Sometimes this is referred to as Intermittent Fasting (IF) but that is really something a little different that we\u2019ll talk about later. Time Restricted Feeding (TRF) is more accurate, though I don\u2019t like the term. I just say Meal Spacing, and I\u2019ve also heard it called Eating Window.<\/p>\n If you see a reference to, say, 18\/6 TRF, that means 18 hours fasting, 6 hours eating. But we\u2019re going to start a bit easier by talking about 12\/12 \u2013 fasting overnight for 12 hours, then eating within a 12 hour window,<\/p>\n Think for a moment about the word Breakfast \u2013 it doesn\u2019t mean a meal you have to eat as soon as you can after getting up, it literally means the meal with which you break your overnight fast. For it to qualify as a true fast, we really need to have refrained from stuffing our face for at least 24-36 hours. So we\u2019re being a bit liberal calling 12 hours a fast, but that\u2019s fine for now.<\/p>\n No judgement here though. I\u2019m as guilty as the next person of eating more food than I need, more often than I need it. I was as brainwashed as everybody else about how we need to eat early in the day to kick-start metabolism.<\/p>\n But in actual fact, it takes at least 8 hours for food to move through the digestive tract, and 12 hours or more for it be fully processed. We might think we\u2019re hungry after 10 hours, but our last meal is still being utilised.<\/p>\n When we eat 4 to 6 small meals a day, we never get out of growth mode, but we\u2019re adults and shouldn\u2019t be growing!<\/p>\n So, even if you\u2019re already healthy, fasting for at least 12 hours overnight will give your digestive system time to complete its work and draw breath before the next onslaught. We will also get out of \u201cgrowth mode\u201d. At about the 12 hour mark, your body will start looking for more food. We want to teach it to access its own \u201cbackup tank\u201d \u2013 your body fat \u2013 especially if you\u2019re overweight.<\/p>\n You want to allow each meal to move from your stomach to your small intestine before adding more food. Would you add more dirty washing to the washing machine when it\u2019s almost done? Same principle. It takes at least 3 hours for food to process in the stomach, more if you don\u2019t produce much hydrochloric acid, and eat lots of protein.<\/p>\n Ideally you would eat three meals a day, spaced about 5 hours apart. That might be breakfast at 8am, lunch at 1.30pm and dinner at 7pm. Though if you\u2019re eating a high carb diet and used to having to graze all day, you might need to start with four.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s work together on three goals. But before I tell you what they are, I want to stress three things.<\/p>\n \u2022 We are NOT reducing calories at this stage Start where you\u2019re at now. If you\u2019re a midnight snacker, stop that first. Then increase the amount of time between dinner and breakfast by 10-30 minutes a day. You can go hungry for an extra 15 minutes. We\u2019ve already established it\u2019s not going to kill you. (Unless you have a metabolic illness, then you already know you need extra care and help.)<\/p>\n If you already fast for 12 hours overnight, go to the next level and head towards 15 hours.<\/p>\n Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and no snacks. Sound simple? Go, you.<\/p>\n But if it\u2019s too difficult, start with 4 meals a day. As we work on goal 3, it will become easier to space your meals a bit better.<\/p>\n The first thing you\u2019ll need to do is figure out what your current level of protein, fat and carb intake is. If you don\u2019t already have a good idea, sign up with FitDay or a similar calorie counter website and enter your meals for a day. You might be surprised, or even shocked.<\/p>\n To be ketogenic, your ratios need to be something like protein 20%, fat 70%, carbs 10% but we\u2019re not aiming for that right now. Let\u2019s just aim for protein 30%, fat 40%, carbs 30%. Even that might take you a wee while, so don\u2019t panic if you\u2019re way off.<\/p>\n For a summary of good fats to start eating more off, go here<\/a>.<\/p>\n If you want to make some changes, think about three things:<\/p>\n I\u2019ll start the ball rolling:<\/p>\n My goal is to be fully ketogenic within a couple of months, and do my third water fast later that month.<\/p>\n Another member of the household:<\/p>\n His goal is to be fully ketogenic as soon as possible, maybe within a couple of weeks, and stay there for three weeks. Then he will review and decide what level of keto diet is his best maintenance level.<\/p>\n The remarkable thing about his progress so far is that he isn\u2019t usually a very good fat burner. Tune in next time to see how we\u2019re changing that.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.frot.co.nz\/design\/dietnet\/files\/2018\/08\/clocks2-400x225.jpg\")
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\nThe original plan was to cover all the different types of fasting today, but it soon became clear that was going to be way too much \u2013 so we\u2019ll just start with the easiest first step<\/p>\nTime Restricted Eating<\/h2>\n
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\nThe next thing to think about is\u2026<\/p>\nSpacing Meals within the Eating Window<\/h2>\n
Summarising what we\u2019ve learnt so far<\/h2>\n
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How can we apply this?<\/h2>\n
\n\u2022 Don\u2019t rush into it \u2013 take it slow, step by step
\n\u2022 If you are a diabetic, have another metabolic or chronic illness, or are on medications – get professional help from your doctor, naturopath or nutrition expert<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.frot.co.nz\/design\/dietnet\/files\/2018\/08\/arrow-400x300.jpg\"){kind=icon}
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\nGoal 1 = Fast overnight for 12 hours<\/h3>\nGoal 2 = Only three meals a day<\/h3>\n
Goal 3 = Increase the % of calories of good fats you\u2019re eating<\/h3>\n
Where are you at right now?<\/h3>\n
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