Instead, eating the right food and amounts is far more important than fastin g.
I do believe in and follow the principles of intermittent fasting, but I don’t believe that you have to adhere to a strict 18/6 or 16/8 schedule for the practice to work.
Intermittent fasting or intermittent eating (a more suitable name), is usually done by following the 18-hour fasting and 6-hour eating window principle. Most would eat, say between 1 pm and 7 pm, or 2 pm and 8 pm. While that is great, it can cause unnecessary stress and lifestyle problems. It’s not always convenient to eat at set times, and, more importantly, it’s far more beneficial for both body and mind to follow what I call a “natural eating pattern.”
What’s a natural eating pattern?
- Eat when your body tells you to.
- Eat when it’s convenient for you.
- Only eat twice a day.
Setting fixed times or limitations can cause stress, which in turn is harmful to our health. I’ve been practicing Intermittent Fasting for four years now, and I love the general concept. However, I concluded some time ago that I don’t have to follow the strict windows for the idea to work.
The contrary is the case. I’m much happier when I eat when I feel like it, rather than looking at my watch to tell me when I can eat. That way, I don’t stress by reminding myself that I can’t eat yet, as it’s not the time yet! No, sorry, that’s just not needed.
History and real food.
I model my natural eating concept on how our Primal Ancestors some 2000 years ago had to eat. We all know they didn’t have watches, nor did they care about time. All they knew was they had to eat when they were hungry and low on energy.
It’s also scientifically proven that our Primal Ancestors lived long, healthy lives as long as they didn’t get eaten by a predator or hurt themselves badly. And, they were not fat, instead, lean and fit, because they had to eat animal meat, fat and the vegetables they could find in the ground. And of course, they had to move, a lot, to find their food.
I don’t know this, nor is their any evidence, I guess, but I somehow don’t think those guys ate breakfast lunch and dinner. Again, the three meals a day thing is made up by governments, society, and, over time, has become “our culture.” Just like they make up what our diets should consist of, which is all wrong anyway. See SAD (Standard American Diet). Yep, it’s SAD that the SAD is the leading cause of all kinds of severe health issues, even cancer, heart attacks, and, of course, diabetes.
Culture and overeating.
Right there is the culprit: “culture,” or better; what we are told to do, which becomes “our culture.” For example, let’s look at these claims; “breakfast is the most important meal of the day” or “breakfast for champions.” Where did these sayings come from? They certainly aren’t correct.
The absolute most important thing about eating right is not to overeat. Overeating is caused by ingesting too many calories every day. Add to that the lack of movement or exercise in most peoples’ daily routine, and there you have the double whammy.
Too much food = too many calories, not burned = caloric overload = weight gain and all kinds of other health problems.
Caloric deficiency.
The absolute golden rule to not gaining weight or getting fat is to always be in a caloric deficient state. Meaning, you eat less than you burn every day. Even if you’re not eating the best food, or eating a lot of crap food, staying caloric deficient will allow you to keep your weight down and you won’t get fat.
Eating crap, though, even if caloric deficient, won’t do you much good inside, as you need the right nutrients daily to stay healthy and keep up a superstrong immune system. Our immune system is what keeps us healthy, disease-free, and yes, alive.
We all know how important that is, especially now that we are going through this Coronavirus nightmare. Side note: the cause of the majority of people dying because of the Coronavirus, is not the virus itself, but side effects, relating to pre-existing conditions and a weak immune system. That’s a fact.
The bottom line.
Generally, we aren’t told the truth and have to find that out the hard way, by getting sick, before you start to think and change your habits. That’s what happened to me. I was very ill when I was thirty years old. I had horrific acid reflux for many years, which led to the doctors insisting on operating on my esophagus, doing a so-called “Nissen Fundoplication.”
This is a nasty operation, where they wrap your esophagus around the opening of your stomach, to stop the acid flowing into your mouth. I couldn’t eat for one year after that procedure, and the reflux came back anyway. Then, the doctors prescribed acid blockers or proton pump inhibitors, which I took for 16 years until I had a stroke.
Of course, they didn’t tell me about the increased risk of stroke until after the fact. Anyway, I stopped the meds, I changed my life and eating habits and am now healthier, fitter, and happier than ever before, and no more acid reflux.
Wrapping it up.
Eat when you want, but only twice a day, eat slowly, so you know when you are full. If you eat too fast, you can easily over-eat. Enjoy food, treat every meal as a luxury and a pleasure, as that’s what it is.
The more natural the food you eat, the better. Stay away from sugar, carbs, processed foods, and all deep-fried food and seed oils.
That’s all, folks. I hope you enjoyed this article, and please share it if you did!
Let’s Crunch It!
Rob
Former Olympic Athlete & Certified Health Coach
“It is my mission to educate people on how to lose weight, how to build a healthy, strong heart, body, and mind, supporting a longer life.”
