It’s been awhile, I know….and I’ve had sooooo many topics I’ve wanted to write about. But the end of the year chaos as a middle school therapist is real….my energy was pulled in several different directions and I did not find the time to write. So there will most likely be several blog entries today. 🙂

As you all know from a previous blog post, I gave up artificial sweeteners in February. That is still very much in effect!!! There have been 2 times where a Diet Pepsi has sounded really good, but I just remembered how good my hip joints felt after giving up diet soda, so it has been fairly easy to avoid. It does feel a little strange when we travel to powwows now and we get snacks or drinks at a gas station. Since not all gas stations sell a LaCroix type of carbonated water, I find myself wandering the aisles before getting a bottle of plain water. It’s not bad though. The reduced inflammation in my hip and successful pain management is worth it.

Since giving up artificial sweeteners worked out so well, I decided on March 1 to give Intermittent Fasting (IF) a whirl. I became interested in it when I read a blog post on the KU Medical Center website about the benefits of IF. Intermittent Fasting is giving your body a temporary break from eating. Your body gets a break from the insulin response that occurs every time you eat something with calories, specifically carbohydrates. When I taught Diabetes and the Native Americans at Haskell, we went through what “insulin response” is, and which nutrients triggered a strong or mild response. Carbohydrates trigger a strong insulin response, protein a mild response depending on the amount you eat, and fat almost no response.

“When insulin blood sugar (from eating frequent meals or snacks, eg. every 90 minutes) dominates other hormones, proper gene expressions for longevity, healing and recovery won’t occur very much or very well. A temporary break from eating can give those healing hormones time to do their job. It’s actually very anti-inflammatory and can be corrective to hormone and metabolic issues, just to stop the food. It’s counter to everything we have been taught” (Randy Evans quote, KUMC Integrative Medicine Blog).

Hearing “anti-inflammatory” and “gut healing” was what really caught my attention. And IF as defined in the article I read wasn’t about extended fasts, it was about spacing out your meals and eating on a schedule. And the blog article talked about how traditionally, we used to have to fast at least overnight because we did not have access to food 24/7 like we do now. Grocery stores were not open 24 hours, nor were restaurants or fast food places, and convenience stores didn’t sell cooked food as they do now. When you stop eating at 6pm and don’t eat again until breakfast the next day, that is a 12-hour fast. Intermittent Fasting is not a new thing….it’s an old thing that the medical field is now realizing as beneficial.

I decided to try a 16:8 fast, where I stop eating around 8pm, then I don’t eat again until noon the next day. That gives me a 16 hour break from food, and then I have an 8-hour window to get my calories in for the day. What it meant for me was skipping breakfast, drinking my black coffee or green tea, and water until noon. It was not hard for me to do this. I read several articles and ordered books from Dr. Jason Fung and Dr. Eric Berg. It is suggested to put coconut oil in your coffee if you struggle with hunger pangs until lunch. The fat in the coconut oil will give a sense of satiety without generating an insulin response. I do this sometimes, I find that after a couple cups of coffee I don’t feel hungry anyway.

I also discovered that how I start my fast and how I break my fast are very important to how I feel doing IF. I break my fast with a low-carb lunch. I have been posting pictures of my lunches on my Wozani Waste’ Instagram blog page. That keeps my energy consistent after my  lunch and doesn’t create a strong insulin response. I continued to drink my kombucha for the gut healing properties. Sometimes I break my fast with a cup of homemade bone broth, sometimes I break my fast with 2 scoops of collagen protein powder mixed with unsweetened almond milk. The couple of times I broke my fast with a higher carb meal, my energy tanked and I didn’t feel as good I normally do coming off a 16 hour fast.

The results from Intermittent Fasting:

1. I lost 10 pounds
2. My hip feels GREAT!!
3. My energy is better, no more mid-afternoon slumps
4. I have a spring in my step
5. It is very easy to maintain

Here are some links to the blog article and another blogger who had success with IF. I don’t think it’s an active blog, but it gives really good information and real-world experiences.

https://www.kansashealthsystem.com/InternalMedicine/integrative-medicine/blog-posts/intermittent-fasting

http://foodcanwait.com/home/my-weight-loss-journey-intermittent-fasting/

I told my friends what I was doing and they were very interested. I needed to write this a few months ago, but to be honest, I wanted to make sure it worked and that it was something I could maintain before I posted it in my blog. It works for me. Joe B started doing it too, he does a 12:12 fast. The nice thing about Intermittent Fasting is that YOU configure it to how it will work best for YOU. 16:8 works for me….I tried a 18:6 but I struggled a bit. I am so very thankful I found this information and tried it. The pain management, reducing the inflammation, has been the biggest benefit of this process.