I feel like I need to start this post with a big fat disclaimer: I have only been doing this intermittent fasting thing for a week or so, which I realize is not an ideal amount of time to really get a good glimpse at a different eating lifestyle. But I have thoughts, and dang it I’m going to share them!
A little background first. I am obsessed with Chalene Johnson, which feels weird to admit out loud, but I just think she seems like the coolest gal. She’s fun and smart, creative and passionate, driven and generous. And besides the fact that I can’t dance along to her workout videos to save my life, I love listening to her podcasts and Instagram stories any chance I get!
About two weeks ago I was listening to an episode in which she interviews Melissa McAllister about her MADE Diet, which from my understanding is a high-fat diet paired with an 8-hour eating window (i.e. intermittent fasting). I’m no newbie to the world of alternative diet lifestyles (is that a phrase? It is now…) and because my husband was out of town pretty much all last week I figured why the heck not – I’ll check it out. Let me interject here and say that I don’t think everyone should just jump into something like intermittent fasting without doing the research first…but that’s what I did. I told you not to, though!
Anyway, I just jumped right into 8 hour eating windows and higher-fat diets and the results? Well, read below:
- You gotta do it slow. I jumped straight into a small eating window and man alive it sucked! I figured I could give it 3 days and see what happened, during which time I also started a new probiotic. I don’t know if it was the fasting, the higher fat, the probiotic, the stress, or a combo of the 4 but I had some major tummy troubles for a couple days. Not my best time. I would recommend cutting down that eating window slowly though!
- For those first three days I just wanted to quit. The bloating, the hangriness, and then the eating huge meals and not being hungry for the next one…all of it was hard.
- I went back and forth on whether I thought this was a sustainable lifestyle. I’m still on the fence with this one, mainly because food is such a social thing that I don’t want to feel like there’s anything standing in the way of me being able to enjoy a donut with my kids on a Saturday morning, or a night out with drinks and snacky things with my husband.
- And then I realized that I get to be the boss, not some diet. So I got over that stuff, which led me to…
- I definitely noticed some thinning out in areas that I’ve been trying to thin out more. I crave healthier food, fewer carbs, and still have the energy to workout and work when I need to.
- At the end of the first 7 days I feel good enough to keep going, although I’ve decided to widen my eating window for sanity’s sake to 10 hours or so. I also don’t know if I can do a really high fat diet, but I definitely noticed that when I reigned in the carb monster I started feeling better. But I also ate a roll yesterday as a snack, so what do I know?
- My biggest conclusion, though? DO what works for YOU. I am starting to get used to the intermittent fasting thing, so I’ll do it as long as I feel like it’s a good fit. I’ll cut back on the carbs and eat more plant-based wholesome goodness, keep working out, and do my best to feel my best. That’s all we can do, right?
RIGHT.
I’d love to hear from you – have you done anything like intermittent fasting before? Thoughts? Questions?
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