For the 2018 New Year, I continued to focus on being a happier, healthier, more passionate person. This was the first year that I didn’t even bother trying to lose weight or making a New Year’s resolution, which was quite liberating. I continued to attend my HIIT class 2-3 times a week, and was in the second semester of my Master’s Program, and was scheduled to train at a national conference in May, and had two out of three of my kids in school, so life was pretty darn good…and extremely busy!
One day I was scrolling through the Amazon Prime documentary selection and stumbled into a documentary titled, “The Science of Fasting.” I was intrigued and figured I’d give it a try. I must admit that I was shocked to hear some of the claims being made about the benefits of fasting. Doctors in other countries were using fasting to treat certain diseases and cancer? The negative side effects of chemotherapy were lessened in patients who fasted? And wait – fasting didn’t slow the metabolism or result in extreme muscle loss?
As intriguing as the documentary was, I brushed it aside and tried to forget about it. At this point in my life, there was no way that I could “fast” or drink nothing but juice and bone broth all day. In fact, I had heard about “intermittent fasting” and “calorie restriction” a few years before, but failed miserably when I tried the plans that were popular at the time: Eat Stop Eat and the “5:2 Diet.” I couldn’t even last two days! I had decided that I was NOT going to put myself through another anguishing diet again. Besides, most of the people featured in “The Science of Fasting” documentary were patients with chronic or serious illnesses, who used fasting as a last resort. Not 30-something year old mothers who wanted to lose a few pounds. I told myself, “Lex, don’t even think about it.” And I listened.
After watching that obscure documentary though, I started noticing the term “fasting” and “intermittent fasting” everywhere. Apparently, Ronda Rousey intermittent fasted during her UFC days. And even body builders, marathon runners, and former NFL players claimed to use intermittent fasting for optimal health and athletic gains. Before I could get excited about another new dieting venture though, I told myself to snap out of it. Intermittent fasting was just a fad that became popular with the whole paleo/caveman diet craze and would only lead to more yo-yo dieting. I had already promised myself that I was through with dieting and punishing my body by restricting food. And what could be more restrictive than fasting?
