One Month IF Report
I just wrapped up 30 days on a style of Intermittent Fasting (IF). The protocol I followed, allowed for me to eat during an 8 hour window. I chose the hours of 9am - 5pm so that I could have meals with my family. I didn't count calories, but ate a balanced, whole foods diet. Here's how it turned out.
As you can see there is some good (hello Peach Colored "Clingy" Shirt!) and some bad (bad recovery). I failed to realize, that this protocol was followed by body builders, and not endurance athletes. Also, while I agree with at least one fasting workout per week to train the body to dip in to fat stores for fuel, I should have been smarter with my recovery fuel. That's like trying to wear new kicks on a 20 mile run. Doink.
Now for the really bad.
Since Sunday, I've felt really, really, REALLY tired. I'm training for my first triathlon, I have 4 children, I home school, I own a home daycare, I am very active with our church. "Tired" is not a foreign concept. But THIS was debilitating. It all came to a fine point yesterday when I was near comatose. I was SO incredibly tired and I just couldn't take the fasting anymore. I ate yesterday. I didn't do much housework. I snapped at my older kids. I was not a happy little monkey.
With some clarity of mind after a feast of trail mix and buttery toast, I realized that I was probably allowing my body to eat my muscle tissue. Not cool. Like I said - some fasting workouts are good for you - but most current sports nutrition wisdom will tell you that you need a recovery snack within an hour after hard workouts. Most days, my workouts end at 6:30am, so I would need something to eat by 7:30 to help my muscles recover (hello...your HEART is a muscle!). I feel really silly that I didn't take this in to consideration. All I saw was NO calorie counting = LOSE weight. Duh.
So - going forward, I think that IF is a great way to train yourself to eat less by really responding to hunger cues. I also think that having a policy of not eating after supper is something I will stick with. But, I think that I will begin to, once again, have breakfast when I come home from the gym - and maybe go back to having that half a banana and a swig of soy milk before my brick workouts. I feel pretty stupid that I sacrificed my recovery like that. I, long ago, stopped working out to "get thin."
But life is about learning and moving on.
- I had about a 75% adherence to the program. Normally the wiggle room was on the weekends where we had popcorn after dinner with a movie. Some days I was able to push my "break fast" until 10 or even 11am to extend the fasting window from the night before.
- I lost 3.5 pounds. My body fat scale showed "no change" but I'm not sure it's working properly.
- I noticed a difference in the composition of my tummy and resurrected a shirt that was deemed "to clingy" before!
- I found it much easier to wait to eat if I drank more water.
- In the last 5 days I noticed a daily headache (though late in the day about 3pm) and a serious inability to recover from hard workouts. After training, I just felt like it was a supreme effort to get through the day.
As you can see there is some good (hello Peach Colored "Clingy" Shirt!) and some bad (bad recovery). I failed to realize, that this protocol was followed by body builders, and not endurance athletes. Also, while I agree with at least one fasting workout per week to train the body to dip in to fat stores for fuel, I should have been smarter with my recovery fuel. That's like trying to wear new kicks on a 20 mile run. Doink.
Now for the really bad.
Since Sunday, I've felt really, really, REALLY tired. I'm training for my first triathlon, I have 4 children, I home school, I own a home daycare, I am very active with our church. "Tired" is not a foreign concept. But THIS was debilitating. It all came to a fine point yesterday when I was near comatose. I was SO incredibly tired and I just couldn't take the fasting anymore. I ate yesterday. I didn't do much housework. I snapped at my older kids. I was not a happy little monkey.
With some clarity of mind after a feast of trail mix and buttery toast, I realized that I was probably allowing my body to eat my muscle tissue. Not cool. Like I said - some fasting workouts are good for you - but most current sports nutrition wisdom will tell you that you need a recovery snack within an hour after hard workouts. Most days, my workouts end at 6:30am, so I would need something to eat by 7:30 to help my muscles recover (hello...your HEART is a muscle!). I feel really silly that I didn't take this in to consideration. All I saw was NO calorie counting = LOSE weight. Duh.So - going forward, I think that IF is a great way to train yourself to eat less by really responding to hunger cues. I also think that having a policy of not eating after supper is something I will stick with. But, I think that I will begin to, once again, have breakfast when I come home from the gym - and maybe go back to having that half a banana and a swig of soy milk before my brick workouts. I feel pretty stupid that I sacrificed my recovery like that. I, long ago, stopped working out to "get thin."
But life is about learning and moving on.
Very very interesting! =)
ReplyDeleteOn the subject of fasting, we fast once a month for 24 hours (no food, no liquid). We do it for spiritual reasons, but I believe there are physical benefits too. I think I would have a difficult time fasting more than once a month though. =)
You know, it is good that you realized that this probably wasn't the best idea for your situation. I think sometimes it's dangerous to ignore our body's hunger cues for such a long period of time (a whole month in your situation). Some people would not have recognized the tiredness and irritability as a side-effect of hunger. You seem to know your body, so I think you will be able to recover just fine from now on. :-)
ReplyDeleteAnd don't feel silly...most of us have chased skinny or losing weight at one point or another! :-)