I am an extremest when it comes to my dieting. I've been known to cut out foods entirely and create anxiety and stress around them. I've done no dairy, no wheat, no soy, no sugar, and no alcohol. Some for weeks at a time, some for years. I've felt deprived, I've binged to try and fill a craving, I've restricted and overexercised, and I've made holiday gatherings and dinners out difficult. My mind was never at ease with food; I was constantly wondering if I was eating too much/not enough, mentally calculating the caloric intake of each meal, "saving" calories for dessert or drinks, and feeling controlled by it all. I am highly motivated early in the day to exercise and eat to my body's needs, and lose it as the day goes on. Though my over indulgences were still fairly healthy, like nuts, dried fruits, organic wine, dark chocolate, or homemade popcorn, it was the loss of control I hated. I felt that no matter what, I fell apart at nighttime. I had those snacks whether I was hungry or not; it was mindless. I would overeat, and then plan the next morning's work out accordingly. I harvested lots of guilt and stress around this, and it created a poor relationship with food. Healthy choices or not, I had a weakness, and it needed to be tackled. Intermittent fasting has done this for me.
What is intermittent fasting? There are a few ways to fast intermittently, but I stick to the 8/16 rule. This means I limit my eating to an 8 hour period of the day, and fast the other 16 hours. It's really not as bad as it sounds, because most of the fasting is done overnight. You can tweak the hours of eating to what best suits your lifestyle; for me, it's 10:00-6:00 - so basically, I eat breakfast a little later, and stop eating after dinner. This forces me to take on my biggest food challenge of unnecessary nighttime eating head on. The decision is made for me: no eating after dinner.
What are the benefits of intermittent fasting? First and foremost, it creates improved digestive health by giving your digestive system a break and the ability to empty out during the fast. Another major benefit is the significant increase in HGH (human growth hormone) levels, which helps to increase muscle mass and boosts the rate at which your body burns fat. HGH levels are known to enhance sleep quality and energy levels, which is why intermittent fasting is so popular among athletes. Other benefits include reduced cravings, reduced inflammation, weight loss, detoxification, and enhanced immunity. (Read more about the benefits and ways to fast here: https://www.mommypotamus.com/intermittent-fasting/ )
My journey with IF has been a challenge I am so enjoying, and in big part because my husband is on his own IF plan. It's been an amazing connecting point for us, and creates a closeness as we both battle on with our separate goals but with each other's support. We will check in with each other's fasting times to plan distractions during the fast and family meals during the feast. And, in having different goals, we are learning more about our own body's needs which causes us to drop the comparison to one another. My goal is simply to challenge my nighttime eating habit, and his is to cut weight for an upcoming competition, and therefore during our eating times, our goals differ from one another. I have to eat ravenously in order to get enough daily calories in, where he has the ability to skip a meal or skimp on snacks and eat when he's hungry, and is more strict about his beginning and ending times. I, on the other hand, have allowed myself the flexibility to still have calories in the form of drinks before or after my hours-fed (coconut oil in my morning coffee or hot cocoa with my kiddos at night).
It has been a freeing experience. It's a challenge to not eat when I'm hungry first thing in the morning, but rewarding knowing I can do it. And, in those 8 hours, I don't have to worry about the calorie count, how often I'm eating, how much I'm eating, whether I want dessert or a drink - as long as it's within that 8 hour window, I'm good. It's actually been a challenge to eat enough when I'm limited to hours-fed, especially where most of my daily calories used to come from those nighttime indulgences. Now, I'm not worried about loading up my meals with extra proteins or fats. I'm not worried about treating myself to afternoon ice cream with the family or snacking throughout the day. It has loosened the grip that food has had on me all these years, and I feel relaxed instead of anxious about it. It's created a silliness in my marriage as we countdown the hours until we can eat again, and drool over our next planned meal when we break our fast. And, most importantly, it's freed up my nights. No longer am I hurrying my girls off to bed so I can sit around sipping wine with my over-sized bowl of popcorn. That time now belongs to them. Bedtime has been more relaxed, we play more games, take after dinner walks, fall into the "ALL THINGS PUMPKIN" cliche of fall and bake like crazy. On my husband's nights off, we are creating healthier date night habits now that they are less revolved around food and drink. And, to battle another challenge, not eating after dinner allows me to embrace more rest days from exercise, because I no longer go to bed feeling guilty about late night indulgences or the need to "run it off".
Intermittent fasting has conquered so many food, health, and mental challenges that I have spent years battling. My stress has lessened, my parenting has strengthened, my marriage has a new skip in it's step, my exercising is done in a healthful manner, and my eating is controlled - without feeling controlled by it. It's a challenge for sure, but a challenge I enjoy. I wake up ready to battle, and go to bed feeling accomplished. Tweak the hours to your lifestyle, and give it a whirl!
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