I'm Back!... Intermittent Fasting 101.

I've been doing my head in for the past few weeks debating whether i should disclose to ya'll why i have been in total limbo lately. But i have decided to be professional and keep my mouth closed for the moment. Lets just say i have been surrounded by a fuck load of NEGATIVITY which is trying to suck the soul out of my inner positive princess. (and for once it has nothing to do with Hemorrhoid! lol)  Having said that, I have been exploring different avenues to rid myself of this situation, so UNIVERSE i am putting it out there - BRING POSITIVE CHANGE MY WAY!.. pretty please ;-)

Ok enough with the negative shit. I've used my limboness (not sure if thats a word lol) as an excuse to put everything on hold (OSB, fasting, afternoon walks etc) as i just needed some TIME-OUT from the world. The important thing is that I'm back now and ready to conquer it all, so BRING IT!

For those of you on my facebook would know that as of yesterday i am fasting again...properly. And i have been bombarded with a heap of questions so i thought i would share my experience!

To give you a brief run-down, this is fasting 101 as per the EAT STOP EAT program:

- 24hr period without food (eg. I ate breakfast thursday morning then didn't eat anything until breakfast this morning)
- You can drink any non-caloric beverages - water, herbal teas, lemon juice, black coffee, diet softdrink/cordial
- 2 fasts/week on non-consecutive days
- On non-fasting days you are NOT dieting
- With normal dieting you are cut calories on a daily basis (e.g 500-800cals/day), but with fasting you create your calorie deficit on only 2 days. Both methods create roughly the same calorie deficit over the course of a week.

Benefits:
- During a fast your insulin levels hit an all time low allowing your body to release body fat for fuel for effectively i.e fat burning
- During a fasted state growth hormone levels are elevated protecting muscles from being broken down
- By not having to digest food for 24hrs, you are allowing your bodys' natural detoxification processes to occur for effectively and efficiently
- Your metabolism WILL NOT slow down during a 24 hr fast. Weight training and lean muscle mass has the most prominant effects on metabolism. You actually have to withhold from food for at least a 72hr period before metabolism starts to slow down... and that happens quite slowly!
- During a fast (especially the first few) your body gets rid of a lot of inflammation in the form of excess fluid, toxins, bloat. i.e no more PUFFINESS!
- You become more aware of actual hunger over 'emotional hunger'

I could go on forever but if you're interested feel free to ask me or do your own reseach. Craig Ballantyne has done a whole heap of fascinating interviews lately with Brad Pilon, the author of Eat Stop Eat (ESE)

For those of you whom have been following my OSB challenges will know that i have had a lot of success with ESE. I've dropped over 4kg and 10% body fat since the start of the year and have found this strategy far more effective and easier than traditional dieting. I am by no means saying that other methods don't work (cos they obviously do!) but for me fasting is my method of choice.

FYI, for most of OSB #3 i have cheated during my fasts. I was doing the dinner to dinner fast which meant that no food could be consumed during the day. By cheating, i was drinking 2- 3 cups of coffee with milk and sugar to get me through it. Although i was still getting some benefit with for-going food for a 24hour period, what i wasn't breaking was my emotional addiction to coffee (with milk and sugar). Yes i was still a slave to that delicious cuppa. Which relates directly to using food to deal with emotions, something i am still working on overcoming.

So this week i made up my mind that it was time to break outta limbo and get at least one part of my life back on track.... the sexy-bitch body! I decided i would go back to breakfast to breakfast fasting and it went like clockwork. I ate breakie as per normal and drank a lot of water (about 3L) through-out the day. I had a roasted dandelion coffee in the arvo (hmmmm not exactly like the real thing BUT it was black and caffeine free lol). I didnt experience any hunger at all though i'll admit that i had few urges to make a real coffee but i talked myself out of it. And i know those urges were entirely emotional so i am happy i was strong enough to deal with them! After about the 8hr mark i noticed something pretty cool. My body was beginning to de-bloat by the hour, as arvo turned into night i could feel my body tightening up as i started getting rid of a lot of fluid/toxins/bloat. There are 2 things that i notice during a fast - 1. I pee more than usual! 2. I feel the cold more - as there is no food in your system you body starts to utilise fat stores for energy, therefore the body has to work harder to keep you warm!

When i woke up this morning i noticed a considerable difference:
- My lines were back!
- Less bloated, fluidy and puffy
- Tighter
- Appetite was re-set
- I was more aware of actual hunger and therefore i got full a lot quicker - MINDFULNESS
- I felt lighter and had heaps of energy during my work-out this morning and my strength was not effected

So there you have it. The sexy-bitch train is back in motion and on its way to 50mls!

I CAN CONQUER ANYTHING!