It’s a beautiful, sunny day here on Long Island, and fall appears to be coming! It’s cooler, it’s less humid, and with my birthday coming up in the next three weeks (September 17th — Don’t forget to mark that on your calendar!), my favorite season is upon us! My fall softball season starts up next week, as well, and with the vast majority of my teammates deciding on an earlier timeframe (6:30 PM instead of the usual 8–9 PM starts), that means I won’t be completely exhausted the next day from playing the night before due to getting home late, having to shower at around midnight, and thus, getting a severe lack of quality sleep :-)
Now then, a popular dietary strategy that’s popped up in recent years: Intermittent fasting, or IF for short. The premise of intermittent fasting is simple — Fast for 16 hours, eat all of the day’s food within an eight hour window, and then fast for another 16 hours. Rinse and repeat.
The easiest way to do this, in my opinion, is to eat between the hours of 12–8 PM while experimenting with IF. These are nice, easy times to remember, and can literally (no pun intended!) work like clockwork for you.
A recent study with 24 ‘healthy’ participants showed that the SIRT3 protein levels INCREASED in participants, while blood insulin levels DECREASED while the participants practiced IF!
In short, the SIRT3 protein is responsible for longevity (particularly in males), and when produced at higher levels can drastically reduce your susceptibility to developing tumors and other forms of cancer.
Regulating your insulin levels is crucially important for avoiding Type-2 Diabetes! Being in a fasted state longer may enable you to get away with a slightly higher daily sugar intake than you’d otherwise have to follow, though that’s not something I’d recommend you play with if you’re looking to lose weight ;-)
When compared with regular caloric restriction, which, let’s face it, is NOT a sustainable dietary strategy, the weight loss results of IF versus those of calorie counting were about the same! This is good news for folks who are sick and tired of counting calories: Just eat within your eight hour window, and don’t worry about calories or portion sizes!
That being said, it’s important that you still focus on food QUALITY during your feeding window. Eight hours a day of going to town on garbage is NOT conducive to losing weight, so remembering the sentences, “Eat meats, vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no (added) sugar. Eat ONLY when hungry, and just to satisfy — NOT to stuff your face,” will get you far on this nutritional program!
Personally, I’ve been doing IF a minimum of twice per week, on days where I’ve notoriously had earlier starts than the other five days of the week for a couple of years now. With a new influx of clients coming on for the fall in the next few weeks, and with many of these newer clients preferring earlier time slots, I’m tempted to try this strategy longterm, and see how it goes!
Obviously, if you’re diabetic, or if you have some other health condition that may not be conducive to this method of eating, then it would behoove you to speak with your doctor before trying out IF…
At the end of the day, will IF get you to the promised land in a weight loss perspective any faster? Studies show that it will not get you there any faster than most conventional dietary strategies. That being said, can it help improve your health by minimizing your risk of cancer, as well as assisting in the regulation of your insulin levels? Absolutely!
Now you know what all the fuss is about. The next question is: Is this something you want to give a try? Let me know by EMAILING ME at the address below :-)
Sincerely,
Pete Weintraub
pete@weightlossbypete.com
P.S. If you feel you need more help on the nutritional side, then you’re definitely going to want to invest in my Food Guide and Healthy Recipe Book!
The Food Guide lays out the three phases of nutrition I use with my Permanent Weight Loss clients. Phase 1 gets you in the habit of making healthier choices, while Phase 2 really cleans up the frequency with which you eat healthier. Phase 3 is a strict macronutrient breakdown that will help expedite the process of weight loss, all while improving your health and making your body a well-oiled machine!
My Healthy Recipe Book includes 72 recipes spanning breakfast,lunch, dinner, snacks, appetizers and desserts. I’m constantly adding to it, but these recipes are easy to make, simple and enable you to have your cake and eat it, too!
Normally, I sell each of these books for $10 a piece, but because I’m feeling generous today, you can get BOTH for just $13.99! :-)
To get your copies, please go to www.weightlossbypete.com/foodguiderecipes.