More about fasting for health - Part 2

Photo by Sven on Unsplash

 > This post contains Affiliate or Referral link, please see Disclaimer

Here is the link to Fast track to wellness - Part 1. How I got started into extended fasting.

Here's another one of my fasting related link to my the one year update post on my nutritional ketosis progress

Some of you might be wondering how I got from gut healing focus to this fasting practice. Once I felt my UC was pretty much under control, I started looking into the effect of insulin and how it might play a role in the gut microbiome. You see, my mother was a T2 diabetic who died from complication of the metabolic disease. Her neglect of health led her to renal failure and 10 years of dialysis. Watching her body deteriorate was what got me interested in wellness in the first place. This is why I became so interested in insulin and how it may affect our gut microbiome

What is my Fasting routine look like?

Well, I started off trying to follow a routine, a template. That's how most of us learn right?  There's a lot of info out there, so far the clearest and simple resource I've found was  Complete Guide to Fasting by Dr. Jason Fung. I started by following the 24 hrs Alternate day fasting as described in the book. Day 1 Lunch and Dinner, Day 2 Dinner, rinse and repeat. It got a little getting used especially for my family. Didn't take long for me to see the weight melting away and my energy skyrocketing, I was excited to dive deeper.

My body seems to really like the One Meal A Day practice, aka, OMAD. I chose dinner as my meal of the day 'cause it's more of a social thing where I can relax and enjoy time with family. But I had to watch out when I was still trying to lose a few pounds, my body adapted to whatever routine purely for survival which means it hung onto the weight.

So how did I get over that hump? By shaking things up, being fluid.

Today, I'm more intuitive with my fasting, I don't follow a schedule like fast on set days. Some people like to do Mon, Wed, Fri. I mainly go with how I feel. Sometimes I like to time a longer fast into my social calendar. I do find that a few days after my cycle is a good time to do an extended fast, which is usually between 36-42 hrs. So that makes a long fast once a month for me.

Pros about fasting

Eating less means cost less

Digestion doesn't get overworked. I feel that since I became fat adapted, run on ketones

Feel empowered, easily breeze through if I'm in a situation where I don't have excess to food I eat
not prepared.

Promote Autophagy What is this word? Click here to learn more

What is my main take away on fasting?

I've learned as long as I keep my electrolytes in check, like having enough salts either with my meal or a pinch in my hydration, I don't get those discomfort most people get when they start. That has been the key factor when it comes to fasting. I remember my dad, who was in the army and lived through many tough days during the war, telling me that a person can live several of days, even longer, without food but without water? Maybe only 1 - 2.

Watch this video to understand the difference between fasting and starvation