We We Stopped Intermittent Fasting

Almost a year ago I wrote this post on why we only eat 2 meals a day, and it’s one of the most popular posts on our site.

However, today I thought it was time for an update as our routine has changed.

If you’re not familiar with intermittent fasting, it’s basically fasting for 16-24 hours and only eating 2 meals a day, so you’re spreading your meal times apart, with a large gap between dinner and lunch the next day.

I’m not going into the benefits of that in this post, but if you’re curious I do suggest you read this.

Why fasting is no longer working for us

As some of you might know, I suffer from a skin condition called Tinea Versicolor.

It shows up on my chest, back and shoulders when I spend a lot of time in the sun (little white spots that don’t tan).

It’s really annoying to say the least.

I’ve had it off and on since I was in my teens.

I recently went to see a doctor about getting to the root cause of the problem, and of course, diet came up …

By this point I’m saying “let thy food be thy medicine”

…she immediately jumped to sugar, proclaiming “that’s the problem!”

But after giving her my food log, the solution wasn’t that easy (I don’t each very much sugar)!

After wracking our brains, we figured out it was the fasting.

My body was creating sugar and needed protein to stabilize my blood sugar!

That was in August of last year, and that was when our fasting schedule needed some modifications.

What we changed

I’m pretty stubborn, and when I find something I like, I hold on tight!

And I really liked the 2 meals a day approach, so I wanted to stick with it if we could.

I think there’s a lot of logic in breaking up your meals and letting your body digest completely before adding more.

We started adding protein drinks (like this protein powder blend mixed with ½ -1 cup homemade almond milk) with around 15 grams of protein every morning.

That way, we could still keep it light on our digestive system in the am but give our bodies the protein it needed.

We also added a late afternoon protein, around 4:30-5pm.

*Peter and I are like a combo package, haha – so of course, he started getting Tinea Versicolor and wanted to adopt these same changes.

The problem with this model

I found that once I had my protein drink, it was like turning on my stomach.

My body would start craving food, and it became a lot harder to “fast” now because of it.

Abel James (from The Fat Burning Man Podcast) mentioned that in the podcast I was listening to awhile back, and I remember thinking “oh, that’s interesting” but it’s totally true! It’s a lot easier to go longer eating nothing than going less time with little snacks.

Now, Peter and I aren’t trying to lose weight.

We’re just trying to maintain optimum health, so we’re not going to starve ourselves!

If I’m hungry I eat! But I still don’t eat “breakfast”.

I do have protein, and then, if I get hungry before lunch, I’ll have a smoothie around 11am.

Sometimes you need to tune-in and Make Changes

We’re still big believers in intermittent fasting, and think you should give it a try if you’re curious.

However, it’s important to listen to your body, and if you really commit to it (your body adapts after a week or so), but it just doesn’t feel right, you have pay attention and make adjustments.

Let me leave you with this…

  1. Listen to your body – is it trying to tell you something?
  2. Be honest with yourself & kind
  3. Do some research and get help if you’re not sure where to go from there
  4. Make some changes – the only way to see improvements is to take action

*If you were wondering about our Tinea Versicolor, it totally disappeared with the added protein – but we have to stay pretty consistent or it comes back.

If you read this and have any experience with intermittent fasting or are thinking of making a change to your diet, leave a comment below, I’d love to hear where you’re at!


    13 replies to "Why We Stopped Intermittent Fasting"

    • Leila

      Hey Sarah,

      I also suffer from tinea versicolor ever since I can remember. I follow intermittent fasting as well. I used to live in Canada where the tinea versicolor didn’t really pop up too much, but now that I live in San Diego it’s a never ending battle. I have recently found though that if each night for almost a week I put castor oil on them as well as take oregano 1 to 2 times a day it seems to take care of them. I’d of course rather not have to deal with them at all. I follow a low fat raw vegan diet – which essentially means I eat a ton of fruit and veggies. I’ve always suspected that diet could be the culprit but I can’t imagine following a cleaner diet and I thought that my new diet would eventually take care of my problem. I’m hoping you might have some suggestions or thoughts on this? Love you two! Thanks :)

      • Sarah

        Hi Leila,

        Thank you so much for your comment and the kind words:)
        Oh man I feel like I should write a post on tinea! I can totally relate as we use to live in Washington and it was a lot easier to control. The Castor oil is great, I do something similar with coconut oil and melaleuca oil (or tea tree). Also I love Oregano and find it really works, I don’t know if you know this but you should only take Oregano oil up to 10 days in a row and then take at least 2 weeks off, as it’s really hard on the liver. Also you want to make sure you are using a god quality oregano oil (I use doterra). As for diet, it’s tricky because everybody is different but tinea is linked to yeast and fungus (sounds gross but I’m sure you’ve hear this!) both which feed off of sugar. I would guess that it would be hard to fully get rid of it eating a diet high in raw fruit. I think once you get rid of it then that diet might work. But in all of my research and experience it’s something that is so deep and hard to get rid of for good. I have more tips, feel free to email me and I can send you some more information, if you’d like:)

    • Purelytwins

      we don’t follow it to a T but there are some days where it just happens we fasted for a long time before eating. We think it works for some and not for others, very true about listening to your body :)

      • Sarah

        AWW you two, brings a smile to my face to see your comment:) Totally agree, sometimes we just get caught up but usual its intentional for us…we always have food on the mind! Thank’s for stopping by!

    • Anil

      Hi Sarah,
      I too started Intermittent fasting couple of months back. I am feeling good by the change of eating style. And i am liking it as I feel healthier, atleast I have stopped eating every now and then. I have a question for you , thanks in advance, I read now and then from people following intermittent fasting also do have cheat meals once a week. Is that really necessary? Do you also take any cheat meals ?

      • Sarah

        Hey Anil! I’m so glad to hear you’re feeling good, that is what it’s all about. Personally, I’m not a fan of a cheat meal as I like to eat as healthy as I can, and I eat what makes me feel good. “Cheat meal” makes me feel like I’m on a diet, and I’m not. I eat based on how I want to feel- energized, healthy and creative. So to answer your question not necessary, and personally not for me. I hope that helps!

    • Siffair

      I’ve been IF and felt amazing but then I stopped ovulating probably because of the stress it puts on my body. I’m progesterone deficient on IF but my cycle returns (as well as the joy I feel when my hormones are communicating with each other) the moment I eat every 3-4 hours.

      Such a shame as I enjoyed how food taste after fasting

      • Jennifer Thorstensen

        I tried it but my head felt wonky the whole time. I was hydrated. I did 16:8, but day 3 every attempt my vertigo would kick in. I was walking like a drunk person. Made my eyes “float” too. I don’t know if it is because I am on an antidepressant or because I have Minere’s, but it scares me. I don’t know how to lose weight now. I feel sad.

    • John D

      Great post, thanks!

      I have tinea. It appeared about a year ago when I was living in Sydney, boozing too much and eating too many burgers. I’m now living in Mexico and making the first attempt to deal with it as it seems to have spread.

      From what I’ve read (and I’ve been doing a lot of reading), the root cause is gut inflammation.

      Things like hot climates and more sun give the fungus the right environment to thrive topically. Hot showers also. And so treating it topically will get rid of it, but it will always come back unless you address the root cause….

      Gut inflammation.

      And it seems that to fix that problem, you need to cut out carbs completely and stop drinking alcohol for two to three months.

      Sounds crap right?

      The alternative is to do an extended fast.

      ALSO HORRIBLE!

      But I love my beers so I’m going for option two to try and get it out of the way as fast as possible.

      Currently on day 4 of a diet consisting of green tea, magnesium chloride and salt. YUMMY!

      But it’s working. I’m taking photos every day and will share with anyone that’s interested.

      I also feel surprisingly amazing and not at all hungry.

      Also, your liver produces glucose through a process called gluconeogenesis. This is to ensure the brain has enough glucose to function when you’re in ketosis.

      Sugar affects Tinea by changing the microbiome of your gut. But the glucose produced by gluconeogenesis goes straight from the liver to the bloodstream and then the tissue. As such, it’s never metabolised in the gut. Hence is very unlikely to be the reason for your tinea during fasting.

      Or at least that’s my understanding.

      Would love to know your thoughts though and I’m glad it led you to something that’s working for you.

    • Caroline

      I cured my tinea with coconut oil and essential oils of oregano, melaleuca, cinammon, and any other antimucrobial oil you can find!

    • Sofia Rodriguez

      Although intermittent fasting offers a lot of benefits, women’s natural sensitivity to starvation makes IF a not-so-good option for everyone.

    • Dechu

      Hi,
      I started my 24 hours fast a 6 month ago. I do 24 hours fast every week. After trying for few weeks i could literally feel my body light and comfortable. There is a drawback that i experienced, it so happen that i had to go to meet my parents where i stop doing fast, i started feeling some pain in between the place above abdominal and below Chest. Suspecting it to be fasting, i started again, and yes i didn’t feel pain afterwards . At first i started out of curiosity , now i can’t quit. Fasting can be helpful for some but it didn’t really help me. Now i feel stress. now i am planning to to quit soon….just looking for the better ways to do

    • Natalia

      So I’ve been trying really hard to do intermittent fasting for a while now. 12-14 hours is easy for me, I like to have black coffee in the morning and then workout on empty stomach. I do some rigorous exercises like HIIT and strength training, even during my marathon training I had no problem running 20-milers on empty stomach. It’s amazing how much energy our bodies “find” if we let it. However, here’s my problem. If I do wait to eat for 16 hours, I’m uncontrollably hungry after that and feel like it actually causes me to overeat. Have you experienced anything like this?

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