Having a modest amount of graying hair I have seen hundreds of diets and nutritional guidelines move in and out of fashion. I used to assemble zip-loc bags of balanced mini-meals for eating six times a day. There was a year of brown rice and lentils as 90% of my diet. There was Atkins, Pritikin, low-fat, no dairy, nothing from land animals...
For all of this spinning I remain fairly lean and fortunately in good health, but completely cognitivelty dissatisfied. There are credible, well-meaning, completely sincere advocates for vegan and paleo diets in equal number so far as I can see. There are perfectly healthy 90-year-olds eating bacon and eggs every day and very well educated doctors convinced they are killing themselves and won't make it to 50.
Fortunately we live in a world where many people have options about what and how much they eat. We each must find a path that works for us.
I have found mine. It is fasting, and keeping carbohydrates to a minimum between fasts so that I remain a fat-burner, not a sugar-burner. There are many good reasons - and I will introduce some of them, but here is the most important: It is simple and it works.
I can literally see excess fat coming off my body with a daily mirror check. I do not go through weekly meal preparation exercises, I don't carry zip-loc bags, I don't have the week's smoothies pre-mixed in my refrigerator, and I don't have to worry about it. There's nothing on my to-do list for 'eating'. For days at a time, food is not on my mind at all. It is the definiton of low-maintenance.
Like every other nutritional guideline, this one has it's advocates - and the one I have learned the most from is Dr. Jason Fung. When I heard this podcast, I had already been doing intermittent fasting (36 hours a week from Sunday evening until Tuesday morning) on and off for about a year. This sealed the deal for me, and I have begun extending my fasts:
There is a great deal of information in there - but the takeaway that remains vividly in my head is this: I am not going without food. I am eating 1/2 pound of fat a day off my body.
During fasts, which have been up to 2 1/2 days so far, I continue workouts, I do not feint at work, I am completely clear-headed and I feel no loss of energy. In the second day I have experienced periods of feeling unconquerable - completely focused and energetic without being wired up on 6 cups of coffee. I have done double workouts on the second day without ill effect.
I have hunger pangs, they usually last about 10 minutes, 2 or 3 times a day. I typically have a cup of tea or a zero-calorie sparkling water when they hit, or I just get busy.
Give your body a break. It has been processing 3 meals a day since you got here. Let it have a vacation.
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STOPPerfectly!
Interesting
I will follow you to see your future posts!
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