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30 Intermittent Fasting Questions - RAW Audio.mp3

Heather Roemmich Today, I am here with Chantel Ray to answer the Top 30 Questions that we have gotten on intermittent fasting. What is intermittent fasting?

Chantel Ray It's basically a section where you say, I'm going to eat now and now I'm going to stop eating. A lot of times people want to do an eight-hour window where you say,I'm only going to eat an eight-hour window. Some people do a six-hour window. So it's basically just where you're cycling between beat periods of fasting and periods of eating. It doesn't say like, hey, you're not eating this. You're not eating that. It's just involved in how many hours you're fasting and how many you're eating. So a daily 16-hour fact. Sometimes people like to talk about the fasting side. They'll say, I'm fasting for 16 hours or I'm fasting for 18 hours. A lot of times people want to say, no, I'm eating for eight hours or I'm eating for six hours. Personally I like to say how many hours I'm eating in versus how many hours I'm fasting. What about you? It sounds better for me for what I actually get to eat than what I'm admitting. I'm doing well, eating in two hours or four hours is what I would say. Which also talks like a lot of people think like an intermittent fasting that, you know, it's just like omitting obviously and then eating some. There are different types of intermittent fasting like some people do time-restricted each day. Some people will not eat for days and then eat certain days.

What are the different types of intermittent fasting that you've kind of seen? The first one that I have seen as kind of different than the regular one is where someone says, I'm going to do a five to method where that saying that which I am against this method. Basically here's where five days of the week you just eat kind of normal, but then two days you're not. You are still eating on those days, but you're only eating 500 calories on two of those days. And so it's just called the twice a week five to method, which I'm totally against because I'm totally against counting calories. The other thing is what we call an alternate day fasting, which I'm a big fan of, alternate day. If it's on and off of fresh meat, like you could say, Monday, I'm going to eat. Tuesday, I'm going to fast. Wednesday, I'm going to eat. Thursday, I'm going to fast. But a lot of times what they call the alternate-day fasting is, again, this whole calorie restriction where you say, I'm going to eat regular and then on the next day I'm only going to eat 500 calories. So any time it's a calorie modified fasting and the modification is based on your calories, I'm not a fan of it because I feel like that becomes more of a in bondage thing. So I just believe that you should either be fasted or you're not fasting now. I'm not against doing a juice fasting. You know, if you feel like you're going to do a longer fast, and feel like you need to add some juice in there, you know, or bone broth or some of the crunch drinks that I talk about, that's different.

Then there is the time-restricted eating. That is where we talked about where you could do a 16 eight or you could do a 14, 10, or you could do an 18, 6, which means 16 hours you're fasted, eight hours you're eating. I personally think 10 hours, if you're eating in a 10-hour window, meaning 14 hours, fasting 10 hours. To me that's not really doing anything. It's like a normal eating day and that's just crazy. I do not like the calorie counting fasting because the one of the things I love about fasting is I do get to eat what my body craves and not like what I'm restricted. Like oh I can only have one Oreo. Like no, if I feel like getting two Oreos I eat two Oreos, as long as it's within my window and as long as I'm full or not full yet. The other thing I think a lot of people ask is like, how long does it take your body to adjust to the intermittent fasting like. So sometimes when you're doing your first fast, I know for me sometimes, my body is like growling, like starving to death. How long does it take your body to kind of adjust to the not eating eating back and forth? I would say that it's probably different for each person, but I would say a couple of weeks. Some people can transition, into a shorter eating window a lot faster. But I would say usually at most I would say hopefully within two weeks. By then you've kind of gotten more fat adapted. So what that means is, that your body is now using fat for fuel instead of using sugar for fuel.

Have you heard of that term? So it's for me, I'm like, ok, and here's the thing. Fat adapted is the metabolic state where your body has been in ketosis long enough that you've kind of transitioned where you say, OK, I'm over here. All I'm used to is burning carbs, sugar for all my energy. Now, over here, your body's like, OK, we're not getting any more sugar. I'm going to have to use fat for fuel. So that is basically what that means is that what your body's starting to get used to. I've heard people say it takes like six weeks to get fat adapted. In my opinion that it really depends on how much weight you have to lose and how used to your body is to grabbing for the sugar instead of for the fat. I really had no idea how many benefits fasting has like intermittent fasting can give you until I started doing it. Obviously like the first reason I started doing it was for weight loss. I was like, OK, something's got to give. I tried all the fad diets. Let's just kind of talk about that. So obviously that helps, and increased energy, and all these benefits started coming. So what are some of the benefits people will see? Obviously, weight loss is one of them. But what are some of the other benefits people will see from intermittent fasting? For me, it was really healing my body. I had thyroid issues and skin issues too. The more I fast, the more my skin improved. If you have psoriasis, eczema or any skin issue you have is going to be helped.

Even things like aches and pains in your body. I have one friend had an Achilles injury and for a year her Achilles hurt. She couldn't do anything. She actually went on a five day fast, which don't panic if you're listening to this. She went on a five day fast and she said her Achilles has never been better. Her achilles is better than it was before she had that injury. So it's really a matter of just massive, massive amounts of healing. I think increased. You said weight loss, but besides weight loss, it is increased fat burning. It's because your body doesn't have the sugar. So besides a regular some kind of diet, it's massive amounts of fat burning. The other thing is lowered blood, insulin and sugar levels. Before I started doing fasting, I would wake up in the morning and I would check. I was actually pre-diabetic. I was like pre pre-diabetic. So I'd wake up in the morning and I would test my blood sugar. My blood sugar was at like a 99 or 98. Almost every morning when I was waking up. If you're a 100 or over you're 100 to like 120 you're considered pre-diabetic. I was right on that borderline of being pre-diabetic. Now that I've been doing fasting, my blood sugar is more stable than it's ever been. My blood sugar is when I wake up, it's around more like 70 or 80 mark, which is phenomenal. So it it can reverse. I've seen people who it's completely reversed they are type 2 diabetes. You know, when I fast the more I feel like it improves mental clarity, concentration.

What other things can cause inflammation. That's a big one. Inflammation. A lot of people talk about that. I'll tell you the really strange thing and this was this was hard for me to wrap my mind around when it started happening. I actually had more energy when it was it wasn't eating. And I think what I found was when I was eating, when I shouldn't have been eating, because I wasn't really hungry, my body didn't need the fuel. I was so tired all the time. And when I stopped eating, when I wasn't really hungry, I actually it's so much more energy. Like, I was like, this is so crazy. I'm not eating, but I have way more energy. So something I noticed that happened to me when I when I did when I started doing it. And I know like a lot of people listening about it like that are first listening and hearing about intermittent fasting. They say, like, won't I just get really, really hungry if I start skipping meals and then I'm going to eat a whole lot more like this doesn't make any sense to me. And I know I was very skeptical of the very beginning. I was like, there is no way I am not eating, you know, skipping a meal or whatever. So what would you say to people like that that are just like, are you kidding me? Then I'm just gonna eat more freely. This is not going to work for me. Yeah, I mean, it's like you're skipping me. You're not skipping meals to deprive or punish yourself. It's. You are skipping a meal because you're fasting. And, you know, the thing is, is there are so many benefits to it. And I think that people are like, the biggest thing I hear is they're like, I'm going to I'm gonna be hungry.

[00:10:15] And they're like panicked, like, oh, my gosh, if I'm hungry, like, call 911. You know, and I you know, what of the is I love to do is interview people who've been in their whole life, don't have bondage food. And we just went out to lunch with Catherine Mauldin, who is Miss Virginia. And she her I have an interview of her and she says her exact words are, I love being hungry because I can literally feel the fat coming like eating at my body. So it's like she's excited. She's like, I'm hungry. Guess what that means? My body is burning fat. So she gets excited. So it's that difference of mindset. Here, this guy over here is like, oh, my gosh, I'm hungry. What do you do? You know, call 9-1-1 and hear of her. She's like, what do. I'm burning fat. And so that's what it is. Is that kind of mindset where you're saying to yourself, this is not a this is a good thing. This is not a bad thing. And the whole thing is, is if you start looking at that laundry list that we talked about earlier of why it's so beneficial and how your body loves to fast that your body your body needs a break, everything, if you think about it like I when I'm starting to get too tired, I realize I'm just like the phone, you know, when your phone doesn't work and it's like bogged down. What do I always do? My very first reaction is to shut it down and then reboot it. And that's what fasting is. It's a shut down your body constantly getting food, getting food, getting food is insanity and doing, you know, 24 hour fast, 48 hour fast on a regular basis is magical for your body.

[00:11:59] It truly is. And, you know, I I get annoyed. I have a friend of mine who is like, well, I just can't do more than a 24 hour fast. I would just melt down and says. Sometimes after Sader y your you you'll get through this like you will be fine, you're you. This is a good thing. And you have to know your body. You have to know kind of when enough is enough. But at the same time, you also want to push yourself. You want to push yourself to a little bit more, stretch yourself and say, you know what, my body. This is when my body cleanses. This is when it reboots. This is when it shuts down and comes back up. Yeah. Now, I know one of the things that I had like a like was a big sticking point with me and still kind of is as I like to have coffee in the morning and I don't eat breakfast. Obviously I was never a breakfast person anyway. So that was an easy one for me to like push my window till lunch and dinner or just a lunch or just a dinner type of thing. So can people drink liquids like if they love coffee in the morning, like or whatever during the day when they're not eating? Can they have liquids during that fasting period? Yeah, absolutely. But what we suggest is to have either water, plain or carbonated water with no calories or coffee or black tea. But, you know, you want to try to consume it without any added sugar, cream, milk and that sort of thing before you freak out and say that's because a lot of people go, I'm going to stop you right there. Like, if I can't have my coffee with cream and sugar in the morning, then I'm done, you know, or they'll say, if I can't on my coffee with cream, I'm done.

[00:13:37] And so I want you to tell your story because this I tell this story about you, about the the tea, because how you used to have to have sugar in your. Then you move to the Splenda and then you move to nothing. And can you talk about that? Yeah. So, yeah, you still like I was like I can not drink. Like, I would just get like sweet tea or have sweet affan sweet tea. And as there was I was like I was like, there's no way I'm giving this up. Like, that is nasty. I'm not going to drink that. But then what you kind of coach me through was that I'd stop drink or I would I would basically went from sweetie to and I put Splenda in and then I went from Splenda to stevia in the raw. And then I just would put a little bit in it. I just each time just put a little bit less, a little bit less until I the next thing I knew, I was drinking it with nothing in it. And so I was just drinking unsweetened tea. And it's because it your taste buds acquired. I'm actually doing the thing. I'm doing that right now with creamer. I went from Starbucks to make it at home and it is an all in creamer, but it's still had sugar in it. And so I bought my last creamer and I was like, I'm not buying anymore creamer. So each day I put a little bit less creamer, a little bit less creamer. So eventually I'll be able to drink my coffee black. But just a matter of getting your body accustomed to it because you don't need it. Your your taste buds will change and they will adapt to it.

[00:14:56] You you only think you need it. So you just have to change your body's mindset because you really can drink it without it. It's just a matter of, you know, you're telling yourself a lie, saying I can only drink tea if it's sweet or I can only drink coffee creamer in it. I get it. You enjoy it. Like some people like this is my thing, I love it. But you can work yourself through that. And I've done that. I'm currently doing it right now. It's coffee because that was that's my last sticking point was the coffee. But one of them. Oh, good. No good. I was going to say one of the things I do love about intermittent fasting that was big for me is, like I said before, like I tried every diet out there. I've cut carbs. I've eaten only, you know, six eggs a day. There's like the egg diet, like there's all kinds of crazy stuff out there. But I eat all that. I constantly fall off the wagon. And one of the things I really love about intermittent fasting is I can eat what my body craves. So if I crave a taco, I can eat a taco for me. So a lot of people don't want to know, like, what can I eat during my eating window? So when my windows open, I'm starving. I'm just going to eat whatever I want. I can eat kind of some of the things I want. Like, what do you say to people about that? Because I know people are different and what they can eat in their eating windows like I'm different. What I can eat my any window than what you can eat and you're eating window. Yeah. First I want I answer this shit because a lot of people ask, are there any drinks that you should avoid during, you know, when you're fasting? So again, I cannot stress enough about the coffee situation because I've seen people, even my husband who have transition now.

[00:16:27] He doesn't drink it. He doesn't drink it all the way without crying, but he's reduced his creamer. And that's the key is just to keep reducing, keep reducing, keep reducing that creamer, keep reducing sugar until you can get it all the way to black. And then some people I'm gonna be honest, you know, they'll have this much creamer and it's not going to kill you. Is it the best choice? No. Are you still in the fasted state? Technically, no. But will you still lose some weight? Yes. We lose more if you get rid of that. Yes. Right. But people ask me, you know, can you drink diet soda while you're intermittent fasting? Well, you know, even though diet soda is technically free of calories, you know, it has aspartame in it, which is terrible for you. And it also can create an insulin response because it in your body, it might think that it's something sweet. And so we've seen people who are drinking diet soda. It's not as good. Is it better than having a Coke? Absolutely. But why would you want to put those chemicals in your body? But again, try to transitioners your way out of that. And, you know, almond milk, you have to be very careful. Can you have almond milk while you're intermittent fasting, almond milk? A lot of these you have to look at them. They have a lot of sugar and sugar equals carbs. And as soon as you consume these, you're no longer to be considered fasting. So you want to try to limit it as much as possible. Now, what was your next question about eating? Like what? What can I eat during my window? I know. Like I was saying, like I can eat different things than you can eat during your window.

[00:18:07] What do you tell people? Some people are like, oh, I can eat. I'm gonna eat everything in sight. Like, what is what are people what should they be eating during when their windows open to actually eat? You know, in my book I talk about Chemical City and I just say, like, my biggest thing is whole natural real foods. So like, if I'm going to have a burger, I want to try to have a grass-fed burger. If I want to have, you know, a salad, I want to try to make it organic, you know? But again, I eat what my body's craving, but I just try to pick Whole Foods if I can. But that doesn't mean like I'm going to have a brownie. I'm probably going to have one that's gluten free, that doesn't have a ton of chemicals in it. That's my biggest thing. So I'm not going to deprive myself, because for me personally, anytime I deprive, that's going to lead to a binge. But I am going to be ultra conservative on what the chemicals is my most important thing. Is this a real whole food that's not laden with chemicals is my biggest thing. Yeah. And that's that's one of the things I love about intimate investing. And I have I have literally kept my weight off so well by doing this because it does. I don't deprive myself like I do get to eat what I want. And that's really important. So a lot of people say, OK. So we kind of talk about that a little bit like after they're coming off a fast. And I think this really pertains to long. Fast, right. So you're everyday faster. You know, you're you're doing it. You know, you're leading in six hours each day for four hours.

[00:19:36] But some people like you, I think you've done a lot of longer fast when you're coming off of the fast. What do you eat after that intermittent fasting you've done? I try to make like I'll have a smoothie. I'll have like a fresh made fruit or vegetable juices. I'll have bone broths, soups, you know, lots of things that that are even cooked vegetables like. Yeah, like even starchy veggies like potatoes. I usually do find with I don't need a ton of meat. Right. But when I'm getting off a longer Fastow, if I'm doing it intermittent fast where I'm just doing eight hours or six hours or even one meal a day, I'm eating whatever I want. But I'm talking about I I have to do a 48 hour or really for me, because I've done so much, I don't really watch where I'm coming off the fast with unless it's been a longer than a 48 hours. But that's only because I've done so many for most people. I say once you've done a twenty four hours. Be a little bit more careful. But you know, most people are fine after 24 hours. It's really once it's been forty eight or really more like three days that you really want to kind of pay attention, more attention to it. Yeah, OK. So this is a really hot topic right now. So growing up for many, many, many years, people have literally said this is the most important meal of the day. And so this is a really, really hot topic right now because people who do have intermittent fasting typically skip breakfast. And so a lot of people want to know, isn't it unhealthy to skip breakfast? Like, shouldn't I be eating that? Everyone has always told me this is the most important meal of the day.

[00:21:17] Yeah. And it drives me cuckoo when people say that because the the person who basically said that breakfast was the most important meal of the day is who created is Kellogg's, who created that the cereal. And so, of course, for them, they're they're big advertising campaign is hey, because a lot of times I think when women started going back to work, it was like they didn't have time to, you know, make like eggs and bacon and stuff like that. And so that's when it was like, well, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. If you don't have time to make eggs and bacon in this huge breakfast, just have a quick bowl of cereal, but you don't want to skip it. And so I think that if you we've proven that, you know, like for me, I'm I'm a walking testimony. All right. And anyone who's done intermittent fasting and had great success, they will say to you, my body is healthier. I feel better. Right. Wouldn't wouldn't you say that like you don't need a study or you don't need anything else? Like do it on yourself, like see how you personally do. And anyone who's done intermittent fasting again for an extended period of time because it takes time to transition. I didn't lose any weight for three weeks. I didn't lose one pound for three weeks. All of a sudden I lost six pounds and I just stuck with it because I could have been like, this is just not working. And so I feel like the best thing to do is to look at walking testimonials to like my skin is better, I feel better, I've lost weight. So how could you tell me that that's the most important? Right.

[00:22:55] Exactly. And some people let me listen. This may be saying like, listen, I love breakfast. Like, that's my favorite meal of the day. So does it matter if people eat early or late? Does it matter when they're fasting windows? So they're like, no, I love breakfast. I really want breakfast. I don't want to give it up. Could they then eat in the morning and then fast not eat dinner? And so what do you say to that? I would say once a week for me, you can eat breakfast. I know tons of people just eat breakfast and lunch. They just skip dinner all the time. For the most part. And like sometimes the late dinner. But for me, I I feel like when I start eating in the morning, then I just feel more hungry throughout the rest of the day. So I personally do breakfast once a week, usually on Sundays and it's actually brunch. So me and my husband and my my family and son and daughter, we go out to breakfast. We like to go to what's the name of that place that I like? However. Being. No, it's. I like that place, too, but there's a place and it has like farm to table kind of food. But I like to get like an omelet and have like a kale tonic and stuff like that. So I just that's my tradition. Yes. What is it? Wow. Much more than what it is. Which one? First watch. First watch. First watch. So I'll go there for for breakfast. But I really enjoy doing that once a week and sometimes I'll do it twice a week. But then on those days, I'll make the choice to skip dinner. There's a very almost never do I eat three meals a day.

[00:24:31] I'm eating two meals, Max, and sometimes one. So I'm either eating one meal a day or meeting two meals a day. And I'm making a conscious decision on which one I'm doing. It's either breakfast and lunch or lunch and dinner. I almost never skip lunch. Lunch is my favorite meal of the day. If I had to pick any of my favorite. Now. So a lot of people wonder if I stop eating. You know, there's a lot of things out there that will say fasting can cause your body to start to store fat because your body's like not eating sweets, thinking all I'm going into starvation mode, app store fat. What do you say to those people? Well, again, it would be about like if you looked at how many people are losing weight doing intermittent fasting. You can't say that right now. Do I think that your body, once you start doing extended fasting for three days or more, then I do believe that your body is going to then at that point, you know, store on to a little bit because it's the afraid that you don't which doesn't want you to go into starvation mode. So I do believe that once you start going for really longer, extended fast, that that will happen. But absolutely not. I mean, again, it's living proof. Like, would you say, since you've started doing intermittent fasting, you're living proof. How much weight have you lost? Oh, gosh, I've lost like 50 pounds. Yeah, during 50 pounds during airmen fasting. So it's like, OK. This is a perfect testimonial. And anyone who's lost weight with intermittent fasting will tell you the same thing. So when they say these studies and so forth, it's just not true. What about supplements? Because a lot of people like to take supplements, but a lot of them, you know, you hear about supplements, they say like, well, I have to take it with food or it only works well when you're eating this type of diet.

[00:26:23] So do you recommend that people take supplements while they're fasting? So one of the things that is important is that some supplements can make you nauseous because they have magnesium Sterrett in them. They have you know, they're not as clean supplements. A lot of them have some different additives in there. And if you take a supplement on your on an empty stomach, it can make you sick, which I suggest not taking those kind of supplements. So like if supplement does make you sick when you have an empty stomach, then you shouldn't take it. But if you're taking whole food, vitamins, then if you think about it, it's just Whole Foods. That's kind of ground up. And so that means that you are taking some food. Right. So it depends on how kind of not see you want to be with the fasting. Like, for example, some people say, OK, I fast and I kind of have bulletproof coffee or if I fast with coconut oil, then I'm fine. Well, again, if you are on a clean fast, then you should be taking your supplements when you eat. That's the best thing to do. I every once in a while we'll take supplements just to kind of keep in my routine. I'll take some Whole Foods supplements and it's nothing is really changing. So I don't I feel like it's kind of one of those things that's like this is not what's breaking you. You don't I mean, like this is going to be like, oh, my gosh, I can't lose my last ten pounds because I'm taking a supplement. So it's like it's not as big of a deal as people are saying. But if you want to be really not about it, then just take the supplement at lunchtime or whenever you open your window.

[00:28:13] Yes, that's good. OK, so a lot of people have questions around fasting and working out. So a couple different things. One, should you workout when you fast and I I have, you know, particularly for me when I actually prefer to work out while I'm fasting. So I do it like when I wake up in the morning because I don't eat for so little while, because for me, I find that when I workout, it actually curbs my hunger. So I could be hungry if I get on the bike and do an exercise or something. Then when I get off, I'm not hungry anymore. And so that kind of pushes me a couple more hours down. So for me, I do like to work out when I'm not eating. But what would you say to people who are asking, should they workout all their fasting? So there are people who say that you you should not you can't build muscle while you're fasting. That's what they say, is that when you're fasted, you know, you need the the glycogen to maximize muscle. And so, I mean, I've been. Build. I've been doing weightlifting, lifting, and I have a my trainer does weightlifting while he's fasted. So, you know, that is a very controversial topic. There's a lot of people who say you should only do cardio while fasting. That cardio while fasted is fantastic. But doing weight training, you're not going to be able to to get as much muscle as you possibly want. If you're fasted for me, I'd personally do cardio and I do weight training and I feel like I'm doing fine with my maximizing my muscle. OK, so I have a question that I sometimes hear should kids fast? What do you think about that? So my son is so funny because he has heard me talk about my book so much about intermittent fasting.

[00:30:13] And so in the morning sometimes, like I'll bake Kyle breakfast. So he loves fruit in the morning. And so he almost has fruit most days. But some days he's like, I'm like, are you sure you don't want anything to eat? And he'll be like, Mom, I'm intermittent fasting. I don't need breakfast. And so he'll like throw a little things back in my face about my book. And so I believe that really a kid should do fine on two meals a day. They don't need to be having two meals and snacks and everything else. So when Kyle does eat, he either my son either doesn't eat breakfast at all. And if he does, it's probably about 50 calories of fruit. And it's not because I'm saying don't eat. It's not because he is he's eating what he wants. I'll put some fruit out in front of him. I could put waffles. I could put this. He literally looks at the plate. He almost always just takes the fruit and he takes about this much fruit. And if I had to, you know, I don't count the calories. But I'm saying if I did, he either eats zero calories or 50 calories of fruit every day. And he's he's in perfect shape. He comes in number one. He's like number one in every one of his sports. He is the fastest runner in his entire Google or whole. I mean, he's just a beast. He's an absolute athletic B, so I absolutely think kids can do intermittent fasting. I would say Kyle probably eats in an 8 hour window every day, sometimes between 8 and 10 hours is what he usually eats. Yeah. And I think it's interesting, if you actually watch kids eat, if they're not hungry, they won't eat.

[00:31:57] And so they they don't know anything other than what their body is telling them yet. And so I feel like they naturally just follow what their body says. They ask for what they want. They ask for what they crave. And if they're not hungry, they'll say, no, thank you. Like, I don't want to eat right now or they'll just eat a little bit and then they're done. They leave it. So I think kids are a really great example of just intuitively that they're charitably thin in their head or body, tells them what to eat, when to eat, when not to eat. It's it's perfect. Yeah. Okay. Let me ask you this question. So a lot of you know, with the intermittent fasting, a lot of people say, I don't believe in it because I think we should be eating six small meals a day. Like, can I just eat six small meals a day? So my insulin, you know, you talk about insulin like it helps keep everything stable. What do you say about that? So I am a huge proponent of not doing like that. Makes me infuriated when I feel like people need to eat six small meals a day. And the thing about it is, is what you're doing every time you eat, you're eating is you're raising your insulin levels. And so for me, I because I've tried every diet under the sun when I did eat for six, six small meals because I tried that, I first of all, my meals were never small, because one of the things that you have a problem doing when you have a problem with eating and overeating is it's kind of like me skiing. I'm a great skier. I do really well skiing, but I can't stop.

[00:33:33] It's the exact same thing with eating is that you do you start great, but you have a problem stopping when you're full. And so what intermittent fasting does is it's stopping. How many times you're doing that? So it's like start, stop, start, stop, start, stop. And inevitably, you're eating more than you need every time you're doing those six meals. And that's what I was doing. So I just believe that every time you're raising your insulin levels, it's not good for your body. So I'm very much an Thai snack snack snack away like that is a disaster. Yeah. Now, what about intermittent fasting like men versus women? Does it affect them differently? Absolutely. I feel like. The number one thing is a woman's hormones, and so. The the big thing for women is that when they are on their menstrual cycle, that's when things kind of get, you know, wonky. So for me, I know the week before my period I absolutely can't do. I'm probably eating more like a 6 or I I usually probably eat in a four to six hour window. And when I'm doing when the week before my period, I'm doing either a six or eight hour window. And the amount of food I'm eating is is a lot more. And I've seen just from my experience, I see men who can eat in an eight hour window and they are shedding weight like crazy. For me personally, when I did an eight hour window, I lost zero weight. I did not start losing weight until I started doing more of a six hour eating window or less. So I believe the amount of time is is longer for men than it is for women. I've seen women. Their window needs to be a little bit shorter in order for them to lose the weight that a man can.

[00:35:33] Well, talking about windows, like how many calories should we be eating in that intermittent fasting window and should we be doing the same fast every day? I think that it's really important to kind of change it up, like I said, everyone, so I'll have breakfast and lunch sometimes I'll have lunch and dinner. I think it's important to kind of mix it up a little bit, to kind of give your body and sometimes throw in some eight hour. If you're used to doing eight hour fast, sometimes do an eight hour fast, then turn it around and do a one hour fast. But I mean, a one hour eating window, a 24 hour fast. So just kind of really changing it up, I think works really well if you're trying to lose weight. So I guess the the biggest thing is what's your goal? Are you trying to lose weight? Are you trying to have autophagy or trying to heal your body? But I still think changing it up every once in a while. It's kind of like going to the gym. If you go to the gym and you're doing the exact same thing all the time, your body gets used to it. And I don't like that portion of it. Yeah. What was your. But I also think consistency is good, too, because I would say, you know, five days a week, I'm doing the same thing. And then two days a week, I'm kind of changing it up. So it's kind of a balancing act. What about you? I struggled with that at the beginning. Kazam, I remember you asking me, well, what is your eating window? And it's like, oh, it just depends. And you're like, there's your problem. Like, you need to get in some type of consistent schedule.

[00:37:01] And I do change it up throughout the week, but I try to stay consistent Monday through Friday and then I have a different one for the weekends. And that has that really helped me, because when I was just like, oh, today I'm doing, you know, breakfast and dinner tomorrow. No, it was just next thing I knew, I was eating all day long. I could just I couldn't get in a good pattern and were back. I look a little different because I spilled on my shirt and I've had to change. So let's get back to our fasting questions. OK. So the next one is, should I fast every day? What do you think? Jinto So if you think about it, everyone fasts every single day, right? Because it's like if you think about it, that you're not eating 24/7. So everyone's fasting at some point. It's just the amount of hours that they're actually fasting. So for me, I personally would say I can't think of a day in the last two years that I've eaten. In more than so, my eating window was longer than nine hours. I would say 80 percent of the time I eat in a six hour window. I'd say maybe another 10 percent. I eat an eight hour window and then maybe in another 10 percent. Eight in a nine hour window, and that's probably pushing it. That's like probably to the extreme, you know, because I don't. There's there's very few days and I'm eating more than two meals in a day. So if I'm on vacation, if I'm on a town, I would say and lately I would say I've been traveling more. So I'd say maybe I'm pushing it to a nine hour window. But that is just that's not most days.

[00:38:51] And so most days it's either I'm eating in a one hour window or I'm making another five or six hour window. So but if you think about it, when people say, should I fast every day you are fasting every day because you've got to sleep. So when you're sleeping, you're fasting. So it just as a matter of how much. What about for you? Yeah. Yeah, I would say, gosh, I don't know when the last time I would have eaten. Yeah. More than eight or nine hours. It's just. I don't. I kind of just compact it all in and do it in most of the time, four or six hours. I would say most of the time I do eat two meals a day. I don't I rarely will eat three meals a day just because I'm not a big breakfast person. So it's not something that I really want anyway. So, yeah, I think it's it's easy. Ashley Sullivan Yeah. Even when I'm doing a nine hour window, a lot of times I might be doing a nine hour window, but I might have done breakfast and dinner. So that's what I was saying is like when I'm on vacation. Let's say I was like, you know, I I do love breakfast foods. So I just I'm not usually hungry in the morning. So let's say I'm on vacation and now we're gonna do brunch around 10:00. Yeah. So they'll have like a breakfast buffet and they're open until 11:00. So I remember when I just went with my husband to Florida, we ate brunch around 10:00 a.m. and then we probably ended and had dinner around 6:00. Right. So we probably finished in around 6:30. So if you think about if I started at 10:00 and ended at 6:30.

[00:40:32] That is an eight and a half hour window. So, again, I still only eat two meals and I probably have a snack. So I probably had something in the middle there where I was like, well, he might have gotten some fruit or something and I might have picked it something or my son might have got something. And I picked out it, but I wasn't eating a meal. Right. Right. Yeah. Okay. So this is a good one, you know, because I know you talked about it a little bit earlier and I know I experience the same thing. When you first start fasting, you sometimes feel like you're not losing any weight. And so a lot of people want to know, like, how long do you have to fast before you start burning fat? So that question is how long do you start burning fat is really about when did you last eat and how much did you eat? Right. Because. It's all about my body is going to be going and looking for fuel. And so if it's got fuel in your stomach, it's not going to go to your to the fat. And so that question is almost impossible to answer for any person because you want to get to the point where there is nothing in your your immediate stores. And the example I give people is it's like if I have one hundred dollars in my pocket, I'm not going to then go to the bank if I need to buy something that's eighty dollars because I already have it. It's like it's I it's easy. Right. I can just hand you that money and it's the exact same thing with your body is that if you've got if you just eight, five hours ago and you haven't burned all that fuel up now, all of a sudden my body is gonna be like, okay, I'm gonna go right to my stomach or right to my glycogen stores to get that.

[00:42:26] But if I'm trying to if I haven't eaten in 24 hours and I've already used all that, then it needs time. So it's a really difficult question to answer. But I would say. In general, I would say make you know, when once your stomach starts growling is a really good thing, because once your stomach starts growling, it means that you are on E right your on empty at that point. And so, you know, typically our body stores like one day's worth of glycogen. So after about twenty four hours of glycogen, you know you probably are looking at. OK. It's probably use that up. So I would say in general twenty four hours, maybe thirty to thirty six hours. Most people have burned most of what they eat. But again, if you just completely binge out, you know then you've had like two full beats us after thirty six hours. It may not your glycogen stores might not have gone to empty. Yeah I've noticed too. If I if I do over eat. It's much longer before my stomach growls the next day. Like I can go like I could. It could be lunchtime and I'm still not hungry because your body is still trying to eat all of the extra food that you eat. And so if you still feel that going like on day after day after day, if you do it over, eat so. And there are different tools to see if your body is in ketosis. So what what is ketosis mean? It means that your body is using fat for fuel. And so they've got all kinds of different things out there. Now they have a ketosis blood measure. They have some ketosis test strips that you could pee on to see if you're in ketosis.

[00:44:27] But again, it really doesn't mean. It really matters most of when is the last time you you eight. And when is your body now burning fat? Because it needs that for storage. I mean, it needs that for fuel. Yeah. Let me ask you this. Is there anybody out there who should not be doing intermittent fasting? You know, I would say the two points. And again, it really depends on how what you're eating window is. So like if you're intermittent fasting and you're pregnant. Do I believe you could have a healthy pregnancy eating an eight hour or six hour window? Absolutely. Would I, Habila? Absolutely. That's fine. If you're pregnant to do that. Yes. Now, would I recommend doing intermittent fasting a one meal a day for someone who's pregnant? Probably not, because, you know, you don't want to overeat and you want to make sure that you're getting enough nutrients for the baby. And so I would say, could you do an eight hour window? Absolutely. Could you do a one hour window? I wouldn't recommend it. And you want to really, really listen to your body. And so when your body's hungry, you want to make sure that you're feeding it, especially because then the baby's hungry. And so that would be one area that I would say, yes, I would do intermittent fasting. I would probably extend my window out to, you know, an eight hour window if I was pregnant, maybe even a nine hour, 10 hour window if I was breastfeeding. I remember when I was breastfeeding my son, I was ravenous. Like when I say ravenous. You couldn't put enough food in front of me. I wasn't that hungry when I was pregnant. When I was pregnant. I only gained 28 pounds.

[00:46:21] And I was very noxious all the time. So I just wasn't a big like. You know, I have I have friends that gain my my best friend. Heather's one of my restaurants, too. But Sherry gained 60 pounds when she was pregnant. And it was like ridiculous. Like, she was just I mean, she had really gained some weight, but she was packing in. You know, she loves one of those Krispy Kreme doughnuts. She could she while she was pregnant, she I'd watch her at one sitting eat for Krispy Kreme doughnuts. She would even eat six Krispy Kremes at one time. And I'd be like, oh, my gosh. I mean, but I wasn't like that when I was pregnant. When I was when I was breastfeeding, though, I wasn't eating Krispy Kremes, but I was ravenous. So I don't I don't see anyone doing breastfeeding that would want to do intermittent fasting. I would say if I would probably be breastfeeding, I would definitely be eating in at least a 10 hour window minimum because I was so hungry all the time. Yeah. What about people who are diabetic? A lot of people. That's it. That's a question. You know, people want to know. You know, my my blood sugar, perhaps keep it regulated. Sometimes it drops and I have to eat in order to get my blood. You're going to come back up. What do you say about people who are diabetic and intermittent fasting? So I'm going to talk about type 2 diabetes. I'm not going to talk about type 1 diabetes, but I know that right now we have proven evidence of massive, massive amount of people who intermittent fasting has completely reversed their Type 2 diabetes. And there's massive amounts of reports. I mean, person after person and person who have lost weight, their blood sugar levels have improved significantly and they no longer need to take their diabetes medications.

[00:48:14] I personally was pre-diabetic. I was ranged my blood sugar levels when I would wake up when I was fasted was anywhere from ninety nine to one hundred and one. When you are in the pre-diabetic state, when you're in a fasted place between 100 and 120, meaning what I mean by that is when I wake up, I prick my finger. I put it on the blood glucose monitor. If it comes up between 100 to 120, you're in the pre-diabetic state. And that's from a regular physician. If you asked most natural path's people who are functional medicine doctors, they would say that really around 90 or higher, you're in the pre-diabetic state. And when I was waking up in the morning before I started doing intermittent fasting, blood sugar was anywhere from ninety five to about one hundred and two. And now when I wake up and do my blood sugar, I am probably around 70 to 80, which is phenomenal. If you wake up in the morning and you check your blood sugar and you're between 70 and 80. You are doing fantastic. So I believe that it is just a powerful tool. If you've got type 2 diabetes, obviously you need to talk to your doctor. But there's just way too many people who have been cured and in a person with type 2 diabetes. Your cells don't respond normally to insulin, which helps you to control the amount of sugar in your blood. And so when you are eating, you know, carbs and breads and pasta and sugar. Basically what's happening is your pancreas is receiving a signal to release insulin. And so what happens with all these people who are eating no matter what? You're eating right. It doesn't have to be, you know, carbs.

[00:50:09] I mean, it can be. You know, you could be eating broccoli and still your pancreas is receives a signal to release insulin and insulin is released into the bloodstream. And if you're constantly doing that, that's when you can get insulin resistance. And that's one of the things that I believe is so powerful about fasting is because you're limiting the number of times you're eating. You're not eating here every six small meals, eight small meals. And what happens is, is that your body finally gets a chance to heal itself. So I'm a huge proponent of intermittent fasting and there's too many too many ways that you can heal it. I've seen it for people who have type 2 diabetes. And what are some potent like just in general and intermittent fasting? What are some of the potential negative effects people can feel if they start doing intermittent fasting? I would say the number one thing and I I have it now actually doing a 48 hour fast and that's brain fog. So brain fog, you know, is basically where you just feel like you're dumb. You're like, I feel like you feel like you're kind of walking in a cloud and you feel like there's something wrong with you. You feel like you can't really explain it. You just literally feel like there's just a whole bunch of fog and you can't see clearly. The thing about fasting is it's so weird because you go from feeling like you're in brain fog. You almost feel like you have a little bit of like flu like symptoms. You're like, oh, I just feel a little achy. I feel like I'm cold. And then I feel like, you know, you just have this overall feeling of not feeling great.

[00:51:58] And then what's so weird is once you continue to fast, you then it's like it like is like from here to brain fog into like the most clarity you've ever had. And so that's what's so crazy about it. And one of the things I recommend for brain fog is to go exercise. What happens is people are like, I'm fasting. I need to rest. I need to relax. And they're like, nobody needs to be doing vigorous exercise when you're doing a prolonged water fast. And so even some people are doing intermittent fasting. They're like, well, I just need to relax. And the difference is, is that when you will notice a huge difference, if you go out and go for a walk while you're doing a water fast. Now, I'm not talking about massive intensity like you don't need to go for a 10 mile ride. You know, run. But a nice gentle bike ride doing yoga. Yoga doesn't really help me that much. Yoga still keeps me in a brain fog. If I do walking, if I do a bike ride, if I just, you know, do something light to get moving, I do really, really well. And I shift from that brain fog into clarity is the biggest thing that helps me. What about for you, Heather? Yeah, I agree. I would say exercising 100 percent helps. It just kind of revives you and it just gets you kind of going again. And so I 100 percent agree with that. How to deal with the mental fog. Now, what about. So that's how you can deal with the mental fog because you will get that. What about fatigue? Because a lot of people say, oh, I'm so tired because I'm not eating and I don't have enough energy.

[00:53:39] How do you like I know for me. Honestly, exercise helps with that for me as well. Like if I am fasting and then I get on my bike and then I start like outdrive exercise, I actually have like like I feel like I've tons more energy. It curbs my appetite. That's what works for me. What do you say to people who say, well, I'm getting so tired, I haven't eaten? You know, I I you know, I'm not eating for six more hours. How did they get past that? Yeah. I would say, you know, just jump do 10 jumping jacks, you know, 20 jumping jacks because you could do that anywhere. Right. You don't need to go anywhere. You could just do those jumping jacks. The other thing is, when you are first getting into fasting, if you take out a tiny bit, if you're at the point where you're like, either have to give up my fast or I need to go ahead and eat something, I would first try doing water with a little bit of fresh squeezed lemon or fresh squeezed lime, a little tiny bit of fresh squeezed orange juice. I would take an orange and just squeeze it in there. You're not I'm not talking about an entire glass of orange juice. I'm talking about a half of an inch on top of your eight ounce water of a little bit of orange juice. I would talk about getting a little bit of pink Himalayan sea salt. I do this all the time. I'm like up. I'm getting tired. I literally take the pink Himalayan sea salt. I take the shape. Put it in my palm of my hand and just lick it and do that, I'll do electrolytes well, will help me.

[00:55:21] I would say definitely. You know, going for a walk, moving my body, just starting to figure out a way. Oh, I know. Another one is figuring out a way if you can poop like cause sometimes when you're getting really tired, you've got stuff you can give yourself a little bit of a belly massage, start massaging your belly, get a squatty potty and put your feet up. Right. And see, you can like put your legs and kind of move them in toward your chest. Start doing some yoga poses and see if you can get. Because a lot of times while you're tired is because you've got those toxins inside of you. And figuring out a way that you can try to get some of that out will help as well. What about all your intermittent fasting? You know, a lot of people, they want to eat Quito or they want to eat paleo. Can they do the intermittent fasting and still do like the Kito plan or the paleo plans within their intermittent fasting windows? Yeah. I mean, you literally can do any diet that you want when you're doing your intermittent fasting. And the nice thing about doing intermittent fasting is that you don't need to. So I'd love for you to share your story. I mean, you are not. Not you. You eat whatever you want. So talk about that for a minute. Yeah. So for me, the reason I couldn't do Kida, I couldn't do paleo for me personally because I love bread. I love, you know, eating pasta, pizza or tacos. Tacos are my absolute favorite thing. Like your sons. And so for me giving that up, I was constantly deprived of it. And so when I didn't have it then I was like, all I thought about was eating the bread.

[00:57:05] And eventually I cracked and I'd eat the bread. And but I didn't just eat the bread. I ate the whole of plus three others that I've been saving up. Like as I'm like, I deserve it. I've not eaten it for three months or whatever. So for me, when I did start doing intermittent fasting, I honestly listened to whatever. Like whatever I'm craving. That's what I eat. And that because then I'm satisfying what my body wants. But I'm just stopping before I'm full. And and then I don't I have no deprivation. I don't sit there, be like, oh, hey, you're going to have the Snickers bar. Like, literally, I can eat, you know, if I'm having like, say, I want something sweet. I would I'd like to do is I'll have peanut butter Eminem's and I'm like, you know, pour out like five or six of them. And then I I fold the thing back up and staple it. And then I put it in my desk because then I'll have some more the next time I want it. And I eat those. And then it's like if it satisfies my craving and then I can eat it like it's not like, oh, I can't have that. I don't watch people eat. And I'm like, oh, I wish I could eat that for me. That's what worked for me. I eat when my body craves, whatever it might be, whether it's tacos, Chinese pizza or is it really healthy salad, you know, whatever I want. That's what I eat. And I it just it helps satisfy me. So for me, that's that's what's worked. And I believe 100 percent that deprivation is the reason behind binge eating. And when you deprive, you're going to binge eating.

[00:58:30] And that's why dieting is the number one reason why someone binge eats. And so people people who diet, you know, you know what I'm talking about. There's a girl that I hadn't seen in a long time. And I told her, I mean, I couldn't believe it. She I guess it's been six months and I think she'd gained about 100 pounds. I mean, that's she looked absolutely almost doubled the size that she was than the last time I saw her. And I said she's like, oh, you look great. And I was like, thank you. And she's like, are you still doing the intermittent fasting? And I said, of course. And she said, well, the only thing that works for me is Kito Diet or the Atkins Diet, low carb. And I'm thinking to myself, look at you, you've just gained a hundred pounds in six months. And what she did was, yeah, she would. She kept doing Kito. She would lose weight. Then she gained a little more. She'd lose weight and then she gained a little more. She lose weight. She gained a little more. Well, guess what? She gained 100 pounds. And here's the thing. They don't ever blame the diet for this behavior. They blame themselves on lack of willpower. What they don't understand, it's not lack of willpower, but it's the dieting themselves and the imposed restriction that drives the binge eating. Yeah. And so it's like, do you see how she literally. She did not see that. And she out of her own mouth said the only thing that works for me is, is the keto diet. And I'm thinking, no, this does not work for you. I just saw you six months ago. You've gained 100 pounds. Why do you not see that? That's exactly the reason why.

[01:00:09] Because dieters will never blame the diet for this behavior. They blame themselves and their lack of willpower. And so if you get to the point where you say there are no forbidden foods, forbidden foods make you and I will tell you an area I have no forbidden foods for me except for gluten is a forbidden food for me because I feel so terrible when I have it. Here's what happens, though. Every once in a while I do go ahead and give in and I'm like, I'm hungry. I'm just gonna have this gluten. It is what it is. I'll just go straight to sleep. Well, the problem is, is that when I do eat gluten, I always end up over eating. And it's because that is my like one forbidden fruit that I don't allow myself to have because I feel terrible when I eat it. But it's it's kind of like it's known as like the Last Supper syndrome. Right. Like you literally like, this is my Last Supper. I'm never going to have this again. And so you have this terrible cycle where you go. I feel deprived that I'm gonna I'm gonna overeat, that I'm gonna binge. Then you feel out of control. So then you start dieting to gain control again. Then you feel deprived and it literally creates this horrible cycle and it's just out of control. And then they you feel like, oh, my gosh. No one's ever explaining this to people. Yeah, yeah. No, it's so true and I I agree and I hate when I see people say, oh, I can't, I can't, I'm not eating carbs. And I'm thinking, well, that stinks, because you could be and you could be really healthy while you're just eating it in moderation.

[01:01:52] OK. So this is a big one for me because I'm starting to enter the age where, you know, anything I can do to not look older. I'm like, let's talk about it. So does intermittent fasting, slow aging. So a top VAGY is a key process that helps keep your cells in balance. So basically it's like you're recycling those cells. So the term tof edgy comes from the Latin word, meaning self eating. So basically what it is, is that it's the process of it where you're breaking down parts of your cells in order to recycle them in the creation of new cells. And so like if you ever like if you get a peel, you're basically going, okay, I'm gonna I'm gonna kill these cells and then it's causing your body to remake new cells. And so that's kind of the ideas that you're first you're disrupting the normal process. And then you're you're getting rid of that. And then your body is leading it to create new cells. And so that's why. Intermittent fasting works for aging. Now, let's put it this way. I've been doing fasting for a year and I look at myself in the mirror and I'm like, oh, my gosh, I'm getting wrinkles here. I'm getting this here. And so is it going to be the end all? And it's like, OK, you never have to have Botox again. No, but does it help with it? Absolutely. Yes. And anything we can do to slow the process? Yes. Always a good thing. OK. This one is like I have this one hundred percent. Why do I get cold when I'm intermittent fasting? Whenever I'm fasting, I am freezing. I'm always cold when I'm fasting, but that's when I'm doing extended fasting.

[01:03:45] So when I'm doing intermittent fasting and I'm eating in a six hour window, I'm not cold if I start doing a 24 hour fast or longer. And some people do get cold, Duke just doing intermittent fasting. But for me, I start feeling cold when I start doing longer fast of 24 hours or more. But it's pretty common and it's got a good reason. So when you fast, your blood flow increases to your fat stores. So it helps to move fat to your muscles where it can be burned as fuel. So when your blood sugar decreases, it can make you more sensitive to feeling cold. So like obviously, if your blood sugar is dropping because you aren't eating any food, then you're going to be colder. And so the cure for that, you wanted to start taking hot tea. I love to take really, really warm showers. I take warm baths. I just wear more clothes. And then just have blankets around so you can kind of snuggle up. You are going to get cold when you're doing longer, fast. And I love I love the hot tea because it also helps it kind of helps curb my appetite, too. So not only doesn't wear me up, but it does help my stomach feel like it's getting something, even though it's just like sweet, warm tea. OK. Let me let me say one thing on that, because, you know, my one girlfriend who's very, very thin is hers. She says that she has five cups of hot herbal tea a day, like at least four to five cups a day. And the thing is, is that she says, I would be 10. She says she would be 10 pounds heavier if she didn't have that hot, hot tea, because as soon as she starts feeling a little bit hungry, her go to is getting that hot tea.

[01:05:41] And it just keeps her kind of calm. Yes. It's not her first her first step instead of running to food. It's running hot tea. And then if she's still hungry after that, then she's making the decision. OK, now I'm going to go ahead and eat something because I'm truly hungry. Yeah. No, by 100 percent agree with that. Obviously, this last one, these last couple are really, I think, special to you because you struggle with this. So should you intermittent bass if you have hypothyroid condition. Yeah. So I believe that I. The intermittent fasting has helped me so much with my thyroid. I would say that one of the things you have to be careful of when you're doing a longer fast is that your thyroid medicine and even when you're doing intermittent fasting, your thyroid starts working better. And so you actually need less thyroid medicine. And so that's a problem is that you might feel worse because you've got too much thyroid medicine. So if you're fasting, especially if I do fasting for two days or three days, I have to cut back on thyroid medicine because your body can just perform at higher peaks. So you may want to bring your thyroid medicine to three quarters of what you're taking or half of what you're taking. And if you're doing a really long or fast, you know, you might not take it for that day or the next day. So you just have to talk to your doctor about it. I would talk to a functional medicine doctor, because if you talk to a regular doctor, they might just tell you don't fast at all, which is not the answer. So you just have to see how you're feeling. And, you know, I wean myself completely off thyroid medicine from doing fasting so you can either get yourself to the point where you wean yourself completely off, you can wean yourself back.

[01:07:33] And, you know, I believe that I'm a walking, living testimony that you can really help heal your thyroid through doing fasting. I will. Chantel, thank you so much for answering all these questions on intermittent fasting. And if they have more questions or want more information on intermittent fasting, where should they go? So we have an intermittent fasting group. So check out our waste away intermittent fasting group. I think it's called intermittent fasting community group. You can look for that. So join our Facebook group. You can also go download the podcast. I have two podcasts. One's called Waste Away through intermittent fasting and one is the Fasting Resets podcast. So both of those have great information and then also go to the fasting reset summit dot com. And that's where we had forty six guests talk about everything you could possibly want to know. And it's all about fasting. So the soda. Very well. Thank you so much, Chantelle. Thanks. Bye bye.