I've seen some posts in the forum about long fasts, but has anyone tried intermittent fasting? The Men's health article piqued my interest, and non-diabetic friend was raving about it, so I've tried it twice this week.
First my background: FYI: Type 1 for 30 years, MDI the whole way...last A1C 6.5, which is down from staying in the high 6's-7 range for the last few years. Weight is up about 10 pounds from where I'd like to be.
http://www.menshealth.com/weight-loss/8-hour-diet-plan
Here's the skinny (let's hope!):
The so-called 8-hour diet: do it only 2-3 days a week, 2 days a week to start. You only eat during an 8-hour window, and fast the remaining 16 hours (8 of which are sleep hours).
I started Tuesday night, ate dinner by 8 pm. Did an hour yoga class at 9, then instead of my usual bed-time snack with some Novolog, skipped that, took my regular dose of Levemir at 10 pm. Sugars were fine after yoga but lowering a bit: 85 at bedtime. Awoke at 4:30 am to 65, took 3 glucose tabs (effectively ending the fast but I consider that medicine), then awoke at 120, took my morning Levemir, no Novolog, and skipped breakfast. You're allowed black coffee and water, which I drank in abundance all morning. Coffee caused a little spike to 192 by 10:30, so corrected with two units of Novo, which had be back down to 120 by Noon and my break-fast. You're supposed to eat regular breakfast at that point, but at Noon, took my Novo (4 units) and had chicken and wild rice.
I felt noticeably less bloated all morning, with good energy and no hunger pangs. Had a snack at 3 pm, then another light dinner at 6:30, so actually my eating window was only 6.5 hours for the day and not 8. Did another yoga class from 8-9:15, and was high after (273), probably because I dialed back the dinner dose a bit too much (from regular 10-12 units down to 6). Took a corrective dose of 3 units, tested at bedtime, and was feeling safe at 145. Did another 5 am test and was 65 again, but didn't feel too low, so went back to sleep until 7:30 and awoke at 75, so my basals seemed appropriate (I dialed back the evening Levemir from 28 to 25). Now I only had to wait til 10:30 am for my 16 hour fast to end, so had a late light breakfast of a plum and low-carb protein bar. Here's the other kicker: the program recommends an 8-minute exercise as the fast ends, so I ran two flights of the 6-story staircase in my work building, and 4 minutes on the office gym stairmaster. Sugars fine all morning, had a light 10:30 breakfast followed by salad for lunch at 1 pm...a mid-afternoon snack and I'll return to normal dinner tonight.
The main victories: I feel great, lost 3.5 pounds in 3 days, energy is good, and avoiding the late night snacking now seems like a mission. Sugars good, insulin adjustments will continue with lighter food intake, I managed exercise and yoga during the fasts, and I feel GREAT!
There is some science behind this diet, and obvious health benefits that can be debated. Without talking to a doctor, I'm looking to anyone here for their thoughts.... I think this could be a good program for me to do 2-3 days a week for weight loss and sugar control.