I have been intermittent fasting for a few years now and I wanted to tell you how I knew I needed to eat this way from now on once I tried it.
I am a volume eater and emotional eater. Which means I personally don’t like eating lots of small meals throughout the day. I enjoy eating a decent sized plate til I feel full, and I have a history of overeating sweets and junky foods when I get triggered emotionally. Stressed? Eat a sleeve and a half (or until you feel sick to your stomach) of chewy chips ahoy in secret. Worried? Eat half a gallon of ice cream with a full bag of M&Ms and Reeses pieces on top, with a handful of dill pickles for when it gets too sweet and you crave salt.
That was one of the reasons I started really considering intermittent fasting when I heard about it.
The other reason was related to the gut health probs I’d had since childhood and it was only getting worse. Google “irritable bowel syndrome” and “spastic colon” and you’ll get what I’m saying. I experienced all the pains and bathroom episodes you read about starting from about the age of 13years old. It was still an issue through college, getting married, having babies. All of it. The Doctor said it’s related to stress and diet, so I changed my job and sleeping schedule, eliminated acidic foods and took medicines when I still had episodes. Nothing changed! I was managing it but not healing from it.
When I started the nutrition and fitness programs I do now, everything started to change. IBS Symptoms started to reverse. I started researching to find out how I had finally done what I’d been trying to do for years, and I was surprised to discover that basically it was just because of how I’d learned to eat on my simple quest to lose weight and keep it off (I had gained a bunch of weight from stress eating over the years and wanted to learn how to do it without starving or calorie counting).
So, I’d kinda accomplished reversing my gut health and controlling my eating urges by accident!
While I reading more and more about intermittent fasting, I also learned that it was so beneficial for helping heal the gut and keep my problems away , but also for fat loss, blood sugar problems, and energy problems, that I decided to give it a try. And it’s completely proven true for my life.
Yes, I was scared of being hungry. But I can tell you I wake up in the morning perfectly fine and not hungry! I workout fasted every morning and I teach my fitness classes fasted … I feel awesome. No joke. Im not exaggerating. And then when I “break” my fast to eat my first meal of the day, it’s a substantial meal, so I feel full and satisfied. Which has helped with that volume eating and overeating issue.
So, I’m telling you this so that if you’ve been a little curious about it or know someone who has experienced any of the problems I was having, to tell you it’s not a hoax or gimmick to be afraid of. Try it for yourself and see! And if you need a little guidance… I’m here to help.
Angel Ballance 