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!
Tag Archives: Intermittent Fasting
Intermittent Fasting Wars PT. 3
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.
- Alternate Day.
- Eat Stop Eat.
- 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.
What You Need To Try Before You Give Up (Audio)
A new episode of A Mind For Fitness Podcast is now available. In this episode Ean Carlin talks about why we want to give up on trying to lose weight and what you need to know before you do! Enjoy!
The Intermittent Fasting Wars Pt. 2 (Written)
If you really want to lose weight, you need to eat 6 small meals a day. And you never want to skip breakfast! Right? Well, that is what I was told my whole life. In fact, fairly recently I did a review (audio) on Chris Powell’s book, Choose to Lose: The Seven Day Carb Cycle Solution. In that book, he advocates six small meals a day. I followed it for a while and I lost weight!
Well the truth is I lost a little weight. And the reason I lost it was not because the diet was so great. Rather it was due to the fact that I was on a plateau and it changed things up enough to get my metabolism working again.
The six meal a day plan can work for some of the people some of the time. For example, if you take someone who is eating a bowl of granola in the morning and/ or a bagel, and switch them to 4 egg whites and half a banana, you will see results. Out of the two, the former is way worse for your blood sugar. So the six meal a day diet can work, but it does not work nearly as well as intermittent fasting (IF).
Why IF Works
There is lots of science regarding IF. I do not have the time to go into all of it here. However, I will quickly mention that the reason it works is that it allows your body to tap into your fat reserves. Your body only runs on two types of fuel–sugar and fat. When you eat 3 or 6 times a day you are fueling your body with sugar and training your body to prefer to run on sugar.
However, when you go without food for a significant period of time, you use up all your sugar. The only fuel left for your body to run on is fat. And in fact, your body runs better on fat than sugar. And the more often you run on fat, the more your body wants to run on fat preferentially.
There are lots of big words I could have used to explain the above paragraphs, but it really is that simple. If you do not have sugar in your body, you will run on fat.
Starvation Mode
But what about starvation mode? If you have been led to believe that 3-6 meals is the way to go, and that you should never skip breakfast, you may have also heard of the dreaded “starvation mode.” This is the belief that if you do not keep feeding your body every 2 hours or so you will store fat instead of burn it. Why? Because (they say) your body thinks it is going though a famine and will want to hang onto fat.
The fact of the matter is that this is simply not true. In order for your body to go into “starvation mode,” you have to go without food for a few days. But even then, you will eventually start losing weight. So do not fear. Going without breakfast, or even going without food for a day, will not not make you gain weight!
IF Programs
There are many IF programs to choose from. In the next article, I will list them and let you know which protocol I chose to lose nearly 20 pounds in about a month!
Advanced Weight Loss Resources 