Episode 123: Blood Sugar Lows After Eating, Addressing Deficiencies, Body Expectations, and More

<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Fast Feast Repeat Intermittent Fasting for Life. I'm
<v Speaker 1>Jen Stevens, author of the New York Times bestseller Fast
<v Speaker 1>Feast Repeat.
<v Speaker 2>And I'm Sherry Bullock, longtime intermittent faster and health and
<v Speaker 2>wellness advocate. Please keep in mind that this podcast is
<v Speaker 2>for educational and motivational purposes only and is not intended
<v Speaker 2>to provide medical or diagnostic advice. Jen and I are
<v Speaker 2>not doctors, so make sure to check with your trusted
<v Speaker 2>healthcare professionals before making changes, especially when it comes to
<v Speaker 2>any medical treatments or medications.
<v Speaker 1>Whether you're new to intermittent fasting or an experienced intermittent faster,
<v Speaker 1>tune in each week to get inspired, to learn, and
<v Speaker 1>to have some fun along the way. Hi, everybody, we
<v Speaker 1>are so glad you're here today. Welcome to this week's
<v Speaker 1>episode of the Fast Feast Repeat Intermittent Fasting for Life podcast.
<v Speaker 1>How are you doing today's Sherry?
<v Speaker 2>I am a little stressed. I'm oh, I'm a lot stress.
<v Speaker 2>It's gonna be fine. Miss Lulu, y'all know if you've
<v Speaker 2>been listening to podcasts for any amount of time, Miss
<v Speaker 2>Lulu had three surgeries in twenty twenty four on both
<v Speaker 2>Bray's dog, Yes, my dog, my baby. She had to
<v Speaker 2>have both of her knees reconstructed, and then we had
<v Speaker 2>have a third surgery to go in and remove hardware
<v Speaker 2>and fix some meniscus in one of the knees, and
<v Speaker 2>now she has on that leg. Heard it again. She's
<v Speaker 2>been lame for several days, and I'm so worried we're
<v Speaker 2>gonna have to have surgery again. So I'm gonna apologize
<v Speaker 2>in advance because Lulu's in my office with me as
<v Speaker 2>we record today. We're gonna hope she behaves, but I
<v Speaker 2>have a lot of workers here in my yard. We're
<v Speaker 2>having a lot of dirt work done and building a
<v Speaker 2>driveway for my husband's work truck, so I don't want
<v Speaker 2>her wound up in her kennel and further hurting herself.
<v Speaker 2>So I've got her locked in my office. So if
<v Speaker 2>you hear her bark, I'm sorry. It's just gonna be
<v Speaker 2>for this week, and i ext really next because we
<v Speaker 2>record two week two weeks at a time. Anyway, hopefully
<v Speaker 2>she'll behave She's sleeping behind me right now, But if
<v Speaker 2>you hear her bark, I'm sorry, apologize. We have well circumstances.
<v Speaker 1>Pets are important, you know, And we don't have professional
<v Speaker 1>recording studios. We're recording out of our homes and I'm
<v Speaker 1>recording from my eat like a grown up program in
<v Speaker 1>making making the video lessons for that, and I'll be
<v Speaker 1>in the middle of recording and Ellie just pops up
<v Speaker 1>like she'll be she like gets up on the desk.
<v Speaker 1>She's like hello, And I'm not editing that out because
<v Speaker 1>it's like real life. Right. There was one I recorded
<v Speaker 1>last week and it was hilarious because I'm talking. Ellie
<v Speaker 1>jumps up and she's like all in my face and
<v Speaker 1>I move her, but I didn't even like stop my
<v Speaker 1>train of thought, like wrestling with Ella moving her around,
<v Speaker 1>and there she had putting her into my lap and
<v Speaker 1>I'm just continuing to talk. But I think about it
<v Speaker 1>like when I was a teacher and I had, you
<v Speaker 1>know what, twenty eight kids in my class, right, and
<v Speaker 1>I'm like over there cleaning someone's desk out while I'm
<v Speaker 1>teaching about a Anyway, I'm loving what I'm doing, but
<v Speaker 1>Ellie is making cameos.
<v Speaker 2>At least she didn't bring the bird in the house
<v Speaker 2>while you were recording.
<v Speaker 1>Oh my god. Yeah, they hapened last night. Sherry knows this.
<v Speaker 1>Y'all don't know it till now. But last night I'm
<v Speaker 1>sitting there. We have a cat door. She comes in
<v Speaker 1>and out she comes running in with a bird, a
<v Speaker 1>live bird in her mouth, and then she took it.
<v Speaker 1>She dropped it inside. See she's learned that when something
<v Speaker 1>is still alive, if you bring it in, it's contained.
<v Speaker 1>Ah see, like she'll bring in a lizard. She brought it.
<v Speaker 1>I don't know if it was a baby rat. I
<v Speaker 1>had to deal with that. Now that I am by myself,
<v Speaker 1>I am chasing a live bird around the house, going ah,
<v Speaker 1>because it's flying right at she right. Well, anyway, I
<v Speaker 1>won't tell y'all that it was kind of a sad
<v Speaker 1>end for the bird. But let's just say the bird
<v Speaker 1>didn't make it. But I got it out of the
<v Speaker 1>house by myself. Well that's involved a glass window and
<v Speaker 1>the bird trying to frantic get out. I was trying
<v Speaker 1>to let it go out of the door nicely, you know,
<v Speaker 1>like going at the bird the door, a little bird,
<v Speaker 1>but it shows the window. It hit the window bam,
<v Speaker 1>and then it was knocked out. I'm going to pretend
<v Speaker 1>in my mind I'm going to assume the bird was
<v Speaker 1>just stunned and when I released it happened.
<v Speaker 2>I just did my mind assume the bird knocked itself
<v Speaker 2>out and when you put it outside, that it woke
<v Speaker 2>up and flew away.
<v Speaker 1>Later. We'll just hope that's what happens. But anyway, who knows.
<v Speaker 1>Once the bird's been captured by the cat, it's not
<v Speaker 1>really there's not much you can do. But Ellie's really
<v Speaker 1>safe in the backyard. She's got a fence. She stays
<v Speaker 1>inside the fence, but things come in, like the birds
<v Speaker 1>and whatever that little rat thing was that she it
<v Speaker 1>looked bigger than a mouse, but she brought it there.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, it did when you sent me the picture, and
<v Speaker 2>it had a really long tail.
<v Speaker 1>It was real excited and she was excited to have it.
<v Speaker 1>I mean to get that out of the house too.
<v Speaker 1>But and that one, I think I escaped alive. But
<v Speaker 1>it is just the wild kingdom over here and being
<v Speaker 1>alone and having to manage it myself. But I'm doing it.
<v Speaker 2>Have you ever seen like the Facebook reels or Instagram
<v Speaker 2>reels where people sending pictures of their dogs, who their dogs,
<v Speaker 2>who bring animals into the house like they'll open the
<v Speaker 2>door to let their dog in, and the dog will
<v Speaker 2>have a deer with them, or a baby cat with them,
<v Speaker 2>or I've seen baby bears with their dog and they
<v Speaker 2>come in through the dog door with their dog, and
<v Speaker 2>I'm just like, oh my gosh, I would die if
<v Speaker 2>a wild animal came into my house.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.
<v Speaker 2>Well, we've had raccoens.
<v Speaker 1>We had raccoons coming in the cat door in Augusta,
<v Speaker 1>So I hope. I don't think raccoons can get in
<v Speaker 1>my yard now because of the way the fence is.
<v Speaker 1>Who knows.
<v Speaker 2>When I lived in Colorado, my dog brought in a
<v Speaker 2>right through the front door. I opened the front door
<v Speaker 2>for her. She came in, and she brought a very
<v Speaker 2>large snake in with her.
<v Speaker 1>Oh see, that's what I'm worried about. Ellie likes little snakes.
<v Speaker 1>If a snake comes in, I'm gonna have to just
<v Speaker 1>burn the house down.
<v Speaker 2>Well, let me just tell you. I went out back
<v Speaker 2>door of house and then ran down to where a neighbor,
<v Speaker 2>a male neighbor lived, and I was like, I need
<v Speaker 2>your assistance. There is a snake in my house. Can
<v Speaker 2>you please come get it out? And he said, why
<v Speaker 2>are you coming to me? I'm like, because you're a man,
<v Speaker 2>and that's a man thing.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah. Well, I do have lots of great neighbors, and
<v Speaker 1>I guess I could call on one of them if
<v Speaker 1>I had. Can I tell one more story? And then
<v Speaker 1>I thought we would get to the fasting. I had
<v Speaker 1>what I thought was a lizard in a vent here
<v Speaker 1>in this house. It looked like a lizard paking his
<v Speaker 1>head out of the vent, and I thought it was dead,
<v Speaker 1>a dead lizard. I swear to God, it looked like
<v Speaker 1>a lizard, dead lizard up in the event. I'm like, well,
<v Speaker 1>I'm gonna need to come over here and get this
<v Speaker 1>dead lizard out of this vent. So he comes over
<v Speaker 1>today and he looks up at the vent. He's like, yeah,
<v Speaker 1>I see that lizard up there. He climbed out there foam.
<v Speaker 1>It was foam. So got phone. He's like, Mama, this
<v Speaker 1>is not a lizard. I'm like, what, it's a lizard.
<v Speaker 1>It was not a lizard, but he thought it was
<v Speaker 1>a lizard too when he first looked at it. It looked
<v Speaker 1>like a lizard with his little snout. But no, it
<v Speaker 1>was some kind of foam insulation.
<v Speaker 2>Oh yeah, he's a good son for coming that.
<v Speaker 1>He was a good son. He came home and to
<v Speaker 1>help his mama with the death Lilitzer.
<v Speaker 2>Anyway, all right, well let's jump into a weekly celebration.
<v Speaker 2>This is from E from Jersey. She wrote, Hijen and Sherry,
<v Speaker 2>I submitted a question that you both covered in episode
<v Speaker 2>one fifteen, and I wanted to thank you. I'm following
<v Speaker 2>up with a victory that I can only attribute to
<v Speaker 2>intermittent fasting. My boyfriend and I go on a trip
<v Speaker 2>every spring and fall to different national parks. Back in
<v Speaker 2>twenty twenty two, twenty twenty three, I was at my
<v Speaker 2>heaviest weight of two hundred and eighteen pounds at five
<v Speaker 2>foot two and very inactive. The arches of my feet,
<v Speaker 2>my knees, and my lower back hurt all the time,
<v Speaker 2>so I would opt for the sights that you can
<v Speaker 2>drive to or a very short hike on these trips.
<v Speaker 2>I know my boyfriend felt like he was missing out
<v Speaker 2>and that I was holding him back. After I started
<v Speaker 2>IF in December of twenty twenty three, my inflammation and
<v Speaker 2>weight started dropping, and I felt like I could do
<v Speaker 2>more now. In September of twenty twenty five, I am
<v Speaker 2>down forty five pounds and I just crushed a hike.
<v Speaker 2>I never thought I would be able to do the
<v Speaker 2>Skyline Trail in Mount Rainier National Park. The hike was
<v Speaker 2>five point six miles long with an elevation gain of
<v Speaker 2>seventeen hundred feet. I felt amazing the entire time, and
<v Speaker 2>even had to convince my boyfriend to keep going when
<v Speaker 2>he was feeling discouraged. I'm so proud of us for
<v Speaker 2>completing that hike, and I'm so excited to beat this
<v Speaker 2>personal record on our next trip. I'm eternally grateful that
<v Speaker 2>my sister in law, Suzanne from Intermittent Fasting Stories Episode
<v Speaker 2>four eighteen, introduced fast Feasts Repeat to me two years ago.
<v Speaker 2>Even if I didn't want to listen right away, it
<v Speaker 2>changed the trajectory of my life. Now I'm I'm twenty six,
<v Speaker 2>and I'm on the path to a much more long,
<v Speaker 2>active and healthy life.
<v Speaker 1>Thank you both for the work you do. I love
<v Speaker 1>this so much. First of all, I love that Suzanne
<v Speaker 1>shared with her, and Suzanne was on the on the podcast,
<v Speaker 1>and this is how we are changing the world. We're sharing,
<v Speaker 1>and we're sharing with someone who might not be ready
<v Speaker 1>to hear at the time, but then they remember it
<v Speaker 1>and then you never know. It's true grassroots, I believe.
<v Speaker 1>Of course. Now we're hearing lots and lots of you know,
<v Speaker 1>doctors recommending intermittent and fasting all the time, and I
<v Speaker 1>love that too. But we're changing the world. Don't be
<v Speaker 1>afraid to share.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, yeah, and I love you know. So many people
<v Speaker 2>come to fasting for the weight loss, right, and I did,
<v Speaker 2>you too, did, right, That's where we came. But it
<v Speaker 2>does not take long for you to start really noticing
<v Speaker 2>that your life is improving in so many ways. I
<v Speaker 2>mean that go beyond weight loss, and just from decreased
<v Speaker 2>inflammation and less joint pain. And I mean my mom,
<v Speaker 2>who could hardly navigate the stairs in her luck, in
<v Speaker 2>her house, and within a couple of months of fasting
<v Speaker 2>is taking her stairs, you know, two feet at a
<v Speaker 2>time instead of you know, she was doing like one step,
<v Speaker 2>two feet, one step, two feet down, one step. Now
<v Speaker 2>she just goes up and down the stairs, right. And
<v Speaker 2>you know, she couldn't walk hardly a block and now
<v Speaker 2>she's walking forty five minutes. And that has nothing to
<v Speaker 2>do with weight loss. I mean, that really is all
<v Speaker 2>about decreased inflammation, decreasing because.
<v Speaker 1>She was able to do that before she lost a
<v Speaker 1>substantial amount of weight. Oh yeah, right, that's why I
<v Speaker 1>wanted to say that, because, yes, weight loss does help
<v Speaker 1>with that. Obviously, she was able to go up and
<v Speaker 1>down the stairs prior to any significant weight loss, so
<v Speaker 1>you can't just say, hey, it's the weight loss, it's
<v Speaker 1>a decreased inflammation.
<v Speaker 2>She ended up having significant knee pain since twenty twenty one,
<v Speaker 2>and her doctor, I don't know, her doctor said it
<v Speaker 2>was too early to do any placement and he wanted
<v Speaker 2>to wait, which at the time, I'm like, she's seventy
<v Speaker 2>some years old, what are we waiting for. But because
<v Speaker 2>she was having so much pain all the time and
<v Speaker 2>her knees, she'd really stopped walking or doing anything, and
<v Speaker 2>so she'd really lost her stamina. And then once the
<v Speaker 2>fasting started decreasing the inflammation, she noticed, like her pain
<v Speaker 2>was substantially better, and that's when she got encouraged to
<v Speaker 2>get up and start walking more and that sort of thing.
<v Speaker 2>And it's she was just so shocked at how quick
<v Speaker 2>her stamina improved. And so yeah, I mean, like she
<v Speaker 2>just messaged me the other day that if she never
<v Speaker 2>lost a pound, she'll never stop fasting.
<v Speaker 1>I love it. I love it. Yeah, Share, share, share everybody.
<v Speaker 1>That's how we're changing, changing lives. So now we have
<v Speaker 1>a question from a listener. This question is from Diane
<v Speaker 1>in Salt Lake City.
<v Speaker 2>Hello.
<v Speaker 1>I am new to IF just shia three months and
<v Speaker 1>I am enjoying the lifestyle. I started mainly for the
<v Speaker 1>health benefits, particularly to control diverticulitis flares. Of course, losing
<v Speaker 1>weight isn't anything I'll complain about. My question to you
<v Speaker 1>is about low glucose readings after eating. I've never been
<v Speaker 1>concerned about my blood sugar, as it's always been normal
<v Speaker 1>at my checkups. However, I was curious what it was
<v Speaker 1>doing after taking my medication that I was prescribed for sleep,
<v Speaker 1>so I ordered a gluecose monitor. During fasting, I stay
<v Speaker 1>pretty close to seventy. Once I start eating, it drops
<v Speaker 1>sometimes below fifty five, and my head starts to ache
<v Speaker 1>a little and my vision blurs, and goodness, it doesn't
<v Speaker 1>last long, but it concerns me. I asked chat GPT
<v Speaker 1>and it says that the sudden release of too much
<v Speaker 1>insulin is the cause. Let me add The meal I
<v Speaker 1>had was not high in carbs, but once I started
<v Speaker 1>to feel bad, I did eat some carbs and felt
<v Speaker 1>better within ten minutes or so. Is this something I
<v Speaker 1>should be concerned with? And are there others that experienced this?
<v Speaker 1>Thank you for considering my question and I look forward
<v Speaker 1>to hearing your opinion.
<v Speaker 2>Okay, well, I do have a couple of thoughts on this.
<v Speaker 2>And I don't know what you are drinking to open
<v Speaker 2>your window, like, because that could make a difference. Like, say,
<v Speaker 2>I know a lot of people will like to They're like, oh,
<v Speaker 2>I can finally drink something besides black water water, right,
<v Speaker 2>And so some people are waiting till their window opens
<v Speaker 2>to drink something, and so they might be opening their
<v Speaker 2>window with something sweet or fruity, or a diet soda
<v Speaker 2>or whatever while maybe they're cooking or preparing their food.
<v Speaker 2>So if you were to drink something like that and
<v Speaker 2>not pair it with food, you would have this insulin
<v Speaker 2>release and you're not going to have any food in
<v Speaker 2>there to keep your blood sugar up once that insulin
<v Speaker 2>pushes out, and so then that could result in like
<v Speaker 2>a sudden drop in your blood sugar. This depends on
<v Speaker 2>the when this is happening in relation to eating. Like
<v Speaker 2>I would not think that you would have a really
<v Speaker 2>sharp decrease in your blood sugar like while you're eating
<v Speaker 2>your meal, because that kind of takes a minute for
<v Speaker 2>all of that to happen. So if this is happening
<v Speaker 2>like an hour after you eat your meal, then it
<v Speaker 2>could just be the fact that you are new to
<v Speaker 2>if like you, if you've been insulin resistant for a
<v Speaker 2>while and your body is used to pushing out all
<v Speaker 2>this insulin, you know, because that's how insulin resistance happens,
<v Speaker 2>Like your cells can't use insulin efficiently, so your body
<v Speaker 2>starts pushing out more and more insulin. And so if
<v Speaker 2>your body is still pushing out that much insulin but
<v Speaker 2>you're keeping your blood sugars low while fasting anyway, it
<v Speaker 2>could be that your body's just pushing out too much
<v Speaker 2>still right now. And I feel like over time, like
<v Speaker 2>you're gonna get more insulin sensitive and that's not going
<v Speaker 2>to be an issue, but definitely, like, just be really
<v Speaker 2>cautious about what you're opening rona with. Don't be opening
<v Speaker 2>with sugar free drinks. Don't be opening with like some
<v Speaker 2>thing that's not really balanced. People think, oh, well, if
<v Speaker 2>I don't eat carbs, then my blood sugar shouldn't spike
<v Speaker 2>and I shouldn't have like reactive hypogacemia. But when you're
<v Speaker 2>going from like this fasted state to eating, everything's changing
<v Speaker 2>in your body, like so all of a sudden, your
<v Speaker 2>body's pushing out insulin when it hasn't been. And so
<v Speaker 2>I would open with something very balanced and also maybe
<v Speaker 2>just open with something kind of like balanced in lights
<v Speaker 2>and don't overload your body too much with like a
<v Speaker 2>big meal at first, and then like kind of pause
<v Speaker 2>and then you can eat some more. And kind of
<v Speaker 2>just if that makes sense, like, don't open have a
<v Speaker 2>big meal like all at once, kind of ease into
<v Speaker 2>your window a little bit. Do you have any other suggestions?
<v Speaker 1>Jin, Yeah, I wish, I wish I knew what she
<v Speaker 1>was opening with. That would be helpful, as yeah, yeah,
<v Speaker 1>that would be helpful. But you know, I want to
<v Speaker 1>emphasize that she could tell she doesn't feel good, her
<v Speaker 1>head starts to ache, and her vision, she can tell
<v Speaker 1>that's her life.
<v Speaker 2>And I know that feeling because I've struggled to reactive
<v Speaker 2>hypogo same in my whole life. So it does feel awful,
<v Speaker 2>and sometimes your heart kind of starts to pound a
<v Speaker 2>little bit. And so I mean, you were right to
<v Speaker 2>eat something to get your blood sugar back.
<v Speaker 1>And I'll go to test it. If you think that
<v Speaker 1>you're having blood sugar drops, you confirmed it and you are.
<v Speaker 1>So now it's time to just figure out what foods
<v Speaker 1>work for you and don't cause this to happen. Right,
<v Speaker 1>you might need to have more carbs, not less carbs,
<v Speaker 1>which I might might sound crazy, but again, if you're
<v Speaker 1>having a huge insulin push and no carbs coming in,
<v Speaker 1>where's your body going to get that glucose from that?
<v Speaker 1>It needs to keep your blood sugar up. So I'm
<v Speaker 1>not saying start with like something like a cookie, but
<v Speaker 1>like you said, sherry, something balanced.
<v Speaker 2>Like for instance, I could see something that would cause
<v Speaker 2>this would be like maybe a fruity sugar free yogurts,
<v Speaker 2>right that's sweetened with stevia or something.
<v Speaker 1>But your brain thinks, okay, there's that cephalic phase insulin response.
<v Speaker 1>You taste the sweetness, your brain lies, oh yeah, this
<v Speaker 1>is real sweet. We're about to have a whole lot
<v Speaker 1>of sugar come in from this sugar free yogurt that
<v Speaker 1>your brain doesn't understand actually has zero sugar. So bam,
<v Speaker 1>that pushes out a lot of insulin but no sugar.
<v Speaker 1>Really came in, right, so you're crashing.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, So I would think opening with something more savory
<v Speaker 2>and then yogurt and fruit and that's all. That's great,
<v Speaker 2>but like maybe you need to have that at the
<v Speaker 2>end of your meal, after you've already had something that's
<v Speaker 2>like high fibers, got some protein in it, got some
<v Speaker 2>healthy fats in it. So eat something super balanced and
<v Speaker 2>then if there's something kind of like sweet that your
<v Speaker 2>brain ain's going to perceive sweet, have that after you
<v Speaker 2>have the balanced food that's going to provide a little
<v Speaker 2>bit more stable blood sugar.
<v Speaker 1>All right, So we have.
<v Speaker 2>A question from Whitney in Saint Louis, Missouri. Hi, Jenna Sherry,
<v Speaker 2>thank you for taking the time to help me out.
<v Speaker 2>I started IF in January of twenty twenty five after
<v Speaker 2>finding Fast Feast Repeat through my library. Since starting, I
<v Speaker 2>have been able to get my weight down to one
<v Speaker 2>hundred and seventy three, where I have been stuck for
<v Speaker 2>the last two and a half months. It is currently
<v Speaker 2>the end of September while I'm writing this. My height
<v Speaker 2>is five foot four and I'm coming up on my
<v Speaker 2>fortieth birthday. My goal weight is one forty five, which
<v Speaker 2>is the top of the healthy range for my height.
<v Speaker 2>I have dealt with weight issues since I was a child,
<v Speaker 2>and I have done all the different diet plans. Sometimes
<v Speaker 2>they would work and sometimes they wouldn't, but inevitably the
<v Speaker 2>weight would always come back on. Most recently, I had
<v Speaker 2>my fourth and final child back in April of twenty twenty.
<v Speaker 2>My weight with that pregnancy went up to the highest
<v Speaker 2>it had ever been at a about two hundred and twelve,
<v Speaker 2>and that is where I was stuck for the next
<v Speaker 2>five years until I found if this has been the
<v Speaker 2>only thing that has worked to finally get me back
<v Speaker 2>down out of the two hundreds. Here's where the question
<v Speaker 2>comes in. I recently started seeing a functional medicine doctor
<v Speaker 2>because I've been dealing with a lack of energy, mood swings,
<v Speaker 2>and some depression. After looking at my lab work, she
<v Speaker 2>mentioned that I am very low in quite a few
<v Speaker 2>areas like iron, be twelve, calcium, et cetera. Her solution
<v Speaker 2>was for me to eat more whole foods and stop
<v Speaker 2>intermittent fasting. As I mentioned before, my weight has plateaued
<v Speaker 2>in the lows one seventies for the past few months,
<v Speaker 2>and I believe that is probably due to too many
<v Speaker 2>sweets and unhealthy foods in my window, which probably also
<v Speaker 2>accounts for my body lacking in nutrients. I do not
<v Speaker 2>want to stop IF because once again it is the
<v Speaker 2>only thing that has taken the weight off. My plan
<v Speaker 2>going forward is definitely cut back on the ultra process
<v Speaker 2>and unhealthy sweets. My question is how can I make
<v Speaker 2>sure I'm getting the nutrients my body needs during my window. Also,
<v Speaker 2>I know you've addressed the argument against women fasting in
<v Speaker 2>the past. The functional medicine doctor who is a woman,
<v Speaker 2>told me that women should not fast during or after
<v Speaker 2>the week of ovulation. On a side note, I did
<v Speaker 2>make sure she knew I was doing time restricted eating
<v Speaker 2>with a daily eating window and not something like ADF
<v Speaker 2>for going days with no food, as I had not
<v Speaker 2>heard that before. Could you please let me know your
<v Speaker 2>thoughts on this. Thank you again. I'm going to press
<v Speaker 2>far with fasting and look forward to any help and
<v Speaker 2>tips you ladies can provide.
<v Speaker 1>All right, and again, I know that it's frustrating when
<v Speaker 1>your doctor says something about intermitten fasting that maybe the
<v Speaker 1>opposite of what we talk about. And I would always
<v Speaker 1>like to emphasize that doctors know what they know or
<v Speaker 1>what they have heard. Right, there's one book about fasting
<v Speaker 1>and women that actually has a very complicated here's what
<v Speaker 1>you do during what week of your cycle. That's a
<v Speaker 1>whole book out there, and maybe that's the only book
<v Speaker 1>that your doctor has read on fasting and that's all
<v Speaker 1>she knows, and say she believes everything in that book
<v Speaker 1>is true, and she doesn't really know any different because
<v Speaker 1>she doesn't do intermittent fasting. She doesn't have experience with
<v Speaker 1>women in fasting. So she's like, this is what I know.
<v Speaker 1>You need to change up your fasting because I read
<v Speaker 1>that in this book and it sounded so scientific that
<v Speaker 1>I believe that's true. And so I'm not criticizing your
<v Speaker 1>doctor for knowing what she knows, but other doctors know
<v Speaker 1>different things based on experience with it. So I would
<v Speaker 1>trust a doctor who understands intermittent fasting and women. And
<v Speaker 1>I always go back to doctor Tabitha Barber because she's
<v Speaker 1>a trained OBGYN. And then she went back and got
<v Speaker 1>her functional medicine certification what do they call it? A certification?
<v Speaker 1>She is an expert in women's hormones. You know, obgyns
<v Speaker 1>are not experts and hormones unless they go get extra training,
<v Speaker 1>and so we can't assume that a functional meta doctor
<v Speaker 1>that everyone is going to have the same breadth of knowledge.
<v Speaker 1>So I really trust doctor Taba Barber based on her
<v Speaker 1>understanding of both a female anatomy and also hormones and
<v Speaker 1>being a functional medicine doctor. Go back and listen to
<v Speaker 1>episode twenty eight of this podcast and let her explain
<v Speaker 1>to you why it's safe for women. I also have
<v Speaker 1>a video with her on my YouTube channel that you
<v Speaker 1>can listen to if you like to watch YouTube videos
<v Speaker 1>where doctor Barber dispels the myth about fasting in our cycles.
<v Speaker 1>And she actually has a program with intermittent fasting and
<v Speaker 1>women that she runs, and so she understands it. So
<v Speaker 1>I understand it's alarming if a doctor is telling you
<v Speaker 1>one thing because they just don't They don't all know, right,
<v Speaker 1>So I never tell anyone ignore your doctor. But I
<v Speaker 1>do think it's important to take things with a grain
<v Speaker 1>of salt and recognize when your doctor might be going
<v Speaker 1>on different information based on a lack of understanding in
<v Speaker 1>the air. Because again, it's impossible for any one person
<v Speaker 1>to know everything about everything. It just is we know
<v Speaker 1>what we know, and so listen to doctor Tabatha Barber
<v Speaker 1>and others, and I would not worry too much about it.
<v Speaker 1>As far as your functional medicine. Doctors advice to focus
<v Speaker 1>on whole foods. That is one hundred percent excellent advice.
<v Speaker 1>We need to focus on real foods. And if you
<v Speaker 1>have a hunch that your diet has been lacking, then
<v Speaker 1>it probably is. We know, we know when it is.
<v Speaker 1>You mentioned that you have lack of energy, mood swings
<v Speaker 1>and you're low in iron, BE twelve calcium, you may
<v Speaker 1>need some supplementation. BE twelve is very important as an example,
<v Speaker 1>and if you're low in it, you need to get
<v Speaker 1>those nutrients in your body. Maybe a supplement, like I said,
<v Speaker 1>that might be what you need. So real foods, supplement
<v Speaker 1>where you need to and really research for yourself by
<v Speaker 1>listening to the doctors who deeply understand a particular topic.
<v Speaker 2>And then I'm going to add something to Okay, when
<v Speaker 2>I saw what all her deficiencies were, like, alarms started
<v Speaker 2>ringing in my head. Subclinical hypothyrotism and hypothyroidism are associated
<v Speaker 2>with efficiencies in vitamin D, calcium, B twelve, iron, and calcium,
<v Speaker 2>so you have three of those going on.
<v Speaker 1>And that she could have the others as well. She
<v Speaker 1>just said, et cetera.
<v Speaker 2>Right, So, like, if your body is vitamin D deficient,
<v Speaker 2>then your body can't uptake and use calcium appropriately, and
<v Speaker 2>then everything is interrelated. And the fact that you said
<v Speaker 2>that you've been having like lack of energy and mood swings,
<v Speaker 2>you are now forty, you could very well have some
<v Speaker 2>subclinical hypothyroidism, and I would really kind of maybe look
<v Speaker 2>into that. One of the things you can do is
<v Speaker 2>is to start taking your temperature several times during the day,
<v Speaker 2>keep like a journal, you could make like a spreadsheet.
<v Speaker 2>Even this is what I did because I was one
<v Speaker 2>hundred percent convinced that I had subclinical hypothyroidism. And since
<v Speaker 2>I started taking a thyroid hormone, I feel one hundred
<v Speaker 2>times better. But I had low blood calcium. I was
<v Speaker 2>B twelve deficient, I'm vitamin D deficient. My body temperature
<v Speaker 2>was very low. And so you want to take your
<v Speaker 2>body temperature in the morning, afternoon, and evening. It should
<v Speaker 2>rise through the day, and then track that for a
<v Speaker 2>while and track your energy levels, track your libido, track
<v Speaker 2>any other symptoms you have, Like have you noticed that
<v Speaker 2>your eyebrows are thinning, are you having any hair loss,
<v Speaker 2>do you have dry skin, do you have a hard
<v Speaker 2>time recovering from exercise, and really explore that as a
<v Speaker 2>potent issue that's going on with your body that's kind
<v Speaker 2>of causing these other issues to present. And if you're
<v Speaker 2>seeing a functional medicine doctor, they should be pretty well
<v Speaker 2>versed in diagnosing subclinical thyroidism or hypothyroidism because they actually
<v Speaker 2>tend to use a different scale for your thyroid panel
<v Speaker 2>than conventional medicine. They recognize that the scale that conventional
<v Speaker 2>medicine uses is too tight and that the ranges should
<v Speaker 2>be broader and kind of like hormone replacement therapy, where
<v Speaker 2>we dose until people feel better. That's kind of the
<v Speaker 2>thought on subclinical hypothyroidism. If you're having all of the
<v Speaker 2>symptoms of hypothyroidism and you're having other signs of it,
<v Speaker 2>to start with some thyroid medication, see what your thyroid
<v Speaker 2>levels do, and see how you feel. For me, it
<v Speaker 2>was a life changer. I started on it last spring
<v Speaker 2>and I'll the lights are back on. Anyways, I wanted
<v Speaker 2>to bring all that up. Yeah, that's so important. All right,
<v Speaker 2>it's time for our segment called What's Your Why. Most
<v Speaker 2>of us begin intermittent fasting with weight loss in mind,
<v Speaker 2>as Shery already mentioned today.
<v Speaker 1>But that's a great reason to start, But there is
<v Speaker 1>so much more to what intermittent fasting can do for
<v Speaker 1>us beyond weight loss. If you have a powerful why statement,
<v Speaker 1>I genuinely believe you are more likely to find long
<v Speaker 1>term success and view intermittent fasting as a lifestyle.
<v Speaker 2>All right, So this week we have a wife from Jana.
<v Speaker 2>Janna wrote My why began as weight loss like many people,
<v Speaker 2>but the more I have learned about if, the more
<v Speaker 2>that I know I will never stop. The history of
<v Speaker 2>my family has a large percentage with diabetes, inflammation, arthritis,
<v Speaker 2>and some with Alzheimer's. Most of those that were diagnosed
<v Speaker 2>with diabetes were my current age of fifty when they
<v Speaker 2>received that diagnosis. This is my why. I was already
<v Speaker 2>having so much inflammation in my body it would not
<v Speaker 2>be able to stand up straight when I first got
<v Speaker 2>out of bed. I have eight grandchildren that I want
<v Speaker 2>to be able to play with, ride bikes, and enjoy
<v Speaker 2>life with as much as possible. My husband and I
<v Speaker 2>love to travel, and another why is to be able
<v Speaker 2>to travel without pain and be able to go on
<v Speaker 2>hikes or long walks on the beach with him. All
<v Speaker 2>of these mostly preventable diseases would take these memory making
<v Speaker 2>moments away from me. We can't know the future or
<v Speaker 2>how long we have left on earth, but I can
<v Speaker 2>do what I can do to minimize the chances of
<v Speaker 2>getting one of these diseases.
<v Speaker 1>I love that, all right.
<v Speaker 2>So we have another question this week from Steph in Oklahoma.
<v Speaker 2>Steph gave us lots of details, which we love. Steph
<v Speaker 2>says she's fifty years old. By four she started at
<v Speaker 2>one hundred ninety eight pounds. She said, I freaked out
<v Speaker 2>being almost two hundred pounds. Her current weight is one
<v Speaker 2>hundred and twenty eight pounds to one hundred and thirty
<v Speaker 2>two pounds for the most part over the last couple
<v Speaker 2>of years. Her goal weight is one twenty to one
<v Speaker 2>twenty five, as she says she would like to be
<v Speaker 2>a little leaner and more sculpted muscle wise. She has
<v Speaker 2>been intermittent fasting since March twenty twenty two, she said,
<v Speaker 2>one and sixty eight consecutive days. I've never missed a day.
<v Speaker 2>She does one meal a day for the most part.
<v Speaker 2>Rarely she'll eat two meals when something is going on,
<v Speaker 2>like a birthday, She shares, I like to eat between
<v Speaker 2>twelve thirty to three thirty Monday through Thursday. I don't
<v Speaker 2>like to eat within several hours of sleeping, and I
<v Speaker 2>prefer to work out fasted when I can in the am.
<v Speaker 2>I stop eating by three thirty during the week because
<v Speaker 2>Monday through Thursday I work out at five thirty and
<v Speaker 2>I want at least two hours of fasting before I
<v Speaker 2>work out. I get that I don't like to work
<v Speaker 2>out on a full stomach either. On Friday through Sunday,
<v Speaker 2>I sometimes have longer eating windows, more like four to
<v Speaker 2>five hours at times, and I work out in the morning.
<v Speaker 2>I like to volume eat and then stop. I work
<v Speaker 2>out five to six times per week and hike once
<v Speaker 2>a week or so. I take a lot of leisurely
<v Speaker 2>evening walks with my dog. I did my first n
<v Speaker 2>body scan at one hundred and sixty eight point seven
<v Speaker 2>pounds and forty one percent body fat with a BMI
<v Speaker 2>of twenty nine and viscral fat level of fifteen. My
<v Speaker 2>skeletal muscle is fifty five point one pounds. I wish
<v Speaker 2>I had one for comparison. When I was one hundred
<v Speaker 2>and ninety eight pounds, but I don't. My current body
<v Speaker 2>fat is twenty one point eight percent and a twenty
<v Speaker 2>two point four BMI. My viscral fat level is down
<v Speaker 2>to five, and my skeletal muscle is fifty six point two,
<v Speaker 2>so no muscle loss with if.
<v Speaker 1>It's actually up. Her muscle has gone from fifty five
<v Speaker 1>point one to fifty six point two, that's awesome.
<v Speaker 2>My current labs my glucose is eighty three, my insulin
<v Speaker 2>is four point two A one c's five point one.
<v Speaker 2>No labs were flagged. My current clothing size is extra
<v Speaker 2>small or small or size two for the most part,
<v Speaker 2>ironically about the same size that I was when I
<v Speaker 2>graduated high school years ago, at one hundred and seventeen pounds.
<v Speaker 2>I was very fit then, so knowing this kind of
<v Speaker 2>makes me annoyed that I still weigh about fifteen pounds
<v Speaker 2>over that weight. It's not like I wasn't even more
<v Speaker 2>muscular and fit then, so that part confuses me. My
<v Speaker 2>body composition was likely really good then, so why am
<v Speaker 2>I now heavier at approximately the same size. I was
<v Speaker 2>a track athlete then. I think society just got used
<v Speaker 2>to everyone being bigger. Overall, the only meds I take
<v Speaker 2>are oral progesterone and estradial cream and some supplements vitamins.
<v Speaker 2>Note I did not take any meds when at my
<v Speaker 2>heaviest weight. I had no medical issues then or now.
<v Speaker 1>I weigh daily.
<v Speaker 2>Over the Christmas holiday in twenty twenty three, I gained
<v Speaker 2>up to one hundred and thirty nine when I would
<v Speaker 2>only weigh every couple months or so. In January twenty
<v Speaker 2>twenty four, I began weighing daily. I do find myself
<v Speaker 2>upset if the weight is over one hundred and thirty two,
<v Speaker 2>and I'm very happy if it's under one hundred and thirty.
<v Speaker 2>I know it's not the to worry about weight like
<v Speaker 2>I do, but I do, deep down worry the weight
<v Speaker 2>will come back and I feel and I'll feel awful
<v Speaker 2>physically and mentally if my weight goes over one thirty five.
<v Speaker 2>I really, really, really want my weight to be in
<v Speaker 2>the one twenties, not one thirties. It's the two versus
<v Speaker 2>the three. I eat decent. I'm not super strict, but
<v Speaker 2>I don't eat a bunch of crap either. I focus
<v Speaker 2>on protein and watch carbs and sweet intakes. I don't
<v Speaker 2>drink calories, but occasionally. I'll have a diet doctor pepper
<v Speaker 2>every couple of weeks or so with a meal. I
<v Speaker 2>do not drink coffee or tea. I love the idea
<v Speaker 2>of black coffee. I need to find one. I like.
<v Speaker 2>I do have a protein shake some days to get
<v Speaker 2>my calories in. Protein intake up in my eating window
<v Speaker 2>if needed. I let myself have anything I want. If
<v Speaker 2>I want cake, I'll eat it by allowing myself the choice.
<v Speaker 2>I only choose yes if I really want the food item.
<v Speaker 2>I don't bother if it's just junk, I'm not interested.
<v Speaker 2>In the past, I would have had the junk regardless.
<v Speaker 2>So Jin, what do you have to say about all
<v Speaker 2>of this?
<v Speaker 1>Oh goodness, Steph, Steph. I would like to give you
<v Speaker 1>a big hug, and then I would go into your
<v Speaker 1>bathroom and I would get your scale and I would
<v Speaker 1>smash it, throw it away, and I would say you
<v Speaker 1>were never allowed to get on a scale ever again.
<v Speaker 1>Go buy your pants forever how they fit, because you
<v Speaker 1>are really really in your head about a number? Or like,
<v Speaker 1>what if I snuck in there and changed the way
<v Speaker 1>your scale read? Like I could change the way it's
<v Speaker 1>calibrated and make it say one twenty five. Like if
<v Speaker 1>you got on that scale this morning, weighing exactly what
<v Speaker 1>you were right this minute, wearing the clothes you weigh
<v Speaker 1>right now, and you stood on that scale and it
<v Speaker 1>said one twenty five, but your body is exactly the same.
<v Speaker 1>But it says one twenty five, I think you'd be happy.
<v Speaker 1>I think you're happy with your body. You like the
<v Speaker 1>clothes you're wearing, You feel good in your clothes. I
<v Speaker 1>know you mentioned that you'd like to be a little
<v Speaker 1>leaner and sculpty. I mean, we got the bodies we
<v Speaker 1>have right you're fifty. I do not have the same
<v Speaker 1>body at fifty that I had when I was a
<v Speaker 1>senior in high school. Even if I weighed the same
<v Speaker 1>exact thing, it's not going to be the same. I'm
<v Speaker 1>older now, right, So do not compare yourself to your
<v Speaker 1>high school body. You know they say comparison is the
<v Speaker 1>thief of joy. Comparing fifty year old stuff to high
<v Speaker 1>school stuff is. We're not going to be the same
<v Speaker 1>at fifty as we were in high school. So I
<v Speaker 1>want you to just imagine that if your scale said
<v Speaker 1>one twenty five, but you weigh exactly the same as
<v Speaker 1>you are right now, how happy you'd feel, and then
<v Speaker 1>really reflect on that you're chasing a number and you're
<v Speaker 1>making yourself deeply unhappy over not seeing the number you want.
<v Speaker 1>You know, you said your current weight is one twenty
<v Speaker 1>eight to one thirty two. Your goal weight is one
<v Speaker 1>twenty to one twenty five, so you are within three
<v Speaker 1>pounds of what you want, Like you want your scale
<v Speaker 1>to say one twenty five, but you're weighing between one
<v Speaker 1>twenty eight and one thirty two. You're there. You are
<v Speaker 1>your happy maintenance weight. You are living your goal lifestyle.
<v Speaker 1>You don't want to eat less than you're eating right now.
<v Speaker 1>You don't want to restrict, you don't want to do
<v Speaker 1>all that. You're happy, and you have been maintaining in
<v Speaker 1>your range. It sounds like you've been maintaining in that
<v Speaker 1>range for a almost four years. I mean for a
<v Speaker 1>long time March of twenty twenty two. I don't know
<v Speaker 1>when you hit your goal, but you've been You've been
<v Speaker 1>maintaining for a while. You have more muscle now than
<v Speaker 1>you did, so you are at a healthy level of
<v Speaker 1>visceral fat. You have a healthy level of muscle mass,
<v Speaker 1>and you've actually gained muscle mass. Your body fat percentage
<v Speaker 1>is in a very healthy range. Your BMI is healthy.
<v Speaker 1>And again, if I just snuck into your house, I
<v Speaker 1>can't smash your skin on throw it away, but I
<v Speaker 1>could just secretly change the way that it works so
<v Speaker 1>that it says one twenty five. I think you'd be like,
<v Speaker 1>I'm there, yay. So I want you to really think
<v Speaker 1>about that, because that number, I think is your worst
<v Speaker 1>enemy right now, the number that you want versus the
<v Speaker 1>number that you have. So even if your number did
<v Speaker 1>get down a few more pounds, that's not going to
<v Speaker 1>change your life dramatically. What do you have to say
<v Speaker 1>about that, Sherry.
<v Speaker 2>Well, my thought too. She seems hung up about the
<v Speaker 2>fact that she weighed less in high school. But you
<v Speaker 2>said you were a track star, so you were very fit.
<v Speaker 2>But if you were running track in high school at
<v Speaker 2>one hundred and seventy pounds and you were running all.
<v Speaker 1>One seventeen, what did I say? You said one seventy.
<v Speaker 2>Oh, I'm sorry, one's seventeen. I guarantee you have more
<v Speaker 2>muscle mass on your body now than you did then
<v Speaker 2>because track stars, people who run track all of that running,
<v Speaker 2>and it has to do with like slow twitch fast
<v Speaker 2>twitch muscles and how you build muscles and just how
<v Speaker 2>you train. Unless you are actively doing strength training while
<v Speaker 2>running track or while you know, doing endurance type running,
<v Speaker 2>they know that you lose muscle mass. So you may
<v Speaker 2>look wean, and you may, you know, have muscular legs,
<v Speaker 2>but overall, like your body composition, you cannot compare your
<v Speaker 2>body composition now to then, and I guarantee you that
<v Speaker 2>you have a healthier body composition now as far as
<v Speaker 2>muscle mass than you probably did at one hundred and
<v Speaker 2>seventeen pounds in high school. So that's something really You're like,
<v Speaker 2>you're not really comparing apples to apples anymore. The workouts
<v Speaker 2>that you're doing include you know, a lot of strength
<v Speaker 2>training and hit training, and we know that that improves
<v Speaker 2>your muscle mass. You're not just doing steady states cardio
<v Speaker 2>running anymore. So your body is just not the same.
<v Speaker 2>You're not training the same, So I want you to
<v Speaker 2>really let that go. You said like, you're like at
<v Speaker 2>the same size that you were then, So does it
<v Speaker 2>matter what the scale says because nobody looks at you.
<v Speaker 2>You don't have a readout on your head that says
<v Speaker 2>you weigh one hundred and thirty one pounds today, nobody
<v Speaker 2>knows that they see a very fit, healthy looking fifty
<v Speaker 2>year old woman, right, and your body fat percentage is
<v Speaker 2>in a very very healthy range for a fifty year
<v Speaker 2>old woman. So yeah, I'm with Jen, get rid of
<v Speaker 2>your scale. Just keep doing what you're doing and let
<v Speaker 2>that number go like that does not It's not like
<v Speaker 2>suddenly you're going to get there and everything in your
<v Speaker 2>life's going to be magical and better.
<v Speaker 1>And again, look, it's hard to find clothes. So if
<v Speaker 1>you're fitting in an extra small or small in size too, like,
<v Speaker 1>what are you going to be an extra extra small zero?
<v Speaker 1>I mean you're at a great size, You look good,
<v Speaker 1>you feel good in your body, and I really think
<v Speaker 1>the main thing I want you to think about is
<v Speaker 1>if suddenly you were exactly the same but the number
<v Speaker 1>was lower, if you would feel bad, then that is
<v Speaker 1>a sign of an unhealthy expectation of the number. That's
<v Speaker 1>why I stopped weighing completely. It was that because I
<v Speaker 1>wanted to see I wanted to see the two. Also,
<v Speaker 1>the day I got on that scale, I wanted to
<v Speaker 1>see it too, and I had lost two gene sizes
<v Speaker 1>since the last time i'd weighed, and I knew I
<v Speaker 1>was going to see it too, and I saw a
<v Speaker 1>three and I was mad, and I was like, well,
<v Speaker 1>I need to lose a little bit more weight. I'm like, no,
<v Speaker 1>I don't. And then I got rid of my scale
<v Speaker 1>and I haven't seen a number since then.
<v Speaker 2>And how much happier are you?
<v Speaker 1>Oh my gosh, I'm so happy. I almost thought about
<v Speaker 1>getting a scale sharing I just said a curiosity, but
<v Speaker 1>I didn't. I restrained myself will and I went to
<v Speaker 1>a different phone carrier. So we moved to T Mobile
<v Speaker 1>from Verizon, and so it came with like really great
<v Speaker 1>phone up grades whatever, So we got new phones. So
<v Speaker 1>but I had a new phone that wasn't that old,
<v Speaker 1>so I traded it back to Apple and had this credit.
<v Speaker 1>So I had this credit at Apple, and I was like, well,
<v Speaker 1>I don't need anything in Apple, so I'm looking what
<v Speaker 1>do I need? What do I need? And there was
<v Speaker 1>a nice scale, and I was like, I could get
<v Speaker 1>that scale. I can start weigh myself.
<v Speaker 2>And I'm like wow, I mean, unless you were wanting
<v Speaker 2>to suddenly put on a bunch of muscle mass and
<v Speaker 2>you wanted to see if you were making progress over time,
<v Speaker 2>I can't imagine one reason why you need a.
<v Speaker 1>Weigh No, And I can actually tell very easily, like
<v Speaker 1>when your weights fluctuating a little bit, and I can
<v Speaker 1>see like like I'm doing. I've been doing a lot
<v Speaker 1>of rebounding, and like my calves are very muscular. I mean,
<v Speaker 1>I know, I know, I'm fine. So anyway, I resisted,
<v Speaker 1>but I almost did because I had, you know, all
<v Speaker 1>this Apple cash and I'd spen it at Apple. So yeah,
<v Speaker 1>I almost got a scale, but I was like, no,
<v Speaker 1>I don't need that, am I line? All right? We
<v Speaker 1>have a question from k in Berkshire, UK. Hello. I
<v Speaker 1>am a fifty four year old woman who has been
<v Speaker 1>practicing intermittent fasting for around four to five years. I
<v Speaker 1>started with ensuring I got eleven hours away from eating overnight,
<v Speaker 1>and I've built up slowly to eighteen six with occasion
<v Speaker 1>longer fasts. I've done a few of twenty one, thirty
<v Speaker 1>six and one forty four hour fast. I'm in good
<v Speaker 1>health and good shape at one forty and five foot eleven.
<v Speaker 1>I fast for the health benefits it will hopefully bring
<v Speaker 1>me as I get older. I've never been overweight, although
<v Speaker 1>my weight varies between about one forty eight depending on
<v Speaker 1>whether there is a why in the month. She said,
<v Speaker 1>I always fast clean with just decaf green tea, decaff
<v Speaker 1>coffee or water. My eating window is what it was
<v Speaker 1>that one I'm doing some moth because she said thirteen
<v Speaker 1>thirty to nineteen thirty, so that would be what one
<v Speaker 1>thirty to seven thirty most days, which allows me to
<v Speaker 1>eat dinner with my partner on the evenings I'm not
<v Speaker 1>at work, and it means I sleep better than with
<v Speaker 1>an earlier window. Compressing my window further is difficult for me,
<v Speaker 1>as I find I can't eat enough food to maintain
<v Speaker 1>my weight without being overly full. Well, then I would say,
<v Speaker 1>don't like I can answer that question right this minute.
<v Speaker 1>You don't need to lose weight. You're already doing a
<v Speaker 1>great amount of fasting. There is no reason to shorten
<v Speaker 1>your window. You also said, I can't practice ADF as
<v Speaker 1>my job. No need to do idea. There is no
<v Speaker 1>need to do either of those things if you're feeling
<v Speaker 1>happy with your weight. All right, So she said, I
<v Speaker 1>envy those who say they have amazing mental clarity when
<v Speaker 1>they fast. I've never found this, and I wonder what
<v Speaker 1>I'm doing wrong. I feel steadily more physically okay, now
<v Speaker 1>we see, now we'rer I jumped ahead a little bit,
<v Speaker 1>all right. I feel mal coordinated, which I guess is
<v Speaker 1>uncoordinated and mentally foggy as I fast longer and I
<v Speaker 1>end up unable to make decisions. She said. I still
<v Speaker 1>eat fresh, healthy food with occasional treats, but the main
<v Speaker 1>part of my diet is vegetables, salads, fruit, and home
<v Speaker 1>cooking with extremely little processed food, and I don't have
<v Speaker 1>much of a sweet teeth. Hunger while fasting is not
<v Speaker 1>an issue, as it tends to pass if I have
<v Speaker 1>a hot drink. I also wonder whether preparing food while
<v Speaker 1>fasting can trigger an insulin response. I work shifts, and
<v Speaker 1>I often need to make a pack dinner to take
<v Speaker 1>into work in the mornings while I'm fasting. I am
<v Speaker 1>careful not to taste anything or nibble if I'm feeling
<v Speaker 1>hungry before I make the Dude, I often feel a
<v Speaker 1>lot better after I've prepared it, even though I have
<v Speaker 1>not tasted it. By the way, whether I prepare food
<v Speaker 1>or not seems to have no impact on the mental
<v Speaker 1>fog at the end of my fasting periods that I
<v Speaker 1>just grab above.
<v Speaker 2>Okay, so she said, you know, she's mentally foggy as
<v Speaker 2>she fasts longer, So this really does make me feel
<v Speaker 2>like she is not flipping the switch. Yep. And when
<v Speaker 2>you get to a certain part of your fast, you
<v Speaker 2>start to feel the effects of depleted glycogen, but your
<v Speaker 2>body's not flipping over to ketosis, which is where we
<v Speaker 2>get that clear headed energy, and that kind of foggy
<v Speaker 2>feeling goes away the fact that you're not really having
<v Speaker 2>physical symptoms. You know, sometimes feeling a little mentally foggy
<v Speaker 2>could be an electrolyte issue, but I don't think that's
<v Speaker 2>your issue. I think your issue is that you say
<v Speaker 2>you've regularly done eighteen six and I think your issue
<v Speaker 2>is that you're just not flipping the switch. Well, And
<v Speaker 2>we actually really went in depth into this two weeks ago,
<v Speaker 2>I believe it was and why this happens. But if you,
<v Speaker 2>like you say, you don't feel like you can you
<v Speaker 2>cannot eat enough food to maintain your weight without feeling
<v Speaker 2>overly full. If you can press your window, have you
<v Speaker 2>actually ever shifted to a five hour window and done
<v Speaker 2>that for a couple of weeks, Because I don't think
<v Speaker 2>that that's going to impact your weight. I really don't think.
<v Speaker 2>I think you're going to be able to eat the
<v Speaker 2>same amount of food in five hours as you can
<v Speaker 2>in six hours. The only difference is is you get
<v Speaker 2>an extra hour a day where your body is able
<v Speaker 2>to deplete glycogen and start flipping the switch so that
<v Speaker 2>you don't have these feelings. So I mean, my best
<v Speaker 2>advice to you is for a month, go to a
<v Speaker 2>five hour eating window. If you see weight loss, then
<v Speaker 2>you know, all you've got to do maybe is go
<v Speaker 2>to a five hour window and then maybe try one
<v Speaker 2>day on the weekend having a full two meal eight
<v Speaker 2>hour window. But I don't really think Jen and I
<v Speaker 2>eat in five hour windows. Jen eats very well in
<v Speaker 2>a five hour I know, and she hasn't just continued
<v Speaker 2>to lose weight. That's just not the way it works.
<v Speaker 2>So I think shifting to a five hour window is
<v Speaker 2>the answer for you.
<v Speaker 1>I actually just did some thinking about it. I ran
<v Speaker 1>her stats through the smart BMI and now I have
<v Speaker 1>a different idea.
<v Speaker 2>What is your thought?
<v Speaker 1>Well, she's five eleven and she weighs one forty one
<v Speaker 1>and forty pounds.
<v Speaker 2>Yes, oh you see that?
<v Speaker 1>See And I just went back and found that information,
<v Speaker 1>so I ran Ka's stats through the smart BMI, and
<v Speaker 1>she is at the very very lowest end of almost
<v Speaker 1>venturing into underweight. And her BMI is only twenty, so
<v Speaker 1>she is almost in the underweight category. So I actually
<v Speaker 1>wonder if she just needs to lengthen that window and
<v Speaker 1>have like like she doesn't have fat to spare. So
<v Speaker 1>perhaps you need to have an eight hour window and
<v Speaker 1>two solid meals within it. And if your weight went
<v Speaker 1>up a little bit, that actually would not be a
<v Speaker 1>bad thing, because as we get older, we don't want
<v Speaker 1>to be, you know, verging into the underweight territory. We
<v Speaker 1>want to be you have a little bit of reserved fat.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, what was her smart BMI.
<v Speaker 1>It was twenty And when we look at the smart BMI.
<v Speaker 2>Like that fraction it should be like thirty over seventy or.
<v Speaker 1>Thirty over seventy.
<v Speaker 2>Oh, she is at the very low end.
<v Speaker 1>She's at the right like, she's right there.
<v Speaker 2>Anyway, she loses weight.
<v Speaker 1>If she loses any more weight, she gets to the
<v Speaker 1>underweight category. And we don't I don't think we want
<v Speaker 1>to be going into the underweight category at the age
<v Speaker 1>of fifty four. And so your body might be sending
<v Speaker 1>you a very important signal. We don't have fat despair.
<v Speaker 1>Don't flip the switch. Don't flip the switch. You might
<v Speaker 1>not need to flip the switch.
<v Speaker 2>And you're thought you recognize I didn't recognize the five.
<v Speaker 1>Eleven Yeah, five eleven.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I mean I'm five ten and if I was
<v Speaker 2>one forty now I'm very large framed, and you may
<v Speaker 2>be very fine boned, but one forty is still very thin.
<v Speaker 2>Yep or five foot eleven. Yeah, sure, so I agree,
<v Speaker 2>definitely agree with you. Jen.
<v Speaker 1>There you see, it depends our answer varies depending on
<v Speaker 1>your body. Right. That's why there's no one size fits
<v Speaker 1>all answer, and we can't just say here's the window
<v Speaker 1>that everybody needs. You have to look at all of
<v Speaker 1>the factors. Do you need to lose fat or are
<v Speaker 1>you right on the verge of not quite having enough
<v Speaker 1>stored fat? And we have to really keep all of
<v Speaker 1>that in mind when you're deciding what to do.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, and then her last question was really about red
<v Speaker 2>Bush tea, which is rubos I think has happened.
<v Speaker 1>That's not one for the clean fast.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah. She was asking if she could have it as
<v Speaker 2>she prefers it, but unfortunately no. It is described as
<v Speaker 2>naturally smooth, sweet and nutty with hints of honey, vanilla
<v Speaker 2>and caramel and a mild woody undertone. And that's not
<v Speaker 2>anything you want your fast That would probably actually make
<v Speaker 2>you feel worse, So I'm definitely avoid that, ye all Right,
<v Speaker 2>Before we get to the tweak of the week, I
<v Speaker 2>just want to take a minute to share with you
<v Speaker 2>about the one on want work I'm doing with intermittent
<v Speaker 2>fasters just like you. The holidays are approaching, and that
<v Speaker 2>is often a time where people get off track what
<v Speaker 2>they're fasting, where they don't know how to work fasting
<v Speaker 2>in around all the holiday celebrations and they start to
<v Speaker 2>experience window creep and they either stop losing weight or
<v Speaker 2>they put on weight, or they stop fasting all together
<v Speaker 2>and then come gane away. They're in a panic trying
<v Speaker 2>to get things back together again. So don't what that
<v Speaker 2>happened to you this year. You can both honor your
<v Speaker 2>fasting and your health goals and enjoy the holiday with
<v Speaker 2>the right mindset and having a plan in place. So
<v Speaker 2>if you're looking to create a holiday action plan or
<v Speaker 2>you like some accountability during that period of time that's
<v Speaker 2>coming up, reach out to me. We can set up
<v Speaker 2>a one time session, a monthly session, or even just
<v Speaker 2>a monthly coaching plan with daily check ins. I would
<v Speaker 2>love to help you successfully navigate the holidays. I just
<v Speaker 2>wanted to share. One of my fasters who did the
<v Speaker 2>monthly coaching plan with me signed up for a second month,
<v Speaker 2>and then she shared the other day. She wrote, Cherry
<v Speaker 2>gave me the plan, support and accountability I needed to
<v Speaker 2>get back on track to the results I was looking for.
<v Speaker 2>She's a true game changer and that just warmed my heart. Yeah,
<v Speaker 2>and you're loving it, Oh, I'm loving it.
<v Speaker 1>Yes. And now it's time for our tweak of the week,
<v Speaker 1>and this is from Gina from Nina, Wisconsin. She said,
<v Speaker 1>going for a wall or something active when I feel
<v Speaker 1>those strong hunger pains coming on really helps redirect my focus.
<v Speaker 1>I also often listen to the Fast Feast repeat podcast
<v Speaker 1>while I am fasting because it keeps me motivated to
<v Speaker 1>keep going.
<v Speaker 2>I love that Gena, and you're right going for a
<v Speaker 2>walk when you're feeling hungry. That can help me with
<v Speaker 2>the switch. Yep. All right, Well, we love to leave
<v Speaker 2>you with inspirational or motivational quotes. Today we have an
<v Speaker 2>inspirational message from sk and she actually wrote me and
<v Speaker 2>she said, your listeners might get tired of me always
<v Speaker 2>sharing stuff, but now we never get tired.
<v Speaker 1>Never.
<v Speaker 2>She wrote, Hello, lovely ladies. After a really crazy and
<v Speaker 2>stressful month of September, I wrote this letter to myself,
<v Speaker 2>which I thought I would share in case anyone else
<v Speaker 2>is going through a difficult time and needs to hear this.
<v Speaker 2>So the letter she wrote to herself was, dear me,
<v Speaker 2>you made it through September. I know it wasn't easy.
<v Speaker 2>There were days when the weight felt heavier than you
<v Speaker 2>could carry, and still you rose. You may have felt tired, overwhelmed,
<v Speaker 2>stressed and anxious, But here you are at the doorway
<v Speaker 2>of a new month that takes strength, that takes grit,
<v Speaker 2>that takes courage. October is here now, and with it
<v Speaker 2>comes the opportunity to dust yourself off and continue onwards,
<v Speaker 2>not with pressure, but with grace. This is a month
<v Speaker 2>of self love, kindness and choices that serve your goals.
<v Speaker 2>Remember that every choice you make is a vote for
<v Speaker 2>your future self. So here's what I want for you
<v Speaker 2>in October. I want you to be kinder to yourself,
<v Speaker 2>Speak to yourself like someone you love, hold space for
<v Speaker 2>the hard things you're feeling and without needing to fix
<v Speaker 2>them all at once. It's okay to rest, It's okay
<v Speaker 2>to not have it all figured out. I want you
<v Speaker 2>to give yourself permission to just be. You don't always
<v Speaker 2>have to aim for perfection. You don't always have to
<v Speaker 2>be everything for everyone. You don't always have to make
<v Speaker 2>huge progress every day. Some days will feel easy, others harder.
<v Speaker 2>But every step forward, no matter how small, is still progress.
<v Speaker 2>And remember it's in those hard days that we learn
<v Speaker 2>to become stronger and more resilient. Most of all, I
<v Speaker 2>want you to know that you are loved deeply and unconditionally.
<v Speaker 2>You are worthy just as you are. You are enough.
<v Speaker 2>Even in your uncertainty, you are doing the best you can,
<v Speaker 2>and that's all that matters. Walk into October slowly. You
<v Speaker 2>don't need to rush. Breathe, trust yourself. You've come this
<v Speaker 2>far and your journey still continues. I know that you
<v Speaker 2>know you are destined for great things with love me.
<v Speaker 1>I love that, and so as we're releasing this episode,
<v Speaker 1>it comes out at the beginning of November, so carry
<v Speaker 1>that on for your listeners through November and in a December.
<v Speaker 1>Thanks so much for listening today, We would love to
<v Speaker 1>have you join us in the Delayed On Tonight community,
<v Speaker 1>where you can interact with both me and Sherry, plus
<v Speaker 1>the most supportive bunch of intermittent fasters you'll find anywhere.
<v Speaker 1>Go to Jenstevens dot com slash community to join us.
<v Speaker 2>Don't forget to subscribe to this podcast to your favorite
<v Speaker 2>podcast app, and if you haven't already, please leave us
<v Speaker 2>a five star review that helps new listeners find the
<v Speaker 2>show and we really appreciate it.
<v Speaker 1>We are a community driven podcast, so to submit your
<v Speaker 1>success stories, your questions, your favorite tweak it till It's
<v Speaker 1>Easy moments, or anything else you want us to share
<v Speaker 1>on the podcast, go to Fast Feast Repeat dot com
<v Speaker 1>slash submit and then listen each week to see if
<v Speaker 1>we share your submission or answer your question.
<v Speaker 2>Until next week. Thanks for listening,