Ep. 029 - Intro to Fasting Part 2: Mastering the Stages of Fasting for Optimal Health

SHOW NOTES

Today we pick up the 'fasting' conversation from the previous INTRO TO FASTING episode only now we're talking about how your body's unique fasting states can be optimized to burn fat.

We're not just talking about skipping breakfast - we're covering everything from the fed state where your body is absorbing nutrients to the fasting state where your body is running on stored energy.

This episode is packed with invaluable insights on mastering each stage, making smarter food choices, and understanding the potential downsides of hunger, decreased energy, and stomach discomfort.

So, tune in and equip yourself with the knowledge to optimize your health!

TRANSCRIPT

I have a fantastic episode today that is really going to help you feel more confident with fasting. Today, we're uncovering the different stages of fasting states.

Welcome to man in the Arena, your go-to podcast for all things related to health and weight loss for men over 40. Here, we discuss strategies that will get you off the sidelines and into the game so you can achieve your optimal health. It's time to lead a legacy of longevity.

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Now, in today's episode, we're looking at the distinct stages of fasting that your body goes through in order to burn fat. Whether you're a fasting guru, you've been fasting for a while, or you're a complete newbie and you're a little bit nervous to get started, there's plenty to learn. What I want you to take away from this episode is the different benefits and side effects that come with each stage, and then how can you optimize each stage as well. We're just going to jump in and get started.

Stage one this is called the Fed State. Watch it. Picture yourself one to two hours after a good hearty meal. This is the moment when your body's working and digesting the food. It's absorbing nutrients and doing what it needs to do to stabilize your blood sugar levels, so you're releasing insulin at this point. The fed state is characterized by decreased hunger, a burst of energy, so you're going to see increased energy and you might feel a slight bloated feeling. This stage lasts three to four hours. This is where your body absorbs all the nutrients, and it's an essential phase because it allows your body to store the energy and all those nutrients for future use. Now there's several benefits to this stage.

Of course, you feel the pleasure of eating, you feel full, you feel up on essential nutrients and then, like I mentioned earlier, your blood sugar gets into balance. But there's a number of ways that you can optimize this stage, and it's all about making smarter food choices. I've talked about this before on my podcast. You guys have heard me say this, but it's so important that you plan your meals in advance. It's so important that you use your prefrontal cortex to make really good food decisions rather than just these impulsive, emotional-based food decisions.

The other thing is you want to prioritize nutrient dense foods. Let me say that again you want to prioritize nutrient dense foods rather than calorically dense foods, because nutrient dense foods promote weight loss. This means lean protein, healthy fats, fiber and, of course, you want to avoid fast food, fast food, simple carbs that are high in the glycemic index. The other thing that you can do to optimize this stage is hydrate yourself. Water is analogous to oil in an engine it just helps things work way more efficiently.

Then the last thing and I've talked about this before how you can optimize this stage, this fed state, is to monitor your portion size, and you can do this using the hunger scale. I don't want you counting calories. I want you to tune into your natural hunger cues and know when your body feels full. If you're not sure what the hunger scale is, go back to one of my earlier episodes. I explain exactly what's going on there. All right, that's the fed state Going into stages two and three.

They're similar. One just feeds into the next. When we transition from the fed state we enter into this early fasting state and then that kind of extends into a fasting state. The fed state goes up to four hours and then so roughly four hours until 18 hours after your last meal. You're in this early fasting state and this fasting state. It's in these stages that your body is going to work through burning the glucose that you have for energy and move into transitioning into burning fat for fuel.

We become fat adapted With this. If you've fasted before, or maybe if you've missed a meal or you skipped a meal, you've gone into this fasting stage not by choice, but just because of circumstances. You know you start to feel these slight hunker pains. You see a decrease in your energy, your energy drops and you might even feel a little bit of discomfort in your stomach, maybe a cramp and emptiness, just this grumbling. So you might ask yourself why would anyone want to go into these stages?

Because there's a ton of benefits. That's why, in the fasting state, your body taps into the stored fat. We also see a reduced inflammation. We see reduced inflammation because your body's not working to break down food, to digest food, it's not working nearly as hard. We're not releasing insulin either, so we see this reduced inflammation, which is really healthy. Speaking of insulin, we also see reduced insulin levels, which is awesome, because insulin is the fat hormone. It produces, or I guess I should say it encourages fat storage, and so we see reduced insulin levels.

Now we're able to burn body fat as fuel and, most importantly, the fasted state kickstart the weight loss process. So here's the good news with all of this the more consistent you are with a longer fasting state, say 16 hours, your body becomes fat adapted. It becomes better at using fat for energy. So all those symptoms, those negative side effects like headaches, hunger, pains, sort of a negative mood, they all go away and I've seen this happen as little as two days and sometimes it takes up to two weeks. But as you get into a consistent fasting regimen, you notice those negative side effects go away and you get the benefits of the fasting. Okay, so how do you optimize this?

A few strategies to manage this stage. Just like you know earlier, you want to stay well hydrated. You want to learn how to properly process emotions to avoid comfort eating and snacking. Okay, a lot of different methods. Teach. Well, just resist the you know food urges. Just resist cravings Power through, distract yourself. I don't teach that. I think it's important to embrace different emotions, learn how to process them and then, once you learn how to do that with effective strategies, then you're not having to use willpower to power through. Okay, and, of course, when you learn how to process emotions properly, then you're not snacking, and snacking is a really negative thing that is going to impact your ability to fast and see the benefits of fasting.

And you know it's not rocket science now that we see we live in a snacking culture in North America and that's a big reason why we're seeing, you know, higher rates of obesity and diabetes is just, we're constantly eating and so now you know we want to gather the benefits of fasting on a day-to-day basis, okay. Lastly, something you can do to optimize these fasting stages is you can engage in simple, gentle exercise like walking, and this is going to help expedite the glucose burning process and get you into a fasting state a little bit more quickly.

Okay, now remember, you're training your body to shift from one energy source, which is glucose, into using body fat for energy. So it's going to take some time to get used to, but this is a benefit of what's called metabolic flexibility we get better at burning different sources of energy for fuel, and that's really helpful for our health. Okay, the next stage here is stage three, and it's the long fasting state, and I define it as lasting anywhere between 18 hours and 48 hours. When we move into the long fasting state, this is where things really become a little bit more magical, because at this point we start to experience this process called autophagy, and autophagy is our body's version of spring cleaning. Now, it comes from the Greek term of autophagy and what it means auto means sell, and then phygy means eat. So it's a process, literally, where a body starts to kind of eats itself, and more on the cellular level. So it's a process where our bodies get rid of the unwanted and damaged cellular components.

Cells accumulate damage due to aging, disease and they become less efficient. So with autophagy, what happens is our cells kind of we get rid of that debris, we get rid of the old cells and new raw materials come in for new cellular growth, and more and more research is being done on this, obviously, and we're seeing the benefits. There's a number of benefits. Obviously, it's related to longevity. Studies suggest that elevated levels of autophagy play a crucial role in regulating lifespan of all organisms on earth, and this is because of the new cellular renewal. The second thing is autophagy boosts our immune system. We also see a lower risk of cancer with autophagy.

It also has a protective effect on our brain and may prevent neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's, parkinson's, and mainly because autophagy removes toxic proteins from cells, which is linked to these diseases. Now, from a weight loss standpoint, autophagy also influences hormones like glucagon, insulin and ghrelin, and this decreases our hunger and our appetite. And, of course, we know the power in that. Now there are downsides to a longer fast 18 to 48 hours. When this autophagy takes place, not all of a sudden shine in rainbows.

Of course. Like I mentioned earlier, you might experience other side effects headaches, fatigue, muscle cramps. Some people report having bad breath because we're processing ketones. We're using ketones at that point. So if you're going to partake in prolonged fast, longer fast, make sure you stay hydrated. You want to rest well, you want to keep your mind off of food at this stage. You want to listen to different body signals and you want to adjust your activities accordingly. So, most importantly, don't be tempted to push too hard or too fast. You don't want to have many precautions in place. Most importantly, if you're going to do a prolonged fast, work with a coach, work with a nutritionist or a healthcare provider. Don't try to do this on your own. The final stage is the refed state. This is where we're going to gently break the fast and allow our bodies to recover. At this point, it's time to gradually reintroduce nutrient-rich foods to our system. Notice, I said nutrient-rich foods, not calorically rich foods. This is essential because it's going to replenish the nutrients and energy that we've kind of pulled from our stores. So some signs you're in this stage you start to see your mood improve, you have better regular digestion, better concentration and reduced hunger pains.

How do you optimize this stage? Again, just like the others, stay hydrated, go slow, reintroduce foods gradually. But, most importantly, I want you to have what I call an exit strategy. So, whether you've been fasting for 12 hours, 16 hours, 48 hours, I recommend that you know and plan exactly what you're going to eat when you enter the refed state. Okay, ideally you're eating foods that are high in protein with healthy carbs, like fruits and vegetables, or you have protein with healthy fats. So, that is to say, what you really want to avoid is combining foods that are high in carbs and high in fats together. Now, if you haven't had a chance, like I said earlier in the episode, go back and listen to the episode on the hunger scale. I also have an episode, previously called Intro to Fasting, which, in conjunction with this episode, gives you more information about intermittent fasting.

And combine these together. You're really going to have a good place to jump off of. That being said, that wraps up our tour of the different stages of fasting. Remember that this journey is individual and unique to everyone, so what works for one person might not work for another. Please consult a health provider before you begin any kind of fasting regimen.

I want to thank you so much for listening today. I look forward to next week's episode and, in the meantime, keep leading a legacy of good health and longevity. If you're ready to step inside the arena and change the trajectory of your health, head on over to the spear methodcom and download my free guide to learn simple and effective strategies on how to optimize your health today.