Fasting During Perimenopause
I have spoken a lot over the past few years about my rather alarming weight gain. I have tried so many things to shed these stubborn kgs but my goal now is to just stop the rather depressing constant weight gain.
I have tried everything except the cabbage soup diet and Ozempic. (For obvious reasons I am probably not going to give either of those two a try.) A few years ago I tried fasting but I hated it and actually gained weight but a lot of my research into managing perimenopause keeps leading me back to fasting. In a last ditch attempt to stop the fat, I have been fasting for 6 weeks now and while I have not lost a gram (I think I have actually put on a few grams) I am actually enjoying it a lot more this time and feel better. I figure that’s the trade off – at least if I have to be overweight, let me feel good.
A few of my fasting observations
- I am doing 16:8 for now. This time around I am not getting hungry so often I go to 17/18 hours.
- Skipping dinner works the best for me. We are up and about early so its easier for me to get my two meals in before 15h00 (sometimes 16h00).
- I know it is often recommended to go cut out carbs when you fast but I have tried this before and I don’t do well with no carbs, so I am trying instead to go low carb. I don’t have any processed carbs or sugar but I do have rice/potatoes/sourdough bread with one of my two meals.
- I am working out 4/5 times a week. I am trying to incorporate a hike once a week into our routine.
- I am trying not to get too caught up in the whole monitoring my glucose/states etc which is possibly why I am not losing anything but I don’t want to get obsessive so I am trying to listen to my body instead.
- I am trying to have black coffee in my fasting window, I don’t want to increase my coffee intake again. I know I can have green tea but I just cant stomach it without a splash of honey.
- Breaking my fast with full cream plain yoghurt is such a treat. Often it keeps me going for a while before an actual meal.
I was hoping to have shed at least 500g in the past 6 weeks of fasting but alas, it was not in the cards for me. But I am going to keep going because I do definitely feel better.
Have you ever fasted before?
