After practicing Intermittent Fasting for the past 5 years and experiencing amazing results, I’ve found some interesting things about how my body reacts to food and specifically to feedings throughout the day.
It is very true that weight loss is a calories in vs. calories out equation, but if you want to go beyond that and look at your daily productivity, energy levels and the scheduling of your workouts, then WHEN you eat is as important as WHAT you eat.
With that in mind, here is the ideal schedule that I’ve found to work for me to make it so that I’m super-productive, have enough energy throughout the day to kill it when I train and still have enough in the tank so that I can shut down business mode and run around with the kids when I end my workday…
5am – I start the day off with 3 big glasses of water and then make myself some organic Jasmine tea.
6am-12pm – I eat absolutely nothing and just make sure that I stay hydrated and will sometimes add in a pinch of Celtic Sea Salt to my water to ensure absorption and to make sure that I have enough sodium (electrolytes) in my system.
Both my wife and I sit down with the kids for breakfast and have tea (and sometimes my wife will have a couple of eggs), but the kids are hungry in the morning and they are happier having breakfast so my wife and I and our 5 kids will sit down at the table at about 8am to enjoy each other before we go about our days.
I also have to mention that this is ABSOLUTELY my most productive time of the day. I get so much work done between the hours of 6am and 12pm. I’m alert and “with it” and I never feel groggy. In fact, the grogginess that I used to feel during this time has always come about 20 minutes after I had something to eat – regardless if it was protein-rich or high in carbohydrates.
1pm – I’ll break my fast with a shot of Raw Ormus Greens in water.
1:30pm – Just before I hit my workout I’ll have a double-espresso (my treat for the day) and maybe a glass of raw milk if I’m training at home that day.
2:30pm – Post-workout I’ll start out by having a banana and 2 big glasses of Raw Milk.
3:30pm – As I shut down for the day and start preparing dinner I’ll start snacking on either cucumbers or celery with all-natural hummus.
4pm – Here’s where the fun begins. At 4pm I’ll have a “Metabolic Shake”. This is a shake recipe that I got from my good friend, Geoff, that includes a ton of healthy fat (coconut milk, raw cream, essential oil blend), lots of protein (I prefer Sun Warrior Chocolate), a handful of frozen spinach and some superfoods like maca root, cocoa nibs and chia seeds.
6pm – Dinner with the family. This is a special time during the day because there aren’t many families these days that can share BOTH breakfast and dinner together. This is the second time we sit together and it’s a ritual for us in the sense that it’s a time that we can recap our day and reconnect. This is a very important time for me.
From a food standpoint, I usually eat whatever I want. We will always have lots of protein, a variety of vegetables and some starch like rice or potatoes. We will always have fruit for dessert and if we want a treat, we’ll have the fruit with FULL FAT (15% MF) Greek Yogurt. It’s creamy like ice cream and absolutely delicious.
9pm – 2nd dinner with AJ. Three days per week my daughter AJ and I sit down for a 2nd dinner when we get home from volleyball practice (she plays, I coach). On those days, we usually eat lighter at our first dinner and then finish off at the second when we get home. Sometimes, though, I don’t feel like eating anything so I’ll just have another couple of glasses of raw milk.
When the day is all said and done it’s about 9:30 and I’ll brush my teeth and head upstairs for some downtime before bed and begin another 14-16 hour fast.
This schedule doesn’t really change all that much throughout the week, month or year. If I’m in a weight-gaining phase or if I feel like I’m getting a little too skinny for my liking, I’ll just up the calories during my meal times.
If I’m in a fat-loss phase, I’ll eat a little less OR I’ll just add in some interval training (hills, prowler pushes, century swings) to my training program and eat the same amount.
For the most part though, I hate thinking about what I eat. I hate obsessing over it and I hate the stupid fitness dogma that assumes that you have to be anal about what, when, where and how you eat to get or stay fit.
It just isn’t necessary in my opinion and provides more unnecessary stress in an already stressful world.
Chris
P.S. If you’re interested in Intermittent Fasting, my good friend Brad Pilon has just released the NEW version of his best selling book, EatSTOPEat. It’s a must read for anybody who wants to free themselves of the crap that mass-media feeds us – pun intended – and that there’s no truth behind the “eating 5-6 meals per day will make you leaner” BS…
=>Get the New Version of EatSTOPEat HERE
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