If you’d prefer to exert a bit more control over your eating schedule, but not necessarily the composition of your food (initially), I would recommend working toward a time-restricted-eating (TRE) or intermittent fasting approach. In fact, no matter what diet you prescribe to, whether it’s vegan, carnivore, or you name it, I would recommend TRE due to all the health benefits that come with it, particularly autophagy. Here’s the best way to get there in a month:
- Don’t change anything else about your diet, but restrict your eating window (any intake of calories, so essentially any food or drink aside from water, black coffee, or unsweetened tea) to a twelve hour period. In other words, allow at least 12 hours to pass from the last calorie of food that entered your mouth at night until the first morning bite. If you’re already doing this then go right to the next step.
- Over the next four weeks, constrict the TRE window by 1 hour/week. So, 11 hours in week two, then 10, 9, and 8. By the end of this month you should be eating in an 8-hour window and fasting for 16 hours per day (hopefully half of which are during sleep…).
- By this point you will likely be eating healthier and overall a bit less by default (cravings and appetites will evolve, trust me), so losing weight (if that’s your goal) or increasing athletic performance should come naturally.
- If you’re not eating any healthier, then once you establish your eating window then you should dial in the nutrition. If you’re not following a protocol, keep the macros (carbs/protein/fat) relatively balanced calorie-wise. More importantly, pay attention to your sources of carbs and fats. Pretty basic stuff; I won’t get carried away with the recommendations, but
- Fewer processed foods, more whole foods.
- Fewer grains, more fruits & veggies.
- Animal protein/fat from as natural state as possible (e.g. wild over farmed, grass-fed over grain-fed).
- Stay away from trans fats and highly refined oils. Olive oil, avocado oil, fish oil, nut oils, MCT oil are best. Organic over pesticide-laden for fruits and vegetables.
- Personally I’m OK with GMO when done for the right reasons. In fact it can be superior for health in many cases.
- Limit the sugar intake. Sugar substitutes can help, especially initially if you have a sweet tooth, or if you’re working towards a ketogenic diet. Some suggestions here.
- If food choice is your biggest problem, be patient…as you eat healthier, healthier food tastes better. If that doesn’t happen quickly enough, then practice some ‘delayed gratification’ by easing your initial cravings with a healthier snack.
- This is also an excellent springboard into more complex, harder-core, top-of-the-food-chain approaches, such as what I describe on the advanced dieting page.
Here are some excellent links to do’s and don’ts and Q&A on intermittent fasting (All of these podcasts have tons of additional episodes focused on fasting, but particularly Rhonda Patrick’s Found my Fitness podcast):