I became interested in intermittent fasting (IF) after discussions earlier this year with a neighbor in my building - a neurologist with an interest in health and diet. He had developed a diet based on eating non-processed foods to emulate the natural diet of primitive man.
As a bit of a junk food junkie, I thought that this would be a very difficult diet for me to follow. I then began thinking about the natural state of man and, in particular, my own natural cycle of eating and fasting. I came to the realization that, despite what I had been taught, I rarely felt hungry in the morning and usually became hungry only later in the day. I thought a NATURAL diet for me would be one with a fairly long fast period before I began eating each day.
I had also been a wrestler in high school and missed the feeling of an empty stomach that I often had as we struggled to "make weight". I remembered that somehow this empty stomach feeling actually made me feel HEALTHIER and stronger.
I then came up with a diet that I thought would follow my natural eating rhythms and recapture the healthy feelings I had in my days as a wrestler. I dubbed the diet "Fast to Last" diet -- it consisted of fasting for twenty hours of the day and then eating for four hours. The four hour eating window was fairly flexible but I thought 4-8 p.m would work for me.
So, in contrast to a diet which concentrated on the natural content of foods that man is adapted to, my diet concentrated on the natural rhythm of man's eating and fasting. In other words, its not so important what you eat, but rather when you eat.
As a bit of a junk food junkie, I thought that this would be a very difficult diet for me to follow. I then began thinking about the natural state of man and, in particular, my own natural cycle of eating and fasting. I came to the realization that, despite what I had been taught, I rarely felt hungry in the morning and usually became hungry only later in the day. I thought a NATURAL diet for me would be one with a fairly long fast period before I began eating each day.
I had also been a wrestler in high school and missed the feeling of an empty stomach that I often had as we struggled to "make weight". I remembered that somehow this empty stomach feeling actually made me feel HEALTHIER and stronger.
I then came up with a diet that I thought would follow my natural eating rhythms and recapture the healthy feelings I had in my days as a wrestler. I dubbed the diet "Fast to Last" diet -- it consisted of fasting for twenty hours of the day and then eating for four hours. The four hour eating window was fairly flexible but I thought 4-8 p.m would work for me.
So, in contrast to a diet which concentrated on the natural content of foods that man is adapted to, my diet concentrated on the natural rhythm of man's eating and fasting. In other words, its not so important what you eat, but rather when you eat.
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