Monthly Archives: April 2016

Intermittent Fasting Wars PT. 4

Exercise, Fitness, Health, Ketogenic Diet, Low Carb Meals, Motivation, NLP, Paleo, weight loss, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

This is the final installment in this short series of articles on intermittent fasting (IF). In this article, I will explain what IF protocol I used and why. Also, I will give you some tips on choosing an intermittent fasting protocol for yourself.

Which IF I Used

I chose the Warrior Diet because it was, in my opinion, the easiest to follow.  Why? First off it is a daily plan. I did not have to remember whether this was a day I was eating or not. I just did the same thing every day.

Also, on the Warrior Diet I got to eat every day which made it easier to stick to my low-carb lifestyle. This did not always happen as I will explain later, but being able to eat every day made low-carb a more viable option. On the other hand, when I experimented with alternate day fasting and Eat Stop Eat one of the biggest problems I had with these diets is that after 24 hours of fasting, I wanted to eat everything in sight. On these diets you are allowed to eat normally which I have described in previous posts. But after a 24 hour fast I wanted to eat like it was Thanksgiving.

Like I said above, I did not always eat low-carb when I was on the Warrior Diet. And the truth is that you do not have to. But I did eat low-carb most of the time. However, the ability to eat whatever I wanted during my eating window allowed me to be more flexible while eating with my friends and family.

Which IF Plan Should You Do? 

First off, do not be afraid to experiment.  And do not be afraid to switch to another plan if one is not working out. But you must be able to chose a plan that you will stick to and that will fit into your life. If you live alone and do not mind skipping a day of eating, you might do better on alternate day fasting or Eat Stop Eat. If you have a family and you eat with them every night, you might do better on the Warrior Diet. Just remember the best plan is the one you will actually do.

Final Observation

One more thing I noticed about IF that I wanted to mention has to do with the fact that a lot of these plans allow you to have carbs during your eating window. However, what I noticed is that the the longer your eating window is the more low-carb you need to go in order to see results. For example, if you are going to break your fast between 14-18 hours and give yourself a longer eating window, you need to really be cautious of the carbs you are eating. Basically you need to stick to a low-carb diet. On the other hand if you fast for 20 plus hours you have a greater tolerance for carbs. This means that if you only eat for say two hours, you can eat more carbs and still lose weight.

Why Low Carb Is Not Enough (Audio)

Exercise, Fitness, Health, Ketogenic Diet, Low Carb Meals, Motivation, NLP, Paleo, weight loss, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

In this episode, Ian Carlin talks about why low carb dieting is a great place to start but it will most likely will not get you to optimal health. Also, what you need to know about switching gyms. Enjoy!

Ways to Make Your Commitment to Weight Loss Easier (Audio)

Exercise, Fitness, Health, Ketogenic Diet, Low Carb Meals, Motivation, NLP, Paleo, weight loss, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

In this episode of A Mind For Fitness Podcast, Ian gives advice on how to make keeping your goals much easier. Enjoy!

 

Intermittent Fasting Wars PT. 3

Exercise, Fitness, Health, Ketogenic Diet, Low Carb Meals, Motivation, NLP, Paleo, weight loss, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

There are many, many IF plans out there. It is the latest craze (for good reason). However, in my opinion, there are only three main protocols. Everything else is a variant of these three plans. So what are these there plans.

  1. Alternate Day.
  2. Eat Stop Eat.
  3. The Warrior Diet.

Alternate Day 

First there is alternate day fasting. It is what it sounds like. You fast for 24 hours every other day. For example, on day one, you would wake up and eat normally until 5 P. M. Then you would stop eating until the next day at 5 P. M. After that, you repeat the process.

Eat Stop Eat

This method advocates two 24 hour fasts a week. Then, the participant can eat normally throughout the non-fast days. So it may look something like this: Thursday, stop eating at 5:00 P.M. Fast until Friday 5:00 P.M. Then eat normally over the weekend until Sunday at 5:00 PM. Fast until Monday at 5:00 P.M. Then eat normally from Monday until Thursday.

It’s important to note that eating normally does not mean that you eat like it is Thanksgiving . However, it does mean that you can eat more high-carb foods. So if you are going out for breakfast, you do not have to eat just the eggs and bacon. You are welcome to eat the hash-browns, and toast as well. Likewise, if you are going to have a steak for dinner. You can also eat a potato.

Warrior Diet

The Warrior Diet is a daily fast of 20 hours. Then there is a four hour eating window. During the four hour eating window you are encouraged to do a few things. One is to eat a salad and a good amount of protean. However, you can eat anything. This would include pizza and ice cream.  Also, you are encouraged to overeat. That’s right. You are encouraged to overeat.

Other IF Plans 

Many other plans are simply a mixing or modification of the three above. For example Bulletproof IF is like Eat Stop Eat in some ways and in some ways it is like the Warrior Diet. You may only choose to IF two days a week. In that way it is like Eat Stop Eat. But you may fast for 20 hours on those days. In that way it is like the Warrior Diet. However, it is not recommended on Bulletproof that you eat high-carb or processed food. So you cannot eat just anything. Also, you are allowed to have Bulletproof coffee which contains fats.

Another plan in Lean Gains. This is kind of like the Warrior diet. On this plan you daily fast but for only 16 hours. However, your meals should be sensible without a lot of high-carb foods.

Over Simplification

I have to admit that I am over simplifying these diets quite a bit. I do this for two reasons. One is for the sake of time. The second reason is that I do not want to give away these authors diet plans for free. That would be unethical. So if there is something I missed please remember that I am over simplifying on purpose.

Closing Remarks

The list of IF plans is plentiful. In the final article of this series, I will talk about the plan I used to lose 20 pounds in 5 weeks, which plan you should choose, and some closing observations about IF.