Saying No to Binge Eating

August 12, 2015 by Naomi Jeremiah 1 Comment

Somehow, I really got curious about intermittent fasting. I’ve searched ‘high and low’ to get more detailed explanations and how it can be beneficial to my weight loss journey. First thing I have learned is that when you are on a calorie counting eating program, you would be somehow on an intermittent fasting.  Especially so when I schedule my calorie consumption in the morning until four in the afternoon. Then, I completely stop eating and just drink water. I start eating the next day at 9 am or 10 am which gives me 17 or 18 hours of fast daily.

Discovering that there’s a name given for those hours I was not eating, has given additional motivation for me to obtain details about those hours I sort of psych myself up that I am not hungry, that my stomach is small to have additional food that I really do not need. These subliminal messages I put in my senses and brain did work eventually for my body system has adjusted to the change in my eating habits. 

Learning about intermittent fasting, made me realize that I am really doing a big favor to my digestion and all the organs that work on digesting and distributing the healthy food nutrients I’m ingesting. It takes eight hours for everything to be digested and distributed in my body. What I’ve learned is that after all the work, my system has a chance to repair, clean and whatever job they have to do to keep my organs and cells work to prime. And this happens when my body is in a fasted state. Aside from optimizing my health, it is in this fasting state that my body access the fat it stored for additional energy to do the job of maintaining, cleaning, getting rid of body waste, reduce and eventually reverse inflammation, balance my sugar glucose, get my blood pumping better in my arteries and veins to help with blood pressure and keep the cholesterol in the right level. Our body system is actually a miraculous worker to help heal the body. And with unnecessary interruptions from extra food that we do not need to eat, it disrupts this process. And that’s why intermittent fasting is good for our health when done right.

Now I understand why health experts were saying that our body can heal the maladies, illnesses and diseases we contracted if given the correct nutrients it craves to help with the healing process; and when we give the body time with no excessive interruptions from eating excessive food. If we are feeding our body with so much sugar, abundance of junk food and bad fat, the body’s natural healing ability will not function. That’s when our body breaks down. It’s just like when we put a wrong fuel in our vehicle’s gas tank. The car engine can be seriously damaged. And so it is with our body.

Bingeing or excessive indulgence after fasting would do the same thing. Aside from defeating the purpose of intermittent fasting, the abuse on our body by eating so much food, can seriously damage our organs. More so when we indulge on junk food bingeing. Worst thing we can do to our body. It will be in a sorry state.  Eventually if we keep on doing binge eating  whether after we fast or not eating for hours after we awake, it will take its toll in our body. Our body system will suffer and it will manifest at first as silent killers and eventually unfold into serious illnesses and diseases that can cause untimely death.

From what I’ve read about intermittent fasting, it works well with a healthy weight loss plan.

According to Dr. Andrew Weil, Founder and director of The Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine:

A 2007 review by University of California, Berkeley, researchers concluded that alternate-day fasting may:

• Decrease cardiovascular disease risk.
• Decrease cancer risk.
• Lower diabetes risk (at least in animals, data on humans were less clear, possibly because the trial periods in the studies were not long enough to show an effect).
• Improve cognitive function.
• Protect against some effects of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.

What should we make of this?

I don’t recommend IF for everyone. Children under 18 should not fast, nor should diabetics, nor pregnant or lactating women. Some health conditions — such as severe gastrointestinal reflux disease, or GERD — are easier to manage when food intake is more regular.

But I do think the evidence for the health benefits of IF should make us rethink what seems to be a modern cultural imperative: to avoid hunger at all costs. To the contrary, getting hungry now and then is clearly a healthy thing to do as long as overall caloric intake stays high enough to maintain a healthy weight. (Fasting, like every other healthy activity, must be done sensibly and in moderation.) Many people who follow IF regimes report both physical and mental benefits, including improved energy and concentration, better sleep, and an overall feeling of well-being.

From my own experience, I really feel much better now and my energy level is high. So far, I’ve lost 11 pounds and 8 ounces since I started calorie counting on June 8, 2015. I feel really good.