Time Restricted Feeding

"Life in the Fast Lane"

Monday, July 09, 2018

What is Time Restricted Feeding (also referred to as Time Restricted Eating)?  It's a type of Intermittent Fasting.  Basically, it's a confined eating window. 

In a nutshell, you consume your first food or caloric beverages 2-3 hours after waking.  And you finish your last meal by 6pm. 

It's based on the research done by Dr. Satchidananda Panda, which examines the circadian clock and its relationship to health.  By confining eating to an 8-12 hour window he claims that you can lose body fat and control diabetes.  OK, game on!!

My 4-Week Experiment Begins

So I've decided to experiment with Time Restricted Feeding on myself (N=1) for the next 4 weeks starting today.

My last meal was at 6:00pm on Sunday, July 8th.  I ate my 1st meal today at 11:30am.  That means I fasted for a total of  17.5 hours.

When I say my last meal ended at 6:00pm last night it means I didn't snack afterwards and I didn't consume any caloric drinks.  A rule in my house is that after dinner, the kitchen closes.  However, I do enjoy clear herbal tea or water in the evening.  But nothing else.

I think this is a simple way to start Intermittent Fasting (IF).  Just think, most of it happens while you sleep!  Yeah!  It looks easy enough and allows you to get used to simple changes in your routine.  I'm a big fan of baby steps and small successes.

I believe that daily Intermittent Fasting is a healthy habit to get into.  It gives your body the ability to burn off unhealthy, excess fat.  The fact is, when you don't eat for 8-12 or more hours your body will happily munch on its own stored fat.  It's a natural occurrence and it's a simple, healthy practice.  You won't starve, I promise!

So give your body a break and try this for a few weeks or just follow along with my personal experiment and see what you think of the results I get (or don't get).

My Journal - Day 1

Highest Weight: 198

Today's Starting Weight: 154

Goal Weight: 124

11:30am
Egg Salad for One (mash 3 large hard boiled eggs with 1 tbsp mayonnaise, 1 tsp finely chopped onion, 1 tbsp finely chopped celery

1/4 cup guacamole
2 tbsp sour cream

2:00pm 
1 slice deli ham
1/2 large celery rib
1/4 cup guacamole
1 tbsp sour cream

6:00pm
6oz pork chop, fried in 1 tbsp butter
1 cup roasted bell peppers and mushrooms
1/4 cup guacamole

Although I don't count calories or other macros, there are many people who do want to know these details.  So I will provide the approximate values of my daily meals.

Calories: 1677
Protein: 87.1g
Carbs: 41.2
Fiber: 20g
Net Carbs: 21.2g
Fat: 125.3g

10% carbs, 21.6% protein, 68.5% fat

Chew on This:

• Breakfast is not the most important meal of the day.
• 8-12 hours without food allows your body to use up your excess body fat

References:

Fasting, Circadian Rhythms, and Time Restricted Feeding in Healthy Life span

Why When You Eat Matters (YouTube Video)

That is it for now for Time Restricted Feeding.  Let's go to the next page in the journal where I talk about screening and and blood panels.