Lockdown Blues! Help is Here.

Intermittent fasting and circadian rhythm

Depression, sleeplessness, weight gain, lack of energy and worry are concerns of wellness coaches to address during these pandemic enforced lockdown times.

Two Nobel Prize winning subjects, interestingly awarded in consecutive years of 2016 and 2017 in medicine or physiology, provide some solutions to the problems mentioned above.

The prizes are for autophagy, the crux of intermittent fasting and circadian rhythm.

Interestingly both are complimentary, and time restricted eating which is intermittent fasting with concepts of circadian rhythm have solutions for the pandemic related issues.

It’s simple to follow. Restrict food to within 12 or less hours, preferably during daylight time and do things accordingly to the circadian clock.

A typical model looks like this. Have food only between 7 am and 7 pm. Exercise in the morning and or in the evening, preferably on empty stomach. Go to bed around 10 pm and go for 7 to 8 hours sleep. Of course drink water all the time, when awake.

Others are to try and get maximum natural light during day time, avoid light during nighttime as far as possible, abstain from watching television or texting on phone from 10 pm to 6 am.

Give the body a routine. Eat, exercise and sleep at the same time practically everyday.

For more details, join our small intermittent fasting group which now combines the benefits of fasting and circadian wisdom.

(Picture credit: google search)

SLEEP, and the Science of Circadian Rhythm.

This is what my Apple Watch measured when I got up this morning. I have set a target of 7 hours sleep and just made the grade.

Currently I am reading the book ‘the Circadian Code’ by Dr. Sachin Panda. Actually I am listening to the audible version of the book.

Incidentally, the subject won Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology in 2017. And remember the 2016 prize was for Autophagy, the most important subject in intermittent fasting.

I am now about to combine intermittent fasting and circadian rhythm into my wellness journey. Actually, in addition to sleep, time restricted eating (TRE) which is the other name of intermittent fasting that is central to circadian rhythm.

It’s important, considering that the objective of both are not just weight loss, but methods to avoid chronic diseases into old age.

It’s clearly a need, as we have a growing population who live longer, but with one or many chronic illnesses, thereby becoming a burden to themselves and others.

Evolution and Me.

Student, Romeo, Worker, Me

I have evolved in a mini evolution. As the theory says, all species are related and gradually change over time.

The only thing I am willing to let go is my hair. For the others, there should be a reverse evolution.

Intermittent Fasting by itself denotes age reversal as one of the benefits. Autophagy is then the icing to it, as fasting activates Autophagy.

That’s what many are trying. And along came the Nobel Prize winning idea of ‘Autophagy’. A Greek word for self eating, it talks about cell repair and replacement with healthy ones.

Reverse travel perhaps is not just a dream.

TODAY ON MY BIRTHDAY, I SAY: ‘THERE GOES, BUT FOR THE GRACE OF GOD, ME’.

When I did 36 hours of continuous fasting as part of intermittent fasting, a friend asked if I see any benefit and my answer sounded ‘There goes, but for the grace of God, me’. That comparison makes any pain quite joyous.

If I take a stock on this birthday, I have a few things! To start with I am now a bank customer from a banker. That’s after working in 6 banks in 11 locations spanning 5 countries.

Sportsman never retires, my main activity is around Masters Swimming where the super ambitious target is a medal in the world championship.

En route, is the wellness program. Intermittent Fasting is a lifestyle. It’s a little beyond that, I am mentoring a group towards the lifestyle.

Other things which would make me busier than in my previous years include planting trees, becoming an ardent nature lover, restorer of traditional dishes and cooking, continue working towards a six pack, target autophagy on a daily basis to reverse ageing.

Above all, a loving husband, proud father, super grandfather, a good friend to all including the growing circle of social media friends.

The single candle symbolising ‘the number ONE’ is not on a cake but something very special and loving. This is the traditional Kerala steamed bread pudding. The white icing is rare and unique of whipped egg white with lime juice and sugar.

Sunu knows what is best of the best for me.

Intermittent Fasting, A 36 Hour Clock!

I have adopted intermittent fasting as lifestyle with target of 19 hours fasting and eating window of 5 hours. And I have been achieving 20 hours on average with occasional one meal a day.

Yesterday was Good Friday and I started the day with fasting from 3.15 pm on Thursday. That’s when I realised that one of the disciplines I learned from my mother was observing one meal a day on Good Friday.

I can’t be called very religious, but I follow some good things that I was trained through the childhood. Eating once only on Good Friday is one of them which was observed with some difficulty with occasional deviations.

It’s a shame then that I don’t find it difficult or forced by custom to do intermittent fasting and one meal a day.

So I decided to do some penance on Good Friday and extended fasting to 36 hours for the first time in life.

I did good, had only one black coffee on the 25th hour. Felt energetic and did 200 meters more than usual in the swimming pool.

The only thing noted was the 36 hours was to end at 3.15 am today. Sleep was affected and I raided the kitchen at about 3.50 am. Autophagy must have worked for about 20 hours and some of the damaged cells would have been repaired and age reversed to that extend etc etc.

Now I can look at a 3 day fast, say once in 6 months which would reset my metabolism positively.

Goal post can keep shifting.

Fasting Benefits! We Haven’t Seen All Yet

Intermittent Fasting has numerous benefits. Starting with the basic weight loss to such unbelievable benefits like prevention or reversal of deadly diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and even Cancer.

There’s one beautiful thing also in there, anti-aging! How cute is that! Especially for someone like me.

A Japanese study in 2019, on four humans,reveal many things. Yes only 4 people, but humans. And if nothing else, it’s sure to lead to extensive studies to make us all look younger.

Scientists found 42 beneficial compounds, 30 more than previously found in 34 to 58 hours of fasting. These compounds that assist in slowing aging are activated some 60 times their normal when fasting extends to 58 hours.

I am already on a 20 hour fasting, daily, hoping to bring in ‘autophagy’ the 2016 Nobel Prize winning revelation that repairs damaged body cells for numerous benefits including anti-aging.

Perhaps I may move to a 58 hour fast, once in a quarter, to look young.

Just An Idea Now. Like It’s Said ‘Watch This Space’.

I am a dedicated practitioner of intermittent fasting and to me, it’s the best wellness program available.

I have been reading a lot on the subject and have been listening to many opinions, research findings and guidelines.

And, in turn, the key messages are passed on to a small group that I mentor on the subject.

Individual objectives vary. For example, I started with desire to lose weight. 14 kgs down in an year and half, I have perhaps met it.

Now I am looking for autophagy stage and hence extended the fasting hours to 20.

Reading and listening to many articles and videos on IF, I get the feeling that each expert has own objective and design.

That’s why this idea. Why don’t I extend the mentoring to cater to individual needs of the participants. It’s not managing their goals (at least initially) but to facilitate it.

The promise is to be unbiased. That means a lot.

Wellness is Walking After Food!

A good thing about getting addicted to the idea of good health is that one gets new information while reading about it.

One of the most important goals in following intermittent fasting is to get into autophagy stage where many miracles happen. And according to experts, autophagy starts from the 17th hour onwards into fasting.

I was finding it difficult to follow a selected workout schedule with the 16.8 fasting. The schedule had an hour of walking or slow running before dinner. That made dinner late to 8 pm or beyond.

As such I decided to change the schedule by finishing dinner at 6 pm and doing my workout from 7.30 pm after dinner. That way I could extend fasting to 19 hours. And I searched for the effects of working out after eating.

The article in the link below talks about walking after eating. I am sharing it so that you all can consider doing it.

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/walking-after-eating

The Fitness Club. It’s not easy, even with pain.

‘No pain, no gain’ is the fitness mantra! But pain alone doesn’t guarantee the gain. It’s complicated!

I have been a sports enthusiast and been aware of the need to be physically fit. But the pain that I was prepared to go through had limitations. That at least gave the reason to be not looking that good.

Then I decided to look fit, and in the process decided to take in the pain for it. But then the results made the pain quite sweet.

I admit, Intermittent Fasting, swimming long hours, doing weights and yoga including 12 full sets of suryanamaskar are not easy, but worth the pain with reduced weight, toned body and tremendously enhanced mood as gains.

Sharing success and not so inadvertently showing off are all good things. For that, better knowledge is handy and hence all the reading and research. But, there’s a problem!

There are so many experts out there. They agree with the proven and Nobel Prize winning theories, but add riders. These riders are confusing and sometimes quite upsetting. And one could suspect some commercial interest behind all the riders and modified theorems.

Some of them, however warrants attention. For example, the objective of intermittent fasting is autophagy. One expert agree with the cellular repair and other benefits of autophagy, but highlights a theory that it doesn’t cure or remove toxins, but actually accelerates toxins in the body. Symptoms mentioned include insomnia and hair loss.

Well I have trouble with good sleep and lost most hair, while I know that I am in autophagy stage with Intermittent Fasting. Do I need a toxic detox!

The dilemma is that the good doctor who’s alerting me of toxin output of autophagy is also a detox specialist offering 3 month residential detox programs.

The best way is to pool in genuine responses from our own small group. Then our small intermittent fasting group is of high relevance.

I am happy to invite more friends to join in the broadcast group. Send your interest as whatsapp to my number +91 9400056031 and benefit from real unbiased experiences and practical solutions.

The ‘No Pain, No Gain’ Mantra!

It’s so true in almost everything, perhaps in everything good and desirable.

We say this mantra, especially when we refer to working out in the gym for better health.

Then the same should be applicable to the best wellness program, Intermittent Fasting!

Intermittent Fasting is a top subject when it comes to better health and benefits. And when something is so popular, it’s only natural that a whole lot of people start giving opinions.

Giving information is good, but not so when commercial interests work on it.

We need to be guarded again such attempts to corrupt a good thing for business interest.

A case in point is the view that one shouldn’t miss breakfast. But then breakfast is the most branded meal with a number of multinationals producing breakfast items. We don’t know if breakfast is unbreakable or it’s the lobby saying it.

When we read research on Intermittent Fasting and it’s goal of autophagy, it’s clear that clean fasting is better and if you can do dry fasting, then it’s even better.

But there are people saying that black coffee, black tea, herbs, good fat, green drinks etc are okay while fasting. Well here we can see some multinational product lobby, probably hiding behind.

So, do Intermittent Fasting the clean way with only water. If you are comfortable enough try dry fasting in between or more.

But if you are willing to dilute the best results with some calories from black coffee etc. do it. But only if you’re already on coffee or tea. But please don’t start an addiction for the sake of it.

Just remember, ‘no pain, no gain’.

Like I always offer, if interested in starting the best wellness program with unbiased advice and discussions, join our exclusive group where privacy is assured. Send your interest to my whatsapp number +91 9400056031.