A science experiment of one

 Good morning and happy Friday! It's been a nutso week. I am going to MAKE TIME for DOWN time this weekend! :-)

A lot of things (except work) have settled out a bit. Tim is doing much better and has graduated to a cane! He is going back to (sort of) doing Optavia (formerly Medifast). I did it the first time with him to see how it worked. He had done it in the past and had a lot of success with it.

Things I liked about it:

• Easy (except dinner)

Things I didn't like about it:

• Expensive
• Not a lot of selection
• Dinner is good, but there is a lot of weighing & measuring.
• I was assured the hunger would go away. IT NEVER DID.

By the end, I was adding a lot of meat & veg just so I wasn't constantly hangry. Not gonna lie, I was miserable. But I gave it a good try.

So color me shocked when I decided to give intermittent fasting a go! I mean, if I'm starving on Optavia then it's gonna be way worse with nothing at all, right??? Wrong!

Let me back up. I've been reading Katie's blog https://www.runsforcookies.com/ for ages. She has tried intermittent fasting in the past and I've always felt like it wasn't for me. I wake up hungry. I hate being hungry. But recently she mentioned in a post about reading (or re reading) a couple of books: "The Obesity Code" by Dr. Jason Fung and "Delay, Don't Deny" by Gin Stephens. I got curious because this isn't something I know much about since I've never really considered it. On a whim I checked them both out of the library. I read Dr. Fung's book first, and I'm glad I did. 

Jason Fung is a kidney specialist who has spent a lot of time trying to help his patients, most of whom have type 2 diabetes & are overweight. This book synthesizes his findings based on a ton of human studies. Even though this isn't an easy read, I'm glad I read it first. Gin's book is a layman's book. She does reference both studies and other books, but had I read it first I might not have been convinced to give this a whirl. 

After reading both books, I was convinced that regulating insulin v. calorie control is a legit (and maybe even healthier) method for losing weight.So this week I have been a study of 1. 

Monday I did basically an OMAD fast (one meal a day). I had dinner at 5:30 and a snack (popcorn) after. Tuesday I ate 3 meals, but like Dr. Fung suggested I did NOT snack throughout the day (I did have an evening snack shortly after dinner - a root beer float made with protein powder). Wednesday I did a "fast 5" (that's a book Gin references) where you have a 5 hour eating window. Mine was from 3-8 - I had a snack, dinner, and an evening snack. Thursday I repeated what I did Monday. The result? I lost 4.6 pounds this week. 

But how did I feel? Pretty good! Yes, I got hungry sometimes. I was the least hungry on the OMAD days, then on the fast 5 day, then on the 3 meals day! Like Dr. Fung said, the hunger came in waves but I kept busy & distracted myself. I drank water, black coffee, & tea throughout the day. I was less hungry eating this way than I was on Optavia.

I am doing OMAD today. Dr. Fung suggests doing OMAD 3 days per week, with 3 meals (no snacks) the other days. Gin (who reminds the reader a billion times that she is NOT a medical professional) says "Here are all these methods. Here's what works for me. You gotta figure out what works for you!" If I am cranky mid afternoon I will pivot and do a fast 5. Anyway, a couple of pictures from Dr. Fung's book.

Have a great weekend!