Episode 35: Dietary Choices and Health, Sleep, and More

Welcome the Fast Feast Repeat Intermittent Fasting for Life. I'm Jen Stevens, author
of the New York Times bestseller Fast Feast Repeat, and I'm Sherry Bullock,
longtime intermittent faster and health and wellness advocate. Please keep in mind that this
podcast is for educational and motivational purposes only and is not intended to provide medical
or diagnostic advice. Jen and I are not doctors, so make sure to
check with your trusted healthcare professionals before making changes, especially when it comes to
any medical treatments or medications. Whether you're new to intermittent fasting or an experienced
intermittent faster, tune in each week to get inspired, to learn, and
to have some fun along the way. Hi, everybody, we are so
glad you're here today. Welcome to this week's episode of the Fast Feast Repeat
Intermittent Fasting for Life Podcast. How are you doing today's Sherry? I am
hanging in there. Yeah. See, Normally I would say I'm amazing.
Well, tell everybody why I had foot surgery last week and I was led
to believe that the recovery was going to be like a cinch and I could
go to work three days later. In reality, I think I asked my
surgeon will I be able to work on Saturday? And his response was if
you really want to. But even if I really wanted to, I don't
think I couldn't. I couldn't bear weight on my foot, so, oh
my gosh. Yeah, I had to have my father in law bring me
a walker the day after surgery. Wow, and that is not Sherry.
I don't think I've told you this. So I had a block, a
nerve block in my foot. So years ago when I had rotator cuff surgery,
I had one and it lasted for probably close to twenty four hours,
so pretty much like my arm was dead. I couldn't feel it. So
therefore you don't have a lot of post stop pain because you just can't feel
it. They did a digital block, and before my surgery, the nurses
at the surgery center said, oh, this doctor gives really great blocks.
Most people have like zero pain for the first twenty four to forty eight hours.
I said, great, that sounds wonderful. I had my surgery at
like I don't even know what time I went back. I was home I
think by nine am, so by one pm. My digital block was wearing
off. Oh gosh, I like instantly by one o'clock. You know when
you have your mouth numbed and you get that cold, kind of tinkly feeling.
That's the way my pants started to feel. And by two o'clock I
was in excruciating pain. Oh no. And when I went to the doctor
on Friday for a follow up, they asked me how I was doing,
and I told them that Wednesday night, the day of surgery, I was
in more pain I've ever been in my life. I was laying in bed
sobbing, and that's not like me. And she was so like, She's
like, you had a block, And I said, well, it wore
off by one o'clock in the afternoon, and she said, wow, your
body must have really metabolized that anesthesia really quickly. And in hindsight, I
had a crown a couple months ago, and they kept having to give me
more and more anesthesia, Like my dentists kept saying, you can feel that
already, we just numbed you up thirty minutes ago. I had another procedure
about year and a half ago, same experience. I felt the whole thing.
Anesthesia never really took. This is crazy. I don't know, but
I kind of think that my detox pathways are working so well that I just
metabolize anesthesia really quickly, and so I don't think that his block last twenty
four to forty eight hours. I think that maybe most people's detox pathways are
so clogged up that it hangs around that long. Wow, Now that's so
interesting, isn't that interesting? I'm gonna have to resench into this? So
interesting? I mean, I know, so people are just rapid metabolizers of
things, right, like caffeine or alcohol or whatever. But yeah, I
found that very very interesting. So I'd be curious to know other long term
intermittent fasters what their experiences with stuff like that. Well, that is interesting.
Yeah, that'd be cool to know. But I'm glad you're starting to
feel better with less pain, because that is no fun. It was.
It is not fun at all. I wouldn't Yeah, I don't wish that
kind of pain on anybody. So let's talk about some weekly celebrations. This
week, we have a celebration and some words of encouragement. It comes from
Jane, a member of the Delay Don't Deny community. She wrote happy one
year Fastiversary to me, Well, this year has just flown by. I
realize I've been fasting almost three years, but I'm not including my first eighteen
months, since my real story just started one year ago. It feels like
yesterday. It was my little grandson's birthday. When in my window I ate
some of well, she says, some of all the goodies I beg for
him. So she had a little everything, still thinking it's in my window,
it'll be okay. Well, boys and girls, it was not okay
at all being diabetic on team medications. It definitely was not I'm okay for
me to eat all of those treats and just swallow extra medication to try to
keep my blood sugars down. That night, after taking three extra pills,
when I did my evening blood test, my number was well over three hundred.
That night was my AHA moment. I was just killing myself. My
very next fast was the beginning of the rest of my life. I began
fasting like the diabetic I really am. I stopped eating all sugar and began
a very low carb way of eating. Now tonight, just three hundred and
sixty five fast later, after my little grandson's birthday at my house, I
couldn't be any happier to tell you that my blood sugar reading was ninety four
without any medication for the past ten months, I might add, and I
could not be happier. All I did was stop eating sugar and carbs.
Within two months, I lost about twenty pounds, and my doctor officially took
me off both medications. I was elated, to say the least. She
had no idea what inter fasting was about, but she loved it for me,
she said. When the nurse gave her my bloodwork, she insisted that
they gave her the results for a different patient. Those numbers couldn't belong to
me. My A and C had dropped from almost nine to six point seven.
Today at a six point five, and hopefully it'll be lower at my
next visit. In this past year, I have lost fifty pounds. My
new jeans are smaller, from twenty four to twenty six to eighteen twenties.
My shirts have gone from three extra large to extra large. My rings were
falling off so often that I had to have them all resized from an eight
to a six. My shoes just fall off when I walk, and they
are the ones I replaced already the one I love is smaller underwear. Who
knew that would be such a big deal. As you can see, my
swelling has just basically gone away. As for eating, to hear my husband
tell me he was giving me a smaller portion since I get full so fast
these days, and that just floored me. I used to want the larger
cut of meats, not now I just eat enough to fill me up.
I don't say I'm so full. I can hardly walk anymore. Last year,
just to walk around my house I needed walker. Well, now I
only use it when I go out to be sure that I have a place
to sit if it's crowded. I can even go down my driveway to fetch
the mail if my husband can't get it, and not use my walker.
The non scale victory section of my life's are probably the things that make me
the happiest. Measurements are crazy different, especially around my lower abdomen. I'm
ten inches smaller. Oh here's a good non scale victory. I can actually
go shopping for a bra. Before I was about eight inches rounder. Where
you measure for a bra so back in the day one you're year ago and
being such a large number clothing designers figure. The cup had to be huge
to go with it. Sadly, I've never had big breasts and now even
smaller. But by George, I can buy a bra with a B cup.
I am becoming a quote normal human being. You notice I said I'm
becoming a normal human being because I'm not done yet. I don't know how
long it will take. Because of being almost seventy years old and handicapped,
I have a bad foot. I have three bones sinking in my right foot,
so I can't stand or walk more than five minutes. But I'm not
going to stop fasting. This way of life has been so good for me
with all of my great results. My doctor tells me I'm phenomenal and very
proud of me, words I never expected to hear from anyone in medicine.
But you know, I'm super proud of me too, and I'm just glad
I finally figured out what would work best for me instead of trying to get
results like others. So if there's anyone new to fasting reading my story,
just know that this lifestyle does work. You just have to find what will
work for you. As we are all different, ask questions about anything in
this community. I promise. If Jenn doesn't know the answer, she will
try to figure it out out, along with many others who have helped me
with my journey so far. Don't be afraid to try something new or different.
Just know you will soon be a happier person for sticking with a fasting
lifestyle. We didn't gain our excess weight overnight, so we in turn won't
lose it overnight either. Happy fasting everyone, and thank you all so much
for the kindness and advice you have shown me this passion here, may all
your wishes and dreams come true. Jane, that is beautiful. I love
it wonderful. You know what really jumped out to me where she said towards
the beginning, I began fasting like the diabetic I really am. You know,
I think I think that is important. And you know it took a
wake up call from her blood sugar being well over three hundred. And you
know, fasting is a powerful intervention for our bodies. But when your body
has metabolic problems like diabetes, food is medicine and that really is key to
remember, you know, she she began fasting like the diabetic that she that
she is, or that she was or and her body needed different food.
It needed real food, it needed to not have sugar, She needed lower
carbs because her body was so insulin resistant. So right, I think that's
just a very important lesson. Fasting is amazing, but it's not the only
a tool in our toolbox. Right. It's really easy to look at other
people's journey and be like, oh, they didn't have to change what they
eat, and they can still eat, you know, dessert every day in
their window and lose weight. But our bodies aren't the same. And you
know, we have different histories. We have different dieting histories, we have
different metabolic histories, and you have genetics, right, and you have to
meet your body where it is right now, because if not, you're really
just fighting against your body. You have to help it, help it along,
right, give it what it's saying. Comparison is the thief of joy.
This applies here as well. Like you said, someone else might be
able to eat desserts every day, and you know, people drink wine every
day. I used to drink wine every day, and I could be,
you know, sad that I can't. You compare myself to someone who can,
But my body is not like that. Anymore. I can't drink wine
every day, right, and I can't compare myself to someone else, And
what my body needs is not the same is what someone else, and that
applies to all of us. I do love that she was fasting for what
she said eighteen months, but sometimes we just have to start where we are.
We just have to do the bare minimum, you know. And so
she wasn't ready to change her diet. She just you know, fasting was
all she could do at that point. And when she was ready, she
knew she was ready. She had a mindset, set shift, and you
know, she made the changes. So I don't want people to think,
oh, you know, fasting doesn't work because it doesn't lower my hemaglow and
A with C, because there's often more to the picture than that. Yeah,
exactly. That's such a good point. So now we have a question
from a listener. Hi, Jen and Sherry. I'd like to start by
thanking you for your wonderful work sharing important health related knowledge in an easy to
understand, entertaining way. I have been fasting on and off for the last
few years, but have managed to stick to it rigidly this year thanks to
reading Fast Feast, Repeat mostly seventeen seven with some twenty hour fasts, I
have lost about five kilograms, which isn't a lot, but has allowed me
to go from overweight to normal weight. And I'm eating whatever takes my fancy
in my eating window, so I'm certainly not complaining. Also, I have
suffered with recurrent pericarditis, chest pains, and breathlessness for years, and since
intermittent fasting continuously, the symptoms have stopped entirely, hooray. Also, my
sugar cravings have reduced hugely. I just have two little problems that lead to
demotivate me. Only read that again. I just have two little problems that
tend to demotivate me and send me off track. Number One, all the
women I work with are annoyingly naturally slim and snack all day on anything they
like. Sometimes it makes me think if they can, why can't I,
And then I do except I can't because I do not stay naturally slim.
I put on weight just opening the package. Number Two. I used to
be a fabulous sleeper ten hours a night minimum. Now I can't sleep until
late. I'm not necessarily exhausted during the day, so I think my body
just needs less sleep now that I don't have tons of junk food to process,
but I love sleeping and miss my good night's sleep. Any thoughts,
thanks again, lovely ladies, Mandy in France. Okay, I have lots
of thoughts. Number one, you have not had your paracroditis, which is
amazing huge. Yeah, and you know that can be caused by so many
things, from you know, kidney disease to GI disease to just inflammation in
the body. So if nothing else you are I think you are healing inflammation
in your body and just you know, living without chest pain and breathlessness.
That's that's huge, And I actually think that has to do with why I
mean, Okay, first of all, we find out that people don't sleep
as much with if I just don't think we need to. We have more
energy. I think we have more balanced blood sugars so that we sleep,
our sleep quality is better. We don't have as much like awakening through the
night and that sort of thing. I know that I track my sleep quality
on my or ring and food and when I eat and that sort of thing,
when I drink, if I drink sugar. All of that really relates
to how I sleep. And if I have indulgent days where I have long
windows, or I don't eat like I normally do, or I eat too
late in the evening, my sleep is not great and I am sluggish the
next day. So you said used to sleep ten hours a night, I
mean just the fact that you were having some heart problems. You were probably
more fatigued, your body wasn't working efficiently, it probably wasn't oxygenating a fishing.
You're a healthier person now, and I think that's a really good sign
that you don't need ten hours a night of sleep, and they say most
adults need seven to nine to feel great. So I would say you are,
You're healthier and your body's telling you that because you don't need as much
sleep. Yeah, oversleeping is actually not good for our bodies, just like
undersleeping yep, yep. So if you're getting quality sleep, which I think
you are because you say you're not exhausted during the day, if you just
miss sleep, maybe what you need is more downtime. I feel like maybe
if you're missing that sleep and that ability to sort of check out from the
world for a little bit, you need to plan some U time during your
days. As for people who are annoyingly slim and can snack all day,
you have no idea what is happening in their bodies right, none whatsoever.
And you can be skinny fat, you can be thin and have thin legs,
and you can still carry a lot of fistrial fat which is highly inflammatory,
and you can end up diabetic in your fifties and sixties and never have
been overweight. It happens all the time. So again Jen brought up earlier
comparison is a thief of joy. Look at what fasting is giving you.
And then I think I would really ask myself why do you want to eat
and snack all day? What about that seems desirable to you? And kind
of process that because I think you might be surprised at the answer that you
find. What do you think, Jen? Well? I also wanted to
add, you know, I've talked about this before on intermittent fasting stories.
Chad's aunt was always so skinny, super skinny, and she lived on sodas
and candy bars all day long. That's what she did she and I'm not
talking about diet sodas. She drank sugary sodas and can't had candy bars all
day long, and she was skinny as a rail. She ended up with
early onset Alzheimer's much earlier than most people get it. And you know,
we now hear Alzheimer's sometimes referred to as type three diabetes. It's something you
know, happening in insolent resistance of the brain, if you will. And
so you know, it looked like she was quote getting away with it,
but was she No, there were consequences that showed up later, So I
totally get it. Look, I think back to when I was an elementary
school teacher and one of my friends that taught with me on my hall.
She was just beautiful and slim and never had to worry about her weight.
And she would show up with a fast food breakfast and her sweet tea and
be drinking it. And I was like, why can't I be like her?
Well? I could. I couldn't be like her, right, So,
coming to terms with like, like we said, comparison being the thief
of joy, I have to do something different for my body. If I
eat like the way that I ate when I was two hundred and ten pounds,
I'm going to go down the health road that my dad has gone down.
And you know, he became a type two diabetic in the in the
late nineties and he's been living with that ever since. And he was in
his fifties. He was diagnosed as a type two diabetic earlier than the age
that I am now, So I have to remember that, and you know,
I don't. I don't feel the least bit bad skipping eating those snacks
when I realize that I'm setting myself up for better health. So it's that
mindset shift. And I didn't have that at the beginning. I did not.
It took me a while, so I get it. M h.
Yeah. I think somebody suggest to you, Mandy, is really focus on
your why, yeah, and really really look at your non scale victories,
like your health, because nothing is better than good health. It's true.
Oh, when I wanted to talk about sleep really quick, I know we
talked about that earlier, but you might just be adjusting to your natural circadian
rhythm. You said that you can't sleep until late, which makes me think
that you are staying awake later at night. Is that how you interpret that
as well? Yeah, if I were writing the statement about myself, I
would say I can't sleep late because I can't sleep in But it sounds like
she just isn't tired at night, right, right, yep, that's the
way I'm seeing it. But you have a natural circadian rhythm, right.
But also, like think about when you weren't fasting and you know, you
eat and then you get really sleepy and you're laying on the couch and you're
having blood sugar fluctuations and you're like, I remember, at eight o'clock,
i'd want to go to bed. Have you ever seen me go to bed
at eight o'clock in the entire time you've known me. You've got it.
You've got a naturally actually slater to you. Yep, I do. And
now that I don't have these crazy blood sugar fluctuations from eating all day every
day and sleeping better at night, my body naturally doesn't get tired until about
eleven eleven thirty at night, and my body is actually shifted down like I
my body wants to go to bed when the sun goes down. Whenever the
sun is going down, my body's like it is our signal to go to
bed. Now, I don't think it's because of the blood sugar issues for
me, It's just that's what's natural last night, Like for example, Will,
Will is just like me. Last night we were texting and it was
like eight thirty and he's like, I'm getting ready to go get in the
bed. He's twenty four years old, but he wakes up early. He
wakes up early and paints first morning to you. He's wired like me.
And you know, Chad chat is more like me. He's a night owl.
Yep. You know. So we've gotten into the routine of I just
gone to bed. And I used to we would go to bed at the
same time, like I would want to go to bed at nine o'clock.
He would get into the bed with me and then watch TV in the bed
while I was trying to sleep, and he'd be watching hockey or something and
like the flashing lights and the noise and I'd be like, stop, this
is waking me up. So now I just gone to bed. You have
your own body. He stays up and does what he wants to do,
and then I wake up bam when the sun's before the sun's coming up.
Even I pretty much watch the sun rise every day and he sleeps later.
But it's just naturally what our bodies do. You know. We always talk
about listening to your body, and I think sleep is one of those things
as well. Yeah, and I thought of something too while you were talking.
You know, as I don't know how old you are, Mandy,
but as we get older, we don't metabolize caffeine as quickly. It's caffeine,
it's medications, you know. As we get older, our body just
alcohol metabolize things as quickly as they did when we were younger. And I
know, by the time I turned forty, suddenly, you know, I
used to drink diet coke around the clock. I could drink it up until
bedtime when I was in my twenties and early thirties. But when I turned
forty, suddenly I was like, I cannot have caffeine after three PM.
And now I'm kind of like, I don't have caffeine after one pm.
And so I'm wondering if I don't know how much caffeine you, you know,
drink, I don't know if you're an afternoon caffeine drinker, an evening
caffeine drinker even I have to wonder if part of your staying awake later might
just be that your body isn't metabolizing caffeine as quickly as it used to.
And if you really want to go to sleep earlier, if you need to
go to sleep earlier, really take a look at your caffeine consumption afternoon.
Yep, that's a good point as well. All right, now it's time
for our segment called What's Your Why. Most of us begin intermittent fasting with
weight loss in mind, and it is absolutely fine and appropriate for that to
be part of our why. But there is so much more to what intermittent
fasting can do for us beyond weight loss. And in my book twenty eight
day Fast day by day, I asked readers to craft their why statements before
beginning their intermittent fasting lifestyle, because when your why is deeper than weight loss
alone, you're more likely to find long term success and view intermittent fasting as
a lifestyle. So today we have a y from Leila. She wrote and
initially came to Aya for the weight loss. When I started intermittent fasting in
April of twenty nineteen, I weighed almost two hundred and eighty pounds, standing
five foot four, and had deadly imp flammatory blood markers. I was sick,
I was exhausted much of the time, and I would find myself dozing
off at times. On my commute home from work, I was putting food
and food like products in my mouth as soon as my feet hit the floor
in the morning, and I didn't stop until I had that one last snack
on my way to bed. As I had gained and lost over one hundred
pounds twice before in my life, it had given up on myself as it
pertained to weight loss entirely. I have learned so much over the last four
years, and I realized that my why is now so much more than weight
loss. I have a history of dementia and Alzheimer's on both sides of my
family. My paternal grandmother had Alzheimer's disease and was in a nursing home for
twenty five years before she passed, and my own mother is in a nursing
home with severe dementia and has been since she was only sixty years old.
When I reflect on how that came to be, all I see are the
ill effects of poor dietary and lifestyle habits. I love my mom, but
she was introverted, worked over nights, and nourished her body with chemicals lots
of soda, fast food, and ultra processed snacks and quick packaged meals.
While I'm not judging, as those items have their place in a lot of
people's lives, I realized that the combined effects of being sedentary, eating primarily
only ultra processed foods, and not having a sense of community can really set
humans on a deadly crash course. Over the last four years, with intermittent
fasting, I have completely turned my lifestyle on its top. Not only did
I lose over one hundred pounds for the third and final time, but I've
learned an immense amount about what foods nourished me, and I have crafted a
lifestyle I love. I've experimented with every eye of schedule imaginable. I have
done Zoe and I was their first retest subject, and I have went from
an ultra processed person to a primarily whole food plant based person with the occasional
indulgence. I am a daily fitness lover and I love working out in the
faceted stay each morning and right now, I fast anywhere from eighteen to twenty
two hours a day with the occasional down day thrown in. I have a
lot of tools in my toolbox as I have had to tweak many times to
find what works most naturally for me, and can feel myself ready for a
little shift again as I'm struggling with some perimenopausal weight gain. The primary reason
for all of the changes, however, has shifted to health instead of weight
loss, as I have accepted myself and I love my body despite the visible
flaws, and that has been the greatest gift of intermittent fasting of all.
Thank you, Jen and everyone in the community who has laughed, cried and
felt concerned with me along the way. As I've worked through my journey,
there were many times I not had I not had the comfort of your words
and support, that I would have thrown in the towel. And I'm so
glad I'm still here. I consider myself a lifelong learner, and I continue
to listen with curiosity to your podcasts and Tim Spector and the Zoe cru and
I recently re listened Too Fast Feast Repeat again for the fourth time on audible,
as sometimes it helps to just hear your com sense of reason when I
can feel diet brain rearing its ugly head. Thanks again, Layla and Fort
Dodge, Iowa, oh Layla Area. Yes, she was a moderator back
in the delayed on Deny Facebook days. Thank you for all that you did
there, Laila, and I have just loved watching her journey. Yes,
me too. She's really really evolved, and like she said, it hasn't
always been easy. She's had some stumbling blocks and she gets up and dusts
herself off and goes at it again. Yep. Well we have another question,
and this was sent in by Ann. She said, I would like
to hear your thoughts on processed food addiction. I had an appointment with my
primary care nurse practitioner and talked with her about how I spent three years in
a program for process food addictions and I left because after learning about it and
trying to make myself identify as an addict, it just doesn't resonate with me.
So I left there and went back to inter mint fasting. And I
have no issues fasting for up to forty hours on occasion. Mostly I fast
for about eighteen I found when I did fast before COVID, I overfasted through
five day fasts because I had found Jason Fung before you, and I slowed
my metabolism. The nurse practitioner didn't feel like I was an addict because I
am able to fast for over twenty four hours even when I've had sugar or
flour products. I don't eat a lot of processed foods anymore, which I
can credit that old program for helping with. I do feel when I restrict
anything it can cause me to binge. In that program I was in,
the guru said fasting wakes up your fear of famine in the brain and causes
a starvation high, which is where your energy comes from. I never agreed
with this idea, but I accepted it just to stay in the program.
We were not allowed to talk about it, and it was very restrictive,
but the program taught me to fear being hungry and offered SLASH recommended a specific
and very restrictive dialect, similar to many other food addiction programs. It also
recommended of waiding hunger and eating five to six times a day. I personally
feel like fasting has helped me in every way. I no longer fear being
hungry. I have very clear boundaries around fasting and feasting. I'm glad to
be back to it. I feel that I know I am not starving and
I can eat it anytime if I choose. But what are your thoughts on
food addiction and fasting and have you found any science around fasting being helpful for
it? Thank you so much And I love this podcast Fasting and the DDD
community. Yeah, there's a lot to unpack there, And so food a
dicktiontion. See, this is a subject that, like, let's just use
the word food. Every human and animal is addicted to food because we would
die without it. We must eat. So I know I'm not making light
of a serious subject there, but I don't think that we can really call
it food addiction for that reason, just because we must eat to live.
Like alcohol drugs, we don't need alcohol to live. We don't need those,
you know, the illegal drugs that that people become addicted to. Now,
processed foods, sugar, certain types of processed foods. Can they be
addictive? Yes? So, you know, I always have a hard time
talking about food addiction just as an overall blanket kind of a thing, you
know, an addiction. Correct me if I'm wrong, Shry, I'm not
an addiction expert. To me, based on my understanding of addiction, it's
when you're brain is looking for a certain substance that lights up a part of
your brain in a certain way, or gives you some sort of a feeling
in your brain, or some sort of something that your body is seeking.
You're seeking it, seeking it, seeking it in a way that is detrimental.
Yeah, you think that would be kind of like a like a simple
a simple definition of addiction when I just giggle it is. Addiction is defined
as not having control over doing, taking, or using something to the point
where it could be harmful to you. Right, can you use food in
a way that is harmful to you? Yes, absolutely you can. But
unlike things like alcohol addiction, drug addiction, you can't go cold turkey on
food. We have to eat. So I really think when we all dig
down in we're not addicted to just all food. It's just certain things trigger
these types of behaviors in people who are susceptible to it. Like, for
example, sugar is a very common when we hear in our community, and
there are definitely people who cannot moderate when it comes to sugar, right,
the processed version of sugar. And just because I can moderate it doesn't mean
other people can. It's not just a matter of being strong and just like
some people can have a glass of wine and some people can't drink alcohol at
all. So knowing yourself where that's concerned and what your triggers are. You've
probably heard me say it mine cheesy crunchy things. I don't moderate those very
well. Am I addicted to cheesy crunchy things? No, because I can
very easily not have them. It's just when I have them, I have
a difficult time. You don't have moderating witch. Yeah, And maybe we
could think of it that way instead of saying that you have processed food addiction.
Think of it as there are some things I don't have a good off
switch for, and like for me, wine was a thing I didn't have
a good off switch for either because wine interfered with my sensible off switch.
Was I addicted? No, you know, I'm able to not drink and
I'm not, like you know, triggered to want to go have it.
So it's just a matter of understanding yourself. And maybe we don't even need
to give it a label, right, you just say there are some things
I don't have a good off switch. When it comes to it, almost
thoughes like if you say I'm an addict to the process food. It's just
like you said, that didn't feel right to you when you heard it,
Like you said, like you, I just don't feel that doesn't feel right
to me. And I also want to say that just because you can fast
without it doesn't mean that those things are not still a trigger. It's just
knowing if you have it, it's going to be an issue and you're going
to want to keep going with it. That's just something really to know about
yourself. Now. When that person said that fasting wakes up your fear of
famine and causes a starvation high, which is where your energy comes from,
she might be getting confused with katosis and feeling like katosis is I don't know
something to be feared. You know, katosis is a natural metabolic switch.
We are meant to be metabolic flexible. We are meant to be able to
switch fuel sources as needed, and as long as we are not fasting just
to get a fasting high of like restriction, We're not wanting to couple fasting
with over restriction. So I think that's really important. Like when you were
talking about before that you did five day fasts, that would be over restriction
you know, you don't want to do that, So it's balancing, you
know, it's figuring out what makes you feel good. You're fasting in a
way that is healing, and then you're nourishing your body well during your you're
eating time during your feast. So it's it's finding the balance. You know,
you don't want to have five day fast and then you're you're balancing that
with a binge cycle that would not be healthy. But when you're in a
cycle of healing fast that feels good, eating window that nourishes your body well,
that feels good, Choosing foods that you haven't off switched for that feels
good, And it's figuring out what that looks like for you. You know,
you said that what you're doing right now feels good to you. You're
not starving, you can eat anytime that you choose. You know, as
far as you know quote science surrounding fasting being helpful for you know any of
these things. Really what matters is your your own personal study of one.
Honestly, you know, we tend to rely on science and the science.
I said that, like Bill Na, did you ever watch Bill Na Science?
And you know, I think back to Christopher Gardner's research. He's somebody
who's featured. He's part of the Zoe team, and he's done research on
all different sorts of eating protocols, like for example, he's compared low carb
to low fat and he finds, no matter what you research, there are
people who respond really, really well to that intervention and somebody else responds very
poorly to that same intervention. There are people who lost a tremendous amount of
weight in each arm of the study, whereas there are people who gained weight
in each arm of the study. But then when they report the science,
what they do is they find the average and report that is if that's like
what happened. But really nobody's average. People are on each extreme. I
mean, there might be somebody in the middle who's average, but most people
fall somewhere else along the way. So instead of looking to you know,
the science, look to yourself, what are you feeling, what feels good
to you, what foods make you feel satisfied, and look for the answers
within, because that's really where they are. You know, you could use
Christopher Gardner's research study to show there was not really a lot of difference between
low fat and low carb when you look at the big picture, but when
you break it down to the individual level, there was a great deal of
difference from person to person within that study, So just keep that in mind.
I think too, like I was reading this and she said that this
program recommended a specific and very restrictive diet. Now, I think a lot
of this is going to come down to knowing yourself. And I don't know
if you're familiar with the whole abstainer or moderator. There are some quizzes you
can take online. I am definitely a moderator. That is my personality type.
If you tell me I can't eat something, I'm going to hyper focus
on it. I'm going to spend so much energy thinking about it, and
then I'm going to eventually cave in because I'm human, And then what am
I going to do. I'm going to feel like I failed. I'm gonna
just throw out my hands and say, oh, I might as well eat
it all because I've already ruined it. I'm not perfect, and so moderation
to me feels right for me. And so I think just knowing that if
you tell me, I'm gonna put you on a very restrictive diet. I
would instantly rebel. I would not be happy. I wouldn't feel mentally satisfied
with somebody like telling me exactly what I can and cannot eat. I need
personal freedom, that's me. If you find that you're an abstainer and you
find that you don't have an op switch with sugar or doritos or whatever it
may be, and when you start eating them you can't stop, then you
may need to just not eat those things, right, because you know that
about you. I like, I don't feel like you have to be angry
about it or mad about it, or feel like you're a failure, or
feel like you're flawed. That's just the way you're wired. We're all wired
differently. Yep. And so yeah, this this idea that we can't ever
be hungry because we will just lose all control. That is not what we
see with intermittent fasters. We see the opposite at all. You know,
we are meant to be metabolically flexible. Very few people are. They just
run on sugar all the time, and then when your body starts to run
out of your you know, readily available sugar, it prompts you to eat
again and then you eat and you just continue the cycle. Right, But
we over time become metabolic, a flexible. We're able to switch back and
forth from burning sugar to burning fat, so our bodies don't feel like they're
in some famine where when we eat, we have to eat it all.
Now, we noticed this in the first month when people are like adapting to
fasting. Yes, they do experience that. But when you settle in and
you allow your body to get fat adapted in your patient and you settle into
a fasting lifestyle, that is not what we see. We do not see
people binging as a result of fasting, you know, twenty four to thirty
six hours. Now, there are people who do try to settle into adf
and that does really trigger that sort of like I can't have it mindset,
and they do feel like they tend to go into a binge cycle after they
fast. But that's about knowing yourself, right, and if that is how
you feel now, I'm going to say don't try it one time and then
say, oh, I ate too much because you are going to eat significantly
more on an update then you would eat on a regular eating window day.
And that's that's what we want so don't try it once and think, oh,
that was a failure. I ate so much. I ate all day.
Give your body a little time to settle into the rhythm. You know.
If you find that it's not for you, or you just can't stop
thinking about the all day fast or whatever it is and it doesn't feel right
to you, don't do it. That's why there's a bazillion different fasting protocols.
But yeah, I don't know food it. I think I don't know
what this program is. Do you know what the program addiction? I think
it's do you know what program she's talking about? I think it could possibly?
Can I say it? Yeah? Say it? Is it? Bright
line? That's what I was thinking, brightline eating? Yeah. And again,
this is an example of a program that was written the person that wrote
it. This is what she needed to do. She couldn't have sugar and
flour, and and so she's like, here's a program for everybody knows sugar
and flour. And there are people that that really it, like completely,
it helped her. It helped her, and there are yep, and there
are people who absolutely find that if they don't have sugar and flour, that
just turns off all their overeating behaviors and they feel bad. You know,
I'm not one of those people. I can do great with flour, and
I don't tend to be somebody who goes for the sugar. If I have
some delicious ice cream, I will overreat that, But it's the dairy.
I think we're so than the sugar. But it's just a matter of you
know, if if something someone says in a book doesn't seem true for you,
then don't apply it to you. Because that's what she needed. The
author of that book found this was what exactly worked for her and turned off
the overeating in her brain. And she also found that she needed to eat.
You know, whatever she does small mules, plant them out. That's
what works for her. And there will be people that that is what works
for them, but it's not going to be like a universal everybody needs to
do that. Do you know how long I would do that totally? Three
days? Three days? Do I think? Maybe three days? And then
I'd be like, this is for the birds. I can't do this.
Miserable, but I know people who have thrived on this program. But I
just throw bread away because I didn't eat it all. Because but I'm not.
I don't. It doesn't call to me. But have I ever thrown
away doritoes? Know that we throw them more we when the bag's empty.
So it's just knowing yourself. Yeah, I think that's really what it comes
out to. And I think, you know, just like bio in visuality
with foods and you know how your body responds to foods and whatever, the
psychological component is there too, Like we are all different. We're shaped by
our experiences, by our history and just how we are biologically wired. And
you can't you can't discount that, and you can't lump us all into a
box. Well, before we get to our tweek of the week, I
just want to take a minute to tell you about Beauty Counter and how it's
really benefited me. First of all, clean beauty and skinning car products,
they're just important to me. The more I learned about the body's detox pathways
forever chemicals and indocrine disruptors, the higher priority it became to use clean skincare
products. I've always understood the importance and I started my journey into clean beauty
way back in twenty ten. But finding clean skincare products that actually worked as
advertised treated my skincare concerns and didn't cause me to have reaction to them.
Was a challenge. I introduced Beauty Counter to my Life in the fall of
twenty twenty, and I've never looked back. During the pandemic, while others
were complaining about breakouts from their masks, my skin was continuing to approve in
its texture and appearance, and I never had the dreaded masknee. I have
long been interested in skincare. My mom was a cosmetologist. She got me
interested in beauty when I was very young, and I've always loved beauty enhancing
makeup routines while helping women feel more comfortable in their skin. I was a
rep for a different skincare company way back in the early two thousands in my
twenties. This is just an area that feels overwhelming to many, though,
and I want to help. I think it's important to feel beautiful anytime you
leave the house, and of a great skincare and makeup line. Does that
for you that I want to share and help you on your journey. I
recently went for a facial and my esthetician was very impressed with my skin.
She hardly had to do any work at all, and she asked me what
I used, and her advice was to keep doing what I'm doing, and
she only suggested exfoliating a little bit more. And that is a piece of
my skincare retina I often forget because it's not a daily occurrence. So now
I am habit stacking that and I do it when I change my estrogen patch
twice a week. So if you want to make the switch to clean beauty,
I would really love to help you get started. Visit beautycounter dot com
slash Sherry Bullock that is Shary with one R s h E ri I b
u l ock or email me at charyot fastpeasrepeat dot com and I am happy
to get you started. Yep. I love Beautycounter. And now it's time
for our tweak of the week. You know, I always say tweak it
till it's easy, But the tweak that works for me might not be the
one that works for you. That's why it's super helpful to hear how other
intermittent fasters are making intermittent fasting work for them. This tweak was submitted by
Sandy from Suffolk in the UK. Sandy says I found that Having my feast
window between two thirty pm to eight thirty pm works best for me, and
it stops me from snacking very late into the night. Also, getting to
bed and getting to sleep at the latest by eleven pm ish does help in
making the fasting time go quicker. Do you know what tweak I have made
recently? What is that? Well, you know I've always kept kind of
a late window. Yeah, but I guess it's just when I wake up
in my fast, I would wake up hungry because I would wake up at
about fourteen hours into my fast, which is my hungry time, and I
would always wake up and say, I'm hungry this morning. Now that does
not mean I need to eat, but I would just feel the hunger and
I would verbalize that. And my husband always was like, would you want
me to make you breakfast? And I'm like, no, I don't eat
breakfast. But my husband doesn't like to see me unhappy, so he constantly
kept asking me, do you want to eat breakfast? Do you eat breakfast?
And so I don't know. A couple of weeks ago, for whatever
reason, I decided to shift my window and I get busy in the evening.
My evenings are my busiest time of the day. I don't ask you
why, and then I end up like trying to slam my window closed at
the end. And I was always going to bed hungry because I really don't
think I was eating enough in my window just because I'm okay, So I
started opening my window earlier in the day and closing it no later than six.
I do not go to bed hungry because I think I'm a sufficiently.
Yes, I'm eating sufficiently in my window. And I also don't wake up
hungry anymore. And my faster's like super easy now, okay, just like
hard time is now while you're sleeping three hours earlier. Wow. I used
to close it around eight. Now I'm closing it like between four point thirty
and six, just depending on when I get full. And it's working for
me. I mean, like I would have never thought an earlier window would
work for me, but it is. I love that. So see,
it's never too late to change, tweak it till it's easy, even if
you're schary. Yeah, yeah, love it. Well. We'd love to
leave you with inspirational, motivational messages, and this week we have a message
for Marla. It is titled one year in she wrote, after one year
of fasting and twenty nine pounds lighter, I have determined this is my way
of life forever. At sixty seven, with a lifetime of weight issues,
I have found what works for me. Thank you Jin for educating us and
providing a safe, encouraging community for us to share our struggles and triumphs.
I was a rip the band aid off girl. I started with an eighteen
to twenty hour fast and yesterday it was seventy teen hours. Because I have
learned to listen to my body, I have figured out that sometimes when I
close my eating window with the wrong foods, I have an issue making it
to the eighteen to twenty mark. But I have also learned during this journey
it is not making it. If not making it to eighteen to twenty,
it's not a failure, it's just a day. I no longer beat myself
up when I have those days. I love just being able to adjust my
window to accommodate life. I've even managed to do black coffee with the help
of a little pink salt. Who would have thought. I do still have
another ten to fifteen pounds I would like to lose, but the number all
depends on when I feel the best. My diet brain has moved on.
If there's one piece of advice I could share to someone starting out, it
would probably be stop beating yourself up. Give you and your body the time
to succeed, and you will probably find that beating yourself up is negatively affecting
your ability to succeed. Fast, feast, repeat, enjoy your day,
and celebrate your life. You know what I love when she said that if
she has a day that doesn't go according to plan, it's not a failure,
it's just a day. Yep. I love us today. I love
that. Thanks so much for listening today. We would love to have you
join us in the Delayed on Tonight community, where you can interact with both
me and Sherry, plus the most supportive bunch of intermittent fasters you'll find anywhere.
Go to Jenstevens dot com slash community to join us. Don't forget to
subscribe to this podcast to your favorite podcast app, and if you haven't already,
please leave us a five star review that helps new listeners find the show,
and we really appreciate it. We are a community driven podcast, so
to submit your success stories, your questions, your favorite tweak it till It's
Easy moments, or anything else you want us to share on the podcast.
Go to Fast Feast Repeat dot com slash submit and then listen each week to
see if we share your submission. Answer your question until next week. Thanks
for listening.