The Home of Steven Barnes
Author, Teacher, Screenwriter


Tuesday, April 03, 2007

Breaking my fast

Just came back from Yoga class. I am more convinced all the time that a Yoga or Chi Gung class is one of the healthiest things you can do for yourself. Unless you are competent enough to TEACH a yoga class, you should have a teacher correcting you…
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Just broke my fast with an apple. In a few minutes, I'm wolfing down a Falafel. It is 11:21 am, and I haven’t eaten since 10pm on Sunday night. Was hungry a couple of times yesterday, but squelched it with Hoodia. I have a suspicion that sleeping on an empty stomach is a valuable way to increase the efficiency of IF.
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Question for you guys: what is the average amount of time you spend eating and preparing food every day? Now, if you have a family you might still have to spend time in the kitchen even on fasting days (not to mention the fact that eating is great bonding time) but I’m kinda interested in seeing how much time the average person would save on such an eating plan.
One of the reasons is the entire “Golden Hour” idea. People have complained that they can’t, just can’t get an hour a day. Well…this might be a way, right?
Please remember: I’ve only been looking into this for two weeks. I am VERY aware that I tend to get enthusiastic, and don’t want to overdo it, especially considering my lack of experience with IF protocols. But it’s also fun to share ideas, no?
Could the ability to control basic drives be a precursor to adulthood? Sex, urination, hunger, emotional outburst…aren’t these some of the most important controls that must be effected to make a healthy adult? I’d love some thoughts about this.
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I suspect that I’m not reacting to the hunger in a typical way, and I hesitate to speculate about that. Let’s just say that I’d bet people who are aerobically fit are better at drawing energy from fat than average. On the other hand, I know some REALLY fit and apparently healthy people who energy-crash in a heartbeat if they don’t get their three squares. These people have very, very low body fat. Hmmm. So there is a range of health and fitness that would optimize this stuff, obviously. One of the interesting things about IF is that you can find research and discussion in medical journals, biological journals, life extension sites, spiritual sites, and hard-core athletic sites: the last for its stimulation of muscle growth factors and recovery.
That means that there is a tremendous amount of anecdotal as well as experimental and theoretical and historical information (research on fasting during Ramadan is fascinating. Note the reduction in sleep time!) are producing reams of data at mach speed. Good.
But the best thing I can say is that the blood chemistry changes seem to be the same—or better—than with Caloric Reduction, on which the science is close to impeccable. It isn’t unreasonable to project a similar result.
What would happen if everything turned out to be true? For Christ’s sakes, you’d have a single activity that:
1) Had beneficial results to an unreal spectrum of diseases and disorders. (Go check for yourself. If this was a pill, you could charge any price at all for it)
2) Enhanced all major fitness components.
3) Enhanced energy.
4) Prolonged life by 30-40% of whatever average lifespan remains at time protocol begins.
5) Saves 20-40 hours per month.
6) Saves at least 1 hour of sleep a day.
7) Enhances sex drive.

Let’s see…if I add up the time-relevant factors (less sleep needed, more time saved, prolonging life) wouldn’t it be reasonable to say that it increases useful lifespan by 50%? Just thinking aloud here. Damn, this stuff weirds me out…

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