Uncle Rico and I have something in common: I missed my high school days. But it wasn’t winning the state championship that I pined for, it was my abs.
Diet and exercise are nothing new. It’s been around since man has had an appetite for food and for women. But one thing is for sure, the theories, the science, and the techniques have changed exponentially since man could get a wife in exchange for livestock.
So what works, what doesn’t, and what matters? I don’t have a clue. I’m not a doctor, and no, I won’t take a look anyway. Everybody is different, and every body is different — your age, your DNA, your metabolism, and your goals.
Mission (Almost) Impossible
If one thing is certain as a cop, it’s that having a routine is almost impossible. I roll my eyes at all the non-cop fitness influencers who post their routines as I mutter to myself, Must be nice. When you have shift work, forced doubles, swaps, call-outs, crime scenes, last minute subpoenas, and the myriad of other interruptions that officers suffer, it’s no wonder we struggle with diet and fitness.
Even though I’ve been driving a desk in detectives for several years now, I still work a mostly sedentary job just like everyone in a patrol car riding around town. Subsequently, I suffer the same effects which look suspiciously like a muffin top.
Be Intentional
So, what do we do about it? Any discipline we take on will be more difficult for us because of our schedule. The number one thing we can do to combat the dreaded spare tire is to stop making excuses and be intentional. So what does that kind of intentionality look like?
Meal planning or meal prepping is one key. That doesn’t mean eating weird things or boiling a week’s worth of bland chicken. It just means packing our food, making reasonably healthy choices, and committing to a plan. There’s a Jewish proverb that says, Your day starts the night before. Simply setting out your gym clothes, prepping some food, and packing your breakfast or lunch will make a big contribution to your success. Another key is creating a system that makes it easy to follow through with so that it will then become the path of least resistance — instead of winging it and ending up in the drive-through for the eighth time in a week. It’s all about the system.
Enter The Fast
The intermittent fasting hypothesis is that mankind was never meant to have unbridled access to food 24/7/365. Nor was man meant to eat processed food with tons of salt, sugar, and everything that tastes amazing but that we shouldn’t have. We eat what we want when we want and our digestion becomes overtaxed preventing us from taking in the proper nutrients and causing us to store excess fat.
Intermittent fasting is simply this: eating only during a designated “feeding window.” The most common feeding windows are eating within a 4, 6, or 8 hour block each day. That means you are NOT eating for 16, 18, or 20 hours a day. It doesn’t matter where that feeding window fits into your day. You get to pick, you just need to stick with it. The cleaner you eat, the better your results will be — this is not rocket science. This type of eating regimen creates space between meals which allows your body to process what you ate. It can also help your body use fat stores during that extended, in-between time.
For example, I chose an 8-hour feeding window. Since I work a split between day and evening shifts, I decided to eat between 11:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. every day. That way I sleep away most of the time I am not eating which essentially amounts to me eating a late breakfast. You can make it whenever you want to fit your schedule, just be consistent.
Nothing To Lose
Intermittent fasting was something I had heard and read about and it peaked my interest. It took nothing fancy, no extra expenses, and nothing more than paying attention to the clock. After running it by my doctor, I had nothing to lose. Personally, I like the idea of experimenting with things that have worked for other people and what research has shown as beneficial. Yes, it seems to be trendy right now, but I could care less about trends and fads. I’m a 40-something-year-old balding husband and father of three. Trends are the last thing on my mind.
Prior to hopping on the intermittent fasting bandwagon, I had done Tim Ferriss’ bulking plan that I wrote about in a previous blog. Three months of trying to beef up had developed me some (ahem) belly fat. Finding my abs again became my next goal and I hoped intermittent fasting would get me there.
What Happened
After six months of intermittent fasting I noted the following:
Pros:
- Easy to do
- Low risk
- Cultivates self-discipline
- Better digestion
- No bloating
- Moderate weight loss
- Increased water intake
Cons:
- Not eating when I want to
- Sometimes the hunger makes me hangry. (Ok, most times).
- Still haven’t found my abs yet
Tips and Tricks
If you want to try it, talk to your doctor first, then choose the size of your feeding window. When it’s time to eat, eat clean and work in some foods that are high in good fat and protein. This will keep you satiated and feeling less hungry while the feeding window is closed.
Have a water bottle at the ready.
I love my 40-ounce Hydroflask. It keeps my water cold and at the ready which helps me drink more water (I’ve always been terrible at that). I found that drinking water actually curbs my hunger as I count the minutes to 11:00 a.m.
Exercise.
That’s not a suggestion. There is a debate and various studies over the drawbacks and benefits of working out fed or working out fasted. From what I’ve seen, the net results are about the same. So, the choice is yours. If you work out fasted, I would suggest timing it so that the end of your workout leads into your feeding window. That will replenish your body’s lost nutrients and keep you from being so hungry you become homicidal.
Play the long game.
Nothing happens overnight. Give it time to work, to make adjustments, and to see and feel the effects. It’s different for everyone.
So is it the magic bullet, the wonder pill, or the guaranteed fix? I don’t think so. Are there benefits to intermittent fasting? Absolutely, which is why I’m still doing it. I’ll let you know if my abs ever turn up.
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