Key elements to my approach to a healthy lifestyle: Intermittent Fasting; Why I chose 6:00 am to 2:00 pm to eat; Daily Tracking; Base Lines; My daily fasting routine; Why I do not count calories; Walking, Yoga & Strength; Daily meditation; Flexibility with routine.
Intermittent Fasting
A very comprehensive beginner’s guide to intermittent fasting can be found at Intermittent Fasting 101 — The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide. Here’s the lead in to the article:
- Intermittent fasting (IF) is currently one of the world’s most popular health and fitness trends.
- People are using it to lose weight, improve their health and simplify their lifestyles.
- Many studies show that it can have powerful effects on your body and brain and may even help you live longer.
That’s powerful stuff. I’ve had numerous health challenges over the past couple years. All but my current one, a lung disease called MAC or MAI, is either completely remedied or under control. The medications I’ve been prescribed have seriously affected every aspect of my lifestyle and caused my weight to trend significantly higher.
Intermittent fasting is allowing me to reverse my weight trend and simplify my overall health and fitness. I find I am not usually very hungry anytime in the fasting period. I also find that, as I walk past where I keep nuts, dried fruit, dark chocolate and health bars, I’m thinking about grabbing something. Being part of the IF period, I see this as being in training to avoid constant grazing.
During the IF period I always allow myself something, but try to do it after a little check-in. Keeping some things that are high in fiber, very low or 0% added sugar, low sodium is what I do. A favorite is adding NuttZo to a crispbread, I find it very satisfying:
List and Examine Your Current Medical Issues
Why I chose 6:00 am to 2:00 pm to eat
I love my breakfasts, most of mine are big. It only makes sense, to me, to pick a period that covers a traditional breakfast/lunch or lunch/dinner. I live alone, easy choice for me. Everyone’s circumstances are different. If you have a partner, she/he may or may not want to join the fast. Do whatever works best.
Daily Tracking
I’m unlikely to see big changes from one day to the next, but I track daily for a number of reasons. On my Weight Chart, I’m looking at the moving average trend and identifying what I call Base Lines. Some days I am might expect to see my weight drop some, only to hop on the scales and see a gain. I note what it is I ate. Pasta days can add, but that’s okay, we’re interested in this for the long haul. I record my weight each morning, before having any food or drink, totally naked. My digital scales are accurate to 0.2 lbs. If you do not have digital scales, I suggest to estimate to either 0.25. That might not seem like much, but I’ll show how it’s important later.
Base Lines
About 3 years ago I was borderline obese. I’m 6’2″ and weighed in at close to 250 lbs. I was disgusted with myself and decided to seriously limit my food and alcohol intake, and created monthly spreadsheets with graphs. I wasn’t fasting, but I would make a blender drink every morning with Spiru-tein, which contains 100% of about every vitamin and mineral a body needs to live. Long story short, about 8 months later I was not only below 200 lbs, I was about 192 lbs.
When I looked at the the graphs I saw 4 to 7 day periods that were basically flat lines. The I would trend down, maybe a week or two, and see another flat period. I’m expecting to see those again, they are what I’m calling base lines.
I’ll back edit this in the coming weeks and up what I see as the significance of base lines. Eventually, we’ll hit a base line and our weight will just continue to fluctuate between that base line and the previous one. That’s when we no longer need to continue Intermittent Fasting, we have reached optimal personal body weight.
My daily fasting routine
I try to prepare most of my meals at home. When shopping I essentially only buy organic and pay attention to the Nutrition Facts. Low sodium and sugar, high fiber and the ‘good’ fats. I’ll have more on this, with references, in the coming weeks. For your meals, pick quality that you love. Eat until you are full, have a nice piece of homemade pie or a dish of ice cream, just don’t go overboard.
I see the fasting hours as a training period. I was tending to graze way too often. Now I stop if I am about to reach for a snack, ask myself, if I’m really hungry. The answer is almost always, “no”.
Why I do not count calories – Not a Diet
Ask yourself if you’ve ever seen anyone that has cut calories and lost a dramatic amount of weight and stayed there? I suppose some, but very very few. Each of us is totally different. Some people my height, 6’2″, might be at their optimal personal body weight and be 220 lbs or 170 lbs. I’ll back this up soon, but you’ll never need to count calories to maintain the weight that’s right for you.
Why diets don’t work https://apple.news/Ahi1y-GtMTDGdBAnICyc_Dg
Walking
Walking, no matter how many steps, is not going to lose anyone much weight. Sadly, many of our friends and family just can’t do much. For those of us that still can, it should be an essential part of our daily routine. As I begin this, it’s a formidable challenge for me. I’ll post more soon, the 7600/day steps goal is scientifically selected, I’ll supply references.
Yoga & Strength
[to be added]
Daily meditation
[to be added]
Flexibility with routine
[to be added]
Healthy Eating Links
Possible Articles for Publication
This post and Notes on Activity & Weight Tracking can be references to a number of articles prepared to be submitted for publication. Here are some thoughts for titles:
- Intermittent Fasting, 4 Weeks to Better Health
- Intermittent Fasting, 4 Weeks Toward Finding Your Optimal Weight
- Intermittent Fasting, 4 Weeks to Good Nutrition
- Intermittent Fasting, 4 Weeks to Uncover Your Hidden Health Issues
