Time Restricted Eating (TRE) is one of many forms of Intermittent Fasting (IF) and something I am currently exploring. My interest was piqued by listening to just the first few minutes of a 2018 Ted Talk with Dr. Jason Fung.
Disclaimer: I am not a medical doctor and the information here is not intended as a replacement for care from the appropriate healthcare professional. I am also not offering medical advice. I am merely sharing my interests. Time Restricted Eating or Intermittent Fasting is NOT for everyone. Please always check with your doctor BEFORE trying TRE/IF to make sure it is ok for your individual situation.
Why Not?
While I was interested, I was not originally planning to embark on my current exploration. But the more I dug into the benefits, the more I decided “Why Not?” Actually, this short video outlines the benefits of Intermittent Fasting (IF), but I like that the speaker also identifies those who should NOT try IF. This valuable information is often omitted. NOTE: Ultimately checking with your doctor first is best, but have a look at this linked article to get more info on the safety and side effects of intermittent fasting.
Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through affiliate links (marked with asterisks) in this post.
Key Benefits
Fuels fat loss? Lowers insulin levels in the blood? Improves mental clarity? Induces Autophagy? Increases longevity? Reduces the risk for cancer and Alzheimer’s? These key benefits are definitely appealing. Among other things, IF changes the function and levels of hormones, genes, and cells in the body. The icing on the cake? Intermittent Fasting is free, flexible, and simple.
Fast MY Way!
Previously when I heard about Intermittent Fasting (IF), I thought there were rigid rules and fixed hours. Fortunately, I happened upon a interview with Dave Asprey, the author of *Fast This Way who planted the seed that I create my fasting guidelines to fit my life and schedule. I was sold!
Time Restricted Eating Book
While I was sold on giving IF a try, I elected to focus on Time Restricted Eating specifically. In the book *Time Restricted Eating: A Look Into the Lifestyle, Dr. Julie Wei-Shatzel first shares the details of multiple animal studies by Satchidananda Panda, PhD that motivated her current work. She then covers multiple case studies with her patients who have had various long term successes using TRE. I really like that she goes beyond the animal studies, and shares the details of how applying TRE to real patients with specific challenges improved their various situations.
The 10 Hour Diet Book
The next book I found is actually dubbed “The Ultimate Guide to Time Restricted Eating”. While I have mixed feelings about the word diet in the main title, *The 10 Hour Diet by Jeannette Hyde is indeed a very detailed and handy guide. I do love the sub-title: Lose Weight and Feel Younger (Without Changing What you Eat) Using Intermittent Fasting. This book is packed with helpful strategies, tips, and answers to FAQs. Naturally my favorite quote is “The golden rule for this diet is: you are the boss“. Awesome! Surprisingly, so far I have also found the following to be very true:
After a few days, your hunger hormones rebalance – so you have less of the hormones that make you feel hungry, and more of the hormones that signal you are full. After about a week, people usually have no hunger by bedtime having eaten early, and are even waking up not hungry and finding it can take one or two hours after waking to start feeling interested in food again.
— The 10 Hour Diet, Jeannette Hyde, UK-based Nutritional Therapist
Getting Started
My first step in getting started was to assess what I was currently doing. I already knew my first challenge would be my habit of eating and snacking very late at night. Additionally, I had recently realized that my daily afternoon snack was more often a ritual versus a necessity. I started keeping track of what time I finished eating at night. I also began paying attention to when I didn’t really want my afternoon snack.
My TRE Guidelines
In embracing the concept of being the boss of my Time Restricted Eating adventure, I created the following guidelines for myself:
>Start with practicing a 12 hour eating window, and gradually reduce it to 10
>Target eating 3 meals during my eating window, and avoid grazing
>Drink water regularly during my eating and fasting windows
>Snacks or indulgences (especially dark chocolate ) are ok during my eating window – if wanted
>Finish dinner by 8PM at the latest, and gradually make it earlier
>Use acceptable fasting beverages to substitute late night snacks
>Set my bedtime to be at least 3 hours after dinner ends
>Continue with my Reduce Added Sugar practice
>Regularly have days off from TRE (i.e. special occasions, holidays, weekends, etc.)
>Use coffee with *Organic MCT oil (aka Bulletproof Coffee) to make it easier to stretch a fast beyond 12 hours
>Track my progress and include observations & notes
That’s my list for now. I am only a few weeks into my exploration. I’m learning a lot about myself in the process, but I have much more to learn and experience. I will definitely do a follow up post in the near future.
How About You?
How about you? Assuming IF is safe for you, are you ready to explore Time Restricted Eating, and become the boss of maintaining your health and longevity? Have you already had success with Intermittent Fasting? Do you have any tips or tricks you’d like to share? Hit me up in the comments and let me know.
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