It’s a travel day, and I’m currently reporting on the front lines from the usual McDonalds. When I walked in, I was greeted by a sign inviting me to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Shamrock Shake. Since I do not have a vested interest, I politely declined. I remember the first time I had a Shamrock Shake, which coincided with David Copperfield “walking” through the Great Wall of China in a 1986 TV special. I can’t remember the last time I had one.
This week I am trying an experiment of time-restricted eating by not eating breakfast. I reached a plateau with my weight, and it’s time to shake (not Shamrock) things up.
The experiment involves finishing dinner by 5:30 PM or no later than 6:00 PM and not consuming calories again until lunchtime at approximately 11:00 AM the next day. While I have not eaten breakfast this week, I have had my usual coffee with cream. Sticklers will say this isn’t a true fast since there are some calories in the coffee, but for my purpose, this is not a big deal.
I have not gotten ravenously hungry in the morning. In fact, I have been very focused and have had high energy the whole week.
Tomorrow morning I will check the scale and see if this experiment moved the needle in the right direction. Regardless, I plan to continue this experiment when I’m back home. It’s going to be tough giving up Bulletproof coffee for a while, but between breakfast and dinner, I find it easier to skip breakfast. I did not consider skipping lunch. Although this would be a reduction in calories, it does not fit within the time-restriction methodology since breakfast and dinner are the bookends of the feeding window.
For @keni I shall provide more detail about my results so far. @jasonleow might find this interesting as well.
Weight: Loss of 2.7 pounds from Sunday morning to Friday morning. I think the reduction in calories, restriction in timing, and increased activity walking to and from the office every day helped with this. It will be interesting to see my results after continuing the experiment with a week at home.
Sleep scores:
Sunday night: 83
Monday night: 84
Tuesday night: 79
Wednesday night: 86
Thursday night: 87
I had no problems going to sleep, but I tended to wake up earlier than I expected this week. I’m doing so much experimentation with sleep that it’s sometimes difficult to pinpoint any particular factor. Yes I know true scientists only change one variable at a time, but I’m more of a mad scientist. That said, the no-breakfast experiment does not seem to negatively impact sleep.
Biomarkers:
Sunday: Fasting morning glucose 129 mg/dL. Evening ketones 0.3 mmol/L
Monday: Fasting morning glucose 119 mg/dL. Evening ketones 0.4 mmol/L
Tuesday: Evening glucose before dinner 85 mg/dL. Evening ketones 0.8 mmol/L
Wednesday: Mid-day glucose before lunch 94 mg/dL. Mid-day ketones 0.6 mmol/L
Thursday: Evening glucose about 5 hours after dinner 75 mg/dL. Evening ketones 0.9 mmol/L
Friday: Fasting morning glucose 102 mg/dL
I’m not surprised by my ketones, but I am surprised by my glucose. Last night’s measure of 75 is the lowest glucose I have ever seen. My reading of 102 this morning is usually only achievable after a full day of fasting. For reference, healthy fasting glucose is below 100, and anything above 125 is considered the threshold for diabetes. Contrast this to when I was first diagnosed with diabetes and had a fasting glucose of 279 mg/dL.
Energy:
My energy levels have been high this week. The beauty of having fasting periods while in nutritional ketosis (>= 0.5 mmol/L) is that my body is already switched over to burning fat for fuel. I still have plenty to burn off. In the morning I was very alert and focused.
I did not find that I was packing in more calories with lunch or dinner to make up for the missing calories at breakfast. I stuck to the same meals. Again, this is ketosis working its magic.
Mood:
No noticeable changes in mood. I was in the office this week, which can be more stressful. I did not get “hangry.” If anything, I think I was able to control my emotions this week and avoid super highs and super lows.
The experiment continues…