Intermittent Fasting for Autophagy and Designer Denim, Month Three 📍

Welcome to my third month of intermittent fasting! If you’ve been interested in the fasting lifestyle I hope that my experience here in the beginning is useful to you. This post is the third in a series, so if you want to start at the very beginning, click on over to Month Zero – I’ll wait.

This month I gained personal experience with the saying “The first rule of fasting club is DON’T TALK ABOUT FASTING CLUB.” Oy vey. What a downer.

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Q. What happened?
A. I tried to help someone.
She declared that she was unhappy, and I debated telling her about IF. I decided to keep the recommendation simple, so I briefly said that fasting has given me energy and clarity – two things that naturally lift any funk! So I recommend one of Dr. Fung’s books and it did not go well. I learned that the book title; The Obesity Code, is offensive to some.
I felt like I was offering a treasure map to health, wealth, and happiness – and she felt like I was calling her fat. Now I know that people still judge books by their covers, and it feels like Dr. Fung’s choice of title has become my burden because I dared to recommend it.

So I have learned my lesson. Although it pains me to keep such treasures to myself I will not suggest IF to anybody unless they ask me specifically about my changing shape, increased energy, unusually clear skin, or anything else that only happened after daily fasting. I am still keeping this series going so it will be searchable for those who are ready.

Month three was February for me, and I wondered if I was experiencing my body’s version of keto breath. “Keto breath” is a byproduct of ketosis. It doesn’t happen to everyone, and for those that do get it, it may not be the same. Some report ammonia-like breath, others get a metallic taste. I can’t tell if I have keto breath, normal coffee breath, or post-nasal-drip funk. Nobody knows. I just hope it’s ketosis, then I brush my teeth before Mister Jupiter gets home from work and that makes me feel better.

This month I started with the same 16:8 protocol that I was using, but was suddenly able to tighten up to 20:4. Sounds drastic – but it was easy.

6 p.m. – Open window with dinner, then have dessert after Baby goes to bed. No food after 10 p.m., but I will drink wine.

So how did I easily lengthen my fast? By fasting clean; only drinking black coffee and water (either filtered, mineral, or carbonated). I cut out green tea and my afternoon hunger vanished. With nothing to spike my insulin, I learned that I can easily wait until dinner is ready to eat – at which point I happily eat plenty of food.

Early February – My cravings for leafy greens suddenly changed to a craving for carbs – specifically bread and pasta. Since I don’t restrict what I eat we had a lot of pastas and embarrassingly few vegetables. I always feel a little guilty when I forget to make us a vegetable or two, so I decided to start taking a multivitamin with dinner. Mister Jupiter doesn’t fast, so he has other opportunities to get in some greens.

Late February – I have realistically moved to one meal a day (OMAD) and love it! It’s simple and easy to just focus on one meal, and to enjoy it. The magic is all in the clean fast, meaning that while fasting I really do stick to ONLY black coffee and water. I also started taking serrapeptase upon waking to help my sinuses. I need daily antihistamines, and still have issues, so I hope that this enzyme helps me breathe easier!

The struggle in month three – Feeding Baby Jupiter. I usually take a bite of something to test the temperature, or lick a spoon here and there. No more! Now I use my bottom lip to test temperature, and rinse the spoons. Easy changes, but still habits that are formed from daily life with a toddler.

The success in month three – Still getting smaller. I take a few measurements every two weeks or so – whenever I think there’s been a change. Last measurement confirmed a half inch loss at the hips; small, but noticeable. I used to be the same size top and bottom, but pregnancy changed me into a pear shape. So it makes total sense that my hips should shrink at a greater rate than my waist or bust because my body is trying to get back to its preferred non-pregnant proportions.

➤ ➤ Goal Pants – Still waiting in the closet.
They are embarrassingly small, but I have a good feeling about next month. They are non-stretchy waist size 30 denim by ALLSAINTS.

I set Zero to help me track an 18:6 fasting protocol, but realistically it’s a slightly flexible OMAD that is easily 20:4 or 22:2 – it just depends on the day.

Here are my fasts as of the last week of this month. Zero is helping me see that my fasting has really improved. See that short day where I only fasted 16 hours? I went to a crawfish boil and opened my window early for beer and crab dip. I wasn’t hungry for anything else, so I didn’t eat anything else until dinner that night. So while my window was open longer I didn’t eat the whole time because I wasn’t hungry! Appetite correction is a wonderful thing.

Earlier this month I realized something else that is motivating me (besides my Goal Pants); my wedding rings! I have been wearing a silicone wedding band since I got pregnant and still (14 months postpartum) cannot fit into my rings.