Intermittent Fasting and Whole30, continued discussion

My experiment with Intermittent Fasting (IF) and Whole30 ended last week (actually, it was a few weeks ago but I missed pushing the publish button on this post) and since then I have slowly reintroduced some food and I know some which are troublesome. If you haven’t read my reasons for this experiment, please refer to the previous post on this topic (here).

Here are some of the salient points from the last 30 days and then at the end is the day to day progression of thoughts as I adapted to the Whole30 approach of eating.

• If I were to do this combination of IF and whole 30 again, I’ll like eliminate dinner and push the eating window towards the early part of the day to better match my circadian rhythm.
•  I’ll eliminate nuts and seeds from the meal as well since they caused bloating and I relied too much on them for snack likely upping my caloric intake
•  Whole30 is a western approach to elimination diet and doesn’t truly match the understanding of eastern eating philosophies and were often in conflict. For e.g. in Indian eating patterns/culture, moong khichadi is Ayurveda approved and is considered a safe food that even folks recovering from a disease can eat but according to Whole30, all legumes and grains are restricted irrespective of their innate nature.
• The diet didn’t tell me anything new about my diet that I didn’t already knew, e.g., sensitivity to gluten, processed food or extracted sugar. I Need more digestive power/ enzymes (herbs and spices) to process high to digest foods.
• After these 30 days, I might just have given up artificial sweetener for life, I drink coffee black without sugar but now I drink tea without sugar or stevia and I’m okay with that.
• I’ll never go back to buying large quantities of processed food for my pantry, there is rare times when I have to lean of these shelf stable foods and if I don’t have them on hand I can definitely do without them.
• I’ll repeat this kind of elimination diet and instead of Whole30 recommended elimination, might remove red meat, all meat but include pulses and such. I think my gut biome favors the eastern style of eating more than the western foods. I think seasonal eating is a better approach for my body type.
• I’m sensitive to gluten but I’ll permit myself to eat gluten once a week and continue to work on my digestion to be stronger rather than give up homemade food that I grew up with.
• Whole30 is a diet approach for awareness but it doesn’t fix any health issues. I’m still dealing with my health issues with digestion, parasite infection and liver toxicity and need to continue practicing alternative medicine to find optimum health.
• I was hoping to lose 5 lbs. (weight that I gained over summer travels) but I only lost about 2 pounds. But in my friend’s case, she lost 12 pounds. I think it speaks more about my digestive health and less about the merits of the diet.
• I didn’t lose any inches that I can notice, still wearing same clothes with about same fit. The flat belly doesn’t last either, even on day when I just eat fruits and no grains or legumes.

Day-to-day break down

Day 1 - Just another day, feeling peachy

Day 2 - No sugar craving, just habitual reaching out to sweets and retracting my hands

Day 3 - A packets of spicy Cheetos with its guts laid bare tempted me but I reminded myself that I will not feel as light and happy if I ate that stuff.

Day 4 - Krishna Janamashtami fasting, many other food restrictions to even worry about Whole 30 approved food.

Day 5 - Good energy, clarity of thoughts. But at one time I had a strong craving for white rice, sesame seeds, avocado and salt. I tried to diagnose what deficiency in my body is making me crave it and if there is a whole 30 approved substitute for the nutrients my body is craving. I drooled thinking about it and then the moment passed.

Day 6 - I was eating a banana and I really wanted some cold milk with it, but instead I chose almond butter and I was over the hump. I'm realizing I need more sleep because I'm still feeling the late afternoon slump.

Day 7 - No particular food cravings, good energy in the morning but afternoon slump is a reality even today.

Day 8 - It’s hard to maintain Whole 30 when you are at your friends. A little bit of goat cheese sneaked in my otherwise kosher salad dressing and I found out after I had already eaten it. No, I'm not planning to restart the 30-day countdown.

Guess what, that afternoon slump was may be caused by too much fruit and not enough protein for lunch/ afternoon snack. Forgot my fruits at home today and no afternoon slump.

Day 9 - It’s hard to maintain whole 30 when going to a restaurant. Today a little bit of mayo sneaked in my coconut and wasabi dressing with my poke salad. Also, if there was a parasite that was responsible for my sugar cravings, it is dormant or perhaps its muscle memory to forego sugar at this time.

Day 10 - I feel some body re-composition happening, not necessarily better fitting clothes but just different. I'm tempted to jump on the scale but trying to resist, afraid that the transformation might not be reflected on a weighing machine number.

Day 11 – Saturday is hard with all the sports activities and not being able to eat with the rest of the family on the go.

Day 12 – Ate a protein style no cheese burger, that didn’t satiate my hunger.

Day 13 - Long weekend on Whole 30 when the rest of the family is not is very tough

Day 14 – We are vegetarians on Tuesday and rely on legumes and beans for dinner protein, needless to reiterate, it’s hard to adhere to a lot of limitations. Ate a couple boiled eggs.

Day 15 - I weighed myself, I know it’s against the rule, but I was looking for a quick reinforcement that I’m on the right path. It was not a good idea, I have gained a pound after 15 days on this elimination diet.

Day 16 - I wanna give up this restricted way of life so bad. I'm fatigued, I just wanna have some spicy miso soup with udon noodles and pork katsu.

Day 17 – Went to my friend’s son’s birthday party and had no issues saying no to chocolate cake. Just drank water and it didn’t even once occur to me that I was depriving myself. Small victory!

Day 18 – Just another day, so used to saying no to the snacks that the rest of the family is eating and going for a fruit instead

Day 19 – My fruit consumption has sky rocketed, I always eat a ton of veggies but so much fruit is new for my body. My body has lost its insulin sensitivity, so this amount of fruit might not be good in the long run.

Day 20 – Today is a turning point, I have energy and I burst into a jog when I was only out for a walk

Day 21 – Afternoon slump after lunch is still an ongoing issue, carbs/sugar from the fruit could be adding to the sugar crash

Day 22 – Eating too much of Almond butter, especially in the afternoon. Don’t need any chocolate with it or any extracted/artificial sugar for that matter.

Day 23 – My friend told me that she lost 12 pounds in 30 days on Whole30. It is giving me cautious hope but there’s an end in sight to this restricted eating.

Day 24 – I’m feeling very light and not bloated at all but not sure if this feeling would last if I deviate from the plan even for a single day.

Day 25 – Very indifferent to the food choices now. My body and ‘mind’ have adapted to this new way of eating and I can go on like this forever

Day 26 – The rest of the family is very excited that I’ll be off this plan soon. They are planning for me which food should they introduce back in my diet first

Day 27 – My half marathon training is suffering since I don’t have the endurance to go past 5-6 miles on my long runs

Day 28 – If I don’t have to push myself too hard physically, days go on like a breeze and I don’t even notice the passage of time

Day 29 – Didn’t realize that its already day 29th, I didn’t consider the 31st day of August and assumed I still have a little longer to go.

Day 30 – Tomorrow I eat yogurt whether I have lost a pound or not

I'll talk about some of the holistic approach that I'm pursuing for my health and wellness in upcoming posts. Post a comment to share your interest or experience.

Is there a Whole30 friendly Latte?

I have been searching high and low for a milk style beverage- coconut milk or almond milk for making lattes at home or even add some to my afternoon coffees.

All the non-diary beverages have soy lecithin, guar gum, carrageenan or some other unpronounceable ingredient to make the consistency of the beverage closest to that of milk.

I didn’t buy any of those to keep in my fridge but instead told myself to make almond milk at home, in my own kitchen if I’m so inclined. So far, my craving for a milk-like product hasn’t inspired me enough to put in the extra work.

Are you wondering the purpose of this post yet? I'm not sure there is one.

I was having a rough day yesterday and needed a pick me up in the afternoon. I decided that I’ll walk to the nearby Starbucks and get myself a non-dairy latte made with all those unpronounceable ingredients even if they are not Whole 30 approved. I asked my barista to make a tall (8oz) non-dairy latte with unsweetened coconut milk. The beverage I got was a little too sweet to be unsweetened.

I asked to check the box and found that both coconut milk and almond milk had cane sugar in them along with all the other ingredients that I possibly shouldn’t be eating. The box in big letters said “unflavored” and the barista(s) (yes multiple baristas) took it as no sugar added and were annoyed that I want to look at the ingredients and didn’t take their word on face value. I stood at the counter for a solid 1 minute and it felt everything like the 1-minute counter on the microwave when you are in a rush to get to the next thing.

Yep! It was a very slow 1 minute.

And then (insert climatic music of your choice), I decided to take that coconut milk latte, walk to the park, sit on a bench and enjoy it.  

Am I going to do over the last 15 days, no I don’t think so.

Am I going to give up on Whole 30, nope, nada! 

Am I still looking for the perfect non-dairy beverage, you betcha.  

Do I know the first food I’d like to introduce back in my diet at the end of 30 day, yes it would be dairy.

Intermittent Fasting and Whole30 – Part II

This brief post is to share the combination of the IF and whole30 protocol that I’ll be follow during the 30-day experiment. If you don’t know the reason why I’m following on this path, please read the first post of the topic (here).

I have Melissa Urban’s book on my best side table and I looked at the recommended food list and shopping list to decide how I want to follow this plan. Since I’m eating in an 8-hour window on most days, I cannot follow the time guidelines of eating within an hour of waking up and eat every 4-5-hour pattern. I clean fast with just black coffee and water, no MCT oil or amino in my coffee.

Combined Intermittent Fasting and Whole 30 protocol        Fast at least 16 hours in every 24 hours, eat within 8 hours window

•          Break fast with three stalks of celery blended with a cup of water (in lieu of making celery juice and loosing the fiber)
•          Drink black coffee as needed
•         Eat a Whole30 approved light lunch/ afternoon snack (that celery blend is going to fill you up)
•         No dairy makes it hard to drink chai in the evening with family so if schedule permits, drink a cup of green tea and avoid the tea time snacks
•          Dinner is salad or grilled vegetables with lean meat or fish, mostly grilled

I have been following this for a week and so far, its been working alright. I’ll share daily cravings, energy levels and overall changes at the end of 30 days. Whole 30 requires that we put away the scale and tape measure and don’t track it till the end of the program since it’s a health regimen and not a weight loss plan.
I forgot to take weight or measurement at the beginning of this but have a general idea about where I stand and how my clothes feel so at the end of the month it would probably be a qualitative assessment and not a quantitative one.

Intermittent Fasting and Whole30 - together

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…