In this episode, Katey explains intermittent fasting and gives us an inside look into the healthy benefits she experience by incorporating restorative eating into her lifestyle. From burning fat to boosting metabolism – and even supporting gut health, Katey answers all the frequently asked questions about from what intermittent fasting is and how it works. She also goes over popular methods such as time restricted eating and circadian fasting as well as the ‘rules’ to intermittent fasting – although she does advocate to find what works for you and that it is not about being super regimented! We also talk about what to do if you get hungry when fasting and more!
Listen to Katey talk about gut health: https://badtothebowl.com/35/
Connect with Katey: https://ri4wellness.com/ and get her free balanced plate guide!
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ri4wellness/
Episode Transcript:
Bad to the Bowl (00:00):
Today on the podcast, Katey chamber from right for wellness joins us once again, but this time to talk about intermittent fasting. So if you missed her on the podcast, the first time that was episode 35, and we talked about gut health and ironically intermittent fasting can also help your gut health as well. But I know if you’re anything like me, you probably have some questions about what intermittent fasting even is. And you know, Katey and I are both on the same page where, when we hear the word fasting, it kind of scares us because I don’t know, it just sounds scary. Like you’re not going to be able to eat. So I love how Katey uses the term. It’s the restorative time for your body. Really? That’s all it is. So you kind of have this eating window and then you have the restorative time where your body is kind of healing itself, AKA fasting, where it’s resting from the digestion process. So you can sleep better. So you can, you don’t just have all these other health benefits, which we talk about on the podcast as well. Today, as a reminder, you can find all the show notes and resources that we mentioned today over on our sponsored blog, bad to the bowl.com forward slash 50. Yes, I’m so excited. We have 50 episodes and you can check them all out over at bad to the bowl. So enough of my talking let’s jump in and talk with Katey.
Bad to the Bowl (01:45):
It’s time to adapt to a plant-based palette, minimize waste, and respect our environment. Hello, we are Joe and Sarah Hayes, and we are the hosts of the bowl of life podcast, where we are encouraging you to join the plant forward food movement.
Bad to the Bowl (01:59):
It’s time for vegetables to move from the side of your plate, to the center. And we are here each weekend.
Bad to the Bowl (02:05):
So increasing your vegetable consumption and limiting your animal proteins sounds like a win-win to you go grab a spoon or fork, and let’s dive in to learning more about how you can be plant forward.
Bad to the Bowl (02:20):
I am pleased to have Katey chamber from RI4Wellness back on the podcast today, if you missed her first episode with us at episode 35, go back and listen to that as it was a good one and very popular with our listeners, all about gut health. Katey is a health coach and one of the topics she gets asked a lot about is intermittent fasting, which I have a lot of questions about too, because I feel like it’s one of those terms that is tossed around right now. It’s gets a lot of media. You probably see it on social media, but what does it really mean? So let’s dive in, meet Katey and we’ll learn all about it. So, Katey, welcome again. I’m so glad that you could be back with us and for those that didn’t listen to that episode 35, which go listen to it. Can you just tell us a few details about yourself, your kind of, where, why and Y RI4Wellness and all that good stuff?
Katey Chamber (03:21):
Yeah, absolutely. So first off, thank you so much for having me back, and I’m definitely looking forward to diving into this topic with you. For those of you that don’t know. I am a certified health coach. My personal wellness journey began back in 2020 after I had my first daughter. I actually enrolled to become a certified health coach during my maternity leave. My initial intention was really just to learn more about nutrition, kind of stopped the yo-yo dieting lifestyle that I’ve always lived and just learn more about holistic wellness. And I feel like having my daughter was really the catalyst for that. I wanted to be a role model to her and really become the healthy fit mom and for her to see that and learn from me. So that was my initial term reason why I joined school. And then basically I ended up having a complete transformation, both physically and mentally, I lost 60 pounds postpartum and that started a lot of conversation with other women asking me how I did it, which then led to me wanting to coach. And so I launched my business rifle or wellness in January, 2021, and I named it RI4Wellness cause my daughter is Riley and she is definitely my why and motivation for all of this.
Bad to the Bowl (04:44):
Ah, that’s, that’s so cool. And what a cool story and, and reason why, right. Like often time having kids is that kind of reason. I think that we seek out like looking at our food choices and we start thinking about like, well, what are we passing on to them? And you know, this can not only apply to food too, but like, you know, things we’re saying our way we’re talking or, you know, stuff like that as well. Absolutely.
Katey Chamber (05:13):
It’s a big responsibility. Yeah.
Bad to the Bowl (05:15):
You certainly start to reevaluate it’s, you know, like I love, I love my dog. I love my pets, but it’s like, they don’t care what I’m saying or what I’m eating, but you know, my kids, they’re little human beings and they’re watching me very closely and they’re going to repeat the things I did. It’s just totally. So yeah. So very cool. So tell me a little bit about intermittent fasting and kind of your own corny with that, because it was that part of like something you learned when you were doing that the health coaching learning right at the Institute of integrative nutrition right. Yes.
Katey Chamber (05:57):
Yeah, yeah. So
Bad to the Bowl (05:58):
Was that something you learned about there or was that something you just kind of like incorporated into your weight loss journey or kind of, how did that start?
Katey Chamber (06:06):
Yeah, so, you know, it’s definitely something that was touched upon in school and the program, but they give you a wide lens to all different kind of diets or ways of eating. And so it was, it was touched upon, but then really sparked my interest. So I started doing a lot more research and kind of implementing it myself and learning through trial and error. So basically intermittent fasting is a broad term that refers to multiple eating patterns, but it’s simply putting the focus on when you eat rather than what you eat. So by fasting for a certain amount of time, it allows your body to break from the very taxing process of digestion and really focus on critical functions of the body. So again, like when I started learning more and diving into it, I really started reading about all of the health benefits and that’s what intrigued me.
Katey Chamber (07:01):
I then started thinking about it really as restorative time for the body. And now that’s kind of how I coach my clients through it versus calling it fasting or intermittent fasting, I guess, mentally for me, that seems like a more positive, less intimidating word. And when you research it, that’s truly what it’s about. It’s about giving your body that kind of pause from eating to really focus on other functions, my personal experience with it. During my journey was really, I kind of started off slow. I didn’t want to do anything drastic. And I just set out with like kinda my first little challenge of focusing on not eating after 7:00 PM. And once I kinda got in the rhythm of that and that felt good to me, I then started adjusting when I had breakfast and I would move that window kind of later on later.
Katey Chamber (07:49):
So kind of fast forward to today, I typically now have an eating window of about, you know, I’ll have my breakfast at 11:00 AM and then I’m typically done eating for the day around six or 7:00 PM. So that would be considered an eight hour eating window 16 hours of fasting. And then the other thing that I did was really focused on what I was eating during the eating window and really cleaning up my diet. So trying to eliminate as much processed food as possible. Anything that had a lot of like added sugar and just really focusing on eating whole nutrient dense foods and creating a balanced plate at each meal. So for me that’s really about including a good source of protein, fat and fiber. I have found for myself and for those that I coach that it’s really what helps keep you full. It keeps your energy levels high and it gives your body all the proper nutrients it needs for function. So for me, it was about gradual changes to, you know, my diet and my lifestyle that didn’t feel overwhelming. That kind of went with the natural rhythm of my body and then focusing on what I was eating. And I feel like rather quickly I found the benefits of I was having better quality of sleep. My energy levels were improved and I do feel like it definitely helped me lose weight easier.
Bad to the Bowl (09:17):
Yeah. And that’s a good way to look at it because I think when people hear that word fasting is like, whoa, like, you know, it’s all scary. And you know, I, so thinking back about times when I’ve heard about fasting, I come from a pretty religious background and to, and usually that’s what fasting is, you know, kind of that’s the first time I heard of it, you know, it was like, we’re going fast so we can like pray about certain things. And I can just really be like, oh, I could do that. Like, I’m so hungry where you’ve been like me and some roommates participated in that, but then we kind of broke the fast when we came across an ice cream place. That’s cool. A little lake town, but, but yeah, I think so. So, you know, when people, you’re fasting, they might get a little intimidated, but when you think of it as, oh, well I’m not eating breakfast till 11. And then I stop eating at 7:00 PM. Well, you know, that’s not that bad. Right. That’s you still get to eat meals and yeah,
Katey Chamber (10:18):
Absolutely. I think I definitely feel the same way that you did that. I think using the term fasting for whatever reason, triggers something in me of like, oh, you can’t eat and you’re starving and you’re restricting yourself and definitely changing my mindset through my learning and my personal journey of just, no, it’s, it’s a positive it’s, it’s giving your body that time to really restore itself. And it doesn’t need to feel drastic and I don’t want it to feel drastic for people. It needs to be kind of a subtle change and tweak, but that you feel all of the benefits by, by doing it in a really positive kind of approach to diet and lifestyle, not anything super restrictive or regimented.
Bad to the Bowl (11:01):
Yeah. I think that’s key, not super restrictive or regimented because that just has people running for the Hills when they actually
Katey Chamber (11:08):
Sustainable. Nobody wants to live that way. So
Bad to the Bowl (11:10):
Exactly. Exactly. So you mentioned, you know, that you felt better by incorporating the intermittent fasting. So what are some other benefits of, of doing this restorative time of stopping eating? However, some people aren’t scared by the word fast.
Katey Chamber (11:29):
Exactly. yeah, so there are so many health benefits. It is such a positive thing to try to implement and experiment with. So number one, I think, you know, it’s known for obviously it’s eating and weight loss and burning fat and boosting metabolism. And it does do that because during this fasting time, your insulin levels drop and you go into fat burning mode and you improve your metabolic rate. So simply by not eating your body actually starts to burn through the fats that you store and use that for fuel, which definitely helps in weight loss and weight management. So that’s one benefit. The second is it’s known for its anti-aging properties, because again, during this fasting time, your cells work to repair themselves by removing toxins and then higher levels of growth hormones are released. So it does say that it’s anti-aging, it also supports good gut health.
Katey Chamber (12:23):
So again, our podcast last time together was all about gut health and how important that is for optimal health there’s research that shows during this fasting period that the growth of beneficial bacteria increases. So again, you’re really helping support good gut health by taking this pause. And then like I mentioned, and improves your sleep because for a couple of reasons, so by not eating several hours before bed, you actually have time to properly digest, which is going to allow you to have more restful sleep and your body is going to focus on cellular repair. And it also helps build a stronger circadian rhythm and production of melatonin, which is going to help you have deeper rest. So by improving your sleep, you’re also then going to obviously wake up the next morning, feeling refreshed, energized and then it’s going to have it impact into how you feel the whole rest of the next day. So there are a ton of benefits to fasting.
Bad to the Bowl (13:23):
Oh, wow. Yeah, that brings up so many good points. And I think that we forget how hard our body does have to work to digest food. And I think we touched on this a little bit when you were on talking about gut health, but you know what I mean? Just kind of even listen to your body after you eat food. I mean, sometimes they’ll make some interesting noises, right. I always make it like, mom, is that your stomach? And you’re like, yeah, I’m digesting my food. You know, it’s hard at work. And so yeah, if you’re eating that food right before bed, that makes sense. You’re not going to get good rest because your body is like working so hard.
Katey Chamber (14:03):
Yes. I don’t think people, a lot of people understand like how taxing it is and how long of a process digestion is. And then to your point, like when you go to bed and you’re still digesting food, it’s like, I don’t know if you’ve ever had nights where you went on a full stomach and then your stomach hurts. So maybe you wake up with a stomach ache or I feel like your temperature changes and you get hot, so you’re tossing and turning. So it definitely can impact the quality of your sleep.
Bad to the Bowl (14:27):
Yes, yes. The getting hot thing is very annoying to me and you know, it plays a lot too in that I live in Michigan and our weather can never make up its mind, whether it wants to be hot or cold during seasons. They’ll just, flip-flop a lot. But part of it is then I started to notice my husband and I well now that our kids have kind of shifted to going to bed later, this doesn’t really happen, but we would eat, you know, I’d have some dairy free ice cream, he would have some ice cream, we would sit and kind of watch one of our shows, you know, and relaxed on a Sunday night. And I started to notice that on Sunday nights when I slept, I would get so hot, like I would wake up. So like sweaty. Yeah, yeah. It is like, and I started to think, I was like, you know what? I see that you know, it’s, it’s dairy free ice cream, but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have fat and sugar. I was like, I think my body is responding to processing that and I’m really hot at
Katey Chamber (15:25):
Right. And I, I mean, I think the point that you bring up is like, just getting in tune with that, right. In terms of like how the foods we eat are impacting how we feel. So whether that’s at nighttime during sleep or that’s during the day, but just really making the connections between what we eat and how we feel exactly.
Bad to the Bowl (15:45):
And you brought up another good point about the circadian rhythms and a few months ago, that was a newer term for me, but there’s a, like a circadian fasting as well. Right. Can you go for some like different types of this intermittent fasting? Because I think that the circadian fasting is kind of probably one of those versions, right? Yes,
Katey Chamber (16:06):
It is. So again, intermittent fasting is a broad term and it refers to multiple eating patterns. It usually involves fasting for either a certain number of hours each day, or you can even do it for full days, spaced out during the week. So there’s quite a wide range in terms of what you can do. And I encourage people to really find what works for them personally, there is kind of no one size fits all when it comes to intermittent fasting, but one of the ways is called a five, two diet, which is when five days out of the week you eat normally. And then for two days you restrict to around 500, 600 calories. So fasting for like two days out of the five and being really restrictive is kind of what that strategy is versus what I was previously talking about is known as time restricted eating, which is when you limit the hours within the day.
Katey Chamber (17:02):
So like I was mentioning before I typically eat from the hours of 11 to seven, which would then be an eight hour eating window. So there’s a lot of conversations around the eight 16, which would be eight hours eating 16 hours fasting. There are proven health benefits to 12 hour eating window. And then even more so as you implement 10 or eight hours. So like I said, it doesn’t need to be gradual if you think about it, like it shouldn’t be that difficult to eat for 12 hours and fast for 12 hours. And then just slowly start narrowing that window. So circadian fasting, like you mentioned, is pretty similar to that where the concept is really about eating during daylight hours. So again, no more than a 12 hour eating window and then fasting at night, but it’s basically about becoming more in tune with your body’s natural rhythm to support its functions.
Bad to the Bowl (17:54):
So interesting. And that five to one I had not heard of, but I could see where that might be good for someone. Maybe they had a job where they like entertained clients a lot or something and had to be out at dinners or something quite a bit or whatever. Maybe that would be something that they would be interested in or, or something I had never heard of that ones.
Katey Chamber (18:17):
Yeah. I think once you kind of like dive into it again, there’s a lot of information kind of out there on ways that you can approach it. And again, I think to your point, it goes back to people’s lifestyles. Like, what do they do for work? How does their work week look like? What’s going to be best for them in terms of shortening the window and what hours work for them. So I think having that flexibility and really making it a personalized approach is going to be what you have the most success with.
Bad to the Bowl (18:47):
So interesting. And like I said, you have to adapt it to fit your lifestyle. So that brings up my next point. So are there any hard or fast rules to intermittent fasting, for example, like what if you drink coffee in the morning and you know, like, yes, we all need to be probably a little less caffeinated, but you know, sometimes you really need that hit of coffee or, you know, maybe again, maybe you’re out entertaining clients or you had some type of function and night and you drank a glass of wine or something and it’s after 7:00 PM. Have you just ruined it? Totally.
Katey Chamber (19:23):
Yeah. So I feel like this is definitely a hot topic in terms of what are the rules for it. So technically eating anything is going to break your fast. Once you consume enough calories to give your body energy, then it brings you out of your fasting state. However, there’s a lot of debate that some researchers are saying, you know, having 50 calories or less, it’s so minimal, it’s not going to break your fast. But again, that obviously depends on the person and your metabolism. So I think it’s really hard to pinpoint, you know, from a caloric standpoint, what that threshold would be to knock somebody in and out of their fasting window. I feel like people definitely ask me the question a lot to your point. It’s the morning coffee drinkers are like, can I have my coffee? What can go in it? So obviously if you’re having black coffee, that’s completely fine.
Katey Chamber (20:12):
If you’re loading it up with like cream and sugar, for example, then you’re definitely going to be breaking your fast because you’re going to start metabolizing that and getting out of your fasting window. I personally have coffee when I wake up and I do add collagen protein powder to it. But again, it’s minimal Cal calories and there’s no sugar. So I personally feel like it’s not impacting my blood sugar and making me get out of that fasting state. But the hard, fast rule is really, obviously anything that you eat is going to technically break your fast.
Bad to the Bowl (20:43):
So eat slash drink. So it’s not like just pertaining to like to wean or something that’s, you know, cause that’s when I think of what I eat, like I think something to eat I’m too,
Katey Chamber (20:52):
Anything you eat and then drinking, you know, black coffee, water, like that’s fine. But if it’s, if it’s then going to have other things added to it, that from a caloric standpoint, you’re going to start digesting and, you know, using as fuel immediately, then you’ve kind of knocked yourself out of that fasting window. Okay.
Bad to the Bowl (21:11):
Got it. Yep. That totally totally makes sense. And so should people only be focused on doing this for, you know, say they were interested in adopting it? Is it only like a brief period of time or could someone do this for the rest of their lives? Should you do it every day?
Katey Chamber (21:29):
Yeah, I think again, there’s no one size fits all to this and you should definitely find what works for you. Like we talked about before, I think it’s not about being super regimented or restricting, but trying to get on a natural cycle that supports your body. So again, there’s so many health benefits to them and a lot of them happen immediately. So if it’s one day out of the week where you can kind of shorten that, that window, then that’s a positive and you’re going to reap those benefits. And it’s something that you can incorporate more of than I think you should. And so I personally pretty much follow the same eating pattern every single day now, but I don’t believe in a rigid lifestyle. So to your point, if there’s a night after dinner, that me and my husband want to go like get some ice cream and it’s after seven, I’m not going to say no, I’m on my fasting window.
Katey Chamber (22:13):
I’m going to enjoy it, live my life. And then, you know, the next day kind of get back on schedule, but I think that’s the most important thing is to find that balance and find what works for you in order to kind of sustain it. So I definitely listen to my body. I’m flexible to what it means. And I feel like I’m getting all the health benefits. So now when I do make those choices that are outside of it, I actually noticed that I don’t like feel as good. Like I now feel like my body’s so used to functioning on this cadence that it feels off when I don’t.
Bad to the Bowl (22:49):
Yeah. That’s, that’s a good point too. And so, you know, I mean, whereas you say like, oh, I don’t want to live a rigid lifestyle and be open to it. You know, you do take that into consideration once you notice how you do feel like, well, maybe I don’t want that ice cream or maybe we’d go out for ice cream in the afternoon and stuff. Right. And whatnot.
Katey Chamber (23:09):
Exactly.
Bad to the Bowl (23:10):
Yeah. So someone could really do this for the rest of their life. Then once they adopt kind of this it’s the lifestyle really?
Katey Chamber (23:17):
Yeah, for sure.
Bad to the Bowl (23:19):
Awesome. So I’m sure you get this question a lot because you know, we live in that culture, right. We all just want a quick fix, so I’m sure you get the question. Hey, what about the fasting for weight loss? Can I adapt intermittent fasting for weight loss? And I’ve even heard from people too, like, oh, what you know, and, and your story as well. A little bit how they, they did use it and it did help with their weight loss.
Katey Chamber (23:43):
Yes. So again, there are science proof that like your insulin levels will dropping. You’re going into fat burning mode, you’re improving your metabolic rates. So it’s going to definitely help you from a weight loss and a weight management standpoint. Also by shortening your window, you might naturally reduce your calorie intake. So this is gonna help as well. But I do coach my clients on there’s so much that goes into weight loss. And there’s not one thing that’s going to be kind of the magic answer. You really have to approach it from a holistic standpoint. But I do feel like intermittent fasting for me was that tool that I kind of layered on once I really got a better understanding of nutrition and cleaned up my diet and I was living a healthy lifestyle in terms of getting daily exercising and reducing stress. Like this tool, I feel like helped me kind of like level up and was such a great way to really get my body highly functioning an aid in weight loss. So it does play a role, but I feel like, again, it doesn’t make up for other aspects of, you know, your wellness yeah.
Bad to the Bowl (24:54):
That you use the word, it plays the role. Right. Cause there’s a lot of tools in the toolbox that can exactly, exactly. And so, because you’re a coach to, to new moms and that’s kinda your focus, I’m sure this gets asked as well. So are there times when you shouldn’t participate in fasting, just thinking of new mothers and maybe they’re on the breastfeeding journey or even just maybe they’re pregnant to are there times when you shouldn’t be intermittent fasting? Yes.
Katey Chamber (25:27):
And fascinating, isn’t it isn’t for everybody. And I think with any diet or lifestyle change, I would always recommend consulting a doctor. It’s, you know, not recommended for those that have a history of an eating disorder, pregnant or breastfeeding women or people with diabetes or blood sugar problems. The women that I coach and a new moms that I coach a lot of them are exploring this and they definitely come to me with questions. And it’s something like I mentioned, I did have as part of my postpartum journey. Again, my whole approach is nothing drastic, nothing restrictive, but just really getting in line with your natural body and what it needs to support it and to function properly. So I, again, look at it more from a restorative standpoint, ensuring that we’re just having that pause so that our body can function properly and not doing anything sort of drastic. So again, you know, we’re all going to sleep at night and pause and eating. So it’s just a matter of kind of what is that healthy ratio.
Bad to the Bowl (26:28):
Yeah. That totally makes sense. That healthy ratio, you know, and thinking back to when my kids were little littles, it wasn’t like in the middle of the night, it was all of a sudden like making this snack, you know, after I was nursing them or whatever, I just wanted to get back to bed.
Katey Chamber (26:42):
Right. Right.
Bad to the Bowl (26:44):
So, so yeah. So I think there’s definitely that and where it could still, you know, you could fit in a reasonable window, even if, you know, you are, you know, a new mom or something like that. So are there any, we’ve talked about all the positives, you know, side effects, but like, are there any negative side effects to FaceTime?
Katey Chamber (27:04):
So I think that really depends on the person. And I think the biggest thing that’s going to impact that is kind of what your diet consists of. So for some people, maybe they’re thinking about implementing this, but they’re also wanting to clean up their diet and start focusing on removing processed foods and making healthier choices. So again, with adjustments like that, you might feel irritable, you might have headaches and then figuring out how to again, create those balanced meals so that you don’t feel hungry is going to be really important. But I think as long as you’re focused on your nutrition during that window, you’re staying hydrated. The side effects should be pretty minimal.
Bad to the Bowl (27:48):
Yeah. I mean, that’s totally right because you know, well, if you were that person that was loading the coffee with sugar and stuff, and you were quick getting that sugar effects yeah. You’re going to notice that side effects same as if, you know, when you stop drinking coffee, if your body’s used to it. Right. Like anything like that, that your body has gotten used to having kind of needs almost a detox from it.
Katey Chamber (28:14):
Yes. And I think that that’s going to play a bigger role than obviously like your, the length of your eating role. I feel like it’s more of like, what are you doing with the foods that you’re eating? Yeah,
Bad to the Bowl (28:24):
For sure. For sure. So along with the, you know, hard and fast rules you know, can I drink my coffee in the morning type of question we talked about earlier? You know, there’s probably also like what, you know, I’m sure you get the question, but what if my stomach is growling and I’m so hungry, how do I manage my hunger while I’m fasting? And, you know, I told you my story of being in college and doing a like a prayer fasting thing. And me and my buddies all broke it when we wrapped this cute little Lakeside town in the ice cream store. But how do you manage hunger during fasting?
Katey Chamber (29:00):
Yeah. So I think the intention is really that you aren’t hungry and that again, like during your eating window, you’re focused on eating nutritious foods that are really supporting your body. So I think one of the mistakes that people might make is just, you know, thinking that they can eat whatever they want during the eating window and still just reap all of the health benefits. And it doesn’t quite work that way. So in order for intermittent fasting to properly work and for you not to feel starving, I talk about creating balanced meals. So again, that’s going to be focused on eating nutrient dense foods that have a healthy source of fat fiber, protein and carbs at each meal. If you think of a plate, you really want to fill half of it with veggies, a fourth with protein, and the other fourth with a starchy vegetables are carbs and then add in a healthy source of fat.
Katey Chamber (29:53):
So this combination of foods is really going to keep you satisfied. It’s going to keep your energy levels high reduce cravings, and make you feel balanced through your eating window. So if your listeners need more help with this, I actually created a free resource that walks you through the four simple steps of how to create a balanced plate. It comes with complete food lists and 10 easy balanced dinner ideas. So you can download it in my Instagram bio, or maybe we could put the link in the show notes, but I think understanding how to properly eat during the eating window is going to be key for your success in terms of not feeling deprived or hungry during your fasting window.
Bad to the Bowl (30:39):
Mm. Yeah, that’s such a good point. And we can definitely link that in the show notes, because I think people really do struggle, struggle with that on how to do that and what a great resource that you can even use to just thinking about some recent conversations with my own kids who are, you know, protein kind of their pre-teen years and are kind of being more aware of food and stuff. You know, you can share it with your family too. Like I think I’ve had a lot of conversations lately with my kids about snacks and stuff, and they’re like, well, why are we so hungry again after we ate this or that? And I’m like, well, you know, because let’s see what did that chips have in it? It was some processed ingredients and it left you feeling more hungry and just, it wasn’t made with like a good whole wheat flour or something like that. That’s going to keep you full. So great resource that is so helpful. And we’ll definitely link that in the show notes, for sure.
Katey Chamber (31:34):
Thank you. Yeah. I’m definitely passionate around helping people understand that food combination to eat in order to just really feel satisfied because to your point, like when you’re eating some of these, even at people think it is a healthy option, right. It’s just not filled with the proper nutrients to actually keep you satisfied. So you’re going to end up having more cravings or feeling hungry. And this is just a, a great way to support your body through a balanced plate.
Bad to the Bowl (32:04):
Right? And I think you brought up a good point as well, too, that, you know, intermittent fasting isn’t so that you can just eat a bunch of junk food, exactly window, you know, you still need, you know, it’s not like a yay, good. My body will repair itself overnight. And well, I guess the body does work hard to repair itself overnight. And while it’s not eating you first got to put good into the engine to make it run while
Katey Chamber (32:34):
Exactly. And again, I think that’s why I love to start with nutrition and what people are eating and focus on that. And then once you have a good foundation layer in these other tools, like intermittent fasting to really get the benefits and aid in weight loss and all those other things, but to your point like this, isn’t going to be, you know, that magic tool that if you are eating unhealthy is going to all of a sudden help you lose weight or feel better or gain energy it’s a tool to be used kind of once you establish a really good routine and healthy habits.
Bad to the Bowl (33:10):
Yeah, for sure. For sure. So there any other tips that we missed today, when we talked about intermittent fasting that might help someone on their journey with it?
Katey Chamber (33:20):
Yeah. So I think when I talk to people, I love to kind of focus it back to five things. So number one, listen to your body, find what works for you. This is not a one size fits all. And it should really be something that works for your lifestyle. And that feels good to ease into it. It does not need to be drastic changes to your eating window. I encourage people to start slow and just adjust either side, right? So whether that is, you know, saying you’re going to stop eating after seven, or you’re going to move your breakfast out an hour or two later in the morning, just easing into it and kind of making subtle changes is what’s going to make it feel doable and feel sustainable. And then number three, I would say, do not restrict your eating during your eating window, but rather focus like we talked about just on eating whole nutrient dense foods and creating a balanced plate.
Katey Chamber (34:15):
So again, you know, I’ve said it several times, but I think it’s worth mentioning again, including a source of that fiber, protein and carbs at each meal is going to help you feel full, stay energized and reduce cravings. The fourth tip, I would say is definitely to stay hydrated. I encourage people to drink about half their body weight in ounces of water each day. And it’s definitely important, especially during fasting too, as well to just continue staying hydrated. And then the last thing I would say is continue practicing overall good health. So yes, we’re focused on nutrition during this conversation. But you also want to ensure that you’re getting good sleep daily exercise and reducing stress to then have a holistic wellness approach.
Bad to the Bowl (35:02):
Yeah, those are great tips than I think ones that, you know, you know, even if you’re not ready to go full blown into intermittent fasting, you can start incorporating, you know, you can ease into it. You could try, you know, an eight to eight window or something, or, you know, in drinking the water too. That’s always such a good reminder. As long as that you’re saying that, and I’m like, Downing water. I’m like water. No, but it’s so it’s so helpful. And you kind of, you know, you can get into your day and kind of just forget about it, you know, and then all of a sudden, I always find when I don’t drink enough water during the day, then I’m down. I need water at night, which also can affect my sleep because the NASDAQ always good reminders. So this is great. We’re going to list the resource about the balanced plates, because I think we can all, you know, use ideas with, you know, like the veggies, the protein, the starchy, you know, like what should those make up on our plate to end just examples as well. Right. Of what, what those are. Yep. Link that in the show notes. And where can people connect with you to learn more about your coaching though? And can you give us just kind of a brief overview? You mentioned it at the beginning, but just tell us a little bit more about like who you coach and in what you’re offering.
Katey Chamber (36:17):
Yeah. So I am currently working with new moms that want to lose weight and gain energy through simple changes to their diet and lifestyle. I am offering a three-month one-to-one coaching program where we create very personalized health plans. So that obtaining your health goals is easy and sustainable. I am very active on Instagram at rye for wellness. So are I the number four and then w E L L N E S S. And so I’d love for your listeners to follow me there and definitely DM me to say hi and, and we can chat. Oh,
Bad to the Bowl (36:54):
That’s so awesome. And I love that your coaching program, because I feel that it focuses on new moms. Okay. Oh man, it’s hard to be a new mom and you need that support support system. And especially if you are trying to get healthy along with all the other new moms challenges and you’ve just been there and you know, all about it. And so you can definitely have that sympathetic, empathetic ear and support women as they go through that journey. So that’s very cool. So thank you so much for being on the podcast today and telling us all about intermittent fasting. I know I have a lot to think about myself. My eating window two could probably be cleaned up a little bit since this has been just amazing to chat. Thank
Katey Chamber (37:39):
You. I appreciate it so much.
Bad to the Bowl (37:41):
I hope that you found that conversation with Katey so helpful and it answered a lot of the questions that you might have about what is intermittent fasting. I know that there is so much buzz out there about that, but in reality, it’s just that time to give your body time to restore itself. And you know, sometimes it’s called time restricted eating. So really there’s nothing to be scary about that. And you can ease into it. There is no hard and fast rules, except for those that we talked about, you know, when you break your fast, when you are actually giving your body something that it has to then process. So, you know, you have to do what works for you and what time eating window works for you as well. And I love that. We talked about as well, that this I’m participating in intermittent fasting.
Bad to the Bowl (38:38):
Isn’t a way to just be like, well, during my eating window, I can eat whatever I want. No, you still need to fill your body up with nutritious healthy food. And that includes learning all how to balance your plate. And I love that Katey has a great resource that she wanted to share with you guys. And we’re going to link that over on the show notes, because sometimes I think we all just need an example of what that balance plate looks like. There’s so much information out there these days that it can just be so much noise and just having a simple resource at our fingertips that breaks it down easily. Oh, it’s just so helpful. So again, we’re going to link that over in the show notes. You can find all the show notes as well as Katey’s information to learn all about her coaching program and how she’s helping new moms gain energy and lose weight. We’re going to have that all over on the show notes over on our sponsored blog, back to the bowl.com forward slash 50. Thanks for listening.
