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Intermittent-fasting sounds like a black art but the reason behind it is simple.  Cultures around the world have been fasting for millennium and some have the lowest cases of cancer and diabetes on the plant.  So intermittent-fasting is nothing new, but the results can be amazing for both body and mind.

In this Health and Wellness journey part I will be exploring different intermittent-fasting techniques and what I have chosen.

What is Intermittent-Fasting and why?

Fasting has been used by humans for centuries to focus the body and mind for religious purposes but in recent years fasting has been know to produce great results for both the mind and body.

I have been researching fasting and it’s techniques for the last few years and now the time has come to pick what type I will use on my own health and wellness journey.

There are five main areas I want to address with fasting;

1. Weight Loss
2. Organ function, particularly liver and gallbladder function
3. Mental clarity
4. Reduce bad Cholesterol
5. Fatigue

I have decided to go the Time Restricted Diet path, focusing in on the 16:8 method.  Fasting for 16 hours a day and eating my BMR over two larger meals.

Find out more types of fasting here

For me, I will fast between the hours of 6pm and 10am daily, skipping a traditional breakfast meal.

I will however consume black coffee or green tea first thing in the morning along with warm lemon water to help balance my stomach acid PH level.

What is the Keto diet?

Along with intermittent-fasting I wanted to combine with what I am hoping is the best diet to reach my goals, but also to use myself as a guineapig.  There are many diets out there, high protein, Mediterranean, vegan, paleo I could go on, but what I am interested in is a diet that I can maintain without going without.

Keto is no sugar and very low to no carbohydrate, depending on how hard you want to hit it.  I am going the hardcore route, no carbs at all, but in most cases you are fine to consume upto 50 grams of carbs per day.

Fats are also a large portion of Keto, it goes totally against what most people have been taught but the results are reported to be amazing.

I am very luck that I don’t have a sweet tooth, and I would expect Keto for someone who does being a lot harder to maintain.

However, the carb side will be difficult for me.  Personally, with young children, I use a lot of rice, pasta, potatoes and other root vegetables that will need to be cut from my diet.

In our household I am the chef, I cook and prepare 99% of the meals consumed and it has always been that way.  This is key as I am not putting anyone out by needing to swap out ingredients.

One thing of note, it is recommended to stick to the Keto diet for 3 months and then start to introduce some complex carbohydrates but still limiting carbs ongoing.  The idea being that maintenance should continue with frequent monitoring and staying away from old habits. 

Fasting + Keto

Along with fasting I wanted to combine with what I am hoping is the best diet to reach my goals, but also to use myself as a guineapig.  There are many diets out there, high protein, Mediterranean, vegan, paleo I could go on, but what I am interested in is a diet that I can maintain without going without.

Keto is no sugar and very low to no carbohydrate, depending on how hard you want to hit it.  I am going the hardcore route, no carbs at all, but in most cases you are fine to consume upto 50 grams of carbs per day.

Fats are also a large portion of Keto, it goes totally against what most people have been taught but the results are reported to be amazing.

I am very luck that I don’t have a sweet tooth, and I would expect Keto for someone who does being a lot harder to maintain.

However, the carb side will be difficult for me.  Personally, with young children, I use a lot of rice, pasta, potatoes and other root vegetables that will need to be cut from my diet.

In our household I am the chef, I cook and prepare 99% of the meals consumed and it has always been that way.  This is key as I am not putting anyone out by needing to swap out ingredients.

So what is on the menu?

As stated previously I am the main chef in the family, that also means the main grocery shopper too.  I frequent my local green grocer every Saturday morning and tend to buy seasonally, both for nutrients and also because seasonal produce should generally be cheaper.

Coming into March seasonal vegetables are as follows

Proteins will come from a range of fish and meats and because we are moving into the cooler months hearty stews will certainly be key parts of the menu.  Also my kids love traditional stews such as Beef Bourguignon and Coq au vin, although they will need to be modified slightly to maintain Keto.

Grass fed and finished beef is key and I am luck enough to have several butchers that can cater for this.

Salmon is also in season and a perfect Keto protein with essential fats including Omega 3.  Getting your hands on wild caught Salmon is increasingly hard in Australia but I will try my hardest to find a good supply.

Maybe something a little bit weird and hippy like, I will also consume chicken livers.  Apparently you should consume the organ of meat that you are trying to correct yourself???  Anyway, will give it a go and I love chicken livers sautéed in butter and a bit of brandy, served with a rocket salad including some low calorie nuts.  Oh my mouth is watering.

As you can imagine most fruits are off the cards when it comes to Keto.  However berries are fine, with their low sugar ratings most berries are perfectly ok.  I am a huge fan of raspberries, I could eat kilos of them and I have done in the past on visits to Tasmania.  I will also buy strawberries to assist in my sweet needs.

Fasting & Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)

Through my 3D body composition scanning I know my Basal Metabolic Rate is around 2000 calories per day, so that means two decent sized meals of around 1000 calories.

This is really important, I am not staving myself of calories but rather increasing my calorie output through being more active.

As I lose weight my BMR will also come down so it is important to regularly scan and update this metric.

My numbers

So here are the starting numbers at a basic level.

Age: 43

Height: 197cm

Weight: 100.8kg (basic scales)

Known issues: Asthma, High Cholesterol 6.5 total

General health: uncomfortable in my gut, fatigue, bad sleeping habits, brain fog most of the time

Part 4: Exercise

Nutrition is something I have been researching for the last few years so you can imagine I have a planned out pathway base on my goal outcomes and current health and wellness situation.

I am not looking at going into calorie deficit or starving my body of nutrients but finding a balance that my body is happy with while also trying some interesting strategies that have been tested.  Will they work for me?  Time will only tell.

Stay tuned