What is early time-restricted eating and why you might consider it

I stopped eating dinner a couple of years ago

For as long as I can remember I haven’t enjoyed sitting down to dinner. It always seemed like a nuisance, just something to get in the way of all the “stuff” I still had to do after getting home from work.

Several years ago,  before I started seeing my Functional Medicine Provider,  I went to a dietician to try to get some help with my digestive issues.  I told her about my dislike for dinner. I hate going to bed on a full stomach. I don’t sleep as well, I wake up still feeling full, and wake up not feeling as rested as if I didn’t eat dinner. 

She asked me “so why do you eat it?”.  I was still eating dinner because, as we have all been told, “you are supposed to”. It is a sacred time for most families to sit down and reconnect from the day and that is so important. But that's not my experience

On the flip side, I LOVE eating breakfast. So why did I try intermittent fasting and postpone my first meal until about 11:30 am?

Because “they said so”. It was supposed to be the latest and greatest “hack”, so of course, I was all in.

My takeaway, so not eating breakfast sucked TBH.

I was never able to get dinner “down the hatch” before 6:15 or later and that left me less than 2 hours to digest my food before laying down for bed.  I reevaluated this routine and started eating a meal that resembled a “normal” dinner as my breakfast, opting for a protein shake as my evening “meal”. 

Eating a big meal before bed means that all the energy that your body would use for detoxification, repair, and growth goes toward digestion. 

The result of changing WHEN I ate?  I sleep better, I lost a couple of pounds, I stopped snacking as soon as I got home from the gym since a shake took no time to make, and am more energized during the day.  My circadian rhythm is much more in sync with my eating this way. This of course works for ME which doesn’t mean it’s right for you.

However recently there has been a lot of research that has come out stating that EARLY time-restricted eating, or eating early in the day and fasting in the late afternoon/early evening has HUGE health benefits far beyond weight loss. This way of eating also aligns better with our circadian rhythms!

"In conclusion, five weeks of eTRF improved insulin levels, insulin sensitivity, β cell responsiveness, blood pressure, and oxidative stress levels in men with prediabetes—even though food intake was matched to the control arm and no weight loss occurred."

I invite you to check in with yourself to see if HOW and WHEN you are eating is in alignment with your lifestyle and health and wellness goals!