Monday, July 9, 2018

Fast track to wellness - Part 1

Photo by Joseph Greve on Unsplash
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I've been away for a while because I finally get to enjoy life in wellness as it should be. Not trying to brag but I discovered something phenomenal that catapulted me into the best health I've had thus far. Really!!! If you've been following me on Social Media, you'll know what I'm talking about. I discovered fasting end of last year. After 6 months at it, I'm ready to give you guys an overview of how my wellness has improved since I added this practice to my mix. You ready to hear? Like many of the healing tools and practices out there, this too may sound extreme. If you've had any eating disorder challenges in the past and find this triggering, please stop reading NOW... and Hugs!  For the rest of you who're curious, here's the condense of how fasting has taken my health to another new level. Let me tell you how it seemed to have reset my body and even lessened my food sensitivity.

It all started with me catching a bit of stomach bug from my kid few days before Christmas, it wasn't a big deal, but with our Hawaii trip just around the corner, I wanted to be in tip-top shape for the travels. Afterall this was the first family vacay where I was in full remission. The timing must have been right as that's when I dove deep into the philosophy of a Toronto based Nephrologist, Dr. Jason Fung  Have you heard of him?

Few years ago, when I was still having gut symptoms, I used to find a bowel rest helpful to let my digestion take a break so my body can focus on any repair it needed, I found this after my first colonoscopy, which involved some form of fasting to prep for it, or at least no solid food, my UC got a lot better. That was also why I didn't jump on the medicine right away.

So back to my fasting beginning, on Dec 20, I was really feeling the holiday sluggishness on top of hormonal imbalances too, being a peri-meno woman is always fun, right?  By Xmas eve, the stomach bug really hit me hard, I was feeling fatigued and stomach cramps.

Timing and intuition. Something inside told me to look into fasting seriously, so I did more research on what Dr. Fung has on the internet, skimmed through one of his books, The Obesity Code, and learned more about how to feel better during fasting. That's when things started turning around. I began a water only fast, actually right through Christmas dinner. Yes, you heard right. I was feeling so amazing that even being around all the holiday food didn't tempt me a bit. Crazy right?

I continued to feel better, lighter and more mental clarity on an alternate day fasting schedule after Christmas and all through my family vacation in Hawaii.

Being in Hawaii was, of course, something else. I'm sure anyone would experience a boost in healing being on an island filled with sunshine, fresh produces and of course the R and R. This was a pretty special trip where I was able to enjoy carefreely, for the first time while away from home, I seriously left my worries behind. I used to always have this hold on me, reservation keeping me from being in the moment. This time was different, was it because of my recent remission news or was it from the fasting the reset my entire body? The fasting practice became quite natural and easy. The most remarkable thing was my food sensitivities seemed to have subsided. I was able to have caffeine like coffee and tea, even tomatoes. Wow! With all the liquids I have to consume during fasting, plain water got boring fast. I added a splash of ACV ( apple cider vinegar)  to help with electrolytes and to add a little flavour but one morning, I decided to try some weak green tea... I waited for the usual effects from the past, jitters, mild heart race and generally out of sort... but it never came? Hmm... what has this fasting thing done to my body? I was intrigued. Next step, I decided to try some really diluted black coffee, while in Kona why not? Again, I waited... no effects? even when I had it in the afternoon. Perhaps by consuming the coffee black had something to do with it. Could it be my body has reset to neutral?

My body continued to lean out further, but this time I wasn't wasting away like when I lost weight from my UC flares. I noticed more muscle definition from all the TRX class I had been going to. It was like BAM the layer of security fat just melted away and HELLO muscles. Or a better description might be the layer of inflammation has disappeared.  I got super excited about learning all that I can about fasting.  I devoured the books and listened and watched to any podcast/ youtube I could get hands on. The alternate day 24 hrs fast was pretty easy to follow, I was eating lunch and dinner one day, the next I would only eat dinner. No problem.

When I returned home, I hopped on the scale and was shocked to see that I had dropped 10 lbs since I started my fasting practice. That was 2 1/2 weeks.

Did I regain the weight?

I've lost a few more lbs and now below my original goal weight. Now, my focuses are continue to swap body fat for muscles, improving stamina and just plain ol' building a STRONGER me.

Stay tuned for more about fasting

For more info on fasting check out these links

What is Fasting?

The Calorie Deception


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