I first learned about this secret around 10 years ago during a juicing "kick" of mine started after reading the book "7 pounds in 7 days"
It was a juice fast I did where it was nothing but juice recipes for 7 days taken from that book. Before I go down the juicing rabbit trail (or would it be "rat trail? 😂)and get distracted talking about that little adventure...
let me first share with you this "rat" secret you're here for...
The author, Jason Vale, brings up a groundbreaking scientific study done on rats a bunch of years ago. I tried searching the interwebs for the actual experiment... and I've lost my copy of that book, so I'm going off of memory a bit here so the details might be a bit wonky (Please forgive me, I am about to turn 43 you know ;) )
There were 2 groups of rats.
One group of rats ate normal rat food 7 days a week.
The other group was fed normal rat food 5 days a week, and then nothing but water for 2 days... aka, they water fasted.
Here comes the interesting part:
The water fasting group ended up living a lot longer. If memory serves me correct, I believe it was DOUBLE the lifespan.
The first group of rats that ate normal for 7 days had a lifespan of about 3 years.
The second group that water fasted for 2 days lived to the ripe old age of about 6.
Hmmm, why did they live so much longer??... you might be wondering? 🤔
From that book, the author stated that our digestive system is just like other systems and only has so many "miles on its tires".
It wears down from continual use and needs breaks and vacations just like us humans do if we worked 16 hours days week after week, month after month.
However, thanks to the wonders of modern medicine, us Americans already are living pretty long.
So if we were to run with this idea and drink nothing but water for 2 days each week, instead of doubling our lifespan...
... we would just vastly increase our energy and quality of life.
That is 2 days where your digestive system gets to "chelax" and take a break.
(insert "chelax" meme here) :)
Not spend energy breaking all that food down and getting to focus that energy elsewhere.
Not spend energy breaking all that food down and getting to focus that energy elsewhere.
Now how does this pertain to you?
If you want to do a full water fast and drink nothing but water for 1-2 days a week, go for it… up to you.
Obviously make sure it fits with your schedule and especially if you need to take certain medications. However, if you’re working out, I prefer a more modified approach…
… something with more protein since your muscles and body need repairing to grow more Anti-fragile.
There is actually a growing popular nutrition strategy out there along these lines, called the 5:2 protein diet.
Here you eat/drink normal for 5 days, and then for 2 days you just drink 2 protein shakes a day for those 2 days (so a 4 total protein shakes altogether). This is a simple little strategy especially helpful for those that are looking to burn fat and lose weight.
Not only do you get those energy boosting and life prolonging benefits of fasting those rats demonstrated for us…
but you likely end the week in an overall calorie deficit… which you should know is a huge component towards losing weight.
Instead of trying to go through all the rig-a-ma-row (that’s a word, right?) of modifying this and taking out that so you end up in a calorie deficit day after day…
… you just be a massive calorie deficit those 2 days and be done with it. Then back to normal eating before your body can adjust.
This is also the reasoning behind why myself, and a few of your fellow Workout Heroes, are now working in regular “micro-fasting” days.
On these days you just consume protein and veggies — keeping carbs and fats as low as possible so that your body has no choice but to use fat as fuel.
You get probably 80-90% of all the benefits and weight loss of fasting, but with none of the downside (like losing muscle).
These serve as excellent change-ups to your regular normal days of eating too because then your body can't get used to the same things over and over again -- growing kinda complacent.
This has been the thinkings behind many popular and successful diet plans like the Zig Zag Diet, and carb cycling strategies.
I'm just getting done with an experiment where I did these "micro-fasting" days for 4 days in a row, Monday - Thursday.
Then 3 days of normal and it went very well in terms of fat loss. A few of your fellow Workout Heroes also did similar strategies and I'll dive deeper into our results in a future episode, don't you worry your curious brain.
:) I am curious about doing this 5:2 Protein Diet and will try something similar next week...
... but instead of just protein shakes, I will have 2-3 yummy protein smoothies a day that use spinach, tomatoes, and frozen veggies in it.
My awesome Dad just dropped off a box of tomatoes from their garden he had to pick so that they wouldn't freeze overnight with the dropping temperatures...
so might as well "live" on them for a few days and see how it goes! 😄
If you're not doing these "micro-fasting" days but want to give it a try, just let me know and I'll walk you more through it. K, gotta get back to daddy duties...
Kason is looking fully recovered against his recent battle against an ear infection.
And with the help of world class pharmacist Carrie (and fellow Workout Hero!) he's back to full strength and running amok!
Looking forward to connecting with you next,
Your Guide & biggest fan,
Mr Trainer man Erick
P.S.
It's the 1 year anniversary of our Workout Hero music video!
Not only have we been awarded #1 gym for Best Looking Members (thank you, Randi! 😀)...
... we are also accused of being Eau Claire's COOLEST gym... because how many other gyms do you know of that have their own music video?? :)
Watching that music video was one of the first times that this whole crazy Workout Hero Club dream of mine felt real.
Felt like I was on the right path towards following through on my Purpose I believe God put me on this planet for.
Needless to say, that music video holds a special place in my heart... Here it is for your viewing pleasure if you haven't seen it yet... and if you're not yet a member but would like to start for free, reply back to let me know