Intermittent Fasting

Here I was, on a six month sabbatical to follow the path of my deepest desire. After many agonising years, I had discovered what really resonated with me and after months of thinking, I had decided to give this dream a real shot.

So, what was my dream?

“To live a fulfilling, healthy life free from sickness and aches & pains; to make my self-practices my work and to make a difference in a deep meaningful way.”

For starters I was going to work on my own physical health and learn naturopathy, an ancient system of drugless treatment that believes in the body’s innate ability to heal.

I had already started a 3 year diploma course in naturopathy and was learning about the five elements that make up the human body and everything around us: Space or Ether, Air, Fire, Earth, Water. Naturopathy has treatments aligned to each of these elements. The elements, I learned, have a hierarchy too, with Space topping the charts. Fasting is one of the treatment that naturopathy prescribes to increase space in your body, thereby increasing the body’s inherent healing energy. I decided it was time to do some fasting!

I made some unsuccessful initial attempts trying to fast for a day or two on just lemon water and sometimes buttermilk, but found it very difficult. When I broke the fast, I often found myself bingeing.

Then on July 1st 2019, I decided that I would try intermittent fasting. I’d heard of others who’d done it and also read about its wonderful effects online. So there I was…. Eating from 9 am to 5 pm and then fasting for about 14-15 hours daily.

The beginning of my intermittent fasting

My first week was tough: I found myself struggling with hunger late at night. I did not allow myself to drink anything other than plain water post 5 pm. I know a lot of people drink tea or coffee, but that never made sense to me. I was trying to remove toxins from my system not make it more acidic.

Post week 1, some results started emerging. I felt lighter, more energised and the chronic hip pain that I had come to live with, started going away.

‘This is great,’ I thought. The entire first month went by quickly. I lost 2 kg of weight, felt energised so was exercising more and everyone around me was impressed with me for my steely resolve. I felt more encouraged to eliminate things that didn’t suit me. I got rid of milk completely and switched to lemon tea (a concoction of 1 full lemon, 2 tsp. jaggery, a pinch of pink sea salt, some fresh ginger and 1 full cup hot water). My hunger was very controlled, so much so I didn’t feel like eating post the afternoon meal, only drinking my lemon tea at around 5 pm. I also prided myself on how good my food habits were getting: I ate more fruits, hardly ever ate any junk and always had a big tasty lunch.

I was looking forward to constant improvements from here on!

Progression

It was in month two that the downward spiral started. At first it was just fatigue. I started feeling tired a lot more quickly, often skipping my evening swim, something I have always loved. Sleep disturbances became a reality and coupled with fatigue meant I was napping during the day often. I blamed it on adjusting to my new life. I wasn’t going to work anymore or earning a salary; it was natural to get worried, I told myself.

Towards the middle of the second month, I had scheduled myself on a 10 day Vipassana retreat. Having done it once before, I was tagged an old student, which meant NO food post 11:30 am (which was their lunch time) till 6:30 am the next morning (that’s almost 18 hours of fasting). Having already fasted for 1 month, the food restrictions didn’t bother me at all. In fact I thought the routine was even better: I ate the breakfast and lunch very well and did not indulge in any snacking, something that I was doing in my first 1 month at home.

I got back exhausted. Vipassana does take its toll and I took a few days to adjust back to city life.

I went back to exercising, scheduling a long bike ride with a dear friend. All my muscles ached, but we enjoyed the sweat and exercise. I came back and gorged on some great breakfast. I had a throbbing headache and drank almost two cups of coffee that day (surprising for someone who is not a coffee drinker). On that that day, I craved coffee!

The next two days were filled with sheer exhaustion. I had headaches, muscle pain and a strange burning at the bottom of my feet (all signs of nutrient deficiencies, I was later to learn). I ate more fruits, drank lots of water, but persisted with my intermittent fasting.

The biker friend was getting increasing worried and asking me to stop. When I told her about losing hunger, she once laughingly said it was “like being anorexic “. You starve your body so much that it starts despising even the idea of food. I ignored the comment!

Honestly, the reason I didn’t stop was because I didn’t know how to: I had started on something but hadn’t the faintest idea how to come out of it. I felt like Abhimanyu from the Mahabharata trapped inside a Chakravyuh!

The end of my intermittent fasting

At the end of month two I was scheduled to travel to a naturopathy hospital in Pune, to put myself under their treatment for 15 days. It was my way of learning while experiencing, and I had made the booking almost 3 months back.

So I arrived in Pune on August 20th, feeling weak with headaches and a very poor digestion. Yes my digestion had slowed down considerably in the week after Vipassana. The naturopathy hospital followed a strict routine of yoga, treatment, and natural diet. Two days into it and I went rushing to the doctor saying something was terribly wrong and we agreed to do a blood test.

The blood test showed I had severe anaemia (my haemoglobin count was 8.8) with some serious B12 and Vitamin D deficiencies! Now, I am no stranger to these deficiencies, having encountered them a year previously when I was overdoing my exercising and neglecting my diet.

The doctors at the hospital immediately tweaked my food. I was to drink more nutritious juices: carrots, pomegranate, and sweet lime (all 3 are good for anaemia); extra salt was added to my diet to balance my low BP; and a breakfast alternating between sprouts and ragi (finger millet) was made mandatory. Over the course of the next 10 days, I slowly but steadily improved.

My intermittent fasting experience lasted for a total of 50 days, during which time yes, I lost about 3 kg of weight, but also a great deal of my vitality. The original intent was defeated since I didn’t do it right.

If I did intermittent fasting again?

Be very careful about the two meals that I eat. It needs to be energy-rich: Ragi (finger millet), sprouts, fruits and veggies (things that I avoided on days I was eating outside or merely tasty food). Ensure food diversity. I will make sure to add buttermilk to the meal since I tend to have a weak digestion and a bit of acidity

Drink liquids during the14 or 16 hours of fasting. And NO NOT coffee or tea, but seasonal fruit juices or lemon honey water. I did find drinking 200ml ash gourd juice (white petha) next day early morning helpful. It’s a bland alkaline drink and very simple to make (peel the outside, remove the inner layer of seeds and put it into a juicer. If using a blender blend with 50 ml water and sieve through a muslin cloth). Vegetable juices are best taken empty stomach in the morning.

For you

If you are a woman and above 30, do get your vitamin and mineral levels tested before embarking on any kind of fasting. I have learned from experience and from others now that women are more likely to experience imbalances.
Plan for your fast, so you have fruits and veggies at hand.
If you experience loss of energy for more than 3 days at a stretch (post week 1), then something is not right. Become very aware and don’t ignore it!
Learn from someone how to come out of the fasting. Trust me, it is even more necessary than going on a fast. Your system is most sensitive post a fast and you need to nurture it back gently. Bingeing, eating very heavy foods immediately will damage it more than your realise.