Yesterday, I received my full health checkup results. I am generally healthy and the only recommendation is to build muscle through weight training. My fasting blood sugar level is 88mg/dL, which is in the normal range of under 100mg/dL. I learned from Dr. Zenji Makita’s book “You’re Eating the Wrong Food” that the key to weight loss is to keep the blood sugar level after eating under 140mg/dL. What I am trying to do now is to put health advice into practice each day. Today, I remembered that I learned about intermittent fasting in 2013.

Intermittent fasting is known to be effective for losing weight. Brad Pilon, the author of Eat-Stop-Eat, suggests a 24-hour fast once or twice a week to stay fit. The idea behind intermittent fasting is that fasting reduces insulin levels. Insulin is a hormone that converts excess glucose into neutral fat and stores it in fat cells. Simply put, when insulin levels go up, our body switches to fat storage mode. On the other hand, when insulin levels go down, our body switches to fat burning mode, as the pancreas produces glucagon to prevent blood sugar from dropping too low. Fasting is also known to slow down aging and improve brain function.

I tried intermittent fasting but I realized that I don’t want to remove the pleasure of eating from my day, even for a day a week. The key to any dietary change is sustainability. Clearly, overeating damages our health. Eating when we are hungry is okay. However, we need to be careful of the food cravings that the overconsumption of carbs causes due to rapid blood sugar fluctuations. After I have a scrambled egg breakfast, I don’t feel hungry for 7~8 hours until dinner. But, after I have a veggie pizza for dinner with a coke, I start craving more food in just a few hours.

A 24-hour fast is not sustainable for me, so I decided to finish dinner before 9 p.m. and avoid snacking. I eat dinner until I feel satisfied. I am trying to eat slower by chewing more because the brain takes about 20 minutes to feel full. I usually eat breakfast around 9 a.m. to 10 a.m., so I have about a 12-hour window between eating. I am not trying to be too strict. I love eating fruit at night. I eat bananas, strawberries, or other fruits for a snack. I may try to change the time I eat fruit to daytime.

Finding healthy snacks seems important. We can expect to want snacks from time to time. Having go-to healthy snacks will benefit us. I found a 70% cacao dark chocolate bar that uses stevia, a sugar alternative that does not affect blood sugar. Although bread of any kind raises blood sugar level, I will keep rye bread, a little better than white bread, as my snack option. I will try to drink water or get on the stationary bike to lower my blood sugar after having snacks. I believe small tweaks can go a long way. Let’s see! It’s an experiment with my own body.

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