Intermittent fasting

This makes the second time since the first of the year that I’ve written about fasting in this column! ( “The Fast, Jan 9, 2019). What’s going on??? A couple things. The January column focused on the spiritual side of fasting and had virtually nothing to do with weight loss. In fact, a quote from that column says: ” ….losing weight is definitely NOT the emphasis!”

Well, this week I do want to put the emphasis on weight loss. For several months my wife and I have felt the need to shed a few pounds. She lost 25 pounds last year in a very strict reduced calorie diet but has since gained some of it back; I failed about 18 months ago and I’m embarrassed to admit it but there, I just did!

So what’s a senior to do about this dilemma, just say “The heck with it” and carry that extra weight for the rest of our lives, compromise our health and reduce our quality of life? That’s one approach, but we wanted to try something different. The question is what?

As we looked around us, two of my sons and one daughter-in-law are having success with intermittent fasting. But the clincher was when I went to our family doctor last week and saw him looking noticeably slimmer, maybe forty pounds worth! I asked him what he was doing and he gladly elaborated on his intermittent fasting program. In fact, he said he had done a good bit of research on it and wound up recommending a book called “The Obesity Code” by Canadian Nephrologist (Kidney specialist), Dr. Jason Fung. I immediately ordered the book on my smart phone when the doctor stepped out of the room. And would you believe that the UPS driver just delivered it as I’m writing this paragraph Monday morning? How did we get along without Amazon?

What’s a kidney specialist have to do with weight loss? Great question. Apparently Dr. Fung came to the conclusion that Type II Diabetes was a root cause of kidney disease and that obesity was a root cause of Type II diabetes. So, if he wanted to really affect his patients in a positive way he needed to treat the root cause of their problems, not just the symptoms.

So what is “Intermittent fasting” anyway? Basically, its limiting the timeframe of your food intake during the day to eight hours, say 10 AM to 6 PM. The other sixteen hours, from 6 PM to 10 AM, you’re fasting. And of course, you break the fast, with a late “Breakfast” which is exactly where the name of our first meal of the day comes from.

Why this timing? Apparently, denying the body food for that length of time allows the body to access the fat in the body not just the sugar which is the body’s first choice.

How’s it working? My wife and I didn’t wait for the book to come before we started…..this is already day three, but obviously too soon to tell. But I do commit to give you an update in a week or two to let you know how it’s going.

I do know this though. It’s 10:53 AM and I’m ready for that “Breakfast” !

Thanks for reading All About Seniors….. see you next week!

Bill Milby is a Director of Visiting Angels® of Central Georgia, a non-medical, living assistance service for seniors. If you have questions or comments about this column you can reach him at william.mercylink@gmail.com or search for us at https://www.facebook.com/VisitingAngelsofCentralGA/