25 Insights and Revelations about Fasting, Foods, and Getting Results

Posted Friday, March 19th, 2010

I like to think that there is so much more to life...that worrying about eating all the time. Finding a simple and effective way to keep in shape year round is the most liberating experience there is!

Here are 25 quick and to-the-point insights about many things I have learned about intermittent fasting (IF) and eating, through my own observations and client experiences…..Enjoy, in no particular order:

  1. IFOC does not work (IF-On-Crap). You will not get the body composition you are looking for if you take that approach.
  2. Eat a bit less on your IF days, don’t IF every day. Take days off, as remember it is supposed to be “intermittent”.
  3. Don’t crash diet while using IF. If you do, you will just set yourself up for a weight loss stall and gain later on (like crash dieting without IF). IF is not about starving yourself…you still need to eat!
  4. Eat enough healthy protein, fats, and less carbs on IF days especially for your first meal. You probably will have some increased insulin resistance after a fast. So unless you just worked out, eating a bunch of quick digesting carbs is not ideal.
  5. Resistance training is key to helping your metabolism stay strong and keep your muscles around all the time….and even more so on lower calorie or IF plans.
  6. Remember that IF is just a “tool” to use in your lifestyle, not some “diet” plan. There are many ways in which one can implement it and make it work, but you may also have to find a couple ways it doesn’t work out beforehand. Find your own solution that works for you.
  7. Eating real foods is the rule to follow 80% of the time…then eat what you crave/enjoy here and there (and you will find your cravings will change as you go along as well…to more healthier options).
  8. If you are gaining more belly fat with IF you are probably creating too much stress in your lifestyle. So cut back on your use of IF, caffeine and other stressful situation in your daily life. IF + high stress = Not good results!
  9. Like said above, caffeine can raise cortisol…so maybe you need to cut back on it on your IF days if you are not getting the results you want (unless you use it right before a workout…as that can help also free up fatty acids and increase workout intensity).
  10. If you are having panic attacks or anxiety issues….see #9.
  11. I now use longer IF 1-2x a week, and then just use a “condensed” daily eating window (8-12hours) most other times.
  12. I focus on eating enough carbs from “real foods” to keep up my daily energy and recovery needs (muscle glycogen replenishment). Those levels may differ from one day to the next.
  13. You can also burn fat all day long, if you keep insulin under control (no sugar spikes). Like I’ve been telling clients for years…when you are about to eat a bunch of sugar just tell yourself “I don’t feel like burning fat for the next 3 hours”…as that is essentially what you are doing at the hormonal response level.
  14. The 3 best ways to help “increase” your daily GH output are sleep, exercise (with enough intensity/volume…not duration) and some fasting. Also see #13 about eating choices (as insulin/blood sugar spikes up, GH will come down). Don’t spike your blood sugar right before bed when you are about to get your largest GH release of the day (1-2 hours into sleep).
  15. Be active each day for at least 30min….just go do something you enjoy and break a sweat doing it.
  16. If your eating/exercise plan isn’t working for you, change something up. Don’t keep doing the same thing expecting different results or quit altogether and go back to bad eating habits. Be in control!
  17. IF is the best way I know for people to start to really get back an appreciation for real foods, their health and how to really listen to their body…hence I have been promoting it for all these years. Once you really become “aware” of your food and how your body reacts, the transformation lasts for a lifetime.
  18. All those fasting/detox diets seen on TV/Hollywood are not even a close 2nd cousin to what IF is all about. Those are crash diets disguised as healthy ways to cleanse…and promoted by people who can’t stay lean in the first place. Ignore all those.
  19. Learning to eat less often (not 6x a day everyday) is a step towards appreciating what you actually eat, and not mindlessly shoving in anything that qualifies as “food” in the low standards of today (as in all those processed things you find in the 30+ isles at your supermarket). Many people still eat 3x a day and are in great health/shape…frequency of meals is not the issue (quality and quantity is).
  20. Take control of your hormones through your food choices, and you will most likely live longer and healthier.
  21. Ignore people who are professional athletes or already in shape and eating junk food all day. If you are not already 5% bodyfat, training 4 hours a day, and have their genetic potential…then what they do is not something you need to worry about.
  22. Skinny people can get heart diseases, cancers and many other degenerative diseases too. Just because you are lean does not you should not take steps to optimize your health (such as eating real foods, keeping active and even using IF).
  23. We all get “older”…but we all don’t have to “age” so quickly in the process.
  24. Learn to cook “real foods” (not microwave frozen dinners), enjoy doing it, and teach it to your kids. Use slower cooking methods, unprocessed foods and flavor with natural herbs/spices. The benefits of this for yourself and your family will go on for generations.
  25. Take responsibility for your own health, question everything you hear out there (Yes, even from me), do your own examination and come up with your own answers. There may not be a quick fix out there, but there is journey of understanding that you should pursue. Keep your own intellectual independence on what and how you should eat for your own health.

If you are new to the term “IF” or “intermittent fasting” and want to know more, then you can click here and download your free ebook at the IF Life that goes into much more detail. It’s not about “starving yourself” or “crashing your metabolism”, it is about finding the freedom to eat how you want and not have to diet ever again (and seeing the truth out there for yourself, in a sea of mainstream mis-information).

Do you have your own insights to add to the list and share? If so, please leave them in the comments.

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11 Comments

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  3. Farley

    Good stuff!

    I have been eating whole foods with low GL carbs starting December 1, 2009 while also IF’ing 2 times a week. Coupled with lifting heavy things and getting in some low to moderate cardio a few times a week, I have dropped 25 pounds and feel better than ever.

    Everything you list here is completely true, at least in my world. Those that know I fast either ‘freak out’ and tell me that it’s bad for me (meanwhile they’re overweight and think nothing of eating microwave food from a box or a bunch of easily disgested white carbs), or they tell me how they ‘cleansed’ once and fasted for 2 weeks straight. There is never anything reasonable and in the middle like IF’ing for health and longevity. People just don’t think this way. It’s too bad because they could all feel soooo much better.

    Anyway, just a quick story from my world. Great site. Thank you for the wealth of info.

    Cheers.

    Mike OD Reply:

    Great job on the results!! Keep it up! Yes, people in the mainstream take things to extreme if the word “fasting” appears. But hopefully we can all start to spread some common sense out there to people, in a weight loss/diet industry that seems to lack much of that.

  4. Michael

    Great list here…
    Especially enjoy the tips that stress whole and natural foods/ingredients vs. processed crap.

    Mike

  5. Ryan

    Thanks for the list, I have only been using ESE and IF for a few weeks now but I have suffered a barrage of flack from other people in my life for doing so. I haven’t really gotten my eating dialed in yet, I still have the urge to eat every 2-3 hours and am still thinking about meals, snacks and food constantly but I want to break this obsessive complolsiveness that I have picked up while trying to eat healthy and lose weight. All the main stream nutrition information totally brainwashed me and it wasn’t until I started reading sites like this that I got back to fundamentals and started following the K.I.S.S credo (keep it simple stupid).

    Quick background: Last June I weighed in at 342 lbs at 6′ 4″ and thanks to my wife decided I wanted a change. 10 month later I am at 212 lbs and running 25+ miles a week while competing in monthly 10K races. I now ride bikes, rock climb and any other outdoor activities that come my way. I have abandoned fast foods, soda and video games completely and am working on giving up other sweets like chocalate and ice cream. My hope is to eliminate the crap and enjoy preparing and eating good foods again.

    skustes Reply:

    Holy cow! Amazing progress, Ryan! Great work!

    Cheers
    Scott

    Mike OD Reply:

    Anyone not conforming to mainstream “mis-information” will always get flack….until others wonder why you are looking and feeling better than them! Focus more on getting all your necessary macronutrients/calories in your meals and drop the “snacking” mentality. Great work on what you have done so far. The most important part of the battle for weight loss….is keeping it off! Finding a simple and realistic lifestyle approach for eating and exercise is the key to lasting success. If you want, you can still enjoy sweets on occasion…but you will notice as you eat more real foods, your cravings will change. A night out may be a nice steak and glass of wine….rather than an ice cream sundae and nap on the couch afterwards from the sugar crash!

  6. Melissa

    I am new to IF, although not to fasting in general.

    IF just seems so obvious for general health/ weight loss / weight maintenance…I can’t believe this kind of process never occurred to me before.

    I guess we humans are always looking for complicated ways to do things. Like somehow the more complicated the process, the more effective it must be. Ha! Thanks for the reality check and putting the K.I.S.S. (keep it simple stupid) motto back into my life

    I really appreciate all the wonderful information about IF on this site (and your free ebook).

    Thanks again,

    Melissa

  7. Mike OD

    In a related post I recommend reading, Chris at Zen to Fitness has some great insight into fasting and our lifestyle here: http://zentofitness.com/staying-out-of-starvation-mode/

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