Intermittent Fasting

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A core tenet of biohacking is Intermittent Fasting (IF). This means having a cycle time between eating periods. One of the more popular durations is the 16 : 8. That is sixteen hours of fasting and an eight hour feeding window. This could look something like stop eating at 7pm in the evening and resume eating again the next day at 11am. The idea being that a metabolic shift will take place that increases fat burning and results in the body being fueled to some degree by ketones.

Some interesting resources to check out on intermittent fasting are:

Bulletproof Diet and Intermittent Fasting – My 1.5 Year Results

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Quantified Bob was recently interviewed on the Ben Greenfield Podcast. Bob takes his research seriously and does a great job of sharing his results over extended periods of time. He is a capable software / hardware guy so he is not afraid of a little soldering to make things talk. His post on following the Bulletproof Diet and intermittent fasting for 1.5 years is loaded with valuable tips and medical updates.

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The Secrets to Intermittent Fasting by Malik Johnson available on Amazon Kindle Unlimited provides a clear explanation of the different type of intermittent fasting approaches. Malik also shares historical explanations for fasting which provide some context.

This is about as extreme as one can go with intermittent fasting. Dr. Nun S. Amen Ra is a vegan weightlifting champion who eats one meal a day.

Please remember that this is a biohacking post meant to provide ideas for self improvement. We are biohackers that participate in these activities. Intermittent Fasting could be a bad idea.


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3 Comments

  1. I’ve tried this. I mean I still do, every now and then. It works, it really does. But man is it tough to keep up – it’s as much a mental struggle as a physical stomach-grumbling one. You have to not want to pick at hors d’oeuvres at parties or be inclined to snacking while watching a movie. It requires mental – "no" – determination. But it’s one of the few things I’ve done to get below my weight goals and it can actually feel good too – fewer calorie intake means fewer calories to burn.

  2. Nick,

    Thanks for sharing your experience. I’ve had the same experience. It takes a while to build up to these longer 16-20 hours fasts. I used to snack all night and my weight got out of control. At the moment I am really enjoying an 18 hour fast with a 6 hour feeding window. I feel mentally at my clearest at the end of the of the daily fast.

    The one issue I find is that as I get close to my ideal body weight it gets much more difficult to lose the weight. While it’s easy for me to hold my weight at 132 lbs (13% body fat), it is very difficult for me to hold my weight at 128 lbs (10% body fat).

    Any suggestions are welcome.

  3. In true ‘biohacking’ spirit I try and do something, test the results, write down what I find; then wait a week (or more if life gets away from me), eating the usual 3-meals-a-day routine, then try it again, but with some different variable (sleep location/position, water intake, cold showers, intermittent fasting, etc), and see *those* results. I try and track what works, and what I like, and find a combination of the variables to suit my lifestyle. I.e. when I’m traveling there are certain things I can achieve but others I can’t like when I’m on home turf, etc. Alas I’ve found the greatest muscle that requires training is the brain, and simply telling oneself, “Mmmmm this water is amazingly delicious!” does actually work, even if I’d rather have a soda!

    I’d also say if you’re at 13% body fat and that’s on a bad day you’re already doing pretty good! Hahaha! I cannot imagine what I’d be like at 10% bf, probably like a human lawnmower with the brake broken – chop chop chop chop!!

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