I have been doing Intermittent Fasting (IF) for about a year now and just decided
to combine it with Whole30; reasons coming up a little later in the post. When
I decided to take the Whole30 approach while doing IF, I didn’t come across
many concrete reasons for why I should or shouldn’t combine these two
approaches to eating food or any examples for that matter, so I decided to document
my eating journey to share some perspective; although with a sample size of
one, it would be anecdotal.
I gained an unexplained amount of weight during the process
of our potential move, at the time, to California within a short period of
time. Now looking back, I know it was stress and cortisol levels in the body
but bear with me as I walk you through my story.
My first health checkup in California revealed that I’m
pre-diabetic with high cholesterol numbers and with BMI pushing me into Overweight
category. Not that I needed a doctor or any tests to tell me that latter diagnosis.
So, to make good use of my sabbatical, I revved up my exercise and coffee
routine to no avail.
I joined a health program recommended by the doctor to learn
how and what to eat that pretty much restricted me at 1200 kCal per day along
with a lousy telephone-based support system. After my six weeks on the program
when the needle on the scale didn’t move in the desired direction, I called the
support line and rediscovered they were pretty lousy – the female voice on the
other end of the line told me, I’m too impatient. I was so emotionally disturbed
to get that response from a fellow female and supposedly a nutritionist that I forgot
to call her names and yell at her before disconnecting the line.
I wasn’t ready to give up, so I decided to go for one of those basal metabolic rate test that required me to give up coffee, alcohol and
exercise for 24-48 hours. Basically, everything I was surviving on after the
phone conversation mentioned above. And if you are beginning to judge me, my alcohol
consumption was within the daily 1200 calories limit. The test told me that my
metabolic rate was so low that it was off the charts, the technician couldn’t
map it and had to extend the graph line to tell me that I only need 700-800 kCal
each day to survive. And so understandably, my 1200 kCal with three Zumba classes
a day was barely keeping me at a steady weight and if I decided to skip an exercise
class and go for a latte then all those liquid and well documented calories
stayed comfortably on my love handles. The only benefit of this test was to
confirm that, one, I wasn’t impatient and two, the ‘above-mentioned’ nutritionist
cheated on her certification exams.
Fast forward a couple months; with continued workouts, a Bollywood
dance class and a few episodes of emotional eating later - I was still at my heaviest
weight ever and that is counting those times when there was a baby growing
inside me. I stopped dancing and started running but that is a conversation for
a whole another post. I even dedicated an entire year to staying ‘Active’ – my word
of the year 2018, joined a running group, ran half-marathons, 5k and 10k but
situation didn’t improve significantly.
That is, until I came across this concept of ‘intermittent
fasting’. I started that last year August around this same time and for the
first time started seeing the needle move in the desired direction. I averaged
16 hour fasts and ate within an 8-hour window, some days the fasting window is
longer and a few days when I am traveling with family, the fasting window gets
shorter. I lost a few pounds and plateaued but being the patient person I am, I
continued with it. IF is a good program for insulin sensitivity, metabolic disorder, gut health issues, digestion but not so much for hormonal issues or for that matter parasites either. If there is an underlying issue that remains unaddressed,
its is very difficult to heal completely no matter how good a program might be.
I saw my health deteriorate, possibly due to the toxins
being released in my body from the stored fat sources. My liver couldn’t
process the toxins, my adrenals were fatigued, I had a lot of water retention specially
after my long practice runs… overall indication, I had to change something.
I intuitively knew that gluten is not a friend but couldn’t
give up roti (whole wheat unleavened flat bread) although I did give up refined
flour, sugar and rice for the longest time , kidding that long time was only in
my mind; it wasn’t very long, only 2-3 months at a time with all the temptations
around. DH started making whole wheat sourdough bread at home, so I can still
eat bread. And then there was a new banh-mi sandwich place close to home that made
the most delicious after-hiking food. Also, there were Indian sweets to be
consumed and new recipes to be tried and parties to be hosted and festivals to
be celebrated. Long story short, I needed a regimented food elimination diet and
whole 30 fit the bill.
So, here I am deciding to continue with IF protocol while
eating Whole 30 recommended foods. When I started documenting these thoughts,
it was meant to be a single post with short introduction followed by my 30-day
journey and a conclusion. Clearly, I’m not a woman with few words and the 30
days are yet to be documented. So, before I add many more words, let me just conclude
by saying -
To be continued…
I had no idea you were dealing with all this as you made your move to California. Hang in there!
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