Written by: Kevin Cann
At the beginning of February of this year I started an individual experiment using a restricted feeding window to take in all of my calories (my initial article can be found here: http://robbwolf.com/2012/03/08/eat-eat-question/). My schedule is never constant, and I am extremely busy between finishing graduate school and working two jobs. Decreasing the amount of meals I had to prepare made my life much easier, and I saw some fantastic results, but buyers beware.
A recent study came out that showed the potential benefits of eating within a restricted feeding window. Mice fed within this restriction showed to be protected against obesity, hyperinsulinemia, and inflammation, had better motor control, and other important metabolic factors were better than the mice allowed to eat throughout the day. The most interesting piece of this study is that both groups ate the same amount of calories from a high fat diet (Hatori, 2012). In my personal experiment throughout the last 4 months, a lot of this has held true.
I have leaned out more during this period then I did playing college soccer. I am able to maintain 6% body fat without any downside. In the past any drop below 8-10% had negative consequences on my energy levels and recovery. The crazy part of all of this is I haven’t even been eating as well as I have in the past either. In fact there was a 5 week period where I was eating 60% paleo and 40% crap when alcohol consumption is added in. There have been splurges on junk food, pizza, and the late night drunken fast food run a few times during this time period. Amazingly, I was able to maintain 170lbs and the 6% body fat. This is not all as good as it seems.
I stretched myself out too thin between school and work, and I got behind. This caused my stress levels to rise, and now that I had less time to myself, my personal stress management was the first thing to go. This caused my energy levels to get flushed down the toilet. Instead of stopping this downfall then by seeing the signs, I decided to handle my energy levels by drinking more coffee. I got up to about 6 cups of coffee on average per day. The increased stimulation decreased my quality of sleep, and my mood started to become negative. My workout performance and recovery were declining, and I actually got my first injury in my 5 years of mma training. This is where my diet began to decline.
I wrote an article on how stress affects neurotransmitters and our cravings for food here: http://robbwolf.com/2012/04/26/diet-stress-biochemistry/. I cited a study by Dallman that showed how our glucocorticoids increased our cravings for calorically dense sugary foods. Dallman also concluded in her paper that she believes that people actually eat these foods to help alleviate the chronic stress response (Dallman, 2003). I found this conclusion interesting at the time, but wasn’t sure what to think.
I have never been a person to be driven by food addiction. When I started eating paleo I was able to cut out all the crap without any issues. When I became stressed these cravings were so strong that I would actually convince myself, through self-talk, that it is ok to eat these foods. From this experience I believe that Dallman’s conclusion may be right.
Maybe our bodies have adapted to handle the chronic stressors of daily life by increasing our cravings for calorically dense, high sugar foods. These foods are in abundance and found literally everywhere. It would make sense in a logical perspective that our bodies would drive us to these easily obtainable foods to counter a stress that we do not handle otherwise. To further support this conclusion my cravings for these foods went away when I fixed my stress.
Once I realized that I was falling apart I decided to prioritize my problems and fix them one by one. I got a melatonin supplement to help with sleep and I also went to bed earlier. I continued to eat the 2 meals a day, but if I became hungry in-between I would have a paleo-friendly snack. I also added in more safe starches to meals to make sure I was not too low with my intake of carbohydrates. Doing this helped me decrease my caffeine consumption. I focused the majority of my workouts on corrective exercises to scale them back. Within a week I was back to normal.
I was able to keep my eating within the restricted feeding window while reversing a pretty stressful situation. Throughout this entire process I have not gained any weight or body fat which is a really interesting factor considering my increasing cortisol and high sugar foods. However, I have maintained this approximate weight and body fat percentage for quite a while now. My experience also increases my belief that intermittent fasting can play a crucial role in health and well-being if we can maintain proper stress management, sleep well, and exercise wisely.
References
Dallman, Mary (2003). Chronic Stress and Obesity. www.pnas.org. Retrieved on April 17, 2012.
Hatori, Megumi (2012). Time Restricted Feeding Without Reducing Caloric Intake Prevents Metabolic Diseases in Mice Fed A High Fat Diet. Journal of Cell Metabolism. Retrieved on June 9, 2012.
Kevin is owner of Genetic Potential Nutrition. He is a holistic nutritionist, wellness coach, and strength coach. He works with people fighting illness, to competitive athletes. Check out his site at www.geneticpotentialnutrition.
Thanks for sharing, very informative, any effects on T levels (perceived or otherwise).
Might try this, certainly food for thought 🙂
Cheers
Similar experience here. I find that if my stress is managed well then my caffeine consumption goes down, then my sleep gets better, even lowered stress. I use breathing exercises in conjunction w an emwave monitor-my BP is like 115/60 even though I use salt liberally. Alcohol totally f’s up my sleep and dietary control so ive cut back from weekly use to just special occasions.
Sometimes life throws you a curveball, you feel down no matter what- that’s tough. but you roll w it and man up, fight thru the lows and realize that better days will come.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEMdXhfO-Wk
I find that when you get thru the lows you become stronger/wiser. Was uns nicht umbringt, macht uns stärker.
What kind of exercise were you doing during this period? I’ve been trying IF since December, I started the starting strength lifting protocol, and I’ve been almost 100% paleo and I just finished a whole30 three days ago. I’ve seen strength gains, but no change in body fat % (currently I’m around 15%). I’m 6′ and 190lbs. I sleep 8 hours a night in total darkness. I go on a hike once or twice a week. I’ve thought about adding in a sprint workout once a week, would that help or hinder fat loss?
Strength gains good . Did your wt stay relatively constant? If so then your bf went down . I have calipers but much more accurate is trying on similar jeans brand over several months . Are those tight designer jeans fitting better? Lifts going up? Congrats your bf has gone down!
I do 2 days of lifting, 1 strict conditining day, and 2 SAQ days
I always love hearing what people do to figure out is and isn’t working for them. What does your restricted eating window look like? And, how did you determine the length?
I eat the first meal between 11-12 and the last meal around 7pm. This is what was convenient and worked in my schedule. There was no other reasoning for the selection of times.
I use partial fasting, as a norm. Learned to do this as a vegatarian, probably an adaptive response to in-sufficient fat sources (to low of fat) and to high of mineral stripping phytic acid heavy foods. Been Paleo for over a year (just over) and went from 265 down to 193 — I usually only eat two meals per day, one light and one heavy with a light snack in the evening (coconut kefir and two handfulls of blue berries are my only sugars). Once or twice per week (sometimes three, haha) I eat sweet potatoes, otherwise it’s baked broccoli-carrots-cauliflower or a big salad.
I use partial fasting, as a norm. Learned to do this as a vegatarian, probably an adaptive response to in-sufficient fat sources (to low of fat) and to high of mineral stripping phytic acid heavy foods. Been Paleo for over a year (just over) and went from 265 down to 193 — I usually only eat two meals per day, one light and one heavy with a light snack in the evening (coconut kefir and two handfulls of blue berries are my only sugars). Once or twice per week (sometimes three, haha) I eat sweet potatoes, otherwise it’s baked broccoli-carrots-cauliflower or a big salad….
“These foods are in abundance and found literally everywhere.”
Literally? Don’t think so.
The convenience of preparing two meals instead of three is appealing.
Chronic stress is definitely the worst enemy here, it can ruin the best eating and exercising plan.
On most days I also eat meals only within a short time window in the afternoon but I found that things work better if I eat some fat in the morning. Typically I add coconut oil to my morning coffee/tea and sometimes take a gulp of fish oil.
I have done IF for about 6 months now (16/8 split) working on correct calories and macros and body fat just dropped. As soon as I started on Paleo in conjunction with IF and adding to that a crazy work schedule among other things, I noticed I was craving the worse things. I felt like I was going insane without my oats to break my fast or yogurt as dessert. Visited my nutritionist and we decided I would do the Paleo maybe 80/20 split. The only thing I changed was to start eating oats again, twice a week, which has made such a difference to my energy levels during the day and during my workouts. It also allows me to carb cycle since I dont eat starchy veg, my sugar levels have stabilized and the cravings are gone. I think we just need to find out what works with our bodies, be it paleo, IF or any other healthy style.
Good post. I appreciate your topic here. This is truly informative because many useful ideas will get here especially concerning to our healthy living.
I have been using intermittent fasting for about 9 months and found that performing high intensity training in a fasted state produces a greater effect (decreased bf, increased work). I assume it may be due to stimulation of hormone release? Either way, more effective than training satiated. Interesting direction, less is more…
6 month IF review
http://youtu.be/eVuE6AlCN4A
Yeah stress almost always creates sugar cravings for me. I personally have also been experimenting a lot with IF and set eating windows and found that the more I do it the easier it is. At this point it is not a big deal to skip a whole day with almost no hunger pains. I am not near as lean as you are and am sure once I do lean out some of that hunger will come back but for now I am enjoying the ride.
6% huh? Must not be a recent pic, lol.