How to accidentally fast. Take a brisk early morning walk in 21 degree weather to the subway for a morning flight. Arrive ahead of everyone else and visit a museum. Be slightly germaphobic and overly cautious so that you eat nothing until you meet the rest of your party at the hotel at 6:00. Voila, an accidental fast. The thing is, I felt great, none of the usual travel digestion issues. For the rest of my stay, it was easy to not eat between 6:00 pm and 8:00 am. I was not hungry, nothing felt extreme, it was just family week as a tourist in DC. Hence, a week of what they are calling intermittent fasting.1
I hadn’t given fasting much thought. I subscribed to eating through out the day and snacks. I’m not on some weight loss journey. For me, and the last couple of weeks, I feel great not eating between 6:00 pm and 8:00 am. Not to worry, I have high calorie meals. A couple fried heirloom eggs and buttered toast or my new favorite Ben & Jerry’s Bossin’ Cream Pie Ice Cream. I will eat an entire pint, in one sitting.
Since I stumbled into this I wasn’t aware of the alleged “benefits,” so, there was no placebo effect. I just noticed I felt great and made the connection later. To test my theory, once back home, I did a couple of days of old mode, small meals through out the day. Digestive issues are back. The last couple of days, back to nothing between 6:00 pm and 8:00 am, sleep, energy levels, all great, blood pressure way down. As we lift off into 2025, maybe it’s time to reflect on changes and transitions. Have you slid into detrimental patterns or stumbled onto beneficial habits. Consider how you feel, how you want to feel and what adjustments to make.
1Intermittent fasting is an eating pattern that involves alternating between periods of eating and fasting.
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