Flipping the Metabolic Switch: Applying the Health Benefits of Fasting

Thank you for sharing your story, keep up the impressive results!

About 4 years ago I started changing my diet. I drastically reduced foods with sugar and carbs and gradually shifted to a one main meal a day regiment. I eat my main meal (4 eggs, half an avacodo, cucumbers, tomatoes and bell peppers salad with some feta cheese) around 12-2:00. I usually have an apple later. Some weeks I fast for 44-48 hours. I workout at a boxing gym twice a week (about 1.5 hours of a strenuous workout). I’ve been going to the same gym for 10 years, but after changing my diet my stamina increased, sometimes I feel like I can be there all day.

The 44-48 hour fasting are interesting and are hard. Not because of feeling hungry(you’re but for me it’s more mental, the thought of all the food I should eat the next day), but because of other factors. The second night your brain is very alert, almost feeling like consuming a lot of caffeine or other stimuli. So if you wake up middle of the night it’s hard to fall asleep again. In the morning, I’m very hyper again as if I had consumed a lot of caffeine and if I drink tea or rarely coffee just before the end of my fast the effects are greatly magnified. Your brain races like mad. I feel like I have an improved cognitive ability, but I’ve not tested that in any form so it could just be a reflection of being hyper. That said I’ve gotten physically stronger, since my diet change and my fasting. I end my boxing workout with some weights and now I often get comments how strong I am for my body size. And I know I’ve gotten stronger, because the increased reps and weights I can do. There was some research on fasting and how your muscles become more efficient, so I’m not sure if that’s playing a factor or my increased stamina has allowed me to workout longer and that resulted in increased strength. The other factor helping me here I think it’s reduced inflammation. It feels like my muscles recover faster and I have less inflammation problems because of my diet.

Some interesting anecdotes. One of the guys who works for the gym commented at my transformation and said I look like a “jock” now and asked details of my diet. My former boxing instructor who initially told me for best recovery I needed to eat after a hard workout instead of fasting, now has changed his diet as well. So there is something to all these and I’m never going back, but I think we’re still far from knowing the longer term effects of it and also learning about any genetic variability. But I recommend everyone trying it for themselves, it’s easy after the first 7-10 days.

Yes, but the body needs 2000-2500 kcal per day, not cal.

I just listened to The Obesity Code by Jason Fung and my mind is kinda blown. Everyone you've said matches what the book covers.

The takeaway points are:

- Raised insulin is the key driver in weight by preventing the burning of fat and triggers the storage to fat. Insulin is the hormone that tells allows cells to absorb glucose

- Type 2 diabetes is caused by insulin resistance, which happens over years of prolonged periods of raised insulin without periods of lowered insulin. Carbohydrates and sugar convert to glucose, insulin resistance prevents it being used by cells, triggering the ask for more glucose by those cells to be available, by way of asking for more insulin. Raised insulin and glucose contribute to more fat being stored.

- The western lifestyle is based around eating evenly throughout the day reducing our fasted state. This means our insulin levels don't have a chance to lower.

- Fasting is a way to give your body a break from raised insulin, use up the glucose energy first, then switch to fat burning (Ketosis).

- Sugars and carbohydrates do not trigger the hormone that says we're full when compared.

If this is of interest to you, I highly recommend the book. I'm still learning all the specifics so some of the above may be incorrect.

I very much plan to start reducing my sugar and carbohydrate intake and introduce intermittent fasting.