Hi,
First the good news: I hit 303.25 two days ago as a result of the fasting twice a week. I was really surprised when I saw that number before my very eyes.
I still fluctuate up and down, but today is the beginning of my first fast day for this week so I am just finishing up my first meal of the day and will fast after that. I had just skipped eating earlier today without considering that this is the preparatory fast day. I usually try to eat two meals on this day, but, the day is half over and I can't go back. Don't think I need to really.
I decided to eat a large bowl of steamed Italian green beans, broccoli, and peas plus a pork rib for the protein before I begin the fast. That is out of the way, now, so the next time I eat will be tomorrow at 4:30.
Second the bad news: I've been dealing with my left knee again. It went out a week ago last Thursday and was very excruciating. I figured I would treat it as I always do which is to wear my knee brace until I can again walk normally. It is Sunday and I am, day by day, seeing some improvement but it still feels "stiffish" right now and I have some small achy pains from time to time depending on the position I put it in.
I went to see Dr. Andy, my chiropractor on Friday and he aligned both the knee and my foot and I did see some improvement the next day. It seems to be improving each day. I'll go to see him again on Tuesday.
The thing I am worried about is collecting all the cookies for the bake sale that I am spear heading for Trinity Children's center this week. The community sale is being held at the Gwinnett Braves stadium on Saturday and I hope my knee is well enough to allow me to work the booth.
It is the loading and unloading of the cookies when they reach my house that I am kind of worried about. I'm thinking of asking my friend John if he will help me with that, but he is often incapacitated and unable to do those kinds of things. The cookies should not be heavy it is just that there will be so many of them. Our goal is 100 dozen and we have about eight people baking them. I'm supposed to be making cookies, too.
I am simply putting my trust in the Lord. He will help me to accomplish all that I must do and heal my knee in the process, too.
Now about the fasting....
I feel that I've done it enough times now that I kind of like the way I feel when I'm fasting. I know I've mentioned that before but it needs to be said again: fasting is really quite easy. As I've been doing it I've begun to notice some things that I would never have noticed without having fasted on a schedule.
For one, I think it must actually be more "normal" than I used to think. Having grown up in the US and been fed at least three meals a day for my entire life, fasting used to seem like a dangerous thing. I associated fasting with emaciation, starvation, eating disorders, sickness and disease. It just never seemed possible that there might be a healthy side to it and it might actually be a healthy thing for the overfed to do. Even though I knew Jesus fasted, many of the saints fasted, and it is a natural part of the Old Testament, too, it just seemed beyond extreme to my mind.
You know that idea that when you buy a yellow car, suddenly you see all the other yellow cars on the road? Well fasting seems to be like that for me. Now that I am fasting from time to time, I notice when someone or something points to the fact that our ancestors may have fasted as a matter of course, that I had not realized.
Granted, many of them are just "hints" but they are beginning to be seen by me. Like the idea of having a cup of some hot liquid for breakfast, be it coffee, tea, or broth. That is what I do when I'm fasting, I drink lots of water and tea. I never had a liquid meal before I started fasting. Every meal had solid food. And that was part of the problem that I could not see.
I've even blogged recently about not being able to tell the difference between hunger and thirst. I really do see now that drinking water is a valid response to the feeling of hunger. If you cannot tell the difference then they are the same feeling, aren't they? I spent most of my life eating when I may have been thirsty. I've struggled with keeping my body hydrated for as long as I remember, too. Obesity and dehydration were my two companions, but now that I'm fasting, I can see the real value in drinking water and my mind now accepts the concept that I might be thirsty when I get "that" feeling.
It seemed odd to me that when I fasted I also eliminated more water than usual -- like my kidneys were functioning better. When I first noticed it, it was a puzzle to my puny brain. I was surprised that I started peeing more often when I fasted. So much more that it was noticeable to me. But really, if you are drinking more you will be eliminating more, too. Ding. Ding. It all began to make sense. My body was no longer dehydrated because I was not responding to the "feeling" that I call "hunger" with food but with water or tea. My body liked the change. So the solution to the obesity is also the solution to the dehydration. Eat less. Drink more.
I don't resent having been fed, that is not the point. I am relieved that it is OK to not eat some times!! In fact, it is a good idea, for me to drink water and skip the food from time to time. It just seems so natural and so obvious. I wonder why I never saw it before. Don't know why. Just glad I stumbled upon that one. LOL
So this means my inner core ideas about food and eating were based on belief and not fact. My body never did seem to match my beliefs about food. It has been a struggle all my life. The fasting seems to be the best solution to my particular dilemma. It reduces my calorie intake without me having to fight and to measure and to control every morsel that goes into my mouth -- which I was never good at, anyway. It also increases my water intake and helps to make my kidneys function better. So amazing to kill those two birds with that one stone.
I wish I had something more profound to say but that is about it. The fasting is working. The fasting is easy. The fasting makes me feel good and my body function better. Praise the Lord!!
Be back soon,
Marcia
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Good Results from Twice-a-Week Fasting
Hi!
I am stoked. I hit 305.75 this morning as a result of doing the twice a week fast. I don't know if it will go up again. Just hitting the number feels really good. I am getting closer and closer to the 299 mark.
My starting weight at the beginning of my weight loss journey, nearly two years ago, was 355 -- and I suspect it to have been closer to 360, or even 365, but have not changed my numbers since I don't know for sure. I simply think I recall those numbers on my doctor's scale at some point -- I had not yet started to journal, so I don't have a record.
My blood pressure also seems to be settling down in the 130/77 range, which is also very encouraging. So, no changes in the BP medication, only the change in eating patterns have brought this about.
I have to confess, I've not been eating all the fresh raw vegetables that I normally advocate. I've been eating most of them cooked. I just got tired of the salad for every meal habit and let it slip. I'm just now starting to consume a few fresh raw veggies again because they taste so incredibly good and satisfying.
I've been trying on some clothes in my closet that were a bit too small for me and all but one is now fitting me. I can button the 3 blouses all the way down and will be beginning to wear them now. I had them in my closet because I had purchased them a while back, but could not fit into the woven ones. The stretch ones were big and loose and labeled as the same size but the woven ones were too small for me. So glad I will be able to wear those blouses to church, now.
When I go swimming I can now wrap the towel around me with no gaps. That is nice! When I am sitting I can see that my stomach is farther away from my knees and closer to me, now, too. Got lots of evidence that it is working.
I started my first week of twice-a-week fasting on Sept 8. The next week I completed two more fast days and this week I've completed one of the fasts with the next one starting this evening.
Starting on September the first I had noticed I was eating too many carbs and did a 3 day carb fast -- meaning that I ate food, I just did not eat any starchy carbs. Then I did another day and in that week I lost 3.17 average pounds for the week.
The next week I fasted (no food at all) on two separate days and lost an average of 1 pound. This week which on my chart is four days I have lost an average of 2.23 pounds. The average weight is 308.38 -- my today's actual weight is 305.75. I take an average over a 7-day period to try to get a more accurate picture of where I am, but I love those days when my actual weight is lower than my average for the week.
So far, it seems, the twice a week fasting is beginning to make a difference in my weight. That is the best results I have had for a while so I am happy and will continue on with this program.
I will be going to see my doctor at 2:30 to hear about the results of my echo cardiogram and I've been praying for good results. Before she would tell me about it she had me come in and do blood work for cholesterol. They would not tell me the numbers for that either, but I was able to find out that my numbers were not outrageous (at least) -- the nurse's words were, "I've seen worse."
I'm already sure that I will refuse to take any Staten drugs and will point out my weight loss and hope she will let me continue doing what I am doing because it has helped my weight and my blood pressure and surely my blood cholesterol, too. I guess I'll find out. I've not been able to share much with her about what I am doing because she usually does all the talking. Oh, well.
So that's about it for today. Things are looking good.
If you are interested in reading the research on fasting I recommend the PDF by Brad Pilon called "Eat Stop Eat" found at http://www.eatstopeat.com/ -- purchase price is $37 -- but well worth it.
If you want to watch a video of a guy investigating and trying out fasting, check out this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=Pfna7nV7WaM -- this one is free.
Fasting is way healthier than I had imagined. And it is working for me in the weight loss department. Finally.
One more thing: when you are fasting you cannot fudge and mess things up!! It is plain, simple, direct, and easy. You can read some of my earlier blogs (listed on the right) if you want to check out the route I took to come to this current conclusion.
Love you,
Be back soon,
Marcia
I am stoked. I hit 305.75 this morning as a result of doing the twice a week fast. I don't know if it will go up again. Just hitting the number feels really good. I am getting closer and closer to the 299 mark.
My starting weight at the beginning of my weight loss journey, nearly two years ago, was 355 -- and I suspect it to have been closer to 360, or even 365, but have not changed my numbers since I don't know for sure. I simply think I recall those numbers on my doctor's scale at some point -- I had not yet started to journal, so I don't have a record.
My blood pressure also seems to be settling down in the 130/77 range, which is also very encouraging. So, no changes in the BP medication, only the change in eating patterns have brought this about.
I have to confess, I've not been eating all the fresh raw vegetables that I normally advocate. I've been eating most of them cooked. I just got tired of the salad for every meal habit and let it slip. I'm just now starting to consume a few fresh raw veggies again because they taste so incredibly good and satisfying.
I've been trying on some clothes in my closet that were a bit too small for me and all but one is now fitting me. I can button the 3 blouses all the way down and will be beginning to wear them now. I had them in my closet because I had purchased them a while back, but could not fit into the woven ones. The stretch ones were big and loose and labeled as the same size but the woven ones were too small for me. So glad I will be able to wear those blouses to church, now.
When I go swimming I can now wrap the towel around me with no gaps. That is nice! When I am sitting I can see that my stomach is farther away from my knees and closer to me, now, too. Got lots of evidence that it is working.
I started my first week of twice-a-week fasting on Sept 8. The next week I completed two more fast days and this week I've completed one of the fasts with the next one starting this evening.
Starting on September the first I had noticed I was eating too many carbs and did a 3 day carb fast -- meaning that I ate food, I just did not eat any starchy carbs. Then I did another day and in that week I lost 3.17 average pounds for the week.
The next week I fasted (no food at all) on two separate days and lost an average of 1 pound. This week which on my chart is four days I have lost an average of 2.23 pounds. The average weight is 308.38 -- my today's actual weight is 305.75. I take an average over a 7-day period to try to get a more accurate picture of where I am, but I love those days when my actual weight is lower than my average for the week.
So far, it seems, the twice a week fasting is beginning to make a difference in my weight. That is the best results I have had for a while so I am happy and will continue on with this program.
I will be going to see my doctor at 2:30 to hear about the results of my echo cardiogram and I've been praying for good results. Before she would tell me about it she had me come in and do blood work for cholesterol. They would not tell me the numbers for that either, but I was able to find out that my numbers were not outrageous (at least) -- the nurse's words were, "I've seen worse."
I'm already sure that I will refuse to take any Staten drugs and will point out my weight loss and hope she will let me continue doing what I am doing because it has helped my weight and my blood pressure and surely my blood cholesterol, too. I guess I'll find out. I've not been able to share much with her about what I am doing because she usually does all the talking. Oh, well.
So that's about it for today. Things are looking good.
If you are interested in reading the research on fasting I recommend the PDF by Brad Pilon called "Eat Stop Eat" found at http://www.eatstopeat.com/ -- purchase price is $37 -- but well worth it.
If you want to watch a video of a guy investigating and trying out fasting, check out this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=Pfna7nV7WaM -- this one is free.
Fasting is way healthier than I had imagined. And it is working for me in the weight loss department. Finally.
One more thing: when you are fasting you cannot fudge and mess things up!! It is plain, simple, direct, and easy. You can read some of my earlier blogs (listed on the right) if you want to check out the route I took to come to this current conclusion.
Love you,
Be back soon,
Marcia
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Twice Weekly Fasting to Improve Blood and Health
Hi,
This is the first week that I have accomplished a 5/2 eating schedule as stated in Michael Mosley's "BBC Horizon 2012: Eat, Fast and Live Longer" program. I watched it again to refresh my mind about the amazing health improving discoveries that were shared in the video in relation to intermittent fasting.
I had been fasting for one day per week but not really seeing much of a decline in weight until I started taking a diuretic that my doctor prescribed for high BP.
Here's is the link to this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=Pfna7nV7WaM
5/2 means five days of eating and two days of fasting per week and the two days do not have to be consecutive. Michael Mosley tried it for five weeks then weighed himself and checked his BMI and blood sugar, IGF-1, and blood cholesterol levels.
He said he had dropped about 1 stone (14 pounds) in five weeks which works out to nearly 3 pounds per week. He went from 27 percent body fat to 19.1 percent body fat in that time period. He also said that his blood sugar had dropped into the normal range from having been in the pre-diabetic range. His IGF-1 had reduce to the point that his risk for developing cancer was cut in half and his cholesterol levels reached normal proportions.
As one of the research scientists in the video said: If you can find a way to improve your health in a better more immediate way than with fasting he wanted to see it.
Me too. So I am trying it out.
Oddly enough my doctor's office called me on a day that I was fasting and wanted to check my cholesterol in relation to an echo cardiogram I had recently had done. They refused to tell me what the EC said until they checked my cholesterol.
The nurse on the phone started to say that when I came in for the blood draw I should fast from midnight on, at which point I interrupted her and said that I had been fasting since 4:25 the day before and could I come in that day. She scheduled me to come in at about 2:30 and I went. I have not heard the results yet, but look forward to seeing what it says.
I learned my fasting method from the PDF called "Eat Stop Eat" by Brad Pilon (which I have blogged about before -- http://www.eatstopeat.com/) and since I am accustomed to that method, I simply stuck to it but have now added one more fasting day to my schedule. Week one, done. On to week two.
What I do is arrange my fast from the later part of one day to the later part of the next day, exactly 24 hours later. This means that on, say, Sunday I eat two regular meals making sure the last meal ends somewhere between 4 and 5 p.m. Then I stop eating and don't resume eating until the exact same time on Monday, which leaves a 24 hour gap between meals. When I break the fast on Monday I have a meal and usually one more a couple of hours later, trying to space at least two and preferably three or more food-free hours before bed time.
In essence on one day I have two normal sized meals, then wait 24 hours, and have two more meals at the end of the next day with no snacks. What Mr Mosley does is eat one small meal, wait 24 hours, and then eat three normal meals and snacks or whatever else he eats on a normal day. So over the two day period, I eat about 4 meals, and he eats about 4 meals -- perhaps plus snacks. Same Difference. Normally over a two-day period a person eats 6 meals (plus snacks). It boils down to skipping two meals in a row and making sure the time period is 24 hours between eating sessions. There is a sleeping time in the middle of the 24 hours, so it really is not as bad as you might think.
A normal sized meal in my mind is equivalent to between about 2 and 3 cups of food -- and consists of veggies and protein. It is enough to fill and satisfy me without stuffing me. Occasionally I do eat a huge meal at the end of the fast which can be about twice the normal amount, but only for one meal. If I have a huge meal, I often don't eat again before going to bed, or simply have some water and gum. It varies.
What Mr Mosley did was to, on his fast days, eat one small meal at breakfast, and then not eat again until breakfast the next day. Same difference. He said he preferred that method because it was hard for him to go to work on an empty stomach. It made him feel weak and deprived. Eating his one meal at breakfast solved that problem for him.
I don't have a job since I am retired, and I often prefer to skip breakfast, so I time mine from a late afternoon meal. On the fasting day it just seems easier to me to skip the early eating and enjoy looking forward to eating at the appointed time later in the day.
During the fast I try to drink boat loads of water with a little Plantation Mint tea and some Spry (xylitol) gum (which also helps my teeth). Mr Mosley said he drank water and black tea on his fast days. I have not forgotten that men lose weight faster than women so I am not fully expecting to lose the three pounds per week as he did, but 2 or even 1 every week would be good. I shall not limit myself, if I can lose the 3 that would be excellent.
I had seen the results of a recent urine test from a day that I was actually dehydrated and realized I really needed to drink a whole lot more water than the nearly 64 ounces I had been drinking per day. I am taking a small dose diuretic which adds to the reason that I must increase my water drinking rather drastically, in my mind.
The diuretic is to help lower the blood pressure (it reached130/70 which was very pleasing to me). I also see it as a way to reduce the ankle swelling to nearly zero levels, but the process eliminates too much water for my kidneys to function well and stay clear from calcium crystals so doubling my water intake will, I hope, solve that problem for me.
Oddly enough, drinking more water works well for the kidneys but it has brought my blood pressure back to my former "normal" levels. "My normal" meaning the levels I was at before I had the BP scare a few weeks ago. When I was dehydrated my BP reached 130/70 but for someone who only takes one BP medicine plus a small diuretic 140/77 is OK. That is my opinion. This morning it was 145/77. Which bothers me a little.
If fasting will clear this up too, as some of the researchers in the video suggested it might, then I will be very happy with that, too. I shall continue on and see if it does.
I know that in my last blog post, I thought I wanted to try the three days per week fast schedule but I just don't think I am up to that, yet. I actually did try to fast again about the second day past a fasting day and I simply was too weak to do it. That was during the time I was having the health issues noted above, so I decided not to put that much pressure on myself during that time and may try that at a time when I feel more fit.
It has occurred to me that my new doctor may actually be looking for something wrong with me, simply because I am obese. I suppose that is not beyond reason, but it feels a little insulting. I know that the serapeptase that I've been taking for about 15 months now should have really cleaned out my blood veins and vessels so perhaps her checking things out will reveal whether it really has or not. I really would like to know if it has worked.
I am really interested in the fasting because it seems to be a way for me to have my cake and eat it, too. (Not actually cake -- I'm just using the expression.) It forces me to eat less. My weekly total calorie intake is highly reduce by two 24 hour fasts per week, but on the feeding or feasting days, I really can eat what I like to eat. I still remain low carb, but do include a few, usually on the breaking fast meal. I cannot allow myself to go overboard on the feast days. My body is far to sensitive to certain things to become lax in that area.
Mr Mosley did not reveal what he eats on his feed days but one of the scenes in the video shows him and a researcher having what appears to be a burger and fries at a drive in fast food restaurant. The video showed him when he was at home in England again and he appeared to be cooking in his home, but it showed him making his breakfast on a fasting day, so I don't know what he eats in between. The researcher had said that it did not seem to matter whether it was high fat or low fat, on the feed days, the health improvements were identical.
The same researcher in the video also pointed out that people who do intermittent fasting do not tend to over eat on the feeding/feasting days. She had thought when she started her research that people would simply over compensate on the days they were allowed to eat anything they wanted, for the food they had not eaten on the fast day. This did not prove true. She found that on the feed days they only increased their eating about 10 percent and not the 50 percent she had expected.
This seems to be true for me also. On my feeding days, I am not bothered by cravings and a huge desire for food. I simply relate to it normally. If I'm hungry I eat, if I'm not, I don't. Simple easy. Healthy. I do occasionally have something that maybe I should not, but it does not seem to be a pressing issue. I am not pressed to eat junk food. I'm simply attracted to healthy food, which to me is meat and veggies -- lo carb.
One more thing:
As I was reading my bible I came across these two verses: Ecclesiastes 10:16-17
Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and thy princes eat in the morning! Blessed art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness!
I really had to stop and take a second look at what it said because it just really surprised me. It seems to be saying that a childish leader and people eat every morning, but noble leaders and people eat "in due season" or postpone their eating until they need food for strength. They are not addicted to food. Eating is not a pastime or entertainment. It is simply done to keep up strength as needed.
The noble people do not overindulge in food to the point of "drunkenness" as the childish do. Drunkenness in relation to food would seem to be those times when you eat so much food that your body feels overpowered and sick. Your belly gets uncomfortable with the excess rather like drinking excessive amounts of alcohol and becoming sick from it.
The noble people don't actually eat food as the first thing they do. They go about their business and eat when the body needs food for strength or health. Childish and addictive eating brings woe like drunkenness does. Fasting and noble living brings blessings. This seems like a validation for the idea of fasting, to me, and it was written about 3,000 years ago. There really is nothing new under the sun.
Anyway, that is where I am, today. How about you?
Be back soon,
Marcia
This is the first week that I have accomplished a 5/2 eating schedule as stated in Michael Mosley's "BBC Horizon 2012: Eat, Fast and Live Longer" program. I watched it again to refresh my mind about the amazing health improving discoveries that were shared in the video in relation to intermittent fasting.
I had been fasting for one day per week but not really seeing much of a decline in weight until I started taking a diuretic that my doctor prescribed for high BP.
Here's is the link to this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=Pfna7nV7WaM
5/2 means five days of eating and two days of fasting per week and the two days do not have to be consecutive. Michael Mosley tried it for five weeks then weighed himself and checked his BMI and blood sugar, IGF-1, and blood cholesterol levels.
He said he had dropped about 1 stone (14 pounds) in five weeks which works out to nearly 3 pounds per week. He went from 27 percent body fat to 19.1 percent body fat in that time period. He also said that his blood sugar had dropped into the normal range from having been in the pre-diabetic range. His IGF-1 had reduce to the point that his risk for developing cancer was cut in half and his cholesterol levels reached normal proportions.
As one of the research scientists in the video said: If you can find a way to improve your health in a better more immediate way than with fasting he wanted to see it.
Me too. So I am trying it out.
Oddly enough my doctor's office called me on a day that I was fasting and wanted to check my cholesterol in relation to an echo cardiogram I had recently had done. They refused to tell me what the EC said until they checked my cholesterol.
The nurse on the phone started to say that when I came in for the blood draw I should fast from midnight on, at which point I interrupted her and said that I had been fasting since 4:25 the day before and could I come in that day. She scheduled me to come in at about 2:30 and I went. I have not heard the results yet, but look forward to seeing what it says.
I learned my fasting method from the PDF called "Eat Stop Eat" by Brad Pilon (which I have blogged about before -- http://www.eatstopeat.com/) and since I am accustomed to that method, I simply stuck to it but have now added one more fasting day to my schedule. Week one, done. On to week two.
What I do is arrange my fast from the later part of one day to the later part of the next day, exactly 24 hours later. This means that on, say, Sunday I eat two regular meals making sure the last meal ends somewhere between 4 and 5 p.m. Then I stop eating and don't resume eating until the exact same time on Monday, which leaves a 24 hour gap between meals. When I break the fast on Monday I have a meal and usually one more a couple of hours later, trying to space at least two and preferably three or more food-free hours before bed time.
In essence on one day I have two normal sized meals, then wait 24 hours, and have two more meals at the end of the next day with no snacks. What Mr Mosley does is eat one small meal, wait 24 hours, and then eat three normal meals and snacks or whatever else he eats on a normal day. So over the two day period, I eat about 4 meals, and he eats about 4 meals -- perhaps plus snacks. Same Difference. Normally over a two-day period a person eats 6 meals (plus snacks). It boils down to skipping two meals in a row and making sure the time period is 24 hours between eating sessions. There is a sleeping time in the middle of the 24 hours, so it really is not as bad as you might think.
A normal sized meal in my mind is equivalent to between about 2 and 3 cups of food -- and consists of veggies and protein. It is enough to fill and satisfy me without stuffing me. Occasionally I do eat a huge meal at the end of the fast which can be about twice the normal amount, but only for one meal. If I have a huge meal, I often don't eat again before going to bed, or simply have some water and gum. It varies.
What Mr Mosley did was to, on his fast days, eat one small meal at breakfast, and then not eat again until breakfast the next day. Same difference. He said he preferred that method because it was hard for him to go to work on an empty stomach. It made him feel weak and deprived. Eating his one meal at breakfast solved that problem for him.
I don't have a job since I am retired, and I often prefer to skip breakfast, so I time mine from a late afternoon meal. On the fasting day it just seems easier to me to skip the early eating and enjoy looking forward to eating at the appointed time later in the day.
During the fast I try to drink boat loads of water with a little Plantation Mint tea and some Spry (xylitol) gum (which also helps my teeth). Mr Mosley said he drank water and black tea on his fast days. I have not forgotten that men lose weight faster than women so I am not fully expecting to lose the three pounds per week as he did, but 2 or even 1 every week would be good. I shall not limit myself, if I can lose the 3 that would be excellent.
I had seen the results of a recent urine test from a day that I was actually dehydrated and realized I really needed to drink a whole lot more water than the nearly 64 ounces I had been drinking per day. I am taking a small dose diuretic which adds to the reason that I must increase my water drinking rather drastically, in my mind.
The diuretic is to help lower the blood pressure (it reached130/70 which was very pleasing to me). I also see it as a way to reduce the ankle swelling to nearly zero levels, but the process eliminates too much water for my kidneys to function well and stay clear from calcium crystals so doubling my water intake will, I hope, solve that problem for me.
Oddly enough, drinking more water works well for the kidneys but it has brought my blood pressure back to my former "normal" levels. "My normal" meaning the levels I was at before I had the BP scare a few weeks ago. When I was dehydrated my BP reached 130/70 but for someone who only takes one BP medicine plus a small diuretic 140/77 is OK. That is my opinion. This morning it was 145/77. Which bothers me a little.
If fasting will clear this up too, as some of the researchers in the video suggested it might, then I will be very happy with that, too. I shall continue on and see if it does.
I know that in my last blog post, I thought I wanted to try the three days per week fast schedule but I just don't think I am up to that, yet. I actually did try to fast again about the second day past a fasting day and I simply was too weak to do it. That was during the time I was having the health issues noted above, so I decided not to put that much pressure on myself during that time and may try that at a time when I feel more fit.
It has occurred to me that my new doctor may actually be looking for something wrong with me, simply because I am obese. I suppose that is not beyond reason, but it feels a little insulting. I know that the serapeptase that I've been taking for about 15 months now should have really cleaned out my blood veins and vessels so perhaps her checking things out will reveal whether it really has or not. I really would like to know if it has worked.
I am really interested in the fasting because it seems to be a way for me to have my cake and eat it, too. (Not actually cake -- I'm just using the expression.) It forces me to eat less. My weekly total calorie intake is highly reduce by two 24 hour fasts per week, but on the feeding or feasting days, I really can eat what I like to eat. I still remain low carb, but do include a few, usually on the breaking fast meal. I cannot allow myself to go overboard on the feast days. My body is far to sensitive to certain things to become lax in that area.
Mr Mosley did not reveal what he eats on his feed days but one of the scenes in the video shows him and a researcher having what appears to be a burger and fries at a drive in fast food restaurant. The video showed him when he was at home in England again and he appeared to be cooking in his home, but it showed him making his breakfast on a fasting day, so I don't know what he eats in between. The researcher had said that it did not seem to matter whether it was high fat or low fat, on the feed days, the health improvements were identical.
The same researcher in the video also pointed out that people who do intermittent fasting do not tend to over eat on the feeding/feasting days. She had thought when she started her research that people would simply over compensate on the days they were allowed to eat anything they wanted, for the food they had not eaten on the fast day. This did not prove true. She found that on the feed days they only increased their eating about 10 percent and not the 50 percent she had expected.
This seems to be true for me also. On my feeding days, I am not bothered by cravings and a huge desire for food. I simply relate to it normally. If I'm hungry I eat, if I'm not, I don't. Simple easy. Healthy. I do occasionally have something that maybe I should not, but it does not seem to be a pressing issue. I am not pressed to eat junk food. I'm simply attracted to healthy food, which to me is meat and veggies -- lo carb.
One more thing:
As I was reading my bible I came across these two verses: Ecclesiastes 10:16-17
Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and thy princes eat in the morning! Blessed art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness!
I really had to stop and take a second look at what it said because it just really surprised me. It seems to be saying that a childish leader and people eat every morning, but noble leaders and people eat "in due season" or postpone their eating until they need food for strength. They are not addicted to food. Eating is not a pastime or entertainment. It is simply done to keep up strength as needed.
The noble people do not overindulge in food to the point of "drunkenness" as the childish do. Drunkenness in relation to food would seem to be those times when you eat so much food that your body feels overpowered and sick. Your belly gets uncomfortable with the excess rather like drinking excessive amounts of alcohol and becoming sick from it.
The noble people don't actually eat food as the first thing they do. They go about their business and eat when the body needs food for strength or health. Childish and addictive eating brings woe like drunkenness does. Fasting and noble living brings blessings. This seems like a validation for the idea of fasting, to me, and it was written about 3,000 years ago. There really is nothing new under the sun.
Anyway, that is where I am, today. How about you?
Be back soon,
Marcia
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