Another Case for Intermittent Fasting

I am becoming progressively interested in Intermittent Fasting, the process by where you fast for a certain part of each day/week. Fast-5 is a free program online, I think Stop, Eat, Stop is another one, but maybe not free. I used to eat this way....back when I was skinny.

 

There is an interesting theory that the reason why we are told to eat Right instead of eat Less is due to industry. If we consume less, well then, there goes potential profits. Anyways, I remember getting used to this way of eating and I have been reading quite a few success stories with it and interesting research as well. In addition to this, many of the same things discussed in rawveganland, I hear the same things being said about IF! Whiter eyes, less autoimmune disease, arthritis, weight loss, etc.

 

I have experienced these benefits with IF and in a short amount of time...so as my time draws near finishing school, I seem to be leaning towards this. Although not a junk food, whatever I want during my eating window. Definately want to strive for high raw and gluten free and vegan.

 

In other news, I'm beginning to also think that gluten causes more problems than dairy physically speaking. Since I barely eat gluten, I don't think I've gotten One Single Cold. I still eat cheese and chocolate, but that's all for dairy...which I need to quit, but you would think I would have gotten a cold...it's been 1-2 years..closer to 2. ...not complaining. :)

 

Study: hungry mice are happy mice
www.chinaview.cn 2008-07-15 17:10:21
BEIJING, July 15 (Xinhuanet) -- Unhappy and want to be happy? A new study says you should get hungry.

When our bodies notice we need more calories, levels of a hormone called ghrelin increase. Ghrelin is known to trigger hunger, but new research suggests this may be a side effect of its primary job as a stress-buster.

Researchers manipulated ghrelin levels in mice through a variety of methods, including prolonged calorie restriction, ghrelin injection and a genetic modification rendering the mice numb to ghrelin's effect.

Mice who had limited ghrelin activity seemed depressed. If pushed into deep water they made no effort to swim. When introduced to a maze, they clung to the entryway. And when placed with other mice, they tended to keep to themselves. (These behaviors were reversed when the mice were given a low-dose antidepressant commonly prescribed to humans.)

In contrast, mice with high levels of ghrelin swam energetically in deep water, looking for escape. They eagerly explored new environments. And they were much more social.

The researchers think that hunger-induced happiness is an adaptive measure. Getting food, especially in the wild, requires concentration, clear-headed perception and often cooperation.

Hunger is not the only stressor that causes ghrelin to rise. Social anxiety can stimulate it as well. When mice were exposed to an older "bully" mouse, ghrelin levels rose and stayed high for weeks.

Elevated ghrelin could be why some people overeat when under pressure. If the stress-induced snack is avoided, the research suggests, ghrelin levels will remain high and help us confront the stressor in a calm, effective way.

(Agencies)

Editor: Gareth Dodd

In Two Weeks

Hey 'everyone'! ...and by everyone I mean just about no one, lol. ...it's all good, guess this is my diary then ;)

In two weeks Monday, it will be April 11th. This will be the first day of twelve weeks 'off'. I am calling it stress leave but it's not technically. I will be done the 3 yr degree portion of my studies and the 4th year bridging program I'm hoping to get into (read *assuming) will start 12 Mondays later.

I thought about working...but how often does one get the opportunity to really work on oneself, attention virtually undivided? Ofcourse my attention will be divided...but in good physical ways, such as making my house neat as a pin, perfectly organized, minimized, purged and aesthetically pleasing. I also plan to work out, nearly everyday. Lots of working out...lots of classes such as yoga, pilates, zumba and whatever else. Lots of swimming too. :)

I figure the above activites of getting organized and working out and eating raw will keep me plenty busy. I would like to do a video every week so I can see my own progression best.

In these next two weeks I am going to quit particular foods that I expect would give me a detox headache and also decide if I am going to go all raw or high raw. I am very torn about this and have been for a long time.

PROS (to being all raw)
Not confusing.
Easy to focus.
Maximum health and glow.*
Lots of experimenting.
Simple, quick, easy clean up.
Not dehydrating.
Less salt required.*
No losing control in the cooked world.

Issues of importance: Social situations. Making appealing vegan'ish food for the children, while not eating it. Fat content. Not liking recipes. Anxiety. Relapsing completely due to all or nothing approach.

PROS (to eating only a high raw diet)
Easy to avoid boredom.
Don't feel left out socially.
Could still attain equal health with either low fat or calorie restricted.
More kid friendly, especially to new veggie children in the house.

Issues of importance with high raw: Binging. Eating processed foods more and more and a gradual degradation of dietary standards. High calorie starches. Maintaining high raw. Potentially slower health progress. High risk of excessive salt.

In addition to this I have also became very interested in Intermittent Fasting...through the Fast-5 approach, and also Tonya Zavasta's Quantum Eating. While Tonya eats nothing after 2pm, fast-5 allows any 3-5 hour window during the day with which to eat in. Of the REALLY good looking women who are all raw, Tonya being one, Lillian Mueller being another, these women seem to eat very scantily or don't eat for portions of their day. In addition to this evidence, my research into intermittent fasting shows many similar results without even being raw...monkeys studied show slow aging as well as the human adherents to the diet. These people are not raw...and the monkeys were in fact fed fortified biscuits only!

I don't want to eat fortified biscuits and I'm sure the monkeys would've much appreciated actual food...but the point is there...how much of it is raw food, and how much of it is that raw food causes you to eat less calories and therefore naturally you begin to follow a calorie restricted diet? In addition to this, (wow, can you tell I've written a lot of essays lately??) ...anyway, yes in addition, I've noticed, from the video below, that when I eat a few pieces of fruit for example, my appetite seems to be subdued much longer than if blended or if I am eating cooked food. It seems that intermmitent fasting could be somewhat natural.

I have decided that the best model for me would be to have a 12-6pm'ish eating window. I have tried the first half of the day and the last half of the day and, for me, both are too hard to maintain. I used to eat this way and I believe it is extremely healthy. I did not make great food choices though and that is where I went wrong. 

I think I'm going to work out in the mornings, have a shower and sauna where I workout. Have a piece of fruit on my way to a quick tan for some vitamin D (yes tanning beds work, and I'd rather not eat sheep's sweat anyway -plus it gives my complexion a rather gross hue), come home and have a green smoothie. Eat fruit, maybe the odd small handful of nuts but being mindful of fat, and then finish the day off with a lovely salad, or cooked vegan/gluten free meal (that is not challenging for me at all as I've ate it before and endometriosis and other issues warrant it). ...and yes, I am a dessert girl, but not always and can train myself for it to be an apple or something. I might have to make it a 12-8 window, lol.

So apparently I have decided on a high raw/all day raw minimum, and a 12-8 eating window. I will work out plenty. And I will read books, some for fun, some health books (fun for me). Whenever I doubt that this is not enough, I need to remember Lillian who, as far as I can tell, follows a very similar regimen. ...and ofcourse, I am open to improving upon this regimen...anything so long as I am not regressing from it...these twelve weeks are mine and for me. I am not giving them up for anything. :)

In preparation, I will not jump ahead to this...lol. School and this together may cause me to basically freak out and lose what binging control I am currently maintaining...and then not be in a good place in two weeks. But today I did not have any chocolate bars. Somehow I am still alive. ;)

http://www.therawtarian.com/ has an excellent raw brownie recipe...the best raw chocolate treat I've tried that doesn't cost a million dollars from some online raw fancy foods company.



I may not blog untill much closer to my start date....but these twelve weeks...are a very important opportunity that I don't want to miss. ...ggaaaah..they are such an important opportunity to lay down some new eating tracks that could serve me So Well. :) I am thankful.

Update

I DID go raw on January 30th...and was like 98% raw for two weeks, the only infractions being things like honey (vegan?), maple syrup, maybe nuts and probably spices, etc. ...you know, all the stuff that one needn't stress about.

But I was going to allow myself still spaghetti sauce and green veggie curry...just didn't get around to it. I must say, I had The hardest time getting back on track, and I didn't even Like the spaghetti sauce, it tasted boring after the long stint of super flavourful raw foods and interesting salads.

So I had two Very unraw days, with today being my first day back on track. I actually felt ill almost continuously too...so there is my aversion therapy, lol. I still like the Thai food though, so I might just have that dish sometimes....I don't know what to do about that one, I'm truly in love with it. ...but I'm not sure it would be a 'gateway drug' because I'm actually totally turned off of all my favorite cooked foods after my two days in the ditch...boring, unromantic, nauseating food.

Yes, I romanticize food. lol. ...but what's exciting is that I am doing it to raw food now instead.

YES!!!!

January 30th -Day 1

I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REEEEEEEEALLY am going raw tomorrow. All raw.
80% raw is too hard for some weird reason....well, this explains it best:

http://therawtarian.com/dont-screw-up-your-palate/

I'm lovin her site in general...and it's really weird, nowhere on her site can I find her looking for money, lol.

Looking forward to this. :)

Raw Food Rehab -Evolve to Resolve Jan 1st/11 weeks + My Fateful Intervention

Penni Shelton has run an 11 week raw vegan initiative a few times a year for the last couple of years, with no signs of letting up. I was a member of her very first one that was used as part of a book she was writing called 'Raw Food Cleanse'. It and the Initiative itself are geared to the mainstream public in that it is more flexible that a lot of 'Raw Vegan Land' philosophies. The expectation is that you would eat/drink a minimum of 80% of your calories from raw vegan land (fruits, veggies, nuts, seeds).

This is probably a realistic next step for me as I am currently on the 'Endo Diet' (no meat, dairy, gluten, soy, hydrogenated oils, refined sugar) ...exept I don't follow it to the letter either! But I am Pretty Darn Good with it, I must say....because:

(flashback 2 weeks ago)

I go to the hospital for a Pre-Op exam, as I am scheduled to have laproscopic surgery for endometriosis, the following week (Dec. 15th) ...which incidently was also my 3 year vegetarian anniversary, and thought I would wake up and change my life being that I like auspicious dates and all, lol. Anyways! I admit that I do have chest pains sometimes to the anaestesiologist, moreso this fall, nothing chest-clutching or dramatic...but sometimes enough to give me pause. We agreed that normally this would be nothing ( the only reason I told him all about it is because he started asking me 20 questions -being the good and forward thinking anaestesiologist he is) but he was slightly concerned because that is just the random, atypical symptoms of heart disease that women have, as the research has recently discovered! (The usual signs of crushing chest pain and radiating pain down the arm or up the neck are Male symptoms.) Women, with higher estrogen levels, have 'softer' fat...they don't have keg bellies, they have rolly fat...and this rolly fat translates to totally different heart disease symptoms than men. There is no 'hardening' of the arteries. Women's arteries remain soft.

All this knowledge, combined with my Dad having early onset heart disease, made the doctor want to cancel the surgery and have me get some heart tests first. He did the ECG right then and there to get it out of the way and low and behold, he found a Q wave! OH the horror!!! ...this could be nothing though actually, or it could mean I've already had a small heart attack! Further testing will reveal which.

So, This Scenario is the proverbial 'backed into a corner' position I was now in. ...Lotsa endometriosis pain, no surgery for atleast four months, Possible Heart Attack....clearly I am going to have to be my own saviour here!

I have been on the Endo Diet ever since...well less a day or so probably while I got organized. :)

Part of the endo diet though is not only Not eating certain foods, but also Eating certain foods. It has been shown that eating 2 servings of greens and 2 servings of fruit per day EACH reduce endo symptoms by over 50% (I forget the percentages just now)...and on top of that exercise also has been shown to reduce symptoms be another rather large percentage...all combined totalling over 100% reduction in symptoms!

Furthermore laproscopic surgery is not a cure for endo but just buys you more time basically. It returns over 50% of the time. Buying more time to change is what I was doing and I knew it! lol  List of options now read like this:

1. Buy more time.
2. Change now.

What I've learned through this corner position is that I Can change quite swiftly if my choices are 'Change' or 'Suffer, suffer and suffer some more!'.

Left to my own motivations of, well, vanity basically, I probably wouldn't have ever gotten around to it...unless ofcourse my spouse left me (and then I would Show him!) or if someone outright insulted my looks pretty badly...THEN, only for vanity, I could've done it. ;) ...ofcourse I wanted great health too, but there is something really not 'up for discussion' in any arena, be it in your head or in public, if you 'have to' for your health. It really is much easier! There is not much debate about it...nor any excuses either.

So for this I say that all of it is such a blessing in disguise really and I am thankful for it! VERY much.

I fear I would be too weak to make it otherwise! ...for the long term anyway.

When you are on this restrictive of a diet, raw vegan land is a great place to go to still give you creative freedom and keep interest and variety in your diet, so it's no surprise to me that I am automatically vacationing over here in rawveganland and getting ready to send for my things.

This 11 week Initiative, I will be focusing on green smoothies during the day, or fruit, or salads...for supper I will either have the same, or something raw gourmet, or something healthy and within endo diet parameters. (Spaghetti on rice, Sweet potato stew and Green Veggie Curry being my favorites). I would like to just do those cooked meals just 1-2 evenings a week, but I will 'allow' myself every other day if need be. I figure if I know that I can have that cooked 'x' tomorrow for supper at the latest, no matter what the day, that I'll be able to stay on track. And that by that time, I may be able to wait one more day...or even one more! Or better yet, not even care either way.

I would be COMPLETELY happy if I got my diet to fruits and greens during the day, reasonable fat content at supper and only 1-2 cooked meals per week. I imagine that I could stay at that level and never feel the need to improve from that point...or maybe I would. For now, that would be thoroughly amazing to accomplish :)

As for exercise...ya...gotta do That too. Christmas business and extreme housework in a period of transition are my current excuses, which are exercises in and of themselves anyway...I plan to pick this piece up in January, which should be especially realistic considering I have more support at home now! Thank you Douglas!!

So I will catch you up on the flipside of Christmas, as I begin my Raw Food Rehab 11 week journey ♥

Happy Holidays Everyone! (which would be no one probably since I lack any followers still, lol) -it's all good.

Tomorrow! Tomorrow! I'll Love ya, tomorrow!

Sufficiently stoked? YES. Tomorrow is the first day of ...hmmm. what to call it? 2/3'rds rawvegan? Very catchy, lol.

Whenever you are 'stuck' and 'trying to try'...Everyday, Everyday. Pick a day atleast two weeks out but no more than six, and make that your 'quit/change day'. This was advice from a quitting smoking info package, and it really works!

If you do that though, you will get many urges along the way to just start now. Don't. No, no, no, no, NO! If you do, you will deflate the pressure you are trying to build. Think of it like a slingshot, or a volcano, or a kid that keeps looking at the clock in geography class and bolts to run outside in the fresh air as soon as the bell rings. ...you NEED that resistence. That Incongruence between wish and actions. Between what your Mind wants and what your Body is doing. It's imperitive you build up that pressure!

Ofcourse, people feel it doesn't work if they employ this strategy and then some days later after their quit date, they screw up and end up back to square one. This is NOT the fault of the quit date strategy though! ...if you look more closely at it, you will find Some valuable lesson, that you can employ for the next time you quit. It could be social, or poor planning, or even perhaps you need to modify the parameters of what you're doing. It's very much a 'trial and error' process. It will probably take a number of attempts....but with each attempt, you need to build up the desire strong enough...and you just can't do that every day!

Consider this:

Only 20% of people who have major heart attacks, make lasting changes to their diet and lifestyle to counter the possibility of having another one. 20%!? ...of people who could've DIED as a result of their behaviours, actually change their behaviours.

Same with addicts. ...about 20%. It's a very sad thing.

My point? Change is tricky business. ...most people do employ the Will, the Desire...and they don't understand why it fails them. But it's also about employing smarts. Learning from your mistakes. And learning from your mistakes is hard because it requires a certain amount of checking your ego, lol. How is your ego involved? When you mess up, it is a huge bruise to your ego that was Oh So Convinced, that You Are Amazing and Other People are just Weak. lol. Yes...that's their problem. You are not weak.

...therefore, most people then Turn Away from the goal because they don't want to feel like a failure or admit they failed, and most of all try and fail Again. and then AGAIN. lol. Yes, trying to change is very hard, because it's hard to keep trying in the face of failure. ...but. you must keep looking at it. Perhaps, you can stroke your ego somewhat by the fact that you are willing to keep at it, despite the process?

There is Some comforting news as well:

Of those 20% of people who do successfully change their diets, lifestyles and quit bad habits?

Guess how many shots they took at it? 9/10 times, they took Many, many runs at it. Each time, learning something that would help them the next time. Until finally, they just had it!

I think we all know that one person who just dramatically turned on a dime and somehow avoided all potholes along the way and magically, it seems, from day one, first stab, succeeded. My father happens to be one of those people. A lot of other people I know like to Portray they did that, but in reality, not that accurate of a tale.

I don't know what to say about these 'magical' rare people, other than if you aren't one, then don't let your ego get in the way of lasting progress by trying to pretend you Are one of those types...or that that is the only way To change, and you simply can't do it. Remember, they are the exception, not the rule!

In those cases, they're often able to do it because they have the right environment, or support, or the right level of fear blasting through their mind.

SO: Pick a quit date. Drop the ego. Be analytical. Note past pitfalls. and Plan accordingly. ...and you WILL get it, so long as you keep trying!

Tomorrow, I take another stab at rawveganland. I'm VERY stoked...and I should be! I've been dreaming of it and eating fairly poorly at the same time. This time out of the gate, I'm abandoning the 'all or nothing' mindset. My lovely friend Rhonda gave me the details of her plan, and I will follow a similar plan.

A serving or two of fruit you love in the morning.
A green smoothie.
More fruit/salad/whatever you like that's raw!
A cooked supper.
A raw snack/avocado in the evening.
Exercise each day if possible.

Pffft. I can do that! I don't even have to quit any foods to do THAT! Doing this, she lost I think about 30 pounds and felt amazing. and she's not even vegetarian!

I do plan on having as many all raw days as possible, but I won't know till I get there, we will see. I'm being very gentle with myself (this is my latest lesson). To treat myself with the same compassion and understanding that I would treat my child, or anyone else, dealing with significant changes.

So, Tomorrow. 01/11/2010. ...a Monday. ♥ I love numerical dates that look cool.

PS. Last night I had a dream that I was on day 1, and accidently forgot and had a bunch of foods I wasn't supposed to. Dreams like these, I find very significant of my mindset. You might have heard that it is common for people quitting smoking, for example, to have nightmares/dreams about smoking. It's very normal...and just shows me, that I am mentally in that place where I need to be :)