New Fasting Schedule

Well, it is week two of my new fasting schedule of two full day fasts once per week and 4 days a week of eating very healthy/low carb/low sugar.

So far I have lost 6.5 pounds!

Pretty impressive. I have also been walking an hour every day and doing pilates twice per week.

I'm feeling really good. I think this is something that I could easily maintain. Especially when I start up with my all day Sunday pottery classes again in a couple of weeks.

I am really enjoying eating clean most of the time too. The past couple of years I have been eating much better but now that I only indulge once a week is a big difference. I look forward to my healthy food much more than my indulgent food now. I think I will switch my indulge day up a bit too.

We had been eating in a restaurant once a week as the indulgent day, which is great, but I find myself wanting home cooked meals more on that day. So, I think we will rotate between home cooked goodness and restaurant treat. Saves on money too and always nice to make a meal at home.

Intermittent Fasting Health Benefits

I had a comment from a reader who wanted to know more about the health benefits of intermittent fasting. We all focus on the weight results but of course there are significant health benefits as well for someone who has no weight to lose.

Below are some links to great content and research about the health benefits of intermittent fasting. I strongly suggest everyone watch the BBC Documentary in the first link. It is available on You Tube and is a great example of the types of health improvements that fasting can produce from a very reliable source, the BBC, British Brodcasting Corporation.

It is very entertaining and well put together. One of my favourite moments is when we watch a man who is 101 years old and has practiced Calorie Restriction (CR) for his whole life, complete a full marathon...amazing! He also is on NO medication, which is astounding for his age. (There is a ton of research that shows that CR has significant health benefits and can significantly increase your lifespan. Research has shown that Intermittent Fasting has similar results to CR without the actual caloric restriction.)

Studies have shown that fasting has so many benefits; longer life, reduced risks of cancer and heart disease, reduced risk of alzheimer's, improvements in arthritis...the list goes on and on.

Personally I have seen some significant health benefits.

I have always been a yo-yo dieter. Gaining and losing large amounts of weight is very hard on the body. For years I would lose 30, gain 50, lose 40, gain 55 and on and on...

Finally my body decided it couldn't take it anymore and I had to have my gaul bladder removed. Gaul stones at the age of 33... not really the most common diagnosis. Gaul bladder attacks, excruciating! I suffered for several months, in and out of the emergency room, before anyone put it together that this young woman had gaul stones!

I had high cholesterol and blood sugar numbers as well which was contributing to this. So, after my gaul bladder was removed, my doctor would regularly monitor my numbers to make sure that I didn't get in the danger zone again.

About 6 months after I began intermittent fasting as a lifestyle, I went for my normal check up at the doctor. He was astonished at the change in my numbers. I told him what I had been doing and he was very interested. He said that he doesn't normally see that kind of improvement without the use of medication. I have his blessing to continue what I am doing and he is always interested to see where I am at health wise when I go for my yearly checkups.

I have also seen significant improvement in the health of my skin. I used to have excessive ache on my face and on my shoulders and upper back. It was a constant thing that would increase or decrease in waves.

Since I began fasting almost three years ago, I have not had any ache at all. It has disappeared and never returned.

I also see improvements in my immune system. I was always the person who had two big flu's a year. And when I get sick, I am really sick, no half way for me. In bed for a week minimum when I have a cold or flu.

Since I began intermittent fasting I have been sick only a couple of times. Once with a mild cold that I could easily work through (which has never happened before). And once more seriously, with pneumonia, which I have had in the past and so I am more susceptible to. Basically that means I have avoided 4 of my usual bad flu or colds so far.

The long term effects of fasting on my health personally remain to be seen but I do believe that I am on the right path and my risk factors have been greatly reduced.

Check out the following list of links for more information on the health benefits of intermittent fasting.

Eat, Fast & Live Longer

Fasting as Effective as Chemotherapy

Intermittent Fasting is Good for the Brain

Fasting in the News

Intermittent Fasting & Health

Intermittent Fasting Articles

Intermittent Fasting Articles 2

Intermittent Fasting for Health & Longevity

Fast Way to Better Health

Eat Less, Live Longer

Anti Aging

113 Year Old Man!