Our Longevity Diet

I have heard a lot of people describe feelings of weakness, dizziness or faintness when fasting, and wondered why they have those experiences, but I don’t. Then I made a curious observation.

As I’ve often stated, we are not fanatical about our diet. If circumstances make it more convenient or politic to disregard the diet, we do. Our lifestyle is routine enough that those situations rarely arise, so we only ‘break’ the diet about once per month.

Last week was one of those occasions — we were visiting with some of Isabel’s relatives, people who live in a dirt-floored house and cook over burning wood. The head of house is a fisherman, and quite proud of his ability to bring home good food for his rather large extended family, which includes his wife, several of his adult children, some of their spouses, and half a dozen grand-children. When they offered us fried fish for supper, we thought they might take it as an insult if we refused to eat their food (many Mexican’s have that ‘food=love’ mentality), so we ate a small meal late on an evening we would normally be fasting.

The curious part came the next day — about twelve hours after eating that meal I felt extra-hungry, weak and slightly faint when I exerted myself. I laid down in my hammock and the feeling passed. After about an hour I was back to normal. It seemed very odd to me though, since I normally feel fine on ‘fasting’ mornings, and here I was feeling weak when I’d broken the fast.

It wasn’t anything wrong with the food, which was good, if rather plain. My stomach felt empty, not sickly. But why would eating cause me to be more hungry than when I was fasting?

Then I noted the timing. Those feelings came about 12 hours after we ate. Due to the timing of our fasting schedule, I’m normally sound asleep 12 hours after our last meal during an eating period. I probably get these feeling every-other-day! I just never noticed, because I’m asleep. This is why I have emphasized the importance of timing when considering intermittent fasting.

Of course, everyone is different, these are just my experiences. Isabel did not have the same reaction — she felt less hungry that morning than on mornings when we stick to the normal diet. Her monthly cycle seems more influential on how she reacts to the diet — sometimes she needs to sit down and relax for a while on fasting mornings, but as with my experience, the feeling passes within an hour.

So if you want to try intermittent fasting, be sure to pay close attention to the schedule, and how you feel. The first week or two of this diet seem strange, and are nothing to judge by. Get used to the eating pattern first, then see how minor changes affect you. Adjust the diet to fit your personal metabolism — tweak it to make it fit you. This is a lifestyle, not a short-term fad diet. Make sure you adjust it into something you can happily live with for the rest of your life — anything less is not adequate.

I know, it’s August and typically not ‘cold and flu’ season, but here in Mexico it never really gets cold, so the viral infections are on a different schedule. This is a monsoon climate; 90% of our annual rainfall comes in just four months — June to September — and this is when the contagious bugs spread best. The air is more humid, and that is probably why they survive longer and spread further.

So this month, Isabel and I both caught colds. For the past few years, these annual colds have been lasting two to three weeks. This year, being in our sixth month on our Intermittent Fasting regime, our colds lasted about three days. During that time I didn’t have much of an appetite, so I ate less than usual during eating hours, and was less hungry during fasting hours. Isabel, on the other hand, reports that she felt weak and sometimes even a bit dizzy, near the end of fasting periods, when she was sick with the cold.

Thankfully, the experience was short-lived and we are both back to normal. A few weeks ago we spent several hours out in the hot sun, digging holes to plant trees and shrubs, on a morning that was the end of a fasting period. We were plenty tired and hungry when it came time to eat the picnic lunch we had brought along (Isabel’s delicious ceviche tostadas) but we had no problems with doing hard physical labor while fasting.

As time goes on I only become more impressed with how well this eating schedule makes us look and feel, and how easy it is to stick to the time-table. The only problems we have had were when traveling; we find it very difficult to stay on the schedule at those times. But going off the plan for a few days now and then has absolutely no negative consequences, and indeed some folks think it may even be beneficial, since it breaks the pattern and helps your body learn to adjust better to changing circumstances.

For several years I have suffered from frequent cramping of my leg and foot muscles. Only very rarely did I have a full-blown ‘charlie horse’ where the big thigh muscle cramps, but almost every night I’d get cramps in the calf muscles or in my feet — either just before I fell asleep, or (much worse) waking me up from a sound sleep. I tried to solve this problem by drinking lots of water, and that was semi-successful — I had about half as many leg cramps as previously.

Since beginning this intermittent fasting regime, the leg cramps have disappeared completely. I haven’t had one in weeks. Not expecting this benefit, I didn’t notice when they stopped — it is only in hind-sight that I noticed. Am I drinking more water? Probably, since that is all I can ingest for about half of each day. Or is the fasting contributing to the cessation of cramps? That may be a factor too. Fasting clears out toxins and accumulated waste products, making the biological functions more efficient. Cramps are usually attributed to a deficiency in specific minerals (magnesium, potassium, calcium, or sodium). Since I am not eating any differently than before beginning the intermittent fasting regime, I’m certainly not ingesting any more of those minerals. But it may be that my body is more efficient at absorbing and using the needed minerals. I really don’t know.

All I’m sure of is that it works. The cramps are gone. I’m getting the same exercise, the same diet, and everything else in my life seems about the same. Only the timing of WHEN we eat has changed. We fast 23 hours out of every 48. We are also still losing weight — but I’ll leave that discussion for a future post.

The first two weeks of this intermittent fasting routine were a bit difficult. We were not used to going without food for any longer than a good night’s sleep. Thirty years ago, when I was in college, I went three days without consuming anything but water — so I knew 24 hours wasn’t going to kill us, but it still came as something of a shock to our systems. My stomach was grumbling so loud on fasting nights that it nearly woke the neighbors.

But it wasn’t too difficult. Just strange, and slightly uncomfortable. We felt a bit lethargic on fasting mornings, and Isabel claims I was a bit grumpy (who me? …  I’m sure she was right). But with time we grew more accustomed to our strange 48 hour time cycles. Yes there was a slight tendency to eat more during our first meal after fasting, because we were ’so hungry’ — and another tendency to eat a bit more at our last meal before a fast (i.e. the next main meal) because we knew it would be our last for a while — but the uncomfortable feeling of being ’stuffed’ broke us of that bad habit within the first week.

Also, as time went on, it didn’t seem so long between meals when we were in a fast period. My stomach still grumbles a little, but not so alarmingly loud as before. A big glass of water will usually quiet both the grumbling and slight tinges of hunger. By the time my stomach realizes it has been tricked, I’m either asleep or it is time for our next meal.

There is also a psychological effect. We no longer feel like slaves to our appetites. Missing a meal or two is no longer a big deal, in fact it is an everyday occurrence. We walk to town and see people eating while they walk, and notice how fat they are. Those poor people! Don’t they know they can get along just fine without food for a few hours? How can you possibly enjoy that ice-cream cone while walking down a busy street, talking to friends and dodging obstacles (Mexican sidewalks are filled with obstacles, from candy vendors and telephone poles, to huge piles of construction material and crowds of people standing around chatting)?

That reminds me of another benefit from this fast — when we do eat, especially that first meal after our fast — food tastes so good! I have always enjoyed Isabel’s cooking, but now I seem more aware of the subtle spices and can savor the rich flavors with greater appreciation.

Life is short, so we need to live with joy while we can. I can not imagine suffering through a 40% caloric restriction diet for the rest of my life — I would be miserable. What is the point of living a long time if you can’t enjoy it? This intermittent fast is so easy it is enjoyable. I feel stronger and healthier, have fewer of the age related aches and pains I’ve grown to expect, and I’m more aware — more awake — I feel more alive! I certainly never expected it to be like this.

Hi, I’m Andrew — that’s me in the picture at upper right. And standing next to me is my beautiful wife Isabel. I have lived in Mexico since 2000, and married Isabel in 2001 — she is a native of Guadalajara, Jalisco.

As you can see, neither of us are obese. In fact we both are just about 10% over our ideal weights, according to the charts. I’m 6′ 3″ (191 cm) tall and in my mid-50s. Isabel is 5′ 4″ (162 cm) and recently turned 40 — but don’t tell anyone that, it’s a state secret. When we were married in June 2001 we were both near our ideal weights, I was 197 pounds (89.5 kilos) and she was 126 pounds (57 kilos). ‘Scuse me if I don’t give the weights in pounds (or how about stones?) from here on — you can always convert those yourself if you are metric impaired.

A couple years ago I got up to 108 kilos and Isabel was just over 67 kilos. She is just too good of a cook! We tried a version of the Atkins diet, but actually gained a little weight. After that, I eschewed specific diets, but Isabel tried several others. I tried to eat a bit less and exercise more. Isabel tried several very restrictive diets, hated them all and lost very little weight. I refused to follow any diet that I could not see myself following for the rest of my life — so none of the one’s she came up with fit the bill.

As of March 5th, 2008 — the day we began this intermittent fasting — I weighed 99.2 kilos and Isabel was 65.9 kilos. She had just completed two months on a very restrictive diet, and had lost .3 kilo in those months. I recommended the intermittent fast for its health benefits, I didn’t really expect to lose any weight since we made no attempt to cut down on total calories. I was never much of a breakfast eater, so two meals a day was normal for me. Isabel was still concerned with losing weight, so tried to avoid snacking and limited the portions of high-calorie foods she ate.

Now, at the end of our first month with the intermittent fast, I weigh 97.7 kilos (a loss of 1.5 kilos, or 1.5% of my body weight) and Isabel weighs 63.6 kilos (a loss of 2.3 kilos, or 3.5% of her body weight). We were both amazed at that. I hadn’t expected to lose anything, and she felt like she was eating so much more than on that previous diet that she was afraid she would gain, rather than lose. That weight loss, plus the fact that this diet is so easy I can see it lasting a life-time with no qualms; caused me to start this blog to share with others this amazing discovery.