Review: Life in the Fasting Lane: The Essential Guide to Making Intermittent Fasting Simple, Sustainable, and Enjoyable by Jason Fung

Life in the Fasting Lane: The Essential Guide to Making Intermittent Fasting Simple, Sustainable, and Enjoyable by Jason Fung
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I borrowed this audio copy from the e-library on Libby. I have had a lot of fun listening to this book. Even though it is non-fiction, I found it hugely entertaining.

The narrators, Brian Nishii, Courtney Patterson, Piper Goodeve, had me fooled as I truly thought they were the authors. Their voices were energetic and friendly. I have heard Doctor Jason Fung on YouTubes. By the way, look him up; fascinating and informative videos.

The three authors give you different views of Intermittent Fasting. The Doctor gives scientific, medical information. Megan Ramos gives the advice she gives to her clients, and Eve Mayer talks about her weight loss journey. I like having the book broke up that way. It’s nice not getting overwhelmed by the medical data, or too much advice told in one spot, or too much of a person’s journey without knowing the science of why certain things happened.

Okay, maybe I didn’t explain this well enough. This might show how much I enjoyed this audiobook. I plan to buy this so I can revisit it from time to time. Glad I got to borrow it from the library first.

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Review: KetoFast: Rejuvenate Your Health with a Step-by-Step Guide to Timing Your Ketogenic Meals by Joseph Mercola

KetoFast: Rejuvenate Your Health with a Step-by-Step Guide to Timing Your Ketogenic Meals by Joseph Mercola
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Hmm. This book seems to have a lot of differing reviews. I seem to be in the middle ground. I didn’t hate the book. I did find some interesting information here. The most coming from a documentary he recommends, Stink! Which is less about Intermittent Fasting and more about additives in foods and everything else in our lives. I rented it from Amazon. I was interesting, yet it made me feel a bit helpless.

As for the book, some things are explained better than Doctor Fung’s books but so few in comparison that I’d advise that you just read Dr. Jason Fung’s books. The thing is, Intermittent Fasting should be easy and not cost anything. But nearing the end of Joseph Mercola’s book, there are so many things a person should purchase to keep all the elements working to optimum health. Even a sauna. Nah.

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Review: Intermittent Fasting 16/8: The Ultimate Step-By-Step Guide To 8-Hour Diet, Which Makes You Live Healthy, Lose Weight, Burn Fat and Age Slowly with Autophagy and Metabolism, Including Recipes by Asuka Young

Intermittent Fasting 16/8: The Ultimate Step-By-Step Guide To 8-Hour Diet, Which Makes You Live Healthy, Lose Weight, Burn Fat and Age Slowly with Autophagy and Metabolism, Including Recipes by Asuka Young
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I finished this book a few days ago. Probably more like a week ago. So my thoughts on this book are vaguer than fresh. Still, I remember many recipes at the end of the book that made me wish I owned the book. The information was useful if this were the only book you’ve read on Intermittent Fasting. But I was happier with Dr. Jason Fung’s research.

The author did include some personal stories and addressed those who are older and need more help getting healthy. Both of these kept my interest until the end. It’s free with Kindle Unlimited, so who can complain?

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Review: The Diabetes Code: Prevent and Reverse Type 2 Diabetes Naturally by Jason Fung

The Diabetes Code: Prevent and Reverse Type 2 Diabetes Naturally by Jason Fung
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I actually finished this one a few days ago. It was a library Kindle book. As usual, I used text-to-speech to get through it.

I read the Obesity Code first. So this is the follow-up book. The information is similar in that it is about Intermittent Fasting and how it can help both conditions, obesity, and diabetes. I found both books quite interesting and inspirational. Though this one seems to have redundancies and often repeated itself. I figure that was to keep the medical eyes reading. There were a lot of charts to help prove Doctor Jason Fung’s theory.

If you are interested in IF, please give this and his other books a look. I think I need to get the hard copy as a reference.

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Review: The Keto Vegan: 14-Day Ketogenic & Intermittent Fasting Meal Plan (With 51 Tasty Low-Carb Plant-Based Recipes) by Lydia Miller

The Keto Vegan: 14-Day Ketogenic & Intermittent Fasting Meal Plan (With 51 Tasty Low-Carb Plant-Based Recipes) by Lydia Miller
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I like that there is a keto diet for vegans. This book outlines that plan well. I wish I had unlimited funds to support my dream eating habit. Still, I bought the Kindle version for my own references and followed recipes when I can in the future. Meanwhile, this book and others by this author are on Kindle Unlimited to peruse to see if it would help seek a healthier lifestyle.

I am still doing Intermittent Fasting but still need to find a doable food system for my particular needs. I look forward to trying some of these recipes in the future.

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Review: Intermittent Fasting for Women Over 50 by Jason Watchers

Intermittent Fasting for Women Over 50: The Essential Guide to Get a Healthy Life and Lose Weight. Learn How to Detox Your Body, Support Your Hormones, and Increase Your Energy with Great Meal Prep. by Jason Watchers
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

My son (45) was told his cholesterol was high. He is thin and seemingly strong and healthy. He decided to go on an Intermittent Fasting diet. It seems to be helping him get even healthier. So I have thought I could do this kind of lifestyle change without too much trouble.

I found this book was Kindle Unlimited, so I picked it up. I read it in a day. Well, not all the recipes. I don’t cook, so I will have to wing a lot of this. But I have found that rescheduling when I eat and when I fast to be the easiest thing. I make sure not to eat after 8 PM and then start eating again after noon. During the eating parts, I try to eat as healthy as I can and watch my portions. Seems easy so far. The hardest is that my body is used to eating breakfast after years of hearing that it was my main meal, etc. But two days in and I don’t miss it. I know. There is a lot more to it. But this book is a start. I will be referring back to it again and again.

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Review: Vitamin D Revolution

Vitamin D Revolution by Soram Khalsa
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Though I loved the information I picked up from this book, I found it boring and repetitive. The information I really wanted was tucked into the last few pages, yet by then I think I had figured it out. Like many non-fiction books, this one followed the method of telling us there’s a problem, why we have the problem, and what research has been done. The problem was repeated over and over.

On the other hand, my personal experience with my doctors has made me more than curious about this vitamin. One doctor told me that I was vitamin D deficient. The next doctor told me I was too high in this vitamin, that it was toxic. This book proves that it is nearly impossible to have toxic amounts of D. That our bodies use this vitamin completely. And it seems that I have all the symptoms of adult rickets. Those are the symptoms of fibromyalgia, at least my experience of it. And I am now taking the amount of vitamin D that the first doctor advised me to take. I will follow through and get tested soon. And I will continue to research this and other methods to find my health again.

I would love to hear from others who have read this book or followed the higher vitamin D intake and find out how well it works for them. I do think people who are having health issues and those who would want to keep themselves healthy would find this book informational, at least.

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Review: Coconut Oil: How To Implement Coconut Oil In Your Diet For Weight Loss, Detox And Better Health (Coconut Oil Handbook

Coconut Oil: How To Implement Coconut Oil In Your Diet For Weight Loss, Detox And Better Health (Coconut Oil Handbook by Daniel Adam
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is mainly about the benefits of coconut oil. There are a few recipes including a way to use the oil in a cleanse diet. I doubt with my diabetes and fibromyalgia that I will do that fast, but I do feel encouraged to use the oil more often. I do already use it to cook my tofu and pour on GMO-free popcorn and, if I remember, I rub it into my skin or hair. I try to use only coconut oil an not other oils or spreads.

This is a quick read. I recommend it to anyone who is curious about coconut oil

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Review: Diabetes Diet Made Easy For Vegans: Proper Diabetes Management Using Vegan Recipes: Diabetes Diet Meal Plans, Recipes And Easy Lifestyle Guide

Diabetes Diet Made Easy For Vegans: Proper Diabetes Management Using Vegan Recipes: Diabetes Diet Meal Plans, Recipes And Easy Lifestyle Guide by Dana Tebow
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

After reading about the author’s own medical needs I knew I had to read this book. It is mostly a cookbook, but the first part talks about how to adjust a vegan diet for those of us that are vegan and gluten-free. There were a couple times the author alludes to meat, wheat, fish and dairy, but that is only for those that might need to adjust to the more carnivore diets.

I didn’t try any of the recipes, but looking them over they look absolutely delicious! I would have loved even more recipes. Also, have you looked into the benefits of coconut oil? Anyway, keeping this available when I feel ready to cook! 🙂

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Diagnosis Diabetes

 

I recently noticed something about myself while playing a hidden objects game. To get the objects you needed to proceed through the game you had to revisit places you’ve been before. I sighed a huge sigh and said aloud, “Why do I have to go all the way back there to get this done?” Epitome of laziness? I asked myself. It was just clicks of the mouse to get there. No exercise was involved. But the only reason I was playing a game was because I had no energy at all. I had no incentive to do anything as my fibromyalgia was flaring so badly that I was only one blanket away from crawling under the covers and crying. But I am still looking at how tasks in real life don’t get done because there are so many steps to getting to the real goal. Depression plays a part in this. “What’s the use?” I asked myself. It’s not as though it matters to anyone else.

Then on Friday I got the diagnosis of diabetes and high cholesterol. Really? I am a vegetarian! Not a meat product goes in my mouth! And really, if you look at my family tree is it any surprise that I have it when everyone else did? I eat nothing like my forebears, high fat huge meals, tons of sugar. I rarely have sugar. So after some research I am finally giving up cheese and butter. I was nearly vegan before. Time to suck it up. But exercise?

I find walking BORING AS HELL! I find exercise in gyms BORING AS HELL! When I think about it, I want childhood back. I want a playground made for grown-ups. I want to swing high while singing to the top of my lungs. I want to play hop-scotch or jump rope with friends. I want to sit for hours playing jacks. I might even enjoy getting good at swinging from the rings and hand ladders (whatever those things were called). Four square with friends. Playing hide and seek! If I must I’d like to garden, a little. But I live in an apartment. I’d love to gather twenty cents walk two miles with my brother to the pool and swim ten cents a session then walk the two miles home. That wasn’t exercise. That was fun. But then the swimmer’s ear took over one of my favorite sports. The cold water causes flares now. So what do I do? Virtual life. That seems too stressful and too much effort.

Then I read the latest Dances With Fat and the comments her readers made. At least I am not alone in this journey. I am glad there are people who question the status quo.

Please don’t lecture me. I will delete such comments. But if you can help me find a way to my better health in a pleasant way, I promise to look at it. I hope something sticks. I hope this penny gets me a bubblegum.

Dances With Fat

I got this e-mail today:  “Dear Ragen,  I hate exercise – like I seriously hate it.  I know that research shows that there are a lot of benefits but the thought of spending hours in the gym just sounds miserable.  Should I just suck it up?  What if I hate exercise?  Do you think I should do it anyway?”

This is a question I get a lot.  First, there is a mistaken notion out there that because I talk about my life as a fathlete and I talk about what the research says about fitness, that I am “promoting” exercise or I think that people “should” exercise.  Sometimes this happens because I haven’t written things as clearly as I should have, sometimes I think it’s because people have issues around exercise and just seeing discussion about it triggers them which is totally understandable given how much it gets shoved down…

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