In my early twenties during the 1970’s I made a conscious decision to go to bed hungry most nights. My cutoff evening eating time was by 6 pm, not later than 7 pm. And, most nights I did indeed experience the growling of an empty stomach. Before long, I anticipated the feeling of being (really) hungry which I associated with a healthy outlook.My deliberate nightly hunger strike was based on my instinct that it was good for me.
Each morning I woke up looking forward to a hardy breakfast and good eats throughout the day…until 6 pm. Throughout my adulthood, it is a practice I continue to this day.
I had a doctor in NYC for over twenty-five years. During an annul checkup in my late forties he said he was amazed at my weight. He said that most of his male patients put on approximately ten pounds every decade. I asked him how many pounds have I acquired over the years? Three pounds he said.
I met a twenty seven year old woman who told me she didn’t like dating guys who looked younger and skinnier than she did. You should have seen the look of shock on her face when I said I was fifty-one.
Restricted dieting or nighttime fasting was never a healthy kick that caught on. National adult and childhood obesity rates are well within a 30-35 percentile. It is yet another troubling indicator of what is wrong with America. The obesity epidemic is worsening with no sign of lowering national levels.
When we older folks were young obesity was not a national problem. It is now. Over the years as people would ask how I kept my ‘girlish’ figure, when hearing of my bedtime fasting all said they could never go to bed hungry. I never met one person who shared my special diet.
A December 2014 article in the Journal of Cell Metabolism reported that researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies had been experimenting with lab mice. The New York Times added its report this weekend: ““Time-restricted eating didn’t just prevent but also reversed obesity,” says Satchidananda Panda, an associate professor at the Salk Institute who oversaw the studies. “That was exciting to see.” Mice that consumed regular kibble in fixed time periods also had less body fat than those that ate the same food whenever they chose.”
What was also amazing about this research is that all the mice tested were fed the same caloric intake! The result indicated that to remain healthy and not obese, it didn’t matter how much they ate, but when they ate, as long as they included the 9-12 hour window of restricted diet.
If any reader read to this point, what are the chances of them switching to this “hunger strike diet” against obesity?
~Vidda Crochetta
A good summary
http://www.cell.com/cell-metabolism/abstract/S1550-4131%2814%2900498-7
Your plan has good scientific
Your plan has good scientific backup insofar as when the best time to eat is, vis-a-vis obesity. The other plus is that you will rarely, if ever, be awakened in the middle of the night with heartburn. Acid reflux can also lead to other illnesses such as Barrett’s Esophagitis, a precancerous condition.
Bob Fagelson
All in a day's workout
I enjoyed this article, especially that it shares personal practices which yield positive results.
As a high school wrestler, I put myself (was put) through some contortions regarding radial weight loss and habits of ingestion. We did some crazy stuff, wrapping ourselves in rugs, egg white fasts, extreme spitooning, all to drop a few pounds we probably shouldn’t have shed, just to make weight for matches. That this practice was considered normal for growing minds and bodies is another strange side-show to our culture’s gyrations around eating.
Having survived that phase was fortuitous, and fascination with techniques of fitness and metabolism persist for me to this day.
I’ve found sneaking in extra activity to be highly useful for maintaining energetic levels when more active training is elusive. Here are some of my favorite carry-overs from those early days that still pay dividends, simple yet potent:
-We all know about taking the stairs over the elevator, but if time allows I’ll take them up and down a few extra times to stimulate the heart and pump blood through muscles.
-I try to find play time on the floor each day. As adults we tend towards sitting, being supine, or slipping into a slouch/ leaning posture. Deliberately crawling around, or getting up and down from the floor in “freeform yoga” moves is a quick and surprisingly powerful workout.
-I hate standing on lines, and have found that by sneakily practicing balancing on one foot then another, or consciously lengthening my spine and making my legs work as springs by leveling the pelvis and lifting the crown, I can get energized instead of aggravated.
I’m sure there are endless energy ‘hacks’. Any others people care to share?
hacks
Drummers taught me to stand up on my toes, to build up lower leg strength. Cats, dogs, and kids taught me that the floor remains fun. Music in the kitchen means dancing while cooking. I like doing things that require effort, too – exercise from work is always a pleasure to me. (Exercise to exercise seems a little less so…)
A friend taught me that if one feels too full after eating, a big glass of water can usually take that feeling away.
I do almost the opposite of vidda – I tend to avoid food most of the day until I get hungry, then like to have one good meal, with time to digest it. I go through phases of wanting lunch. Snacks tend toward the healthy side – oranges, popcorn, pretzels. I think our approaches overlap in that neither of us eat as much as would seem “normal” and we both like it.
fasting a few hours before bedtime
yes, if one suffers from GERD and complications it is good not to eat about 3 hours before lying down for the night to keep stomach acids from leaking into ones esophagus and doing damage to the lining. a small daily fast wouldn’t hurt either. i think as we get older, at least for me, one can’t eat large amounts at one time and so i generally eat when i get hungry.
"Remarkable!"
Tom (tomaidh) emailed me this link. An excerpt is below, but if you have time, read the full text. It adds to what Dover’s, Dr. Fagelson and lonegreyrabbit comments were indicating that benefits go beyond obesity control
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/10878625/Fasting-for-three-days-can-regenerate-entire-immune-system-study-finds.html
Excerpt:
Fasting for as little as three days can regenerate the entire immune system, even in the elderly, scientists have found in a breakthrough described as “remarkable”.
Although fasting diets have been criticised by nutritionists for being unhealthy, new research suggests starving the body kick-starts stem cells into producing new white blood cells, which fight off infection.
Scientists at the University of Southern California say the discovery could be particularly beneficial for people suffering from damaged immune systems, such as cancer patients on chemotherapy.
It could also help the elderly whose immune system becomes less effective as they age, making it harder for them to fight off even common diseases.
The researchers say fasting “flips a regenerative switch” which prompts stem cells to create brand new white blood cells, essentially regenerating the entire immune system.
Scientists found that prolonged fasting also reduced the enzyme PKA, which is linked to ageing and a hormone which increases cancer risk and tumour growth.
“We could not predict that prolonged fasting would have such a remarkable effect in promoting stem cell-based regeneration of the hematopoietic system,” added Prof Longo.
“When you starve, the system tries to save energy, and one of the things it can do to save energy is to recycle a lot of the immune cells that are not needed, especially those that may be damaged,” Dr Longo said.
“What we started noticing in both our human work and animal work is that the white blood cell count goes down with prolonged fasting. Then when you re-feed, the blood cells come back. So we started thinking, well, where does it come from?”
Fasting for 72 hours also protected cancer patients against the toxic impact of chemotherapy.
Activity vs exercise
Spinosa and Chris G add what the benefits of “activity” brings to weight and health control. In the balance, it’s all suggestive that we can use simple techniques to maintain an optimal healthstyle.
Save for the occasional use of cocaine
Sherlock Holmes was a man who seldom took exercise for exercise’s sake. Few men were capable of greater muscular effort, and he was undoubtedly one of the finest boxers of his weight that I have ever seen; but he looked upon aimless bodily exertion as a waste of energy, and he seldom bestirred himself save when there was some professional object to be served. Then he was absolutely untiring and indefatigable. That he should have kept himself in training under such circumstances is remarkable, but his diet was usually of the sparest, and his habits were simple to the verge of austerity.
Save for the occasional use of cocaine, he had no vices, and he only turned to the drug as a protest against the monotony of existence when cases were scanty and the papers uninteresting.
One day in early spring he had so far relaxed as to go for a walk with me in the Park, where the first faint shoots of green were breaking out upon the elms, and the sticky spear-heads of the chestnuts were just beginning to burst into their five-fold leaves. For two hours we rambled about together, in silence for the most part, as befits two men who know each other intimately. It was nearly five before we were back in Baker Street once more.
“Beg pardon, sir,” said our page-boy, as he opened the door. “There’s been a gentleman here asking for you, sir.”
Holmes glanced reproachfully at me. “So much for afternoon walks!” said he. “Has this gentleman gone, then?” ……..
~Adventure II. The Yellow Face by Arthur Conan Doyle
5:2 Fast for Weight Loss and Overall Better Health
Today’s paper, April 13, carries an AP story about weight loss diets. It gives me an opportunity to tell others interested in the subject about a way of eating that is not mentioned but that is helping many with weight loss and improvement to health. The plan is a form of intermittent fasting and is called The Fast Diet, known as 5:2 to its followers. The five refers to the days when one eats a normal (healthful) diet and the two to the days when one fasts. Fasting involves eating 500 calories if you’re a woman and 600 for a man.
The Fast Diet was developed by an English doctor named Michael Mosley. He introduced it to Americans in an hour-long documentary on PBS entitled “Eat, Fast, Live Longer” in which he discusses the science behind the idea of intermittent fasting. The video can be found on-line and is very interesting.
This way of eating has the advantage of not making a person feel deprived except briefly on a fast day. And fasting days become routine and quite easy. One can adjust the ratio of eating to fasting days to suit her rate of weight loss and fast days can be adjusted for holidays, travel, etc. Once at a goal weight one can switch to a once weekly fast to maintain weight. Many intermittent fasters consider this to be a permanent way of eating. And there are no fees or costs to the program.
I urge readers to take a look at this new approach to weight loss and, hopefully, better health.
Ellen Bertone East Dummerston, April 13
http://www.reformer.com/letterstotheeditor/ci_27956396/your-opinions