Q&A

A: If you’re having trouble figuring out the beginning of your fasting window, remember that you determine when you start and stop eating. The second you start eating, you’re in your eating window and you are considered to be in the fed state. The minute you stop eating is when you have ended your eating window and the fasting window begins.

A: I’m sorry, but my aunt is 89lbs and she is never worried if she’s getting enough calories! You’re not going to ruin your metabolism by eating one meal a day; that’s a myth. You need to get this sort of thinking out of your mind. You are NOT overweight because you didn’t eat enough calories. Let’s be real honest with ourselves. That excuse is ludicrous and it came from the diet industry. You are eating when you’re hungry and eating until you’re satisfied even when you’re doing one meal a day. You can’t think in a way that you need to get stuffed. You’re eating until you’re full, not until you’re stuffed. That is very, very important.

A: You absolutely can keep a vegan diet with this plan. You can do whatever you want as long as you are following the principles of fasting, never overeating and only eating when you’re hungry. If you’re trying to do 80% paleo like me, then you’re going to have to eat a lot more veggies and avocados and fats and stuff like that. I believe God calls different people to different things. If you want to be vegan, I’m 100% on board with that. I believe the Bible is saying eat whatever you want. If you feel like God is calling you to not eat meat, who am I to say to eat meat? You have to decide what is best for you. I believe that eating meat and avoiding a whole lot of dairy and gluten is the best thing for my body.

A: I learned about something recently called the “whoosh effect” that explains why you don’t always see a consistent change in your weight everyday while you’re burning fat. Because of the law of thermodynamics, burning more calories than you consume results in weight loss as your body gets the energy it needs from your fat reserves. This isn’t a theory; it's actual physics. If you don’t give your body food, it has to use the fat in your body. So, you may wonder why you can go a whole week and not lose weight when you know you were burning fat. That’s where the “whoosh effect” comes in. It has to do with water retention. The idea is that your fact cells become filled with water as you’re burning fat. Because of this, the scale doesn’t change even though you did in fact burn fat. But once your body finally drops that water (maybe a week or two later or more depending on the person) you lose a bunch of weight at once. That’s called the “whoosh effect.” Get it? It’s like the sound of your pounds being flushed down the toilet. It’s not that you actually lost that many pounds overnight. It’s that your weight loss finally “caught up” with your fat loss. I lost no weight at all during my first two weeks of doing this plan. My third week I lost 6lbs and my fourth week I lost four. WHOOSH! I lost all this weight! That’s why I don’t like getting on the scale every day. You’re getting yourself worked up for no reason. Here’s what I suggest as a better way to measure your weight loss: get a pair of pants that you don’t ever wash or dry and try them on regularly to see how you’re progressing. I prefer this method even to measuring your inches with measuring tape because even then you have to be sure to measure the same exact spot and pull the tape just right every time to be accurate.

A: The 80/20 is important. It’s 100% clean eating that I don’t recommend. Yesterday, I had nothing but grilled veggies, grilled shrimp, and salad. However, I ate large volume of food and I ate so clean because I was surrounded by people who were eating that way too. I really wanted a potato and pasta and I should have gotten that. I could have done that and only eaten a few bites. Instead I tried to do 100% and ended up feeling deprived. So, when I got home I went a half hour over my eating window and ate a bite of pudding and ten mini peanut butter Ritz crackers. That was a mini-binge for me. When I try to be perfect with my eating I get in a bad place and lose a control a little bit. When I eat what I want in the 80/20 system, it doesn’t affect my body negatively. You want to make clean choices, but you don’t want to overdo it. Remember that not overeating is the #1 thing.

A: If your car doesn’t need gas, you don’t put gas in it. If your bill isn’t due, you don’t pay money on it. I believe the same principle should apply to our bodies. I get the premise of trying to avoid binging, and, honestly, the first couple of weeks of intermittent fasting you probably will overeat some. However, you will adjust.

A: The crazy thing is intermittent fasting will actually help regulate your blood sugar. If you hang in there, you’ll notice it gets better. So, if you come into this having blood sugar issues you’ll need to do a good job of gradually weaning yourself off of a long eating window. You may have to start with a 12 hour eating window, then step it down to 11, then 10, and so on. I had low blood sugar as well, so I absolutely understand what it’s like. Intermittent fasting’s effect on blood sugar is really fascinating. One of the biggest benefits of intermittent fasting is the positive effects it has on blood sugar. Keeping insulin from being introduced to your system for 18-24 hours helps you burn fat and keep your weight down. Always check with your doctor before you start a new diet, but I’ve learned that much of the time people don’t experience low blood sugar as often as they think. Sometimes people are just fatigued and it’s because of something other than low blood sugar. My blood sugar is more stable now than it was when I was eating foods with a low glycemic index.

A: That claim about 5-6 meals a day is a myth. Your metabolic rate is not based on how many meals you eat. It’s based on what type of foods you eat, your digestive health, how much you exercise, and what body type you have. For example, if I eat 6 meals of pancakes and fast food burgers, I’m not going to have a six pack. Intermittent fasting is not bad for your metabolism. Intermittent fasting has gotten me results while eating 5-6 meals a day in the past hasn’t.

A: Having your eating window at the same time everyday won’t really affect your metabolism. The length of the window has a greater effect. You can mix up the length of your eating windows each week to keep your metabolism from getting used to a pattern. For example, one week you might alternate each day between six and eight hour eating windows. The next week you might throw in three Big Power Fasts. Your body does adapt to changes quickly, so mixing up the length of your eating windows is a good idea.

A: Yes! Just make sure you are in your eating window. Everything that you consume, whether it is eating or drinking, that has calories needs to be consumed in this window. If your goals are weight loss, you will want to focus on wines that have lower sugar content and are organic. The best low calorie go to is liquor mixed with soda water, or other zero calorie beverages.

There is definitely a buzz going around about going gluten free these days! I tell people all the time that no foods should be off limits, UNLESS they negatively affect my body. As for me, I know that when I am only eating gluten in the 20 of my 80/20, my thyroid is going to trying to heal my thyroid, I cut gluten out completely, and went 100% Paleo. Is this sustainable? No, but I recommend people with Thyroid issues doing this for a limited time until they see improvement. Again, I eat gluten now, but it will be included in the 20% of my diet that I am not eating clean. Because of my thyroid issues, I feel better when I’ve cut out gluten, but I know that is not sustainable for the rest of my life, and I don’t like to ever feel deprived.

Most doctors would agree that it is good for people with thyroid issues to eliminate or cut back on gluten. Although there are many factors involved in Hashimoto’s (which I was diagnosed with) and other autoimmune and thyroid-related conditions, going gluten-free can provide a huge benefit.

Unfortunately, the evidence that those with Hashimoto’s benefit from a gluten-free diet is, so far, anecdotal. That doesn’t mean that it’s not true, just that it hasn’t yet been confirmed with science, or atleast any studies that I can find.

My advice would be to try cutting it out for a short amount of time, and see how you feel! I am all about listening to your body!

A: I compiled my top 10 Symptoms that I have noticed in myself and in others that I talk to.

1.  TIRED ALL THE TIME, even if you slept all night.

2.  Mood swings, depression or anxiety.

3.  Pain in the muscles and joints

4.  Being cold ALL the time, esp in your feet and hands.

5.  Weight gain, or being unable to lose weight.

6.  General hormonal issues- irregular periods, TERRIBLE PMS, low sex drive, and sadly, sometimes infertility

7.  Dry skin and hair, brittle nails

8.  Swelling in the neck

9.  Forgetfulness, haziness, or general brain fog

10.Constipation

Those are the big things to look out for, but a lot of these symptoms can be the sign of something else as well, so I think it’s a great idea to check your thyroid at home. I recently purchased a Basal Body Temperature Thermometer. A lot of women use these when they are trying to get pregnant and are tracking their ovulation. They are more sensitive than a regular thermometer and allow you to track more closely.

A: A lot of people have complained of things like anxiety and irregular heart rate while on Synthroid.

Some people also claim that Synthroid may actually worsen your condition, as the synthetic T4 may compete with your body's natural T4 for cellular receptor sites.

I personally HATE taking medication of any kind, and hated that every time I went to the Doctor, he was upping my dose of Synthroid.

I love that you are looking into a healthy alternatives, just like I was! In a previous podcast, I went deep on how I got myself off of Synthroid using Intermittent Fasting and a paleo diet.

As for Armour Thyroid, I haven’t used this personally, but from what I understand, It is a natural product made from animal thyroid glands (usually a pig's). It replaces or provides more T3 and T4 hormones.

When I did some research online, I found a lot of people still complaining of negative side effects still relating to their heartbeat, anxiety, periods, etc.

Even though it is more natural than Synthroid and is natural, it is still a drug and in my opinion is still going to have some sort of side effect. I would recommend you give the Paleo diet a try if you are looking for the most natural way to get off those drugs, and definitely check out the podcast I did about this!

A: So you’re your thyroid produces T3 and T4…a lot of people think that the TSH is a thyroid hormone, but it is ACTUALLY a pituitary hormone. TSH is your body’s gauge, or thermometer for the amount of thyroid hormones you have.  A lot of people also assume when their T3 and T4 are low that their TSH is also low, but the OPPOSITE is actually true. There is actually an INVERSE relationship between T3, T4, and TSH. So If your T3 and T4 are high, TSH will go down. And if your TSH is high, T3 and T4 will go down.  So if your pituitary gland senses that your Thyroid Hormones are low or high, it will send out TSH to help regulate it.   It’s actually pretty cool how these two types or hormones work together!

A: Yes, this absolutely has to do with your thyroid, because your thyroid issues will make you constipated! This is one of my least favorite symptoms of my thyroid issues!

Constipation is a classic sign of hypothyroidism. Without enough thyroid hormone, many of the body’s functions slow down, and your digestive track is one of them, as it can weaken the contraction of the muscles lining the tract.

Sometimes when I am really struggling and need to go, I will take a fiber drink like Metamucil which helps me. Coffee with coconut oil also helps me get moving, and of course, you will want to make sure you are drinking plenty of water.

A: This is such a great question! There are so many people walking around with a thyroid problem but its secondary, or caused by  something else.

The liver and thyroid work closely together since the liver converts thyroid hormones. 80% of thyroid functions actually occur through your liver.

T4, one of the thyroid hormones we talked about earlier, is actually INACTIVE until the liver activates it to become T-3. So without a liver you cannot convert and make your thyroid work.

If  your liver is damaged, chances are that is the source of your thyroid problem. If you have constipation that blocks your liver, that can also be a source of thyroid problems.

It’s so amazing the way each part of our body is designed to work closely together.

A: Absolutely this is thyroid related. If there is a problem with a low thyroid, 1,000 enzymes will be blocked. That’s why you don’t have proteins to make healthy hair, you get vertical ridges on your nails, you get cold feet, you have problems with depression, you are tired, have decreased libido, digestive problems, constipation, you crave carbs! All of the symptoms we have previously discussed in this podcast.  So yes, some lotion and a manicure would help but you should definitely take a look at the deeper issue and look at naturally curing your thyroid.

A:  There is no scientific or precise way to figure this out, but what I recommend is to listen for your stomach growling because that’s when you know that your body is emptied out. The reason your stomach growls is because it’s your signal saying  HEY MY STOMACH IS EMPTY! The growling noise is your stomach contracting as it tries to find any food to eat that it may have missed earlier! This process cleans up any food that was missed earlier. When these muscle contractions get going again and your stomach is empty, those gas and air pockets make a lot more noise that you hear as stomach growling. I recommend waiting about two hours after your stomach growls to eat! It  s a great way to burn fat because during that two hours your body  diving into your fat cells and eating your fat for fuel! It is important that you are able to differentiate the sound of your body digesting food right after you ate, versus the empty, hollow sound of a true stomach growl.

A: Congratulations on 3 weeks of IF! I am so happy to hear that you are seeing great results. Keep up the great work!

So PCOS is something that I have struggled with, and we discuss it in good detail in a previous podcast, which Jazzmin is referring to. If you missed that one, definitely go back and listen!

The first part of the question, you’re talking about how you feel as if you are starting your period a little early, since you had one right before starting IF and have been doing it for 3 weeks. Most people will find that anytime you dramatically change your eating habits, IE going full Paleo, or cutting out carbs, etc, or change your eating patterns, IE Intermittent Fasting, you will see a little shift in your period. When I first started IF I noticed my period was irregular for a few months until it finally balanced out, it has been super regular ever since!

The reason for this is really simple and actually good! Fat stores estrogen, so any time you start disrupting your fat stores, you are likely to have some cycle disruption as well. So while an early period may stink, it means that your body is eating it’s fat stores! Stick it out, and you will find that it regulates soon.

As for Metformin, I have heard of people taking this as an alternative to birth control. It has not been approved by the FDA for treatment of PCOS, but many doctors are prescribing it for PCOS treatment because women with PCOS often have elevated insulin levels and are more likely to develop diabetes.

SO…it will definitely help! But You will not enjoy some of the other “benefits” of Birth Control such as…..birth control LOL obviously, it won’t prevent pregnancy, and also it won’t help you with the excess facial hair that many women with PCOS experience. But you also won’t have to worry about the negative effects of birth control that some people complain about such as  weight gain, and more dangerous, blood clots.

As Metformin relates to IF, I can’t find any research that leads me to believe that it would interfere with IF in a negative way. But, I do recommend taking it with your first meal of the day, and not on an empty stomach.

Like I mentioned in the podcast where we talked about  PCOS, and as my doctor told me, if you struggle with PCOS the absolute best thing you can do for your body is to be at your ideal “healthy” weight and I am not sure where you are weight wise, but I know that since you started your IF journey three weeks ago, you are well on your way if not there already.

A: Well Jean, you are a lot like me!!! As I say over and over again, I hate taking drugs unnecessarily too, and I can relate to you wanting to get off that Lorazepam. You didn’t mention in the question how long you have been Intermittent Fasting, but if you are newer to the Intermittent Fasting lifestyle, unfortunately this can be normal while your body gets adjusted.

I’ve heard several reasons for this, one is that when you are fasting your body is hyped up on adrenaline. You didn’t mention what exactly your eating window is, but if you are eating your last meal 4-5 hours before bedtime, you could try bumping your eating window up an hour or so later and seeing if this helps.

Another reason is increased caffeine intake- a lot of people will drink extra caffeine when they are fasting, but it sounds like this is not the issue for you, you’ve really cut back on your caffeine intake, it sounds. The only thing I would say in that department is maybe stick to strictly sleepy time tea in the evening, as sometimes even in Decaf Green Tea there will be traces of caffeine.

You didn’t mention in your question if you work out or not, but if you are working out in the second half of the day, you may find that this is making it difficult for you to wind down. I recommend working out in the morning if your schedule allows..I start my day with a workout at 5:45 every day and for this reason, I NEVER have an issue falling asleep at night!

Overall, I think that as your body becomes more accustomed to the Intermittent Fasting lifestyle, you will find yourself sliding back into your old sleeping patterns. In the meantime, you could also take something natural like Melatonin, or try something I LOVE to do at night, and that is to diffuse Lavender essential oils by my bed.