I’ve been interested in my health since I was a teenager, and have always looked at ways of improving my diet and workout regime. I remember as a teenager - being asked by a friend of one of my first girlfriend’s to talk to her about her diet. They were worried about her total lack of awareness on what she was consuming. It’s not like I had a super crazy diet, but back in the mid nineties I was snacking on muesli bars and carrots instead of chocolate bars and potato chips. I had also already started avoiding sugary drinks and most processed sugars.
At University after meeting a girl (who I later married - and then divorced) I became vegan overnight, and also cut out all alcohol and other drugs. That’s totally not an exaggeration, I distinctly remember having a fresh 1kg block of cheese, and a whole chicken in the fridge at the time, and giving away them to my house mates. I was vegan/straight edge for around 3years, before my girlfriend visited a naturopath, and suggested she should start eating dairy and fish. I wasn’t experiencing any issues with the diet, but was happy to add back in some extra flavours to my diet.
Over the last 2 decades, I have streamlined my diet down to mainly fruit, nuts and fish. I very occasionally will eat a steak now, but have probably had it less than a dozen times in the last 20 years. I don’t drink any caffeinated drinks. I have never drunk Coffee, tea or energy drinks, I don’t smoke, and don’t eat any refined carbohydrates or sugars. Even with such a restricted diet, I was noticing low energy levels would sometimes be an issue.
I heard about intermittent fasting through some Podcasts I listen to, and figured I’d like to give it a try. Im running on a 6-8hr eating “window” during the day, and only drink water for the remaining 16-8 hrs. That was back in early 2019. It’s currently June 2020 so I’ve been on this eating schedule now for well over a year. What I’ve noticed in this time, is that my energy levels are way more consistent.
Currently I am eating 2 meals a day - breakfast, and lunch. But during those 2 meals I try to consume a large amount of high quality calorie dense foods. This helps me not feel hungry during the fasting period of my day. Salmon, avocado, and nuts (ill eat around 4-500 grams of nuts a day!) are my favorite fatty foods. Lately I’ve also started consuming a significant amount of fermented foods; Kimchi, Sauerkraut and Kefir for example. The fermented foods have helped immensely with digestion. Im not eating any processed carbs, and mostly eat whole foods. I also take multivitamins.
As far as I’m concerned, I haven’t found any downsides to intermittent fasting and will most likely be eating this way right into old age.