So this fasting period felt easier, and I was more determined than ever. If I woke up hungry at night I drank a glass of water. Tricking my stomach into feeling full. 

• Week three I fasted 10 hours on / 14 hours off. This is when things started getting hard. I would sometimes feel hungry after eating dinner, and before going to bed (I had stopped eating at 8pm), but I couldn't eat anything. Then I'd wake up starving the next morning but couldn't eat until 10 am. I was feeling fatigued, moody and head achy. But since I started to see a difference in the way my clothes were fitting, loose!, I kept at it.

• Week four I fasted 9 hours on / 15 hours off. This was very hard! I was okay with not eating after 8pm, but would be absolutely starving to death when I woke up the next morning. I started to feel really bad / sick with a headache that wouldn't go away. But I couldn't eat until 11 am. Then I came down with a cold and decided to focus on getting better. Which meant I had to stop fasting.

I have so much respect for those women in my life who have had great success with fasting. They have been great mentors and were very supportive. I wish them continued success on their journey. I was told to hang in there, it would get easier with time. Which it did for a short while. Before I knew it I was giving people advice about fasting: Keep busy, drink a lot of water, join a support group. I really wish it would have worked out for me, and wish I had better news to report. For me it was something new and fascinating to experiment with, and I couldn't wait to share my results. 

Noticeable benefits of intermittent fasting: I felt clean inside, which is hard to explain. Devoid of waste, and excess gas, I guess. Better focus / clarity of thought. A smaller waste line, little to no inflammation or gas discomfort (which resulted in a flat stomach), no cravings, bursts of energy, increased metabolism. As soon as I stopped fasting I noticed my metabolism seemed to be back to normal. Which, quite frankly felt like a huge pain in the ass. I was burning through my food right away and felt hungry all the time. Sometimes better sleep (which could be a direct result of not consuming chocolate and alcohol after 8pm). Decreased anxiety. I am a naturally high strung individual.My mind and body are always running.

Ultimately, intermittent fasting is not for me. Even though I did lose a few inches from my waist line. I like to eat, especially when I am hungry. And do not enjoy suffering headaches, fatigue and mood swings. I used to suffer terrible insomnia, and still experience sleep issues. Sometimes getting up to eat a little something (usually a teaspoon of peanut butter), or taking a swig of tequila is the only thing that can help me get back to sleep. I've decided to put my health and well being first. 

There are SO many diet fads out there, and Intermittent Fasting appears to be the biggest one at the moment. Even though it's technically not a diet. If you chose to try it, much luck to you. I hope you have a better experience with it then I did. Losing weight is hard and takes time, if you are going about it in a healthy manner: eating healthy, low fat meals, and exercising on a regular basis. What has seemed to work best for me has been to cut most starchy carbs out of my diet, and exercise daily, or whenever I get the chance. Life happens, dont' be so hard on yourself. Practice self love. I'm sure you are doing your best. If you fall off the wagon get back up and start fresh the next day. There is always tomorrow. Reward yourself for setting and meeting weight and fitness goals. And most importantly, allow yourself at least one cheat day a week so you don't go insane.