I laughed and then I started thinking to myself: “Do all moms intermittent fast without even knowing it?”
Okay, first let me explain what it is and then we will go back to this question because she just may be onto something!
I have been fasting, juicing, cleansing and overall “dieting” since the age of 5. NO, that is not a typo…I am Colombian. If you don’t know what that means come over to my mother’s apartment in NYC and have her make you a Frijolada (rice and beans) with the most delicious Pataconoes (fried Plantains) and Aguacate (sliced avocado) this side of Bogota.
Then have her fix you an enormous plate and while you dig in excitedly watch her horrified look as she asks you (in Español of course) “did you not eat breakfast today?” or “are you going to eat that whole plate?!”
Or my personal favorite: “Honey, didn’t I teach you to eat like a proper lady?!” I mean… these are rhetorical questions really because clearly she is implying that I do NOT in fact need to eat a large meal (even though she served it to me! being Latina is SO confusing). And so it began for me my mother would serve me foods and I would eat like a wartime peasant receiving rations.
Always a Business Woman
By the time I was in 2nd grade I was selling half of my sandwich to my friend Elisa who was always a bit extra hungry after her lunch. I have always been a business woman even way back then. I was sure that my mother was testing me by sending me to school with a robust sandwich every day, but don’t worry I catch on quick.
I was always an active skinny child and once I started playing sports. Track and Lacrosse stuck with me throughout HS and I played rugby in college for a bit. Yes, rugby. I realized I didn’t have to play my mother’s mind games because I could eat whatever I wanted and actually struggled to keep weight on. Don’t you miss those days? damn my metabolism was fast! So the days of counting calories were over…for now.
The Importance of Workouts
College days were the next time in my life that I realized that I couldn’t eat chinese food and pizza late at night every night and have it not affect me. So the working out and dieting started once again. My metabolism has always been pretty fast so I have never truly struggled with eating. I can eat most of what I want without any repercussions as long as I throw in a few great workouts per week. I am a runner, I run about 6 miles every day in college. I only ran maybe 2 times per week and did weights/circuit the other days.
Post-college days until now I definitely have kept up my running but have 100% introduced not only healthier foods into my life. I used to exist on chicken sandwiches and taco bell in college, but juicing, fasting and colonics into my life.
Green Juice
“Green Juice” is a trending term these days but I have been drinking them since way back in the day when BluePrint Cleanse was the only player in the game serving up a 3, 5 or 7 day juice fast to reset your body.
I have been using BluePrint since 2000. Of course, now there are more cleanses than you know what to do with yet I will always go back to the OG because it has served me well for so many years.
(This is not a sponsored post for BPC I am just saying they work and have been around since ‘Nam… not actually since the Vietnam War but that’s Enid speak for a long time)
Juicing is vital for me and since I am now a busy working mom of 3 under 7 I truly rely on juices for vitamins and nutrients on the go. To be honest, I even order pre-made meals like Sakara which is insanely healthy and also super delicious. And they literally send you all of the meals so you don’t even have to worry about whether you are eating healthy enough or not. And now without further ado we are here as to the whole reason for this blog post INTERMITTENT FASTING.
Intermittent Fasting
Fasting is not a fad or anything new. I have been doing it for the last decade and a half to reset my body and to basically recalibrate. Intermittent fasting has really caught popularity over the last few years and I am here to tell you why I love doing it and why for me it’s really more of a “way of life” versus a “diet.”
First, I will tell you the different types. Then I will elaborate on how I do it and why it works so well for the busy mom.
Fasting Patterns:
The 5:2 method involves eating 25% of normal calorie intake on two non-consecutive days of the week.
The 24 hour fast is just that a complete fast (abstinence) from food (yes, you can drink water) for one day of each week or one day per month (depending on if you do this often or just for a diet).
The 16:8 method is where you fast for 16 hours each day and you eat within an 8 hour time span. the normal eating time is during 12-8 or 1-9pm
I employ the 16:8 method and have for a long time because it is easy to follow and hellllooooo… I am a busy AF mom. Do you not think that most days I realize that my coffee is still in the microwave around 2pm when I am exhausted searching for a latte and realizing that I haven’t eaten anything yet! So ding ding ding… Annie was right this sort of IS the busy mom’s diet and best part is: It WORKS.
I eat a ton of protein via beans and mainly meat less options, hummus, quinoa, tempeh. etc. Lots of salad, avocado, fruits, etc. And I just restrict when I eat those things.
Do I fast every day or every week? Nope. But do I do it two weeks before Thanksgiving or Christmas? Yes, I do. Do I fast before bikini vacations? Absolutely. I think it is all about moderation like with anything else in life.
Switching to an intermittent fasting diet expands your limits and boosts your performance in a number of ways. Here are some of the powerful benefits of intermittent fasting:
- Boosts weight loss
- Increases energy
- Promotes cellular repair and autophagy (when your body consumes defective tissue in order to produce new parts)
- Reduces insulin resistance and protects against type 2 diabetes
- Lowers bad cholesterol
- Promotes longevity
- Protects against neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s
- Improves memory and boosts brain function
- Makes cells more resilient
Who doesn’t want all of this? No brainer, right?
Feel free to ask me anything you want. You know how to reach me. I am happy to help with workouts and diet plans and I am happy to be your support system during your (IF) should you decide to try it out!