Fasting!

Making up my mind about this goofy new template. I'll try it and see.

Still 16:8 intermittent fasting, or as I prefer to call it, time restricted eating. (That way you don't have to worry about backblow from the word fasting, which I would have viewed with misgiving a few years ago.) ((Also if you say time restricted feeding, that implies you are a lab animal not in control of your mealtimes, which kind of feels right when you are subbing in certain very busy health rooms, but is not technically true. Good for finding studies on Google searches though.))

Interesting to check back at my earlier posts. That surge in aches and pains is gone. It's weird, because how could something as mild as not eating for 16 hour stretches have caused me that discomfort? But it did.

Let's make a bullet-style list of improvements I've noticed, from least to most favorite:

8. Preventing weight gain.   I'm the same weight in spite of eating all of it over Christmas, just with 16 hour breaks in between.

7. Apthous ulcers, those nasty little tongue sores, went away, although they did make a reappearance with lots of holiday sugar. They seem to be gone again now that I've cut back. Note to self.

6. Hip bursitis has gone after many months of annoying discomfort.

5. Haven't had biliary pain in ages (No-S helped with that first.)

4. GERD is much better without meds.

3.  Way less gassy, thank God. I prefer not to have my children's thoughts of dear old mum be her constant farting.  I don't think I have to cut out gluten or dairy or any other beloved Western foods.

2. Hot flashes stopped cold. I got a period after a six month hiatus, so maybe they're due to return, but I'll take it.

Finally, my number one top, possibly-imaginary-but-I-don't-care benefit of TRE:

(I would do it for this benefit alone)

1. A FEW MORE FUNCTIONING BRAIN CELLS

I had that inflammatory/menopausal brain futzing, and I feel like it's getting better. I love, love, love this effect.  I wonder if it gets even better if you shrink your window to five hours... Anyway, even if this is placebo effect, it has made my life so much nicer.

On the downside, my blood pressure is still up a bit.   I don't know if that's a fasting thing-- it can be, apparently, though in my case I suspect my synthroid is still geared a little high.  I do think post-prandial fatigue is worse. It seems to help to start a meal with something like nuts, but I would definitely say I notice this more than I used to.  I'm trying to think of other downsides. More time in the morning because I don't eat before I leave... not going into headachy panic mode if my meal is delayed... nope, not coming up with any more negatives at the moment. So to my 1.6 readers out there, definitely check out time restricted eating.  There's a number of cheerful new studies, particularly from the wonderfully named and rather adorable Satchadinanda Panda out of the Salk Institute, and Valter Longo.  I hope to link some of those in a later post.

So far, this is by far the easiest beneficial change in my eating that I've been able to make to date. DH is doing it with me and has lost some of the pounds he put on when he gave up diet soda. (I believe that diet soda can make you fatter, but alas cutting it out does not necessarily make you thinner.)  Admittedly, I might have had an easier time because I had already cut out most snacking and gone to 3 meals a day for several months before that (also a recommended practice.) I used to have trouble sleeping on an empty-ish stomach but I seem to do fine now, so that helps a lot.

Next up, possibly:  circadian rhythm and food.


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