In this My Two Cents on Intermittent Fasting post, I will try to give you some practical advice on how to eat well, stay healthy, and have a long, happy life.
First of all, I have to admit that I am not a person who can follow strict diets.
I simply love food and enjoy cooking and baking.
And it was all okay until I hit my 50th birthday. Then things started going downhill.
Weight gain, mood swings, hot flashes, insomnia, fatigue, dry skin, wrinkles, and many more not-so-beautiful changes.
At first, when these things started I was sort of offended.
How could that happen to me and how did it happen so fast, all at once?
That new situation caught me pretty much off guard.
During my sleepless nights, I had a lot of time to moan to myself, hating my new, nonexistent waistline, a few brand-new wrinkles around my lips, and my dry, itchy skin.
Sweating profusely I would also hate my wall clock announcing 4 am just to let me know that I only have a little bit more than two hours of sleep left.
And of course, as soon as I would fall asleep that horrible alarm clock would go off.
I hated my mornings. Forcing myself to get up and go to work would sometimes bring me to tears. I was tired, depressed, and craving sugar all day long.
I would literally fight to not fall asleep during the day and then in the evening, I would be fully awake. And it was the same story the next day and a day after and a week after.
My mood was fluctuating from being cranky, desperate, and depressed to being angry, snappy, and bitter.
It was a vicious circle.
Finally one early morning after barely two and a half hours of sleep I decided that I couldn’t take it any longer.
I didn’t know exactly what I needed to do but knew that I didn’t want that kind of life.
So I made my morning cup of coffee, called in sick, and sat on the couch to wait for the brain fog to lift.
I decided to fight.
That was the morning when I first stumbled upon Intermittent Fasting.
In case you are not familiar with it, I will give a short explanation here.
Intermittent fasting is not a diet where you need to count calories, avoid carbs, or any type of food for that matter. It is about changing your eating habits.
You can eat anything you like, of course in moderation but it has to be in a certain time window.
I found different options for this but I stack with an 8-hour eating window and 16-hour fasting. It wasn’t difficult to get into a routine, since I am one of those people who never have breakfast.
I figured out that if I start my morning by sipping a mint tea, it would keep me going till my first meal around noon.
The second meal would be around 6 pm and then I would fast till the next morning.
Practically, ever since, my eating window is from 10 am to 6 pm and during that time I can have any food I like. The fasting time is from 6 pm until 10 am the next day.
That of course can be adjusted to anyone’s lifestyle and will start giving results as soon as a few days.
Another important fact about fasting is that we have to drink plenty of water, herbal tea, and even black coffee.
We also need to distinguish between emotional and physical cravings.
As I mentioned before I have a sweet tooth and many times when I was feeling down I would reward myself with something sugary.
That was the prime example of emotional craving and I had to deal with it firsthand.
I found out that if I had plenty of protein incorporated in my meal I would feel full for a long time and won’t crave sugar.
The very first change I noticed was that I slept better. I usually go to bed around 11 pm, sometimes even later than that. Before I started Intermittent fasting I use to have dinner close to 8 pm. Often I would sneak a snack or two before going to bed.
That was as bad as it could be because the food would just sit undigested in my stomach throughout the night. I would often wake up around 2 am, sweating, and with that heavy feeling in my stomach as if I had a piece of brick for dinner.
As soon as I changed my dinner time, my stomach had at least 5 hours to digest before bedtime and I stopped waking up in the middle of the night.
The other benefits of fasting were that I started feeling more energetic, I was in a better mood, and not as tired as before.
Also, I wasn’t bloated and my hot flushes weren’t as frequent as they used to be. All of these changes happened during my first week of fasting. I simply couldn’t believe it.
That gave me a lot of courage to keep on.
Finally, after two weeks I decided to check my weight. At first, I was a bit reluctant to do it, fearing that it could disappoint and discourage me but on contrary, I got a lovely surprise. The scale showed 4 lb less!!! I was ecstatic.
That very day I embraced intermittent fasting as my new way of living and never looked back. I have to admit that some days I was forced to cheat and readjust my schedule but it didn’t have big consequences.
It took me approximately 3 months to lose 10 lbs but I felt much healthier and happier.
And the most important part was that my hot flushes were eventually reduced to one or two episodes a day.
I had my life back!
Honestly, I believe that everyone can do this.
I don’t know if would it have the same effect on everybody as it had on me but am pretty sure that it would improve anyone’s health. That is the reason I decided to write this My two cents on Intermitting fasting post. I feel much better, have more energy, and do not suffer from sleepless nights any longer.
You can find many articles written about Intermittent fasting on the Internet.
People use different time frames for eating and fasting windows to accommodate their lifestyles and everyday schedule. The one I use suits me most but we are all different and need to find the best matching one.
We need to believe in ourselves and it will give the desired results.
So that would be My Two Cents on Intermittent fasting. Give it a try and if you have any questions or concerns please contact us. Pet Image Shop will be happy to help.
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If you would like to know more about the effect of Intermittent fasting in menopause, you can read more in my The Menopause Battling Tactics book.
There are more tips and tricks for healthy living in our sister blog – Healing Your Life Blog.
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The information included on this site is for educational purposes only. It is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. Contact your healthcare provider when you have health-related issues. Never delay or disregard medical advice because of information obtained on this site.
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