“Experimenting…”

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 Shared by Breanne Smedley

A few weeks ago, I was challenged to a 24 hour fast.

24 hours of no food. Only water and black coffee or tea.

As someone who is pretty much snacking all day and looking forward to the next meal, 24 hours seemed brutal.

But also as someone who is extremely interested in health and the impact that foods (or the lack thereof) have on our bodies and minds, I decided to give it a go.

The GRIT program I’m in has a nutrition component called FUEL.

Our head trainer, CJ Thomas gave us the rundown on why fasting can be beneficial to achieving peak energy and health.

Improved metabolism.
Increased energy.
Better sleep.

In researching further, I found that intermittent fasting (restricting your eating to a 12-8 hour window) can significantly improve cognition and protect nerve cells from dysfunction and degeneration through a process called autophagy.

If there’s anything that scares me about aging, it’s losing my mind.

Bring on the wrinkles.
The gray hair.

But the thought of diseases like alzheimers or dementia terrifies me.

Because I’ve seen it happen to loved ones in my life, and those close to me.

The thought of looking at my children and not knowing who they are.

The thought of those close to me seeing me not understand even the simplest things in life.

While I know some if this is out of my control, and comes with aging, I also am of the camp that if there’s something I can do to help, I’ll do it.

Eating whole, nutritious foods.
Moving my body daily.
Getting sleep.
Reducing negative stress.

And now, fasting?

I didn’t die after 24 hours without food. In fact, I even worked out and felt pretty good.

The past two weeks, I’ve been trying the 16:8 ratio of fasting to eating.

The verdict is still out.

I feel good, and actually don’t feel hungry like I thought I would.

And like many things worth doing, I may not reap the benefits until much later.

But, I have learned that there is only so much research we can do before we have to just stop listening and start experimenting.

I am the experiment.

The only way I’ll know what works for me is if I try.

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#FiercelyOptimistic

#MindfullyEvolving

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