HOW I BECAME FAT ADAPTED
So, you’ve been working out for a while. You’ve pretty much got your nutrition on lock. You’re eating a higher amount of HEALTHY fat and grass fed protein, and the carbs you eat are coming from whole-food sources. You aren’t eating much in terms of cereal grains anymore, and you cut out processed carbs. You’ve found that your energy is better sustained, you don’t crash, and that you can focus for longer periods of time. You may even be noticing a little bit more muscle tone than you used to. At this point, the limitation of the types and amounts of carbs is forcing your body to utilize it’s own fuel source- body fat. You can sustain your energy much better when you are burning fat. While fat doesn’t burn as quickly as carbohydrates would, it is much more difficult to use fat as an immediate source of energy. That’s actually one of the reasons why we need some carbs, too! Carbohydrates give us the “instant” energy we need when participating in high intensity exercise.
Once I understood the point of intermittent fasting, it only seemed to make sense that I would add it to my nutrition regimen. I don’t always follow IF guidelines, but I try to tailor it toward a 16:8 schedule. I attempt to fast at least 16 hours on most days, giving myself an 8-hour feeding window where I allow myself to eat my ENTIRE day’s worth of nutrition. Once my body became fat adapted (cutting all the processed carbs and cereal grains allowed my body to start tapping into my fat stores at low to moderate exercise), it made fasting much easier. As a matter of fact, on the nights that I decide it’s ok for me to binge on garbage food, fasting the next day is much more difficult. But when my nutrition game is on point, I find it much easier to fast, and focusing is much easier as well. Anymore, if I am coming up on a long work day, I will drink a bulletproof coffee in the morning, and maybe a cup mid-morning, but I won’t eat. I will usually work until dinner before I eat. Those days are interesting because I am never tired, but I also make sure that the level of energy output is relatively low. I mostly just walk and clean up the equipment my clients use as a form of exercise, sometimes I’ll do some fasted cardio in the afternoon. Forcing myself on a timed eating schedule has also been really helpful in cutting out bad eating habits. I want to focus my attention on more nutritious food naturally, now. Though, it has taken me a long time for my body to adjust to the point where I can generally maintain a whole food diet, with some restrictions on carb dense fruits and vegetables. Beginning an intermittent fasting regimen, days were a little rough. I really had to get used to eating a little bit later in the day. One way I tried it was slowly pushing back my first meal of the day, so I gradually got hungry later. It worked pretty well. Until that happened, I had to have a little bit of discipline and internally set aside the fact that I was hungry. After that, I was usually able focus better on what I was doing. One thing I continually do though, is make sure that I am getting my daily values worth of macronutrients (fats, carbs, protein) in the proper proportions to my goals, usually around 33/33/33%, maybe a little higher protein.
There are some really interesting findings about intermittent fasting as well. Calorie restriction is easily understood as to why it helps maintain one’s weight, and it’s also sensible to believe that it helps regulate one’s blood sugar, given a person is eating a whole-food diet. Intermittent fasting also helps prevent metabolic disease like diabetes and morbid obesity. Studies additionally show that IF is a good aid for preventing heart attack and stroke. Fasting helps control blood pressure, and it even helps prevent neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer's disease.
The driving force behind a lot of these benefits we receive from fasting is called autophagy. Autophagy is simply the self destruction of certain parts in the body. During autophagy, the first bits to get consumed for useful pieces are the dying, diseased and bad shit. Our immune system will sort through it like the people that pick out recycling from our garbage. We do it for our benefit. Then, your body gets rid of everything it doesn't use when we plop down on our squatty potty (Creators of the squatty potty, shout me out!). After 16 or so hours of some programmed self-destruction, we sit down for our first meal. I usually go for breakfast at 2 if I can. This gives your body a bunch of incredibly healthy, wholesome food that gives your body the best possible building blocks to repair itself and build itself back up. After a few weeks of this, it is remarkable how much better you feel. You also feel more in control of your life being able to control when you eat, allowing you to dedicate more time to the things you love, because after all, we only have this one life. We should live it to the best of our abilities.
We should live,
Fitness Applied