Dr. Carolyn's Intermittent Fasting Journey

HI Everyone!

Intermittent fasting has been a buzz topic around town lately and before I suggest anyone do it I figured I’d try it myself. While listening to podcasts and talking to my mentor(cause you don’t want to do anything that will mess up your hormones) I decided I’d be trying crescendo fasting. Sounds whimsical right?

Crescendo fasting is suggested for females because it does not mess with our hormones as much as fasting for days. The female body is amazing, it acts as if we are pregnant so when we fast it wants to protect the “baby” so it releases hunger hormones leptin and ghrelin into the bloodstream so that we will eat and not be in starvation mode.  Have you ever forgotten to eat a meal or two and then once you do start eating, you eat everything in the kitchen? No, just me? Well it is because of the body’s response to thinking it is being starved. Crescendo fasting is easier on the body and it does not give you such a large response, sounds good to me!

What you do is fast on 2-3 nonconsecutive days for the first two weeks and then you can continue to add days once your body has adapted.  My days are going to be Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday fasting for 12-16 hours. So that means I will stop eating  at 7pm the night before and not eat until lunch the next day.  During my fasting days I plan to do light cardio or yoga, on days I am not fasting I plan to do more weight lifting or more intense cardio. During the fasting portion I can have coffee, tea, and water as long as there is no added creamer, sugar, or other junk. I also plan on keeping a food journal to make sure that I keep a good relationship with food throughout this process-intermittent fasting may not be for those who have had previous eating disorders.

So if you see me in the office don’t be afraid to ask how this is going! I plan on posting here every week or so to let you know how I am doing and if I have fallen off the wagon!

Again, fasting isn’t for everyone so make sure to consult with myself or Dr. Jill to help decide if this is a route for you.

-Dr. C