Somebody asked me why I fasted..... (fascinating tidbit of info here!)
Friday, May 25, 2018
Here's my answer: I've been learning. I'm well past menopause, and I've reached the point my mom always warned me about -- weight loss is very very slow to non-existent. Or is it just me and I should know better? So I looked for more, different, or better ways..... I began exploring the keto diet. In my exploration, I repeatedly came across information from many sources that all said "FASTING is extremely GOOD for your HEALTH!" (keto seems to be very much about being healthy and only second or third about losing weight).
Apparently, the benefits to fasting are many -- and the longer you fast, up to one month, the more benefits accrue.[after about 3 weeks, you should be under medical supervision if you choose to keep fasting (they say), and we do have thousands of years of history indicating that fasting is totally safe]. Anyway.... there are a number of benefits related to losing weight besides the obvious. One of them that fascinated ME is that, around week 3 of a fast, your body is producing like 600x the normal amount of Human Growth Hormone (HGH) -- which makes your body build more mitochondria which is the way you burn fat. And it helps you build muscle, which also burns fat. And it stimulates other hormones which lead you to start behaving "younger" (become more active without trying) because your body is now using energy to repair itself --not just maintain itself. In other words, you ACTUALLY GROW YOUNGER to a certain extent! Also known as Fountain of Youth, folks!
Well, I've never intentionally TRIED to fast before. Could I? So I experimented with a broth and fat fast. For ONE day. It was so easy that I just kept on for 42 hours. And I felt fantastic the whole time. A week later, I decided to try a 2 - day fast (water only!). Again, I felt fantastic and I never felt hungry -- and I made it to 61 hours. BTW, I lead aerobics classes and had no problem pouring out the energy when I needed it!
I must say that I've been doing (think I'm doing? My info seems so vague) the keto diet for 8 weeks now. And the whole time I've actually felt so stuffed with food (even when I was eating 830 calories a day!) that I look at dinner and have to make myself eat it. On the upside, I have loads of energy and I feel generally happier than I have in a long time. What aggravates me is that weight loss continues to be slower than I am accustomed to.
SO! Next week, I expect I will try and see if I can do a full 3-day water only fast. Just because I'm curious -- and because there appears to be no downside. And because I've got so much energy; and maybe if I continue doing fasting off and on the benefits will keep accruing and I'll eventually increase my HGH to the point where I have built enough mitochondria to burn my excess poundage at a normal rate again!
Keto's the only thing that's given me real hope of changing my lifestyle. I mean -- I've NEVER before looked at food and didn't want to eat it! Fasting isn't something I HAVE to do; it's something I'm choosing to try. Why not? I feel so full I don't WANT to eat -- so why not fast? And then I don't feel full, and I don't feel hungry either. I'm just testing my limits and seeing what happens!