Dear Michael: Thanks for a wonderful article. I have proved every statement in your article by living it. I stop eating everyday by 4pm - no dinner. I do an omelet and an avocado for breakfast and a piece of fish and salad for lunch. I snack on nuts. I am 54, 5'10, and I way about 145. I weighed 220 at one point. I am like a teenager on Ritalin - I have almost freakish energy. My mind works like an advanced computer. At 30, I was a batshit crazy prosecutor, boozing it up and eating crappy carbs. I felt suicidal. My mother bugs the shit out of me about dinner because she is lonely and wants me to eat with her. She can't lose weight and my success irritates her. I do Orangetheory classes, Pilates, and ride my mountain bike. Michael, why do Americans eat so damn much? It is like people are trying to kill themselves with food. I love this quote:
"Our bodies need stress. Just like our immune and muscle systems, our gut needs stresses to help reset, recover, and relax. Our body is created to be Antifragile, that is a system that gets stronger under stress. Ironically, we are weakest and most fragile when we avoid stresses on our bodies."
I so get that. The people that I know who completely avoid stress are so miserable. Another thing..my diet has helped me avoid some of the pitfalls of peri-menopause. I am thinner and have more energy that I did at 20. My estrogen/progesterone levels are lower for sure. I am SO short tempered. I can access my existential anger much more easily. Sometimes I am a bitch. But I feel powerful. Isn't that strange?
I love your findings! It is so interesting how our bodies react. Sometimes harnessing 'the bitch' but toward a positive outcome can be good. And for context. It just might be making you a little disagreeable which means you can challenge the status quo.
I do a phase shift and do lunch and dinner because skipping breakfast is so much easier.
Something to think about. A diet that makes you loose body mass while eating to satiety would have lead to your death a few 100 years ago. (Keto not fasting)
Definitely lots of genetic adaptation around the world, and I doubt any Inuit do well on lower fat diets (just look at obesity rates on reserves that no longer adhere to traditional eating) . However as person of mostly Irish decent (dairy farmers before the english subjugation) I eventually look like I have a wasting disease when I lower carbs below 30%
Thank you for the detailed post and congratulations on the 10 days.
Fasting is my uber-practice, I find a quarterly extended fast not only brings the physical benefits, but for me it is also a reset that is great for my mental/emotional health. For the past 3 years if done 5 to 7 day fasts coinciding with the solstice and the equinox, to lend them a little more significance. My 7 day fast will begin around 20th September. I reflected on my midsummer fast and fasting as an uber-practice here: https://ordinarymastery.substack.com/p/uber-practice
Hello Michael - fascinating article, thanks for sharing. As I get older, I am 56 now, I feel a need to “simplify”. I have been thinking about fasting at least 1 day/week, but I just don’t know how to get started.
I am a runner, and I have consistently weighed 145-150 lbs most of my life. Right now I feel awful because I have not been running due to some personal issues. I felt really awesome when I did a 100 day streak of 10k daily runs. I lost weight, got down to about 127 without much change in my diet. I felt strong and energetic.
I long to return to that state once again. But this diet thing is very confusing. I know there is a lot of science behind it but I don’t know where to start.
Imwouldnt do one day a week but that's just me. I do recommend some longer fasts like 5 to 10 but that takes adjustment. I will always recommend getting into ketosis before any fast though. Basically day one is always the worst as your body adjusts.
Then again, if you do it frequently your body will adjust. Have you read something about one day a week that achieves what you are looking for?
There's a ton out there but also a ton of BS too. Take a look at some of the embedded links in my essay and the podcasts. That's a great start. Here's a decent overview as well.
Electrolyte drink hack: sparkling water (the real stuff) + flavourless electrolyte salt (potassium, magnesium and sodium) plus a freshly squeezed half lime.
Right on Michael and all. Please see/share our research from Captain Rob Balsamo, Amber Quitno, Captain Dan Hanley, Prof. Tony Martin, Prof. Graeme MacQueen, Dr. Paul Craig Roberts, and others and help us improve it if you can. Thank you!
•Morton salt lite is half potassium salts. Just using that you can avoid sweets by using it in, say, a bone broth or something. Of course you can just outright buy potassium chloride in a bottle.
"As typically happens, my motivation from all this great insight ran face-first into Day 5 which was one of the toughest days. But that’s probably because I thought it would be a good idea to cut out caffeine... It was a terrible idea! I corrected course with a mid-afternoon cup o’ joe, I was feeling great again. As I looked into whether I should try to cut it out, I found indications that coffee actually helps with autophagy while on a fast."
Coffee tastes amazing when you don't eat anything. We don't have the most fancy coffee, but I insist on ALWAYS having good coffee. Right now, it's a local place that roasts their own beans here in Richmond, and the coffee is from Ethiopia... so I simultaneously celebrate both localism and globalism, all in one delicious cup.
And: pardon my enthusiasm to make a coffee joke before finishing your piece! Never again, Satan. Your work is good and deserves to be seen, so I sometimes get in a rush to amplify it, but we're also all here to have a good discussion, and this is a great piece.
I have some questions that maybe you can answer, I've tried skipping breakfast but I get really, really bad mental fog before lunch. I basically can't do anything mentally strenuous. I am also pretty large 6' 2" and 230ish lb. I'm actually not as fat as you would think because I have a large amount of muscle mass. You can actually see my abs somewhat.
Do you think there is anything I can do to improve my ability to fast? Strict keto diets are off the table because I want to live a normal life.
I'm 6'6" and 230lbs and also athletic. I do intermitent fasting and don't eat till lunch every day. I don't know what's causing your brain-fog but I don't get that feeling until like day 3 of a zero food fast.
Do you start with a morning workout? I found when I was doing that, I needed more food earlier or I'd get foggy. Now that I do a late morning/afternoon workout, I don't have that with my intermitent fasting.
The other key is that each of us is different. If intermittent doesn't work, just try a calorie reduction. My issue was that if I ate breakfast, I'd want a midmorning snack and I'd also eat lunch. When I skip breakfast, I'm good till lunch. But that's me.
And a lot of it is that, to change your body, you sometimes have to shock your body. For example, I'd recommend you ket into a heavy keto (about 5 days strict) and then do a 3 day fast. It's going to suck and your brain and body will rebell but your body can actually handle it. It's just really lazy and likes a status quo!
I have tried a calorie reduction. Sometimes I have a glass of milk and it's enough, but I can't seem to do a strict 12 hr fast. It pretty much always ends with me not being able to do my work at the computer. I'm not going to do keto because I have tried it and frankly the tradeoffs aren't worth it. I'd rather have fun eating and drinking.
I do workout in the afternoon because I've had the same problems as you. It annihilates me and I don't have energy for the rest of the day.
I have had doctors tell me I shouldn't fast because of my thyroid and adrenals. They aren't great. Thanks for responding. It isn't a big deal and I appreciate the input.
I guess there is a story about Saint Christopher who was a large man. He felt that with his huge body it would be bad for him to fast so instead he went to the river and would carry people across for free. One day a small child asked if he could cross and St. Christopher obliged. As St. Christopher got closer to the middle the weight of the child grew until St. Christopher felt like he might drown. When he got to the other side the child revealed he was Jesus and he allowed St. Christopher to feel the weight of everyone's sins.
I just read that and have been thinking about it recently.
Dear Michael: Thanks for a wonderful article. I have proved every statement in your article by living it. I stop eating everyday by 4pm - no dinner. I do an omelet and an avocado for breakfast and a piece of fish and salad for lunch. I snack on nuts. I am 54, 5'10, and I way about 145. I weighed 220 at one point. I am like a teenager on Ritalin - I have almost freakish energy. My mind works like an advanced computer. At 30, I was a batshit crazy prosecutor, boozing it up and eating crappy carbs. I felt suicidal. My mother bugs the shit out of me about dinner because she is lonely and wants me to eat with her. She can't lose weight and my success irritates her. I do Orangetheory classes, Pilates, and ride my mountain bike. Michael, why do Americans eat so damn much? It is like people are trying to kill themselves with food. I love this quote:
"Our bodies need stress. Just like our immune and muscle systems, our gut needs stresses to help reset, recover, and relax. Our body is created to be Antifragile, that is a system that gets stronger under stress. Ironically, we are weakest and most fragile when we avoid stresses on our bodies."
I so get that. The people that I know who completely avoid stress are so miserable. Another thing..my diet has helped me avoid some of the pitfalls of peri-menopause. I am thinner and have more energy that I did at 20. My estrogen/progesterone levels are lower for sure. I am SO short tempered. I can access my existential anger much more easily. Sometimes I am a bitch. But I feel powerful. Isn't that strange?
I love your findings! It is so interesting how our bodies react. Sometimes harnessing 'the bitch' but toward a positive outcome can be good. And for context. It just might be making you a little disagreeable which means you can challenge the status quo.
I do a phase shift and do lunch and dinner because skipping breakfast is so much easier.
Thanks for your wonderful comment!
Something to think about. A diet that makes you loose body mass while eating to satiety would have lead to your death a few 100 years ago. (Keto not fasting)
True. Yet Keto was the way the Innuit lived for thousands of years becasue they ate primarily blubber and got all the calories they needed.
Definitely lots of genetic adaptation around the world, and I doubt any Inuit do well on lower fat diets (just look at obesity rates on reserves that no longer adhere to traditional eating) . However as person of mostly Irish decent (dairy farmers before the english subjugation) I eventually look like I have a wasting disease when I lower carbs below 30%
Thank you for the detailed post and congratulations on the 10 days.
Fasting is my uber-practice, I find a quarterly extended fast not only brings the physical benefits, but for me it is also a reset that is great for my mental/emotional health. For the past 3 years if done 5 to 7 day fasts coinciding with the solstice and the equinox, to lend them a little more significance. My 7 day fast will begin around 20th September. I reflected on my midsummer fast and fasting as an uber-practice here: https://ordinarymastery.substack.com/p/uber-practice
Great insights and a nice article!
Hello Michael - fascinating article, thanks for sharing. As I get older, I am 56 now, I feel a need to “simplify”. I have been thinking about fasting at least 1 day/week, but I just don’t know how to get started.
I am a runner, and I have consistently weighed 145-150 lbs most of my life. Right now I feel awful because I have not been running due to some personal issues. I felt really awesome when I did a 100 day streak of 10k daily runs. I lost weight, got down to about 127 without much change in my diet. I felt strong and energetic.
I long to return to that state once again. But this diet thing is very confusing. I know there is a lot of science behind it but I don’t know where to start.
Any thoughts?
Thanks.
Imwouldnt do one day a week but that's just me. I do recommend some longer fasts like 5 to 10 but that takes adjustment. I will always recommend getting into ketosis before any fast though. Basically day one is always the worst as your body adjusts.
Then again, if you do it frequently your body will adjust. Have you read something about one day a week that achieves what you are looking for?
Hi Michael - I just thought of 1 day a week as a starting point. I haven’t read anything about it at all.
There's a ton out there but also a ton of BS too. Take a look at some of the embedded links in my essay and the podcasts. That's a great start. Here's a decent overview as well.
https://www.mindbodygreen.com/articles/stages-of-fasting
Electrolyte drink hack: sparkling water (the real stuff) + flavourless electrolyte salt (potassium, magnesium and sodium) plus a freshly squeezed half lime.
In Mexico they called “la Rusa”.
Nice, I have all of that. Funny is that that salt is sold as 'low sodium' salt. I'll have to try it.
Call it**
Right on Michael and all. Please see/share our research from Captain Rob Balsamo, Amber Quitno, Captain Dan Hanley, Prof. Tony Martin, Prof. Graeme MacQueen, Dr. Paul Craig Roberts, and others and help us improve it if you can. Thank you!
https://michaelatkinson.substack.com/
Sincerely,
Michael
🦖
Excellent description of fasting. If I may add:
•Morton salt lite is half potassium salts. Just using that you can avoid sweets by using it in, say, a bone broth or something. Of course you can just outright buy potassium chloride in a bottle.
https://www.mortonsalt.com/home-product/morton-lite-salt-mixture-2/
•In regards to not eating with company, it's a great opportunity to serve others. Being the guy who refills glasses, grabs dishes and so on.
I just recently found that morton salt and I add a half teaspoon to water with creatine. It's pretty awesome.
I was with you right up until "caffeine fast."
Oh, my fast from Caffine was problematic and I added it back in!
Mike! Don't scare me like that any more!
lol. This is why you don't stop reading!
From the essay:
"As typically happens, my motivation from all this great insight ran face-first into Day 5 which was one of the toughest days. But that’s probably because I thought it would be a good idea to cut out caffeine... It was a terrible idea! I corrected course with a mid-afternoon cup o’ joe, I was feeling great again. As I looked into whether I should try to cut it out, I found indications that coffee actually helps with autophagy while on a fast."
Humble apologies. My caffeine defenses went into overdrive immediately and took my mind over!
I know right! I'm doing the fast again right now and splurged on some super nice mexican beans that are magnificent.
Coffee tastes amazing when you don't eat anything. We don't have the most fancy coffee, but I insist on ALWAYS having good coffee. Right now, it's a local place that roasts their own beans here in Richmond, and the coffee is from Ethiopia... so I simultaneously celebrate both localism and globalism, all in one delicious cup.
And: pardon my enthusiasm to make a coffee joke before finishing your piece! Never again, Satan. Your work is good and deserves to be seen, so I sometimes get in a rush to amplify it, but we're also all here to have a good discussion, and this is a great piece.
I have some questions that maybe you can answer, I've tried skipping breakfast but I get really, really bad mental fog before lunch. I basically can't do anything mentally strenuous. I am also pretty large 6' 2" and 230ish lb. I'm actually not as fat as you would think because I have a large amount of muscle mass. You can actually see my abs somewhat.
Do you think there is anything I can do to improve my ability to fast? Strict keto diets are off the table because I want to live a normal life.
I'm 6'6" and 230lbs and also athletic. I do intermitent fasting and don't eat till lunch every day. I don't know what's causing your brain-fog but I don't get that feeling until like day 3 of a zero food fast.
Do you start with a morning workout? I found when I was doing that, I needed more food earlier or I'd get foggy. Now that I do a late morning/afternoon workout, I don't have that with my intermitent fasting.
The other key is that each of us is different. If intermittent doesn't work, just try a calorie reduction. My issue was that if I ate breakfast, I'd want a midmorning snack and I'd also eat lunch. When I skip breakfast, I'm good till lunch. But that's me.
And a lot of it is that, to change your body, you sometimes have to shock your body. For example, I'd recommend you ket into a heavy keto (about 5 days strict) and then do a 3 day fast. It's going to suck and your brain and body will rebell but your body can actually handle it. It's just really lazy and likes a status quo!
I have tried a calorie reduction. Sometimes I have a glass of milk and it's enough, but I can't seem to do a strict 12 hr fast. It pretty much always ends with me not being able to do my work at the computer. I'm not going to do keto because I have tried it and frankly the tradeoffs aren't worth it. I'd rather have fun eating and drinking.
I do workout in the afternoon because I've had the same problems as you. It annihilates me and I don't have energy for the rest of the day.
I have had doctors tell me I shouldn't fast because of my thyroid and adrenals. They aren't great. Thanks for responding. It isn't a big deal and I appreciate the input.
We're all different that's for sure. It also depend on whether your body style is Ectomorph, Mesimorph, or Endomorph. Ectomorphs don't fast well.
I am definitely not an ectomorph lol
I guess there is a story about Saint Christopher who was a large man. He felt that with his huge body it would be bad for him to fast so instead he went to the river and would carry people across for free. One day a small child asked if he could cross and St. Christopher obliged. As St. Christopher got closer to the middle the weight of the child grew until St. Christopher felt like he might drown. When he got to the other side the child revealed he was Jesus and he allowed St. Christopher to feel the weight of everyone's sins.
I just read that and have been thinking about it recently.