3379 Quakerbridge Road, Hamilton, NJ 08618
Tel: 609-396-6363
A Benchmark Preventive Cardiology Practice
since 2001
Prevention Diagnosis and Treatment of Heart Disease
How I Try To Do It
My Own Version of Intermittent Fasting
1. Choose the two days a week for the 18 hour fast.
2. The night when the fasting starts, the last food consumption is about 8:00 PM. No restriction on water. When I wake up in the morning, I do not feel hungry and can easily skip breakfast. Before my fast ends at 2:00 PM, I will experience one or two waves of hunger. I just ignore it - knowing what I am experiencing is an interplay of several hormones: insulin, cortisol, leptin and ghrelin. We are wired to respond to this craving by eating and make the hunger feeling go away. But you can train yourself ignore it for a few hours more. Remember - you do not harm yourself by ignoring the urge to eat. Drink a warm tea, hot coffee, etc. My 18-hour fast ends at 2;00 PM. Resume my usual healthy diet (don't overeat by eating slower and stop when 80% full) and limit total calories to 1,200 or less for that day. I weigh myself everyday.
3. The day of the fast - consuming filtered or bottled water, coffee, tea and other zero calories drinks can help reduce the craving for food. Keep yourself occupied - be more active physically or engage in your hobby. Drink at least 6 to 8 (8 oz.) glasses of fluid daily. I like sparkling zero calorie flavored water.
Drink more during the 18 hour fast - may consume anything less than 50 calories without breaking the fast. I like a cold cup of Cusa Mango Green tea (zero calories) with a packet of Truvia natural sweetener and a hot cup of Kikkoman seaweed soup (15 calories).
4. The exercise below is not part of Metabolic Switching. Make your own adjustments to fit your ability and level of fitness - slower pace, shorter duration and simplify the movements if you need to and if this is too much, don’t do it at all.
A thirty minute fast walking YouTube exercise with Leslie Sansone about several times a week. Exercise may help deplete glucose storage (glycogen) sooner and initiate metabolic switching and autophagy earlier.
If you like ribeye steak, have that as the dinner before the start of your fast.
8 oz. Ribeye Steak
5. The fast ends at around 2:00 PM with a late lunch when I also take my morning medications. Now I can go back to what I eat normally.
These are some of what I eat during a 2 week period.
That is changing as the COVID-19 restrictions are relaxed.
A healthy frozen dinner plus a dessert, like below
OR
A take-out dinner - Teriyaki Beef Bento Box (Ichiban Sushi), Salmon or Steak Kabob (Zoe’s Kitchen) with soup and small salad.
Salmon Kabob (above) Steak Kabob (below)
OR
Canned wild caught sardines in extra virgin olive oil (King Oscar) with quinoa & brown rice with garlic.
OR
Panera Bread - Choose 2: Half sandwich and cup of soup
Grilled Chilean Seabass
Steamed Flounder
It is not as difficult as I initially thought. It is doable as a permanent lifestyle change. Some may progress to limiting their eating window to 6 hours a day, 5 days week.
1. The Okinawan rule: stop eating when 70% to 80% full.
2. No added sugar. No regular soda. Just tea, orange-flavored zero-calorie sparkling water and filtered tap water .
3. More good quality meat, fish, chicken.
4. More liberal on animal fat. More olive oil, less other vegetable oils. More Omega 3 (fish), less Omega 6 (plant-based).
5. Less carbs.
6. More nuts, vegetables and fruits.
7. A small nice dessert after dinner - I choose not to give this up - but reduce the portion.
8. Skip breakfast most of the time. Break the cultural habit of eating 3 square meals a day plus 2 snacks.
9. Even on non-fasting days, I eat less than before because I do not experience hunger and craving as much.
I lost 4 lbs, (140 to 136) in 8 weeks.