reddir's Journal, 22 September 2017

Fritzy 22, thank you for your concern :) What do you think might be the negative effects of not eating for a while? For myself, my body feels better and my blood sugar gets closer to normal the longer I go without eating. The primary negative effect that I'm seeing is my mind acting up and feeling a desire to binge on protein. Weight loss _is_ a goal for me, but it is secondary to achieving dietary control of my blood sugar levels - of course studies indicate that a lower body fat % is correlated with better blood sugar control, but it also seems that high blood sugar leads to high insulin which severely limits fat loss. 

Reddir: I don't have blood sugar issues, thankfully. Hopefully I won't have, but there is a family history. I know everyone is different and I talk to my cousin, who is my age, about her diabetes. She was diagnosed about 5 years ago. I just know she can't go too long without eating or her blood sugar goes dangerously low. She spent about a week with me recently and told me she usually had a snack of a few almonds around 9 or 10pm, so it seems like just sleeping 8 hours has an impact on her. So your situation sounds just the opposite of hers, she needs to eat several times during the day or she starts feeling light headed and she's careful to have protein at every meal and limit carbs to 30 - and you feel better the longer you go without eating. Have you discussed with your doctor? At every doctor appointment I take a list of about 5 or 6 questions to make sure I ask him. He is guiding me with my weight loss efforts. I'm going to ask him if there would be any benefits for me to do any fasting other than the daily 16 hours. I think there's a chance he'll tell me not to even do that. But I see so many people on this site almost obsessed with fasting. 

Fritzy 22, There is an important difference to keep in mind between diabetics on medication and those trying to manage without. Fasting is generally good for those NOT on medication. Fasting can be quite DANGEROUS for those ON medication. Most medication is intended to increase insulin sensitivity or insulin itself by a certain amount - and this is based on what is expected to be needed to deal with the patient's diet; in this case, not meeting the diet expectations can drive the blood glucose dangerously low. For those of us not on medication, the primary challenge is to get blood glucose down toward normal; there is usually no question of reaching 'low' blood glucose except in unusual or extreme cases. 

Okay, now it make sense. I asked my cousin if she took medication when she visited me and she said yes. Initially when first diagnosed she was managing it through diet. She still sticks to a quite strict diet, really watching carbs - getting enough but not too many and making sure she gets enough protein. I keep getting educated. 

Fritzy 22: "I keep getting educated." Welcome to life! I think people who stop learning get bored with living and get up to some really questionable things. Still, it is very good of you to be concerned enough about a stranger like me to caution me when you think I might be doing something dangerous. If I had this kind of advice (assuming I payed attention) when I was younger and putting my body through the wringer with my bad choices I might not have to focus so much on blood sugars today. 

Yes, I'm learning all about everyone's preferred way to lose weight. The majority are doing something different than me but I'm very interested in learning what people do and why. The fasting especially puzzles me. I've done it for a day or two, but rarely and usually over eat after it's over because I get so hungry. But I can do 2 meals a day no problem with some snacks at times. Hope what you are doing works for you, both for your weight goals and for your health.