If you haven’t already figured this out, most of my blogs are spurred on from listening to podcasts. I was listening to Froning & Friends and they discussed a little about Intermittent Fasting (IF). They had talked about a minimum of a 12 hour fasting window for those who fast daily. When I started to think about my eating habits, I first thought that I had met a minimum of 12 hours. But not really.

During the work week, when it is easiest to abide by IF for me, this is usually how my day goes:

Wake 5am – walk dogs, drink coffee, watch news
*630 am – make a cup of coffee at work (new: bringing back a tablespoon of coconut oil)
~1130 am – maybe have some cashews or a scoop of peanut butter
pm – drink lots of water, no coffee
3pm – have a granola bar or Boost High Protein drink
4pm – workout
5pm – dinner – eat a hearty meal
830pm – snack – usually yogurt with berries

So, what I was violating for the past several months is that I would basically have breakfast when I got to work. I would have a granola bar with peanut butter. However, this dumps sugar back into your system and triggers the insulin (fat-storing) response. This is counter to my goals. So my IF window is now expanded to about 15 hours. Even then, I only take in enough sugar to keep my blood sugar at a responsible level. Then another quick shot at 3pm to prepare me for my workout.

Now, I know I don’t workout nearly as hard as Rich Froning and his CrossFit Mayhem Team. They mentioned how they couldn’t possibly put out a full effort without a lot more calories in their bodies. Maybe that’s why I’m fortunate enough to have a little more bodyfat. Because I feel fine when I workout when on IF. From doing yoga, especially Rocket, Ashtanga, or Hot Yoga, I found that I need to have an empty stomach or things don’t go well. Even eating 3 hours before a class makes me feel so heavy that I can’t lift my body off my mat and I can feel bloated. So this has worked for my workouts too. The best part of doing CrossFit in this ketogenic state is that I burn a lot more fat too. But I am honestly very HANGRY after my workout. So I chow down harrrrd after the workout.

If you do IF, think about coconut oil or other non-sugar energy sources. You can actually take a good amount of calories that way without triggering insulin release (fat-storing) at all!