Tag Archives: Dietriffic

My Second 24-Hour Fast: Stay Busy To Make It Tolerable

Posted on May 31, 2013 | 2 comments
Does this model fast to stay this skinny?

Does this model fast to stay this skinny?

I just finished my second-ever 24-hour fast. It went well, although not quite as easy as my first one in February. The novelty has worn off. I had more thoughts of food and eating this time.

Dietriffic dietitian Mel Thomassian spurred me to finally try fasting by summarizing what we know and don’t know about intermittent fasting and effects on health.

I had a brief pang of guilt about half way through this last fast when I realized I had just drunk 7.5 oz of Diet Coke. Then I remembered it had no calories, so I was OK as far as I’m concerned. I drink black coffee, too.

Here’s the mind game that get’s me through the fast. I eat my last meal, then sleep for seven hours. Next, I get up and putter around the house for a few hours, then head to the hospital for my 12-hour shift. So I’m not tempted by food at home, nor bombarded by food ads on TV for most of the 24 hours. It helps to be busy. Soon enough, the 24 hours is up and I break my fast.

I’m tempted to extend the fast longer, or try a physical work-out after a prolonged fast. It’s self-experimentation, not an obsession or eating disorder. A longer fast might be easier if my wife joined in. At this point she doesn’t even know I’ve done these two fasts.

The Fast Diet is pretty popular right now. Check out Dr. Yoni Freedhoff’s review.

Steve Parker, M.D.

 

 

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How Common Is Starvation Mode as an Explanation for Stalled Weight Loss?

Posted on March 31, 2013 | Comments Off on How Common Is Starvation Mode as an Explanation for Stalled Weight Loss?

Melanie Thomassian, RD, has a great post on the over-diagnosed “starvation mode” theory that many folks use as an explanation for a stall in their weight loss journey. Rather than a starvation-induced reduction in metabolic rate, there’s usually another issue, such as under-estimation of calorie consumption or poor compliance with the weight loss plan.

Read the rest.

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My First Ever 24-Hour Fast

Posted on February 22, 2013 | 4 comments
Mount Humphries as seen from Antelope Hill

Mount Humphries as seen from Antelope Hill.  My wife and I may climb it in a few months.  The Peak is 12,633 ft above sea level.

I just finished my first 24-hour fast.  It wasn’t bad.

Melanie Thomassian’s recent review of fasting was my motivation to give it a try.

I drank all the water and black coffee I wanted—that still qualifies as a fast in my view.  The closest I’d come in the past to a prolonged fast would be a gastrointestinal disorder involving nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.  It’s easy to avoid food when you know it’s going to make you sick!

I didn’t experience any weakness, dizziness, lack of concentration or any other adverse effects, except possibly for some mild irritability.  The latter may instead have been due to my frustration with my work schedule.  I had misread my schedule and thought I had the day off.  Turns out I had to work a 12-hour shift after all.  I wasn’t happy about having to go in to the hospital.

Out of the 24 hours of fasting, I slept for 7.5 hours and worked a very busy shift for 12.  That helped keep my mind off food.  Craving for food didn’t start until the last two hours.

Another thing that may have helped me was that I usually eat less than the 130 grams a day of carbohydrate that your average dietitian says we need.  I eat more like 80–100 grams of digestible carb.  I’ve been as low as 20–30 grams for months on end.  So my metabolism is already geared up for living off energy from ketones and for producing blood glucose from body proteins and glycerol  (a product of body fat breakdown).

I don’t know if I’ll ever do it again, but I’m glad I did it once.

—Steve

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Is It Time To Start Fasting?

Posted on February 21, 2013 | Comments Off on Is It Time To Start Fasting?

Dietriffic dietitian Melanie looked into fasting recently.  Some of her thoughts:

The main problem with this whole area of intermittent fasting, is that research in humans is severely lacking, and what I’ve found online is something I can only describe as ‘evangelism’ in support of this way of eating.

That’s not to say some of what is being said isn’t true, but much of it should be taken with a pinch of salt!

Anyhow, some of the research suggests intermittent fasting may lead to;

Many of these benefits are also commonly cited for calorie restriction and exercise, which seems a more natural way to achieve better health, without the downsides of periodic food deprivation (see here and here).

One group of researchers, however, were extremely enthusiastic about this whole idea of fasting, claiming;

Since May 2003 we have experimented with alternate day calorie restriction, one day consuming 20-50% of estimated daily caloric requirement and the next day ad lib eating, and have observed health benefits starting in as little as two weeks, in insulin resistance, asthma, seasonal allergies, infectious diseases of viral, bacterial and fungal origin (viral URI, recurrent bacterial tonsillitis, chronic sinusitis, periodontal disease), autoimmune disorder (rheumatoid arthritis), osteoarthritis, symptoms due to CNS inflammatory lesions (Tourette’s, Meniere’s) cardiac arrhythmias (PVCs, atrial fibrillation), menopause related hot flashes. We hypothesize that other many conditions would be delayed, prevented or improved, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis, brain injury due to thrombotic stroke atherosclerosis, NIDDM, congestive heart failure.

For the last year I’ve batted around the idea of intermittent fasting but haven’t pulled the trigger.  If I do it, it’ll probably be for a 24-hour period.

Melanie’s a smart lady.  Read the rest.

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