Presentation on fasting techniques at the Indianapolis Quantified Self Meetup.

1. LIFE IN THE FAST LANE
Brad Pillow
Indianapolis Quantified Self Meetup, August 2014

2. BEGINNINGS
• Roy Walford, the “father” of caloric restriction
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Walford
• First to extend lifespan of mice via restricting dietary intake
• Caloric restriction no longer deemed practical or good

3. FASTING
• Do it on a regular or semi-regular basis and one can view it as a diet or eating style
• Most diets and fasting vary these components:
• Caloric intake per meal
• Number of meals per day,
• Timing of meals
• Food composition per meal

4. FASTING/DIET METHODS
Diet Timing/Frequency Composition Limits Caloric Limits Exercise
Slow Carb
3 meals per day low carb 6 days, any 1 day ?? not integral
(Tim Ferris) Fast Five
eating in 5 hour window each
(Bert W. Herring)
day none none none
(Krista Varady, Ph.D) var calories ever other day none 500 on even days, any on odd
Every Other Day
days not integral
Leangains
(Martain Berkhan) eat in 8 hour window whole, unprocessed food specific specific
Eat Stop Eat
(Brad Pilon)
fast for 24 hours, 1x or 2x /
wk any any none
The Warrior Diet
4 hour window, 1 large meal any, small snacks while fasting veggies, protien, fat not integral
(Ori Hofmekler) Fat Loss Forever
1 cheat day, 36 hour fast,
(John Romaniello & Dan Go)
alternating any none none

5. EOD -EVERY OTHER DAY
•One of the few with actual science behind it
•Only one rule: eat no more than 500 calories on Diet Day, eat anything you want and as much as you want
on Feast Day, and alternate those two days
•Krista Varady, PhD, an associate professor of nutrition at the University of Illinois at Chicago
•Studies from their lab show that people can lose between 10-30 pounds in 8 weeks while following this diet
•People only eat about 110% of their daily calories on the feast day, instead of the predicted 175%
•First 10 days (i.e 5 diet days) are somewhat difficult (true for most fasting diets)

6. WHAT I DO
•Eat in 8 hour window
•I like to snack, so that helps prevent late night snacking
•I eat between noon and 8pm, means I sleep through a large part of my fast
•No breakfast (just a cup of green tea)
•I am famished at lunch
•Alas, too many weekends end up having late night dinners out
•Probably 80 percent compliant

7. RESULTS
•No large weight change
•Does help a bit curb my snacking
•I am at my optimal weight level, so perhaps won’t see any great changes (metabolic hysteresis)
•Note sure I eat overall less calories than if I had three meals a day
•I have done a few 2 day fasts and need to try that again

8. IMPORTANT
•Whatever you do, you should track calories… the “conservation of energy” is a cruel mistress
•Drink lots and stay hydrated. Tea and coffee seem to help with hunger. I think drinking something warm
tricks my brain into thinking I am eating something cooked.
•When fasting you should likely supplement with minerals, etc.