I recently had eye surgery which was scheduled for 2:00 pm.  I was told “no eating after midnight and nothing to drink after 8:00 am.” Accustomed to the more traditional timing of surgery in the morning, thinking about nothing to eat or drink until 3:00 pm seemed like cruel and inhumane punishment. About 8:30 am that morning I poured myself a glass of iced tea, then realized that I was already into my NPO (nothing per mouth) time, so I drank it fast telling myself that half an hour shouldn’t make any difference. Around my usual lunch time I had a little hunger nausea or perhaps it was my anxiety starting to creep up. Surprisingly, when the surgery was over and I was offered Nutri-grain bars and soda, I actually nibbled at them rather than stuffing them into my mouth as fast as I could. That prompted me to consider that maybe the new diet concept of intermittent fasting might not be as hard as I had envisioned.

Studies are showing that intermittent fasting has benefits for weight loss, but also for health and longevity. When you are temporarily without food, the body starts burning fat. It takes at least 8 hours without food for this process to kick into gear. Intermittent fasting has been linked to improvements in cognitive functioning, increased endurance, and accelerated healing.

A good way for beginners to start is to limit your eating hours to an eight hour window of time, for example 10:00 am to 6:00 pm.  However, for those of us that were taught that breakfast “is the most important meal of the day,” that would take an attitude adjustment. But I could make a habit of not eating after supper (ie. no ice cream at bedtime, no crackers while I check my email). That would at least give me a 10 or 11 hour fasting window-a good place to start.  Another way is to have low-calorie fasting days.  That means that you eat normally on 4 or 5 days of week  (still within the 8 hour window) but limit your calories to 500 for women and 700 for men on a couple of days.  If you do fast, be sure to drink plenty of water and keep up your exercise.

Intermittent fasting is generally safe for most people. But if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, prone to low blood sugar, have Type I Diabetes, or are already underweight fasting is not appropriate for you. But if you do try it,  share your experiences with me. We all need encouragement and ideas.