So, I’m a week in to my little experiment with IF, as I wrote about last week.  While I don’t have a ton to update on at this point, I want to at least check in on it week to week, as I think that will help me process whether or not it’s having a positive effect on my symptoms.  My goal is to do it for a month and then really evaluate whether or not I should continue with it.

First, I will say it hasn’t been as bad as I expected.  Choosing the fasting window that I did (8pm through noon the following day) probably helped with that.  I still have my green tea with a little honey and lemon juice first thing in the morning, and I drink lots of water with my Nuun hydration tabs all morning.  I start to get hungry around 11am, and at that point, waiting an hour isn’t really that bad.  I’ve kept my diet constant, and I have lunch at noon, though I have added a bit to it to make up for not eating breakfast in the morning.  Last week it was some ground turkey that I cooked up with onion, bell pepper, and some kidney beans that I topped with diced tomato, avocado and a little sharp cheddar.  I added a bowl of cantaloupe and a string cheese to this, and was full.  I have a small snack around 3-4pm, usually a Kind bar, and then dinner, which is usually some kind of meat for protein and some vegetables.  Normally we eat dinner around 7pm, so eating after 8pm isn’t really an issue anyway.

I will say – though it’s early – that I think I have less craving for sweets in the late afternoon, which has always been a “snack time” for me.  Will have to see if that continues.  And I must admit that I let myself eat normally yesterday, as Sunday mornings my husband cooks us breakfast, so we had some grilled flatbread and an assortment of charcuterie and cheeses with fruit and honeycomb.  Just had a little bit to tide us over, as we were planning on having lunch at Salt Lick BBQ, which is a treat we allow ourselves every other month or so.  We are lucky enough to live in Austin, and have so many BBQ places to choose from, but Salt Lick is legendary.  I got my usual there, which is the smoked turkey, since brisket and other heavier meats can be a bit harder for me to tolerate with the higher fat content.  So incredibly good.  But I’m back to my routine today, so we will see what happens this next week.

I’m also planning on discussing this plan with my chiropractor tomorrow during my appointment; I want to see what his thoughts are regarding IF and whether or not it may be beneficial to the inflammatory response.  I’ll share that later on this week, along with any of my own feedback from my experience for the week.  Additionally, being that I have been knee-deep in medical bills for the last couple of years, I’m working on doing a post about reviewing medical bills for accuracy and going about disputing charges, as I think that’s something we all face.  I’ve got another round of bills ready to hit from my two hospitalizations last month, so I’m going to try to see what I can do about getting them down to a more reasonable cost.  I’ll try to have that up in the next week or two, and be prepared for some foul-worded posts.  As it is, I’ve already got a few choice words for Cigna, who have essentially refused to assign me a Case Manager to help me manage my medical bills after I have repeatedly asked for one six times.  Douchebags.

And they wonder why I wear my Fuck Younicorn t-shirt in the hospital after all this bullshit…