Look out internet! This is just a special announcement that I have setup a group on Facebook for the IF Life people to discuss all things health, fitness, IF, simplicity, happiness or whatever topic is related. I admit, I am a Facebook newbie as I just signed up this morning. To be honest I am not a fan of becomming addicted to online things, but I do believe that this can be a great additional social interaction tool to use in small doses. I’ll figure out how it all works soon enough and will join in on the conversations and community. So if you are on facebook (or want to join for free like I did this morning), go ahead and join the group and invite others to do so also! I am excited to see where it goes, as I really have no idea how facebook works but seems like a great place to connect and talk with people even further. (You will also see the logo on the main menu and link, if the link is not working for some reason please let me know…it’s my first attempt at getting it setup.) Thoughts and feedback on this are appreciated. Spreading the truth on health and fitness one blog post at a time! (and cutting out all the other BS that passes for so called information and expert advice out there)

photo by KrisC

I got a very common question from a reader about gaining muscle from the Building Muscle 101 post. I wanted to re-post it here as many may not have seen it and other readers may also be thinking the same thing or able offer up some more great tips for our readers.

Here’s the Question:

Hey guys, I’m trying to gain like 20lbs muscle.I’m 155lbs and about 6 feet.I’m maxing out benching at 250lb. I do chest one day a week, back and shoulders another day, arms a different day, and a whole circuit the next. With a polo shirt on, i look pretty small… seriously (my body type is matt damons)… (i need to bulk up!) Shirtless, yeah, i’m semi-cut - but nothing anyone will write home about. I have always (ALWAYS) outlifted my larger counterparts (pound for pound). But, i’m not seeing results… I am a lean eater, a healthy eater, I run occasionally but i would LOVE to put on some muscle for once in my life. I feel like it may be my diet (i eat healthy/small portions), or the fact that i run occasionally, but i just want a muscle BUILDING program that shows some significant results. ANY help is much appreciated man

My response to his question was the following (long winded I know…but I promise to sum it up nicely below as well):

Pretty much sounds like you got the strength part down…now you just need to eat more and workout less (but up the intensity per session, keep them brief but effective). Putting on the lbs is possible eating healthy. First I would say make sure you are at least getting 0.8-1 gram of protein/lb of bodyweight (since you sound lean anyways). Of course also some fruits and unlimited non-starchy vegetables, healthy carbs (no sugars, breads, pasta or processed carbs) and healthy fats (esp MUFAs, Omega 3s and health Sat fats). But it does come down to if you are not seeing muscle gain…then you need to up your food intake. Looks like you are working out 4x a week too…that is alot. You should be able to workout only 2-3x a week and still put on plenty of muscle. Most people workout too much, don’t lift the proper volume/intensity to stimulate muscle building/fat burning hormones, burn way too many calories with activity levels and then wonder why they are not gaining. A serious lifting program of 3×10s (with a couple warmup sets), 30-60 sec rest, with alternating compound movements 2-3x a week will do plenty for size and gains. For example: Squat/Bench(although I would rather do weighted dips)/Overhead press is workout A, Deadlifts/Pullups/Bent Row(or sub in Power Cleans) is workout B….then alternate workouts A & B during the week only for a total of 2-3 workouts (A/B or A/B/A & B/A/B weeks). You can do your additional secondary exercises and arm exercises on main workout days AFTER you have done the main heavy compound movement that spike your muscle building hormones…don’t do an arm day…those never work. You will get plenty big arms from heavy pushes and pulls…like weighted dips and pullups. You can also mess around with the reps doing a week of 5×5 or 3×8 or 3×10. Don’t over-complicate it and just keep it simple and effective by seeing the progress and adding weight little by little to the main lifts. Remember that you grow outside the gym…not in it. So get your workouts done quick, and then go eat and recover….and grow. When in doubt…if you are not gaining….eat more (no sugar, healthy proteins/fat/carbs) and workout less. Or just do like the Powerlifters do for more size…drink a gallon of whole (not skim) milk a day in addition to your regular meals (no guarantees on how much fat you may also put on in this process). Not something I would recommend full time…but if you are cycling it short term for a mass gain and can handle it with no ill side effects, then it can be a useful tool. Forget supplements….whole food is always your best friend first…and where 90% of your results come from….so spend your money there.

As mentioned before the Building Muscle 101 post really covers all the basics in more detail that anyone should go over and follow when trying to build muscle. Here’s the quick and easy check list if you are asking how to gain muscle:

• Are you eating enough whole food (not powders) protein?
• Do you eat enough healthy fats? (Nitrogen sparing effect)
• Are you getting enough sleep/recovery?
• Do you take Omega 3s/fish oil? (If the answer is “No”….my next question is “Why Not?”)
• Are you training the right way? - Compound movements with free weights, short rest between sets (30-60 sec), reps in 5-10 range, volume of 25-50 reps (sets of 5×5, 3×10, etc) per exercise.
• How many times are you working out per week? - 2-3x per week max is enough to put on muscle…otherwise you need to rethink your workout and pump up the intensity
• How much other activity are you doing? - Too much cardio or other excessive aerobic based activity will just burn up too many calories (in relation to your calorie intake) and not lead to muscle gain

So of course my advice is not the only good one out there, so other readers feel free to share your tips with Dan also in the comments section below. Remember to keep it simple and positive (motto of the site), as most of us are just over-complicating the process and exposed to way too much confusing information….that we forget the basics are where 90% of our results come from….so stick to the basics and the results will follow….and when in doubt tell yourself:

• Eat enough whole healthy non-processed foods first (forget the supplements, spend money on food first)
• Lift heavy compound movements at the right intensity 2-3x a week
  
• Sleep, recover and let the muscles grow!

Related Posts: See the Fat Loss 101 post for more info on important hormones like GH and Cortisol that also play into muscle building. Also it is easier to build muscles once you get down to a lower BF%. If you are interested in Intermittent Fasting while gaining muscle, see IF 101 - How to Start post. If you do not know about IF and want to know why it is becoming a popular lifestyle choice for many, you can see my post on Why I do IF.

Ok well I told you I was working on some other sites and today one of the sites was officially launched. Introducing Fitness Spotlight (www.fitnessspotlight.net)

Fitness Spotlight is a site dedicated towards giving you even more information on all things health and fitness out there on the internet. In partnership with another top health and fitness blogger Scott Kustes from Modern Forager , we decided with all the information that we come across daily from our research, and the amount that we can only personally blog on….why not have a site that took what we know are the best articles and info from other bloggers and news sources and share with you. Now you can see multiple highlights per day and be able to pick and choose what stories you want to read more about. This way, you can save your time and not have to be looking on the internet for information as we will be doing the work for you! We also wanted to be able to highlight and find other bloggers who do put out quality content and give them a chance to show people what they have. Soon we will be partnering up with bloggers and also be choosing premier sites that we will select based on ongoing quality content and information. Now you can not only keep up to date with the most recent posts from your favorite bloggers with your RSS or email, but in addition we will find hidden gems in blog archives from all over the place and let you re-read top quality content from the past or present. New listings will be published on Mon, Wed and Fri with multiple listings per day from various catagories (fitness, nutrition, health and lifestyle). The sources will include:

• Blog Archives from top health and fitness bloggers that you may or may not have heard about
• News stories from across all the major news network wires
• Articles from online magazines or other sources
• and other media….if it’s on the internet, we will use it!

We are excited about this new project and encourage you to give it a look. If you have any questions, comments or feedback please feel free to share them here in the comments (as there are no comments on the other site because it is just a link database driven format…which will take you to the user’s articles and comments not controlled by us). Hope you enjoy!

photo by taminator

I love steak…chicken…fish. It all tastes good to me. I want to make sure I get enough protein to maintain and build muscle. But it begs to question, is more really better? I’m not talking about the myth of the dangers of so called high protein diets on your kindeys (if you are not even getting 1g/lb of bodyweight then you have nothing to worry about…which is most people). But now looking at ageing and longevity, I am more concerned about what is the right way to eat? I came across this study on the effects of protein oxidation in relation to ageing factors:

Protein oxidation associated with aging is reduced by dietary restriction of protein or calories

The accumulation of unrepaired oxidative damage products may be a major factor in cellular aging. Both oxidative lesions in DNA and oxidatively damaged proteins have been shown to accumulate during aging. The accumulation of oxidized proteins in Fischer 344 rats was compared for animals consuming protein-restricted and calorically restricted diets–both of which have been shown to extend lifespan. Rats were fed diets restricted in either protein (5% or 10% of the diet as compared with the normal 20% casein), or calories (25% or 40% less than normal), or total diet (40% less than normal). In addition, some of the rats fed a diet providing 5% or 20% protein were irradiated twice weekly (125 rads per exposure; 1 rad = 0.01 Gy). The level of oxidative damage to proteins (protein carbonyls) was determined in rats sacrificed at various times. The oxidative damage to proteins increased with aging and with radiation. Either protein or calorie restriction markedly inhibited the accumulation of oxidatively damaged proteins. Protein restriction reduced the accumulation of oxidatively damaged proteins during the oxidative stress of chronic irradiation.

Any type of excess oxidative damage should be avoided. Ageing and disease could just be viewed as a simple process of where the rate of damage at the cellular level exceeds the ability to repair at the cellular level. So it makes sense to stay healthy and live longer we need to reduce amounts of oxidative damage. The main thing we see in CR studies is the reduction of oxidative damage which may explain the biggest factor in how CR allows you to age slower. But how does that affect protein intake?

Protein oxidation and aging article

The importance of protein oxidation in aging is supported by the observation that levels of oxidized proteins increase with animal age. The age-related accumulation of oxidized proteins may reflect age-related increases in rates of ROS generation, decreases in antioxidant activities, or losses in the capacity to degrade oxidized proteins.

Implication of protein oxidation and diseases article:

In view of these results, the possibility that protein oxidation is implicated in various diseases, viz, arthritis, pulmonary dysfunction, and carcinogenesis deserves consideration.

But oxidation has to happen at some point if we are going to burn anything for fuel right? So what do we want to burn? Well your two top source are carbs and fat. So which is more ideal? For longevity and health you want an efficient fat burning metabolism. Why? Because it will keep you from storing fat, keep your muscle around, and perhaps slow down the overall ageing process because of reduction of factors that increase ageing with higher BF%, namely insulin resistance (and blood insulin levels).

Basal fat oxidation decreases with aging women study

These results support the theory that a decrease in fat oxidation with advancing age in healthy women is associated with a decrease in the fat-free mass and not age per se. Interventions that increase or preserve the quantity of fat-free mass (e.g., exercise training) may enhance fat oxidation and thus lessen the age-associated adiposity in women.

So what is the answer when it comes to anti-ageing and disease prevention?

• Keep intake of protein moderate (not excessively high % of your diet)
• Higher fat diets (40%+) will increase nitrogen retention (which is fancy terms for saving muscle from breakdown), therefore lessening protein oxidation (and reducing the amount of protein you would need in your diet)
• Higher fat diets (vs carbs) increase the full time ability of the body to burn fat (increased fat metabolism)
• Eat a reduced calorie diet to reduce the amount of oxidative damage through the digestive process

So I know the BIG question people will have is how much protein is too much? Well I don’t want to go by % because that will depend on how many calories are in your diet. If you look at the zone model of 30%, I would say that should be as high as you need to go. If your fat intake is high enough to keep your calorie total up, then you really don’t need a ton of protein to even build muscle. The most I would ever say is up to 1g/lb of bodyweight (assuming your BF is lean, muscle building is your top priority, and keep in mind that is still pretty high…most semi-active people who focus on general fat loss and muscle would need only 0.6-0.8g protein/lb of lean body mass). There are lots of other factors in building muscle too besides protein intake, so make sure to master those (see the Muscle Building 101 post)

So looks like another plug for and IF lifestyle that is based on a reduced calorie, mod/higher fat (healthy fat), moderate protein and low/mod carbs mainly from fruits and vegetables.

photo by wok

To lengthen thy life, lessen thy meals.

Benjamin Franklin

I wanted to go over the most often questions I hear/read about IF and how to use it. This could also be a great starting point for someone just trying it out as well as for the more advanced people.

Q: What is CR and IF? How are the 2 related?

A: CR stand for calorie restriction where you basically eat less calories every day compared to your “normal” eating requirements. This could be as low as 30-40% less than average. IF is not the same as CR. IF is intermittent fasting where you fast from all foods (just water) for a defined period of time. On your days where you are fasting you are eating less foods in a smaller time window…..so in a sense it is a form of CR for that day (as you would probably not eat the same amount of calories in a full day of eating vs just having 6-8 hours to eat). It is not as drastic as the 30-40% lower in most cases, but does provide for an overall less calorie intake when you average your days together. IF provides all the benefits from a CR plan with the additional benefits that come from fasting (that eating all day can not, even if very little). Namely better responses in fasting blood glucose levels, fasting insulin levels, reversing insulin resistance and other cellular protective responses (heart, lungs, brain).

Q: What are all these new diet books about every other day eating?

A: Ok…this is my own personal question but you will start to see more books on the “miracle” diet of ADCR, or alternate day calorie restriction. I know of one book touted to be in major book stores soon with selling the idea of “eat anything you want one day….and then eat less the next”. Basically promising people they can eat anything while still losing weight. Although not healthiest way, but can work for the general public. But is it really sustainable,? Probably not. Here I will save you the $29-$49 for any ADCR or ADF (alternate day fasting) based book. Step 1: Eat one day, Step 2: Fast or restrict calories the next day (in the case of restricting calories they say eat healthy with fruit and vegetables), Step 3 repeat Step 1 and 2. Done. Pretty simple huh? Like I said, can work for the general public who have alot of weight to lose, but at some point weight loss will plateau and then you can not get away with it anymore. Hopefully at that point someone doesn’t get depressed and then go back to their normal eating habits and balloon back up (the inherent danger of EVERY diet book or plan). That is the problem with any diet saying you can “Eat anything”, as that is not a lifestyle plan and does not solve the basic problem. If you eat for health, you will get the weight loss and be able to create a lifestyle around it. So focus on healthy eating first, fasting or CR second.

Q: I am new, how do I IF?

A: Of course I would first say read my post on IF 101. To sum up quickly you can daily fast with a small eating window every day (my choice) or you can throw in a longer (24-36hr) fast 1-2x a week. Which is better? The one you can effectively and consistently fit into your lifestyle! People who are more active tend to do well on the weekday small IF windows, while people who are not as active may do better with adjusting to the longer fasts 1-2x a week. No matter which one you choose, I still say the #1 factor is still going to be quality foods….not doing IFOC (IF on Crap). You will not get the benefits from IF eating junk or sugar during your eating window and may even gain weight. Quality of foods first, and then IF just adds more results. Smaller meals in the IF eating window also are better than just one big meal, so break it up and make sure you are getting quality protein with every meal.

Q: So which fast is best for overall health?

A: Longer fast will have more direct impact on being able to deeply detox and rebuild at the cellular level vs doing a brief fasting window daily. While I personally like the daily IF to keep performance levels up and maintain/gain muscle while losing fat, I also plan to more routinely add in a 24-36 hr fast at least once a month for that deeper health benefit. Again there are no set rules to IF, you make what works for you and can always adjust it from week to week. The main factor is consistently, what will you consistently do in your lifestyle and still keep you happy and stress free.

Q: What about drinking a shake pwo? (post workout)

A: Short and simple, you don’t need it. Eat a whole food meal 60min after a workout of protein and carbs. Unless you are a professional athlete, train for hours everyday or have a huge volume of training and recovery needs, you are not needing that quick glycogen loading window. If you want to play with just BCAA supplementation pre , during or pwo for muscle building, then that could be of benefit. But avoid the sugar spikes. Plus around here for longevity we stress the fat metabolism for fuel, so glycogen replenishment is not as big a factor once we can adapt to a fat based metabolism. You will replenish your muscle glycogen fine over a couple of days. Avoid the insulin spike esp if fat loss is your #1 goal.

Q: For a higher fat diet, where do I get “healthy” fats?

A: Best sources will be the healthy sat fats (steaks, eggs, butter…from 100% organic grassfed animals ideally), MCTs like Coconut Oil, and Monounsaturated fats like X-virgin Olive Oil and avocados. Other EFAs include some Polyunsaturated fats in the form of Omega 3s and 6s including Fish Oil, Nuts and Nut butters (Almonds, Walnuts….Peanuts are NOT a nut, they are a legume). You should limit the amount of Polyunsaturated fats (esp cooking in veg oils) as they are highly unstable and cause more free radical damage to the body/cells (throw away that margarine as it may increase your risks for cancer!). Trans Fats should be avoided at all costs.

Q: How does drinking lemon water (lemons which are acidic by nature) actually increase the alkaline ph of the body?

A: It’s not so much the acidity of the food in it’s natural state that matters, but it’s net effect through digestion on the body’s overall ph. In this case, citric acid (from lemons) is something that may start acidic but through digestion and utilization in the Krebs Cycle (or Citric Acid Cycle) helps to turn the body more alkaline. (Hence why lemon juice and vinegar can be healthy for you) Here’s a pretty good overall more detailed explanation. “The Citric Acid Cycle, being able to free hydrogen ions of its electron is also one of the major buffering systems of the body. “

Q: Do I shake Kombucha?

A: Ummmmm……Sure…..just make sure you do it and open while you are driving in your favorite shirt and pants!

photo by Fenchurch

Much like was discussed in Fat Loss 101, building muscle is basically a hormonal event. Hormones such as testosterone, insulin, growth hormone and cortisol are giving the body signals on whether to build muscle, or break it down. While exercise is necessary to create a stimulus for certain hormones to be activated, it is also just a small part of the equation. This is why you will see so many people putting in hard effort at the gym day after day, and never really getting any results. So throw away all those books, stop spending $400/month on supplements, cancel your magazine subscription to Muscle Weekly (or one of the other 75+ fitness magazines out there), and master the basics. This is where you get 90%+ of your results from.

Who needs strength training? Everyone! Any age and yes women too! (Don’t fear ladies, you do not have enough hormones to get all big and buff….just that nice toned look you are looking for). In fact, muscle mass has been directly related to the rate at which we age. I guess once you tell the body that you don’t need muscle to do anything, it thinks it is time to shut down! Once you start losing muscle, you see an increase in fat and that is never a good thing for any long term health factor. The muscle most effected is the Type II (Fast Twitch) and not the Type I (Slow Twitch). So moral of the story is, want to live longer then build and keep your muscle! (Just ask Jack LaLanne who is still running around at 94 years young)

Now let’s look at the Hormones we want to use for building and keeping muscle:

• Testosterone - We have all heard about this one, it builds muscle
• Growth Hormone - Another muscle building (and fat burning) hormone
• Insulin - Using this properly can help to stimulate more muscle building by bringing in more amino acids into the muscles (too much and at the wrong time will only store fat)
• Cortisol - The bad guy who breaks down muscle (some is needed, too much is bad)
• Estrogen - Brings down your Testosterone (hence why women will not build the same size muscle as men). Too much has also been linked to cancer.

Ok so now that we know the players, let’s see what we need to do inorder to get the results and control the hormones for building muscle.

• Eat protein - The more amino acids you can make available to the muscles, the more they will be able to build up. There is a point of diminishing returns, but most active people need at least 0.6-0.8g protein per lean (not total) lb of bodyweight.
• Eat Fat - Higher fat diets raise Testosterone levels. Also higher fat diets have a nitrogen sparing effect (which means less muscle breakdown and wasting). Usually this means over 30% of your daily calories should come from healthy fats.
• Eat more Sat Fat and Monounsaturated Fats - These are the types of fat shown to increase more Testosterone levels (Steak and Eggs!). Also your body uses Cholesterol to build the hormone Testosterone (another plug for steak and eggs). If you are still weary about fat and cholesterol, you can read this excellent article and make up your own mind about it. Oh and Zinc is also key to T-levels (3rd plug for steak and eggs).
• Do not eat low calorie - Doing this too often will just cause a drop off in T-levels.
• Get your Sleep - As we talked about in the Fat Loss article, most of your GH is produced at night. So get your sleep and build muscle in the process.
• Skip the Alcohol - I know St Patty’s day is right around the corner, but alcohol in excess drops your T-levels. So keep it to a 2 drink maximum when you do go out otherwise you won’t look too good with less muscle and more fat around your belly.
• Lose the Fat - People who are higher in fat, will always be lower in T-levels (and higher in Estrogen). So goal #1 should be to get your bodyfat lower and then worry about adding in the muscle as it will be easier at that point.
• Take Fish Oil - Omega 3s will keep you building muscle and keep cortisol levels at bay. Also improves insulin sensitivity (see below) of muscles.
• Improve Insulin Sensitivity - Insulin is necessary to shuttle in amino acids into the muscle tissues (although too much is not good!). So you need to do things to decrease insulin resistance and increase insulin sensitivity including lower carb diets, carb cycling, resistance training, losing fat, and yes…fasting.
• Eat Your Veggies - Especially broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage that help to keep the Estrogen levels low (High Estrogen=Low Testosterone). This is also a good anti-cancer strategy especially in women.
• Improve your Gut Health - If you improve your health, your digestion improves and you improve the amount of nutrients/vitamins/minerals that your body can digest/absorb/utilize. Taking things such as digestive enzymes with meal may give you more use of the food you are eating. Oh yeah….fasting also helps to improve gut health!
• Detox Your Body - Get rid of all those toxins, take the toxins out of your daily lifestyle (food, drink, water, air, skin) and let your organs like the liver and kidneys work at more optimal levels. A healthy body will always reflect it and look that way as well.
• Train the Right Way - You want muscles? Then learn how to train them quickly and effectively with resistance training. Start with compound movements first to get the hormones up. Lift heavy and with shorter rest periods (reps of 5-10 with 30-60 sec rest between sets). Do enough volume (25-50 total reps per exercise….5×5, 3×10, etc). Keep the intensity high. Get your workout done in 30-45 min. Lift only 2-3x week (most people only need 2x if they are intense enough….as muscles do NOT grow in the gym, you need recovery!)
• Less Cardio - Too much too often will just waste muscle, lower T-levels and hamper any attempt you have at building muscle. If you want to do something, make it short and intense to keep GH levels high and cortisol levels low. This is why you will never see a chronic jogger with alot (if any) muscle…unless they are eating 5000 cal a day or taking some other type of cortisol suppressing hormone “supplement”. Here’s a good read on danger of the cardio obsession so many people have nowadays.
• Eat Post Workout - As you muscles are primed with high insulin sensitivity for a healthy protein+carb meal. Your window goes from 30min to 3 hours. Best is to eat small but frequent meals (not just one big one). Some people may benefit from a quick amino acid + carb drink (but if your main goal for now is weight loss, skip this!)

So if you are spending 5 days a week at the gym and never seeing results, go over the list about and realize you have to look at the whole picture. You can build plenty of muscle only lifting 2x a week and having the right lifestyle around to support it. If you can master these things and learn how to control your eating, lifting and recovery you will build plenty of muscle. Wouldn’t it also be great if you could do this all while improving your health, losing fat, gaining muscle , detoxifying your body, reducing insulin resistance and eating less calories overall to help extend your lifespan? Could that be…..IF?

UPDATE: If you are interested in more information about Fat Loss and Muscle Gain, please see the related posts below:

More on Muscle Building - Reader Q&A

Fat Loss 101 - Master the Basics

Just wanted to let everyone know that I will be doing an “IF Challenge” for people wanting to lose weight, get healthier and gain muscle. Sorry, don’t have a fancy car to give away as a prize or anything….but hopefully this can motivate some people who may have not been doing IF seriously or at all to get some results. Your prize will be the glory and fame of going on the front page of the blog! (when Oprah calls you….you can thank me then) Still working on details and such…but any feedback on what you would like to see happen is always welcome.

photo by nathan

The biggest question people have is how to effectively use IF (intermittent fasting) to achieve their goals and maximum results. These results and goals can vary by each person with fat loss, muscle gain, better health, improved performance in your sport of choice and more. With that comes the individuality of what is a person’s insulin resistance, current body composition (bodyfat%), daily lifestyle, eating habits, macronutrient ratios (carbs/protein/fat), type of exercise program, frequency and volume of training, recovery demands, and so forth. You are unlikely to find 2 people with the same set of parameters and same exact responses to an IF protocol. What does this mean? Well just that we need to start with a basic IF program, and then learn how to monitor results and adjust as we go. Even down the road things will change as you will improve health, lower insulin resistance and maybe change performance and recovery needs. So nothing is ever just one set way. Life is dynamic (always changing and evolving) and so should be the way we see our own journey for health and fitness.

What is IF?

For those that may not be familiar to the term, intermittent fasting is just taking times of fast (no food) and working them into your lifestyle. This can be either daily or a couple times a week (will get into that more below). Benefits include improving insulin resistance (which you will hear alot about as being the #1 key marker in so many health factors including weight loss, muscle gain, performance, recovery, anti-ageing and disease prevention) and giving the body a chance to do some internal cleaning (or housework), which can lead to improved immune function and overall health. If you want to see studies of all the benefits of IF/CR, please the resources page.

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photo by juliagriggshavey

It seems everyone wants (or needs) to lose weight, but with all the information out there it just gets more and more confusing for the average person to know what to do? Let’s back it up a little and start from the basic understand of how fat loss happens in a simple and easy manner. Once you can master the basics, that is probably 90% of where all your results will come from!

Fat loss first and foremost is a hormonal event, the right hormones telling the body to release the stored “energy” in the fat cells to burn off. It is also important to know that there are also fat “storing” hormones that act in the opposite way, triggering the body to store “future energy” into the fat cells. The body triggers these hormones through many different stimulus like food, drink, exercise, stress and sleep. Fat cells are just the body’s emergency storage tanks afterall. If we didn’t have fat cells, we wouldn’t have survived the famines of the past. It’s a built-in survival mechanism that is getting all the wrong signals today. The body wasn’t designed around constant intake of food, especially the processed and high in sugar kind. (as that is not something that naturally grows on trees!)

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