š° TLDR: This article is about intermittent fasting, I do it and on most days, I Don't eat after 10 pm or before 1 pm. I exercise 30 mins a day (at least) and over time eat less than I did before on a full day in my new eating window. I have lost almost 40 lbs of fat in one year and it's not coming back.
For the past few years, I have known about a way that I could regain my control over my weight but it took my son being honest with me (kids are good at that) to act on that information and make a change. I'm not in my twenties anymore, my metabolism is working against me now and I need to finally push back. I finally have some motivation!
This made me eager to start intermittent fasting and I wanted to understand more about glycogen stores for some reason. Fast forward a year and several Joe Rogan podcasts later talking about intermittent fasting and some additional researching myself, I had been out at the pool with my son and he told me that I had man-boobs. That was it, I was going to show him. I was already a little bit shy about taking my shirt off at the pool, in fact, I was trying to get some sun before a trip we were planning during the summer. I was not only trying to get a tan but had thought about a diet or exercise regimen so that by the time June/July came around I would feel better about my appearances.
We all want to look better. It's the reason we do these things and decide to workout or get into shape. Now to be honest I had never in my life tried to get into shape. I had went to the gym a few years back, but my regimen at the time did not match up with what I was eating and I had no concept of how many calories I should be eating each day and especially I had no idea that what time I ate was also important.
To make a long story shorter, I started intermittent fasting and a simple workout regimen after researching and finding a lot of info on Joe Rogan's podcast and from an advertisement video (no shitting you) on YouTube called: The Science-based Six pack.
With the information I learned from this podcast and this YouTube channel I penciled out my plan in a few hours. This plan I think could get anyone to get in shape if they do it.
I switched from a full-time engineer to Developer Advocate for Telerik/Progress. This change allowed me the freedom to train when I wanted to as I could work from home and one the weekends whatever. So I understand when people say that it's hard, but I say that if you follow this regimen it will be worth it. And I did do my first two months while I was in a full-time engineering position driving to and from work. So it is possible.
I'm going to make some assumptions here and try to predict what I think *anyone can do if they subscribe to this regimen which consists of 2 things only that I committed to.
- You will eat on a time restriction (and not overeat)
- You will exercise a few days a week (hopefully during your fasting time)
If you do this I think that you can...
- Lose 20 lbs in 2 months and keep it off
- Look better and see results in one month
- Save money on food
- Start eating healthier
- Look better and feel better
There are some people who have trouble with this regimen to ailments like diabetes or other insulin issues. There are two types of diabetes, I am not an expert on diabetes, I know very little on the subject. If you have an ailment, consult your physician before trying this regimen. It works great for one type of Diabetes from what I have heard and the other type of diabetes, well I'm not sure.
Back to the business!
When my son told me I had man boobs, I realized he was trying to say something to me. "Dad I'm sure there is something you can do about your extra fat". But really, in a way, he was being honest and it made me think about what I could do to reverse this train. I was heading in the wrong direction.
I'm a big fan of the Joe Rogan podcast, and I heard him speaking with Dr Rhonda Patrick . This episode of the podcast highlighted her recent success with the regimen or at least that's what I got from it.
I also have listened many times to a book, I often listen when I am facing hunger or sugar cravings, to remind me what I'm supposed to be doing and why it's completely the natural way to do things.
So I have started doing a few things:
- Not eating after 10 pm
- Not eating before 1 pm
- Exercising four times a week
- Cutting back on caloric intake
- Eating healthy carbs as my first meal
Exercise needs to be done, fasting on its own will get you far, but you need to be toning muscle and slimming down slowly to not look like a bag of bones. Don't kill yourself, start slow if needed and just try a few times a week. If you can burn 200 calories doing simple cardio, that's a great start. As you start gaining confidence in the regimen, do more, but don't go in reverse. It's essential to not fall out of the loop. Going too hard and too extreme can create some great results at first but it may not be sustainable, so take it easy.
*As far as eating goes, I took a look at what I had been eating each day before I started my regimen and ensured and I made healthier choices or actually ate less. This can start with small changes that slowly get more healthier and eventually we start to cut one of the three meals a day completely out.
These things that I did above made it so that I could lose about 20 pounds in two months and I was learning as I went. I think you could do it faster and better, it just requires sticking to the regimen 6 days a week.
How Many Calories Per Day Should I Eat?
Above is the calculator I used to figure out how much I should eat. I found a Sweet Kale Salad and some pre-cooked chicken at Safeway that I could prepare quickly every day and salad dressing included fit within my guidelines, I also had to be careful at dinner not to overeat. But I could pretty much eat anything I like, just smaller portions. After doing this for a few weeks you will know if you eat more one day than the prior. It will be easy to step down (in calories) if needed also. The one thing I would highlight is that I stopped eating three meals each day, the second I got on this regimen. Except for Sundays. Sundays I eat a small breakfast, workout, eat a small lunch and a normal dinner. I abstain from fasting on this day always.
One year later I am no longer 182 lbs, I am closer to 150 (today I am 152). I have never been below 150 in probably 25 years. I think that as I start to put on muscle now, my weight is about to bottom out. I can write more about this in a few months.
Here Come Some Opinions of Mine
I think we all have unnatural hunger created by lies others have told us and we now tell ourselves. We are not meant to eat three times a day, I believe that we have become indoctrinated by large companies and even health professionals that we think eating the food pyramid and having a healthy breakfast lunch and dinner is the right thing to do. It's not. The faster we figure that out, the faster we can start to make some healthy decisions and get our bodies in check.
As a software developer, I think that the lifestyle actually lends itself to this diet if you think about it. We work in front of a computer for most of the day, we need some movement in our life. I suggest starting your day with only a few hours of work, taking a workout break, do some cardio or aerobics, treadmill whatever, then come back to work for the rest of the day. I can now get in a full day of work without eating, but I have been doing some form of intermittent fasting for almost one year. I don't expect this is possible right out of the gate unless you are a beast.
As I said before I'm a huge Joe Rogan fan and I wanted to leave everyone with this video:
Why you should do Intermittent Fasting | Joe Rogan feat. GSP, Dr. Peter Attia, Dr. Rhonda Patrick
I hope this article inspires someone, if you have questions let me know, DM me on Twitter I would love for this blog to turn into a good resource for others trying to find their way to fitness but struggling as a developer who works hard every day or does not have the time. The great thing is that when fasting, you typically only eat two meals a day, so it's actually easier than what you're doing right now?
Top comments (47)
One little nutritional gripe here: it's better to eat a large breakfast, rather than a large dinner, because you have more of a chance of using those calories, and because it provides your body with the critical nutrients it needs to get through the day. You don't process those as effectively in your sleep!
Historically, that's the way we did things pre-modern-era. For example, many farmers would eat a substantial breakfast, a decent "dinner" (lunch), and a very light (if any) supper, perhaps just a bowl of porridge. Heavy physical exertion, especially outside, and early morning hours, contributed to a decently healthy lifestyle. Big suppers are the fairly recent invention; breakfast isn't.
So, the fasting time range you describe is actually contrary to standard nutritional rules. For a diurnal type person, it's infinitely better for health to eat breakfast and skip dinner, rather than skipping breakfast and eating later.
Avoiding breakfast has a significant impact on the metabolic system. It helps push the body into ketosis. The purpose of avoiding breakfast is that the body has used up much of the glycogen reserves over night. In the morning they are nearing, or have reached depletion. The next in line energy source is fat, which will be broken down to produce ketones.
There reason why intermittent fasting recommends breakfast appears to be because it's the easiest meal for us to skip -- as we've already partially entered ketosis over night, thus have some energy. Initially, it's the jump between burning carbs, and burning fat, that is hard to tolerate -- it can make you fell tired and lethargic.
Ideally you should avoid eating before you go to sleep, and also just after you wake up. If you like jogging, doing it in the morning is also great, as it's an activity that can be sustained by burning fat.
This is of course should have linked studies! There's too much info like this online without scientific backing. It's why I'm going to do try an source all my articles on my food blog, Edaqa's Kitchen. It's important you can understand why things like intermittent fasting work, and how to adopt them to your own lifestyle.
Huh, TIL. (I partially knew about the ketosis thing, but not the breakfast part.) Thanks for the info.
At any rate, there should be a giant disclaimer at the top of the any such article: talk to your doctor before undertaking any fast or significant dietary change. Every body is different! Various conditions, medications, and hundreds of other factors can affect the safety of any such diet.
I wonder if personal stories need such a disclaimer? I does clearly cross the line from story to advice, so probably.
I've got a disclaimer on my site.
Personal stories need no disclaimer, also I'm not trying to be cocky or anything but I feel that recommending that other humans eat and exercise the same way every other animal on this planet does, is not posing any health risk. Also I did put a disclaimer in the story. You see some people have insulin disorders and a certain type of diabetes that may require that person to consult a physician if they do something like this. I really do believe that humans at one point had to wake up hungry, hunt and kill food in order to eat. I feel intermittent fasting mimics that in some way and it's completely natural.
I'm glad some are passionate about health even if it's not what I subscribe to. I welcome all comments.
You should have co-authored the article with me! You are spot on. I also agree on not eating before bed. My last meal is between 7-8pm giving myself a few hours of digesting before I rest. I'm still trying to work out what is best, but I have never been healthier in my life. Again I have been testing intermittent fasting for about one year and really hitting hard in the last Few months (being more strict about not breaking my fast in the morning specifically and getting a workout inside the fasting window).
Hi Jason,
I appreciate your thoughts on nutrition, and I have gotten similar advice over the past year. No hard feelings but I dismiss this advice because it is not what has worked for me in the past.
I do ensure that my kids get a good meal before school for some of the reasons you cite, but my kids are growing and have a heavy load at school.
As for farmers, I agree that this is what they did and they needed that fuel for their hard working day, but I'm not a farmer. I also believe that before those farmers we had humans that were required to hunt and gather on an empty stomach.
The average fat that one carries on their body is enough fuel to walk hundreds of miles and not die. That's a fact. For this reason I believe that by fasting we are just scraping the surface of what humans can do on little food.
BTW I do not eat right before bed. When I say I don't eat past 10pm my cutoff is closer to 8pm, I give my self time to digest and sometimes get one last workout in before 10pm (my gym closes at 10pm lol)
As a developer who loves research and science I spent close to a year thinking and learning about intermittent fasting before trying it myself and I dipped my toes in slowly and got used to it. I will go on telling people that I think the craziest thing we do as humans is wake up and put carbs and sugars into our system. On some days I drink a red bull early in the morning as my coffee, this breaks my fast and I pay for it, I need to stop doing that and I will really start to see more benefits, but this is leftover from my non fasting days. It's hard to break the cycle. lol
Furthermore, your body doesn't really think in terms of partitioned meals, breakfast and the other meals are all social constructs. If the body considered its TDEE on a daily basis, weight loss would look extremely linear. This is not the case and it's probably more pragmatic to think of your caloric expenditure in terms of weekly targets rather than a daily one. In other words, from your body's perspective, it doesn't really care when you ingest but rather the deficit or surplus. In the hierarchy of nutritional relevance from a weight loss perspective, timing of meals and caloric intake is largely a micro-optimization.
Please see this article for reference: rippedbody.com/nutrition-pyramid-o...
Incidentally, that site is a wealth of information regarding IF, probably even more so than the original lean gains.
Cool, I will check this article out after work today! One of the reasons I wanted to share my story was specifically to get feedback like this!
BTW, you bio has an error. jk lol
Ah thank you, I'll be sure to fix it with something more meaningful :)
I've been practicing IF long before I was ever a developer, but luckily being a developer meshes quite well with IF.
yes I have found this to be true, I hope others can share their experience good or bad with keeping up a good exercise regimen while also being a full-time developer.
Why are we continuing to compare our current dietary requirements with those of pre-modern era people? We're a very different people now, we also live longer. I'm not sure how relevant or useful the pre-modern era diet is to us.
Of course, the general jist of the "paleo" diet is fair - eat proper food.
Our physiology isn't really any different, except for the artificial alterations thereof. Human is human. Dietary needs may vary based on region, but not time period.
Also, we don't necessarily "live longer" now either - it depends entirely on a host of conditions, including sanitation, access to food, disease control, lifestyle, sociopolitical factors, and the like; all that varies from one culture to the next. There are some pre-modern cultures that may have lived longer than some modern cultures, and there are certainly some that lived proportionally as long or longer, once you factor in death causes that have nothing to do with health. (Consider also how many health problems are modern, first-world phenomenons.)
Thus, "we're healthier now than before" is more of a blanket statement that fails to account for thousands of factors. It's difficult to do a complete comparison straight across the board (e.g. we don't have to fear attacks by warring Mongols that cut our life expectancy short), so we look at individual topics without drawing artificial correlations between them. We don't have a life expectancy of 70-80 years because of our diet and lifestyle - we have one of the most nutritionally devoid diets in history, and we tend to be dangerously sedentary - we live long because of healthcare. When we make comparisons in history, we can't just look at "when did they die;" we MUST look at "WHY did they die?" A population dying of smallpox means we can't make the claim "they died young because of poor diet," because their diet may in fact have been quite good (or bad). This is why forensic anthropology is a thing.
As always, those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
(Note, I've said nothing herein about the breakfast vs. no-breakfast topic; there are some interesting and valid points on both sides that warrant further inquiry. History has examples of both.)
Agreed, I think there are issues with modern food that make folks more likely to be in poor shape.* But some diets strike me as going too far in reacting to that by appealing to nature.
With paleo, legumes are prohibited because of phytates, but spinach and chard, and are cooked lightly (if at all) compared to beans, aren't, despite their oxalic acid content.
IMO for people who are overweight by, say, 20 lbs or more, calorie reduction will have the largest impact. To the point where recommendations based on meal timing & micronutrients (or even macros, to a certain extent) are only useful in that they might help with compliance.
(Which might still make them very useful. Good compliance is 100% necessary for success. But what works for compliance varies from person to person.)
As one gets closer to the ideal weight range, some fine-tuning might be in order, but I think it's important not to let such things take priority over plain old energy balance.
* Without getting too deep into it, I think hyperpalatability is the big issue -- the practice of adding synthetic flavoring to foods has done a number on our collective palate, and made high-calorie, low-nutrient foods more appealing than they'd be otherwise. The same techniques used to used to fatten up livestock are used to drive food sales, with predictable results.
As a lifter and an aspiring natural bodybuilder I can summarize it easier if the goal is to lose weight: calories in < calories out - in a week timeframe (don't let fool yourself on dieting for 5 days and go overboard on the week-ends).
People complicate it too much.
Vouch. I lost 20 kg using a very similar approach. Initially I walked every day for one hour and fast 6pm till 6am. Once walking didn't felt like much I switched to rucking, started with 10 kg and now I do 20. Best thing ever.
Great job!
I had to look up "rucking". So, walking with a heavy weight on your back. When I started my journey I rode my bike to the grocery store. The way back was with a filled backpack. :)
Yep, think "Ruck sack". Military folks train like this to get them ready for lugging around a tonne of equipment on their back. I can't ruck because I have a sore spot in my back, however; I have noticed after getting in shape that the sore spot is less of a problem for me.
I'd like to hear more about your story and your regimen!
Excellent job in regaining control of your weight. It's nice to hear these stories.
I think it's important to note what exercise you were doing. In particular there is a significant difference in dietary requirements between a low-intensity and high-intensity workouts. The high-intensity kind, generally involving weights, do require you to eat following the workout. IF you do not, you may be promoting muscle loss. If you're doing low-intensity, like jogging, then burning fat alone should be enough*.
*I put a star there, since when you start out, your body won't be well adapted and doing anything during ketosis can feel challenging.
Also, be sure to drink a lot. Going into ketosis appears to use more water than burning carbs (not just the water lost that was stored with the glycogen). IF you fast long-enough, or find yourself getting headaches or muscle cramps, you'll likely need some electrolytes (salts) as well.
Also, I would like to post some before and after pictures. Let me see what I can find. When I started my fast I worked at Tesla and I have some images of me presenting at a meetup vs my latest pictures. I think If I can find those I will be able to show the results.
Before:
After:
I will try to find better images! believe it or not, there is a 30 lb difference in those to images, at the lest a 25 lb difference.
Thanks for sharing Eric. I am a developer advocate as well. And my weight has started to affect my confidence when I am in front of an audience. I recently started IF and I am hoping to see positive changes as you did ! Well done and good luck with everything.
Hit me up on a direct message if you want to hop on Slack or Skype anytime. Would love to share or learn what you are doing each day!
Yes, I will say that I never do weightlifting without eating protein first, my workouts that I do on my fasting regimen are mostly running on a treadmill, elliptical machine and small weights high repetition and many sets.
hmm I vouch for intermittent fasting, it has worked wonders for me. I went with fasting between 6pm and 7am. With an hour of walking first time in the morning and other at the evening, I've lost 12Kg in 40 days.
But I won't subscribe to the conspiranoic theories, I don't see a "you've been lied to" scenario, but a "established dietary advice is designed for FAR less sedentary lifestyle".
Yes I believe it is a misconception that you need to always eat breakfast - there are a lot of very successful people that regularly skip it (mentioned on Tim Ferriss' podcast). I just have coffee in the morning and am not hungry before lunch. As for the meal plan, I'd recommend a more diverse diet, bump up the vegetables, add healthy oils and spices to make it tasty otherwise you'll get bored with it. For exercise, much better to get out in nature when you can rather than do a routine in a gym. For me, mountain biking and bouldering in gyms has been the ticket to fun workouts. But I'm still 1/8th of a ton so I have work to do...and btw I think you mean regimen rather than regiment...
I did and I corrected it! THANKS
I have lost 34lbs and still progressing and have found this is an excellent routine for me. Also solved some gastro issues I'd had for years. I've also chosen to lightly pick up running and found that to be great for some stress relief and for my body's endurance.
Glad it works for others like yourself too!
I have heard wonderful stories about acid re flux and heart burn issues completely disappearing. As well other gastro issues. So great to hear.
I was doing the intermittent fasting thing for awhile then I fell off the wagon. Your article has encouraged me to start again. My time frame for fasting was 7:00 PM to 10:00 AM, as that worked better for my schedule. Do you think it matters that much? If it does, I could try your schedule for awhile.
I don't think it matters as long as there is a time period you don't eat.
My exercise routine includes two balanced calisthenincs/gymnastic strength training inspired workouts a week, and two yoga classes. I do stretching/mobility work pretty much every day. Minimal cardio (walking is enough for me). I experiment with IF - every few weeks I'll go 24 hours, which I find pretty easy. Definitely think it's a good idea to pay attention to what the body is asking for and when it's asking, than just assuming that the three meals a day default is what is right for you.
Human bodies have untapped potentials and it's amazing the progress we can make with some dedication and education!
Getting fit and loosing weight are very different things ...
Agreed. If a skinny-fat individual with sedentiary lifestyle just do a diet without a minimum strength training program it will look just leaner, not "fit".
Lesser bodyfat, without a decent lean mass =/= fit.
This is why I share my regimen, the regimen is key to not only losing fat, but getting fit. Yeah I chose a catchy title that would get people interested. Sue me!
JK of course. Please don't sue me!
No problems, I was just pointing this out the differences, but I understand the use of the title.
Not in my book, I'm doing it all at the same time and using IF to get me there faster. And I say it's not a cheat.
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