Intermittent Fasting For Health And Weight Loss

For those who are unfamiliar with IF (Intermittent Fasting), it consists on cycling periods of eating with periods of fasting.
You basically eat your normal amount of food in a certain time frame. It’s not a diet, but just a pattern of eating.

There are many popular ways of intermittent fasting.

One of them consists on fasting for a full 24 hours during two non-consecutive days per week,
Another way is to skip one or two meals per day,
And finally, having an "eating window" of "X" number of hours a day.

That last method is the one that I feel is more natural and works wonders.

I tend to follow the "16/8 fast", which is having an ~8 hours eating window, followed by ~16 hours of fasting.
It may sound complex, but it's actually pretty simple.

What I like to do is to have my dinner very early (around 4 pm) and fast until 7-8 am of the next day. That's about 15-16 hours of fasting.
Most days, I finish my fast with some form of exercise (generally, a run). I get up early in the morning, go for a fasted run, and then have my breakfast.

Intermittent Fasting has many benefits on the human body, to name a few:

-Increased fatty acid oxidation
-Increased insulin sensitivity
-Faster healing and recovery
-Improved mental clarity
-Improved hormone regulation and increase in HGH production

I think IF is a good practice to give our digestive system a rest. If we are eating all the time, our body has to spend energy constantly to digest food, when it could spend it for cell regeneration and healing in general.

To get the benefits we don't HAVE TO follow that eating pattern every single day of the week for months on end, but the more we do it, the better the results will be.

I must say also that not every single person gets the same results (and, in general, men tend to do better with it than women), but it is certainly worth to give it a try!

Low Fat Vegan Diet And Initial Weight Gain

Have you gained weight when switching to a low fat vegan diet?

If so, don't despair, there's probably a reason for it.

I've seen many people complaining about weight gain when they switch to this kind of diet, but they fail to address why it happens.

First of all, most people on a standard diet don't eat much dietary fiber.
When someone who is not used to getting so much fiber (as there is in whole plant foods) starts this diet, they can experience some digestive issues like gas and bloating, until the body adjusts.

Secondly,  many people on a standard diet, eat too much fat and protein and not enough carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are stored in the body as glycogen, in the liver and muscles, and they need water in order to be stored, which leads me to the next point...

Third, fruits, vegetables and whole starches are very rich in water, as well as in carbohydrates. As I said before, excess carbohydrates that are not used as immediate energy are stored in the body in the form of glycogen (which adds some virtual weight to your frame).

Forth, since a "whole foods, low fat, plant based diet" is less calorie dense (less calories per weight) than a higher fat diet, we typically eat a greater amount of food in order to reach our caloric needs, which adds bulk to our stomach.

And finally, if a person comes from a calorie restrictive diet or an eating disorder background, it's absolutely normal to put on weight. The body actually NEEDS that weight in order to recover and restore its inner balance.

The combination of high carbohydrates, high water and high fiber intake may cause some fluid retention in some people, which should adjust and get back to normal within a couple of weeks.

The amount of weight gain that a person can experience vary a lot, and can be anywhere from a couple of hundred grams to a couple of kilos.

Even my weight sometimes fluctuates as much as 3-4 kg during the day, and I'm at a normal weight, so for an overweight person it could even be more than that.

I emphasize that if someone gains some weight in the beginning it could be normal, but you have to be objective about it.

I always say that the best scale is the mirror. The scale can tell you whatever number it wants, but if you look at yourself in the mirror you can judge things more accurately.

If after a couple of weeks you see yourself still gaining weight, you are probably eating too much fat and/or calories for your activity levels, and should go back to the calorie density principles, in order to get back on track.

Also, DRINK PLENTY OF WATER! which aids to optimal digestion and also helps reduce the water retention in the body (as counter intuitive as it may sound!)


What was your experience when switching to a low fat vegan diet? Did YOU gain weight?

Hey! Follow me on Strava!

I'm very religious about tracking my workouts, in order to follow my progress and keep a log of it.

Strava is a great way for doing that.

It's a network like Facebook but for athletes (runners, cyclists and/or swimmers), where you can upload your workouts (that you tracked via GPS), analyze them and compare your stats to others.

There are also challenges every month, both for runners and cyclists, like running your fastest 10K or half marathon, or logging as much distance as you can during that month.

It's really fun and it keeps workouts interesting and motivating.

If you're into that, feel free to follow me here: http://www.strava.com/athletes/3406935 .

I'd like to follow you back!

Consistency Is The Key To Fitness

That's right.

Consistency is the key to achieve your fitness goals. 

I have been working out for about 10 years now. In that length of time, I think I only stopped training for about 6 months, at a time where I was having personal issues (and I regret for having stopped!).

My tastes have changed with time.

In the beginning, I was a bodybuilding fanatic, and I used to train at the gym 4-5 days a week, no matter what.

Then, for some time, it was martial arts, and I was very serious about that too. I would never miss a class.

In the last 3+ years it has been running and endurance sports, and I haven't stopped for more than a week, during a time where I was dealing with an injury.

If you look to improve your fitness level, lose weight, gain muscle and be healthy, you have to be CONSISTENT with your training and diet.

I laugh at people who eat junk food and don't train during the year and then, a couple of weeks / months before summer, they sign up at a gym to try to make up for the rest of the year that they didn't do anything.

Yes, some people get some nice results, but as they come, they go, when the hot weather ends.

I suppose most of us want permanent results. We want to look good and feel good every day of the year, every year. Because of that, we have to be consistent with our healthy lifestyle.

Being consistent doesn't mean training like crazy every single day either. Being moderately active most days of the week should be enough for most people to achieve their goals.

Besides, there are many ways of "working out". You just have to find the way that you enjoy the most.

That could be lifting weights, yoga, running, cycling, hiking, swimming, dancing, playing tennis, football, etc.

I like the idea of replacing the notion of "working out" for "play".
When we are active doing the things that we like to do, we surely don't feel like we are working out, but just having fun!

Keep It Simple!

When it comes to food, I think that the simpler you eat, the better it is.

Granted, I'm not a great cook, but I've never liked to spend a lot of time in the kitchen cooking and preparing meals either.
I've always been amazed by the people who can spend HOURS with food preparation.

I can enjoy more complex or gourmet recipes if someone else prepares them, but I can enjoy simpler meals just as much.
If I'm the one who is cooking (as it's 99.9999% of the time) I feel like it's not worth it to be 3 hours in the kitchen so I can eat a meal in 10 or 20 minutes.

I've learned to enjoy the foods for their real taste. This took quite a bit of time, but I've been taking steps towards that direction for years.

I can't remember when exactly was that I stopped adding salt to my food, but I guess it was when I was 16 or 17 years old (about 10-11 years ago).
At that time, I used to be into weight lifting and bodybuilding and my diet included a lot of animal products like eggs, chicken and fish. I was eating those foods plain, without salt, oil or seasonings. Sometimes only with some spices like oregano, or with squeezed lemon juice.
Granted, those foods ARE pretty bland and boring eaten plain (now I know we shouldn't be eating them, anyways!), but with my current diet, I don't have such a problem anymore.

FRUITS. How much preparation do they need? None! You just grab a apple and eat it. It takes seconds, and the taste is always great without anything added!
That's definitely what I love the most about fruits. I can just take it and eat it, and that's a big advantage when you're on the go or if you get hungry and don't have anything prepared at home and can't wait to eat!

RAW VEGETABLES. Sometimes I do the same as with fruit. I just take a couple of carrots, peel them and eat them like that.
Celery, tomatoes, sweet peppers, cucumbers (ok, last 3 are technically fruits!), you just chop them up or eat them like that if you desire.
For big salads, I may spend some more time in their preparation. Sometimes half an hour or even close to an hour to wash and cut up all the vegetables. I don't make fancy salads everyday, though!

TUBERS. With things like potatoes and sweet potatoes I just put them whole in the oven and eat them plain when ready. I enjoy them so much, and feel that they don't need anything added. You could add some spices to them as well (sweet potatoes w/ cinnamon or regular potatoes w/ oregano and/or lemon juice are classics!).
With these foods, it's just the time that it takes for them to be cooked. For me that's generally between an hour to an hour and a half, and while that's a pretty long time to me, I don't have to spend that time in the kitchen. I go to do something else and just go to check them every now and then until they are ready.

GRAINS AND PSEUDOGRAINS. Rice. Oatmeal. Quinoa. Buckwheat. Amaranth. They all take very little time to cook (from 10 minutes to ~30 minutes). I like to cook brown rice in big batches (like a whole 1 kg bag at a time) and put it in a big plastic container in the fridge, so I don't have to cook it every time I want to eat it.
That's also a good trick for those who tend to "fall of the diet wagon" often. If you always have food ready to eat, you can resort to them instead of going for the bad stuff.
I enjoy the taste of all of them plain (some more than others), but sometimes I just throw some chopped up tomatoes or vegetables in there too. You can also add any grain to a raw salad!

LEGUMES. These ones may need a lot more time to prepare and cook, so I don't eat them very often. I don't have the patience to let the dried beans soak for 8-12+ hours, so whenever I eat legumes is either lentils or green split peas. These two don't need to be soaked and cook almost as fast as brown rice.


If you start to eat simpler foods, your taste buds will readjust and you'll also learn to enjoy them.

Besides, having a simple diet makes it easier to stick to it. Give it a try!