First, I suppose I should say that I have always been fairly fit and healthy.  I’ve never been what most people would call skinny, but I have always been content with my size.  I have counted calories and alternated between aerobics, jogging, yoga, weights, etc., regularly since I was in high school… and rather enjoyed it to be quite honest.  In 2003, I started to very slowly and steadily gain weight.  On average, around 2-5 pounds a month.  At first I just chalked it up to getting a little older, so I ramped up my workouts and started keeping a closer eye on things.  No matter what I did, I was still slowly gaining weight.  I could slow it down, but I couldn’t stop it.  I saw my doctor, who tested me for this or that several times over the years and pretty much insinuated I must be lying about my diet and exercise habits.  By 2005, I was doing my regular ramped up exercise as well as calorie/fat/carb counting, plus adding in some pretty strenuous hikes, and I STILL continued to gain weight.  After a year of that, I was literally going to have a breakdown if someone didn’t figure out what was wrong with me.  My regular doctor (still not believing me) finally agreed to send me to a specialist… after that breakdown almost took place in his office lol.  

After the very first visit she told me I had PCOS and insulin resistance.  I promptly started taking the glucophage she prescribed and doing everything the dietitian she sent me to instructed me to do.  She told me then that if a normal person has to workout an hour a day to lose 2 lbs a week, someone with insulin resistance would have to work out 3 hours a day to lose the same 2 lbs, in addition to the low GI diet.  I always loved exercising, but that was a little excessive lol!  I obviously couldn’t work out 3 hours a day working full-time and freelancing part-time, but I did as much as I could and at that point I at least stopped GAINING weight.  I didn’t lose any, but I was just happy to not be gaining for the first time in 3 years.  In that time I had gained over 100 pounds and I was completely miserable.  For the next few years, I went through periods where I would try so hard for several months, see no results, and subsequently quit.  Then I’d get fed up with the weight and start all over again.  The crazy thing was that if I did everything *right* I didn’t lose any weight, but if I ate what I wanted I didn’t gain any weight, so I spent most of time wondering what in the world the point was.  Besides the obvious overall health factor, why would anyone eat all of the stuff they’re not exactly fond of and kill themselves with exercise, when they could not worry about any of it, eat what they want, hardly exercise at all, and still weigh the exact same amount?  That’s just insane.

Then I lost my job and insurance and I certainly didn’t have a way to see a specialist anymore.  She renewed my prescriptions for 2 years without seeing me, in hopes that I would be able to return soon.  Since I was supposed to go every 6 months, I knew the time would come that she couldn’t continue to do so, and it did.  I was terrified of gaining weight again so I started scouring the internet trying to learn exactly how insulin worked and how to get mine to stop being crazy without the meds (besides the diet and exercise I was already doing which clearly wasn’t enough, even with the meds).  I tried to learn everything I could about how insulin works along with how every hormone that affects insulin works, and I devoured control studies and everything I could find on PCOS and IR.  Somewhere in that sea of information, I happened to find one little mention of intermittent fasting.  I was already sold on trying it, but I read a little blurb about grazing (the plan the dietitian had me on) keeping your insulin constantly elevated, which made total sense to me and completely sold me on it.  I was a bit skeptical about certain aspects of it, but I had already tried everything else and I had to do something… so I read every word on every site that mentioned IF, then just started experimenting.  Before I knew it, I had lost 30 pounds in around 3 months.  That was toward the end of last summer.  The holidays and winter came and went, and while I didn’t lose any more weight, I didn’t gain the 10+ pounds that I usually gain then have to work off in the new year, so I was ecstatic.  

Then in January, I decided to quit smoking.  I knew that I wouldn’t make it through that without some extra pounds, but my hubby had quit a few months before and I had read that smoking actually makes insulin resistance worse, so I went for it!  My husband (who is extremely fit, dedicated and has unprecedented willpower) gained about 20 pounds over the next several months.  I only gained 5, and my nicotine cravings were nil comparatively.  I read that it takes your metabolism a few months to adjust after quitting and that proved to be true for both of us.  Now that I’ve leveled out from that, I’m losing weight again!!!!!!!  The 5 I gained is now gone (even without regular exercise due to an injury) and I can’t wait to get the rest of it off!

The craziest thing about it is that I am eating the same exact amount of calories that I did when I grazed, took glucophage, exercised and didn’t lose a pound.  The ONLY difference is the IF (and the added downside of no meds).  Here is a list of some of the biggest benefits I’ve experienced with IF:

•   I can skip a workout or two AND I can cheat a little and I still lose weight.  

•  I now love the feeling of hunger.  It’s empowering and energizing because for the first time in my life I’m in control instead of the food.  Before, if I went 3 hours without food I was ravenous, lightheaded and irritable.  No more!  

•  I have NO trouble getting through my workouts… I actually have more energy during a fasted workout than I ever had before.  

•  It has helped tremendously with cravings.  I found it much harder to resist carbs on the 5 small meals and snacks plan. With IF I hardly crave carbs at all and I’m rarely even hungry unless I do a 24+ hour fast.  

•  I’m no longer wasting half of my life eating, preparing or planning meals and snacks! 

•  I feel healthier, and my hair and skin look healthier than they did in my 20′s.  

•  I’m not lethargic and depressed all the time now.  And though I still have a long way to go, I even have a little bit of my confidence back!  

I could go on and on about the benefits I’ve experienced… and I haven’t had anything except positive side effects.  For anyone who is interested I have experimented with switching back and forth from grazing to IF and every single time I go back to grazing I start gaining weight immediately.  I guess I’ll wrap up with a gist of the plan I ended up with.

I’ve always been a night owl and I’ve never been a breakfast person, so I eat dinner between 7pm and 8pm every night and I don’t eat or drink anything except water until at least 2pm the next day.  I generally eat at 2pm and 8pm everyday.  If I do any snacking, I usually do it during that 2-8 time frame.  I do this every day and I’m rarely hungry and never fatigued.  If I wake up and I’m hungry, I eat.  At any time if I have more than the “feel good” hunger, I eat, then start again the next day.  Every Saturday, I have an anything goes day (though I do still account for everything I eat and keep it within reason).  During the week I enter my calories into myfitnesspal on my android phone and/or online.  I have it set to lose 2 lbs per week. and to accommodate my cheat day I normally eat 200-400 calories or so below my daily allowance to make up for any overages on my cheat day or during the week.  It’s just so easy!  If I’m going to eat out somewhere socially, I do the 24 hour fast because a couple of margaritas and meal out anywhere is easily going to go over most people’s daily allowance.  I also like to do a 24 hour fast from time to time if my weight needs a jump start or if I go over my calories the day before.

Again, I’m so very sorry for the length of this post!  I just wanted to make sure I anticipated any and all questions and gave a very thorough account so it might help someone else.  Thank you so very much!  :)  Heather

If you are referencing controlled studies involving a drastic weekly caloric deficit lasting 10-14 days or longer, then you are absolutely correct on all of the drawbacks. However, the recommended sites do not condone this. If a caloric deficit is planned into your individual diet (depending on your goal), it will rarely be over 7000 calories per week, and will most often include a refeed/cheat/spike day to regulate leptin and ghrelin to normal healthy levels.

Also, research that is ‘anecdotal’ is not research. There are plenty of scientifically sound studies that show several benefits to IF in most individuals (diabetics are an example of who might not want to do this without md supervision).

I do appreciate your pointing out the dangers of extreme calorie restriction. People need to know that IF is not that, and I’m glad you brought that up. Thank you.