My therapist specializes in eating disorders but I see her for entirely didn’t reasons. I’ve done two days fasts before a couple years ago. I decided to go for 4 this time since I felt just awful, bloated and wanted a reset. I’m 5’9” and was 161 and dropped to ~155. I took electrolytes starting day three. And based on everything I read, it was all as expected. I figured I would utilize this 1-2x per year if need be (but hopefully not). My therapists comments about malnourishment were concerning though. I tried to explain my research but yeah :/. Any advice?
To be fair I see how it can sound that way. In fact it very much can be disordered behavior which is why we mark all posts nsfw now(dont know how much that helps but hey at least it’s something). I think you need to explain why you’re doing it(health benefits, autophagy), and how often(1-2x per year) and what precautions you take(vitamins? electrolytes? educate yourself?). If she doesn’t know where you’re coming from she might assume you’re just crash dieting because you hate your body, or something like that
I would rec that you get her more detail on how it can cause helpful metabolic changes for some people and is safe. Coming from an ED therapy background she may just feel that those are ED behaviors. If she is non medical it may be easier to just agree with her and let her know you are nourished and leave that stuff out. If she is medical I would refer her to listen to or read some of Peter Attia MD’s blog posts of detailed podcasts on the science and safety of fasting and what it is helpful for. I get why she may worry, but that stinks if you are feeling good doing it and not underweight etc.
The main problem here is that health professionals (including doctors, and much more therapists) often stop studying after they leave school. Fasting research has started less than 20 years ago, so it is starting to become more common in journals and probably hasn’t made it to textbooks.
You have two routes:
The easiest one: accept what your therapist is saying and follow her advice. She is a professional, afterall.
Read extensively about fasting. Go through Fung’s and DeGrey’s books, read the references, go to healthline, webmd and the Harvard medicine portal and read articles (and references) for fasting, intermittent fasting, keto and related topics, and bring this material to the therapist. For this you will need to be sharp and understand how things work, instead of just memorizing a couple of key ideas. Tell them what the evidence of fasting is, how it relates to your own problems and how you would like to implement it safely.
They can do two things, either be uninterested and say that you are wrong (which, IMO, is a sign of a terrible professional and I would look for another one personally). Or they can read about it and you two can have an educated discussion, and revisit the topic with more information.
Assuming you have a healthy relationship with food (idk because you are seeing a therapist for unknown reasons) and do not have any eating disorders, then fasting is fine. Most medical professionals will tell you its not but then you ask them what research they have to prove that you are usually met with some bs and find out that they just dont think its a good idea. I personally have done 5 days and felt great. I didnt tell anyone till day 4 and when I did tell people they immediately started talking me out of it even tho I am overweight and can clearly go a few days without food. Moral of the story - dont tell anyone, cheer for your damn self in silence.
As a therapist she should take more initiative to gain the knowledge to what you are speaking of. It sounds like her opinion not facts. Ask her if she knows what happens to the body while fasting and I’m sure she won’t have an answer. IF is for healing the body, weight loss is a benefit. Most average folks keep a reserve of up to 80,000 calories so I’m thinking your safe for a bit. Back in the day famine was the norm, our bodies are made for this period.
https://www.mindbodygreen.com/articles/what-happens-when-you-fast
Think about it from the therapist’s perspective. Fasting was near inexistent in the west until the mid 2010s, and people going days without eating is a very clear sign of an eating disorder.
Will you change her mind? Probably not.Do you have to tell her? Probably not.
If you’re seeing her for entirely different reasons there’s no point in trying to change her mind or even tell her about research/science, simply don’t bring it up and live happily ever after