Fasting

Previous chapter talked about the importance of a natural lifestyle. Fasting has recently become popular, but as opposed to many other fitness trends, it actually has merit. Because it’s based on what we naturally evolved to do. And because research supports it.

What do other animals do?

• When they’re hungry, they go hunt (or search) until they find food
• Once they have food, they eat it
• They’re happy now. Let’s relax or procreate. They don’t even think about food.
• Until they’re hungry again.

They don’t divide their days into three meals, at fixed times. They certainly don’t sit at a table for an hour while having said meal.

Then why do humans do this? Why are people so attached to this idea? Yes, there are situations in which a consistent or regular eating schedule is beneficial. But besides that, in general, no evidence supports doing this.

Where does this idea come from?

A simple truth. One that is also the reason why most diets or books about eating healthy are completely ineffective.

When we start eating less than we’re used to, our body starts storing more fat. Because it panics and is unsure if it will get enough food in the future.

It’s quite a logical response. Maybe you ate 2000 calories a day before. Suddenly you drop to 1500, for several days in a row. Our body panics: it couldn’t receive as much as it hoped. So it becomes more conservative with burning energy, and stores more as fat.

As such, we told each other that we need to eat regularly, or our body goes into this panic mode that doesn’t help our goals at all.

But, as research shows, this only works if the jump is large. If you go from eating way too much to eating the right amount. If you try to go from severely overweight to normal weight. If the gap is large enough, our body will overhaul its whole system for food. The advantages of such a reduction outweigh the disadvantages.

Otherwise, eating healthy is never about eating less. It’s about eating better quality food and less often. For most people, the whole day is structured around food. Breaking this connection goes a long way towards a more healthy relationship with food.

When to eat regularly

If you have a fast metabolism or sensitive bowels. Then you need to eat regularly, with bite-sized meals, otherwise your tummy gets very upset. I know this, because I fall in both categories. Fortunately, it’s not severe for me, so I am able to take long breaks between meals if I time them well. But I know some people who physically cannot function if they don’t eat regularly.

For those, ignore the latter part of this chapter on “fasting”.

It also helps if you are in danger of overeating. If you haven’t eaten for a long time, what happens the next time you see food? You gulp it down. You eat too fast, too much, and so forth. This is obviously not good. If you can’t control that, then yes, eat 3–6 meals a day.

Fasting

Fasting simply means not eating at all for a longer period of time. As I said earlier: humans can only survive a few days without water, but can go a long time without food. If you stop eating, the body will switch to burning your fat.

While fasting, you do have to continue:

• Drinking water
• Taking vitamins

So far, this has been proven the most effective and natural method for losing weight. Our body, like most animals, has great systems for dealing with longer periods without food. It’s somewhat similar to (winter) hibernation. After a few days of fasting, our body starts burning fat and completely working on that energy source. It won’t even expect food anymore.

This also has other side effects, like improved mental clarity and focus. I’ll discuss that at the end, as it’s less relevant to this course.

And after a while, your appetite will return. You will feel when you should start eating again.

But don’t take my word on this, or immediately jump ship.

• Consult an expert if you really want to do this
• Do not fast if you’re underage. Your body needs all the energy and nutrients it can get, it’s still growing.
• Some research indicates fasting is more dangerous for women. This is an active area of research.

Obviously, this is tough to do. Especially if you have a busy schedule and can’t risk the effects of fasting, or are under a lot of stress (which we tend to solve by eating). So do we have something more achievable?

Let’s think some more about this.

Timing

Most people use these 3 meal moments: breakfast (morning), lunch (afternoon) and dinner (evening).

If you do so, here are some small tips:

• Drink water before eating and while eating. It helps prepare your body. It ensures you don’t overeat due to thirst. It forces you to slow down, giving your body time to reconsider if it’s still hungry.
• It takes a while for our signal of “I’m full” to reach our brains. So, in general, eat slowly. Take a break before making the decision to grab another slice or eat another bowl of yoghurt. If unsure, don’t. You can always compensate at the next meal.

But studies are … mixed here.

• Some indicate the importance of breakfast. You lay a good nutritional foundation for the rest of the day. And you don’t want a huge dinner, because late eating makes it harder to sleep, and more likely it is stored as fat. (As you won’t be physically active afterward.)
• Some indicate the importance of dinner. Most people eat carbohydrates for breakfast. Not fruits, vegetables and protein. That’s what we eat for dinner. So yes, dinner should be your biggest and most important meal!

The solution? Combine the best of both worlds.

• Make your first meal of the day your biggest.
• And make it the one where you eat both your energy intake (carbohydrates, fats) and your building blocks (vegetables, fruit, protein)

And now you’re finally ready to learn about intermittent fasting

Intermittent fasting

You only eat 8 hours a day. You do not eat the other 16 hours of the day.

In most cases, this simply means you have one meal per day. One big, huge meal that contains everything you need. You eat it in the morning, then continue to enjoy the rest of your day without thinking about food.

Again, if you feel terrible while doing this, stop it or consult an export.

For me, I switched to intermittent fasting by accident. I used to eat all day, and think about food all day, and that was bad for my health, and my teeth, and my concentration. So I wanted to stop that. I said to myself: no more eating at night.

Within a few days, I had completely switched to something I later learned was called “intermittent fasting”. It’s easier than it sounds. Because you don’t eat less, you just eat less often. I didn’t feel hungry or like I lacked energy.

And over time, this leads to eating better as well. Because you know you have one meal, or a few hours, to get everything you need. You’re not going to waste that on food that doesn’t have much nutritional value.

Some things to keep in mind:

• It is not an excuse to start eating less healthy or more in general. Don’t think “I’m intermittent fasting, I can eat that bag of crisps every night!”
• Keep up your water intake during the day. That part continues.
• If this is too hard, slowly work towards this. Reduce the time in which you eat by 30 minutes every day, until you’re at 8 hours max. Try different times of day. Breakfast is preferred, but not required.

For me, and many others, this helped a lot. It helped break that connection with food that we’ve fostered while growing up. It helped make smarter decisions and eat better and better over time. And, naturally, it burned fat. Because after not eating anything for 10+ hours, your body starts switching to that system.

Still, many people around me think I’m insane. The idea of “you need 3 meals a day” or “you need to keep eating and snacking all day to keep up energy” is deeply ingrained.

You do not. How frequently you eat is of no consequence to 99% of the people. When you eat also often doesn’t matter. It’s more important to …

• Eat the right things
• And give your body long enough periods in which you do not add more food. (So it can properly digest it and burn fat if needed.)

Why fasting also helps mentally

When we eat, we take in glucose. This creates a certain reaction:

• Inside our body, little “gates” open, to let in the food.
• This makes us sleepy and lightheaded
• All our energy and focus goes to our stomach, so it can digest the glucose.
• And it would like the rest of our body to stop doing stuff and sap away energy.

This is why siestas are actually a good idea. And why you shouldn’t try to exercise right after eating. Because eating makes us calm, sleepy, slow.

When you fast, and eat nothing, this response obviously doesn’t exist. Your mind stays as sharp as can be.

Additionally, our body has another weird psychological trick:

The longer we do not eat, the less hungry we are.

This is why many people have trouble eating in the morning. After sleeping for 8+ hours, they just aren’t that hungry anymore.

The consequence? Fasting becomes easier the longer you do it. That’s why many people set a fixed goal beforehand: I will fast three days and then stop.

And the longer you don’t receive glucose, the less this “sleepy” feeling is created. The less attention our stomach needs, which improves the focus and clarity of your mind.

Yes, stomach and mind are closely linked. They can’t both get attention. In a sense, eating means you can’t think clearly the few hours afterwards.

In fact, some call our stomach our “second brain” … and that’s what next chapter is about.