Intermittent Fasting

I never expected to come back to intermittent fasting. I got on it for the first time late in 2018 when Pankaj sent me to his nutritionist. Pankaj is my guardian angel. He got me to my Manhattan carotid artery surgeon before I had a stroke. He got me to my cardiologist. “You and I,” he told me, “need a cardiologist who is younger than us.” And he got me to Carla.

Carla got me into intermittent fasting, not as a diet, but as a permanent lifestyle change. Her genius was that she didn’t ask me to do anything I couldn’t do. She didn’t, for instance, insist on my giving up my evening glass of wine. Other than my morning coffee, which was cheating, I ate nothing until 11 AM. If a meeting was running over, some member of my team would remind me that it was time to eat. They didn’t want me getting “hangry.” I snacked in the afternoon, almonds at work, apples at home. I aimed to be done with dinner by 7 PM. I didn’t eat for sixteen hours and lost thirty pounds. It took about a year, and I kept it off. Until I retired.

After my 2022 retirement, intermittent fasting began to drift away. My schedule changed: Without making a decision, I was back to three meals a day. My “fast” shrank to thirteen hours. When we got back from Jamaica last January, I’d gained back almost ten pounds. I wasn’t happy about that, but I was okay. I love to eat in restaurants and had no intention of giving that up. I was enjoying retirement. I had my stents, my blood pressure was good, and my cardiologist was happy.

I never made the decision to go back to intermittent fasting. The Universe worked it out. Dee was recuperating from hip surgery, and restaurants were out. Dee wasn’t cooking. Much to my surprise, I was and enjoying it. I love my salads, and I enjoy chopping vegetables. Dee slept better if we ate by five. Without noticing it, I slid back into intermittent fasting, eating only two meals a day, not eating for at least sixteen hours. No effort. I’ve lost eight of the ten pounds I’d gained.

Is this the permanent change in lifestyle which Carla had advocated? I’m smiling. It may have been the Buddha’s first teaching: Nothing is permanent. Everything changes. So, I have to figure that this will change too. Perhaps like my walking schedule, it will even change with the seasons. Six months from now, will I be looking for more hot food? I’m so happy now with non-fat Greek yogurt, fresh fruit and granola, my chopped salad and grilled fish -- some days the fish is hot off the grill but some days it’s cold out of the fridge -- my wine and my small sweet, often a dried fig or date, but everything changes. Likely this will too.

What is most striking in this intermittent fasting go-round is that this time there is no effort. Sometimes even the good things in life push me out of my routine. Vacations, family birthdays, other special occasions push me to extravagance. I love it, and I miss my routine. I look forward to getting back to “normal.”

How long will it last? What’s next? Don’t know. As wonderful as this moment is, I’m looking forward to finding out.