LIFE IN THE FAST LANEBrad Pillow

Indianapolis Quantified Self Meetup, August 2014

BEGINNINGS

• Roy Walford, the “father” of caloric restriction

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Walford

• First to extend lifespan of mice via restricting dietary intake

• Caloric restriction no longer deemed practical or good

FASTING

• Do it on a regular or semi-regular basis and one can view it as a diet or eating style

• Most diets and fasting vary these components:

• Caloric intake per meal

• Number of meals per day,

• Timing of meals

• Food composition per meal

FASTING/DIET METHODSDiet Timing/Frequency Composition Limits Caloric Limits Exercise

Slow Carb (Tim Ferris) 3 meals per day low carb 6 days, any 1 day ?? not integral

Fast Five (Bert W. Herring)

eating in 5 hour window each day none none none

Every Other Day (Krista Varady, Ph.D)

var calories ever other day none 500 on even days, any on odd days not integral

Leangains (Martain Berkhan) eat in 8 hour window whole, unprocessed food specific specific

Eat Stop Eat (Brad Pilon)

fast for 24 hours, 1x or 2x / wk any any none

The Warrior Diet (Ori Hofmekler) 4 hour window, 1 large meal any, small snacks while fasting veggies, protien, fat not integral

Fat Loss Forever (John Romaniello & Dan Go)

1 cheat day, 36 hour fast, alternating any none none

EOD -EVERY OTHER DAY

•One of the few with actual science behind it

•Only one rule: eat no more than 500 calories on Diet Day, eat anything you want and as much as you want on Feast Day, and alternate those two days

•Krista Varady, PhD, an associate professor of nutrition at the University of Illinois at Chicago

•Studies from their lab show that people can lose between 10-30 pounds in 8 weeks while following this diet

•People only eat about 110% of their daily calories on the feast day, instead of the predicted 175%

•First 10 days (i.e 5 diet days) are somewhat difficult (true for most fasting diets)

WHAT I DO

•Eat in 8 hour window

•I like to snack, so that helps prevent late night snacking

•I eat between noon and 8pm, means I sleep through a large part of my fast

•No breakfast (just a cup of green tea)

•I am famished at lunch

•Alas, too many weekends end up having late night dinners out

•Probably 80 percent compliant

RESULTS

•No large weight change

•Does help a bit curb my snacking

•I am at my optimal weight level, so perhaps won’t see any great changes (metabolic hysteresis)

•Note sure I eat overall less calories than if I had three meals a day

•I have done a few 2 day fasts and need to try that again

IMPORTANT

•Whatever you do, you should track calories… the “conservation of energy” is a cruel mistress

•Drink lots and stay hydrated. Tea and coffee seem to help with hunger. I think drinking something warm tricks my brain into thinking I am eating something cooked.

•When fasting you should likely supplement with minerals, etc.