Fasting and [the modification] of human behavior (and more)

Surprise, surprise, I’m still alive. Yes I know, it has been such a long time since I last posted anything on here. Even more surprising is the fact that my traffic has improved. I would like to thank everyone who has been reading Primal Journal. I really appreciate it. Now, I have been thinking about a great way to make a come back and I just did not know what I should write about (too many ideas!). I finally decided to write about an aspect of fasting that I still have not seen covered.

Being a student and because I care a lot about the grades I get, my budget has been severely affected ( I work less). The biggest portion of my budget is usually spent on foods. Since I could not afford the foods I usually buy and eat, I had to change my strategy.While I was willing to eat some non-paleo foods, anything that is processed was out of the question. OUT are the fancy cut of meat (lamb, veal, horse, pricey fish, etc.) and IN are organ meats (more of them, since I was already eating them), cheese (especially the raw ones my mother makes), milk (not that much), sweet potatoes and potatoes. Definitely not bad, in my opinion.

Now, as with most ”poor” people, I could have given up evolutionary eating. I could have resigned myself to eat foods that make me feel unhealthy, bloated, and simply bad (Wheat and its refined form). I could have been like most people and eat that 1.30$ hamburger at McDonald’s. But, I did not. I like to eat foods and I refuse to eat food-like substances. Excuses to not eat healthy are just that : Excuses.

This led me to experiment with daily fasting, again. Indeed, a year and a half or so ago, I experimented with a few principles I read in Ori Hofmelker’s Warrior diet. Back then, I mostly did it because I needed more time for my studies and, obviously, cooking one big meal a day is easier than cooking 3-4 smaller meals. It worked wonders along those lines. However, I did this type of dieting only during the exam sessions.In other words, I stopped before I could notice any behavioural changes.

Accordingly, due to budget restriction and lack of time, I have been experimenting with a somewhat lean gain/warrior diet approach. I fast daily. On non workout days, I will break the fast around 3 to 5 PM and feast (no calorie counting). An example of a meal is a whole pork heart (about 450g of pleasure) and a large sweet potato(about as big as three white potatoes). On workout days, I will eat something small (protein) at 11am and workout at 12. I will then eat a huge meal and feast a second time during the evening.

Even though my diet has not been has strict as it was a few weeks ago, I feel like my body composition has improved while my calorie intake as not really changed (only the timing of the calories has). I gained 6 pounds and, yet, I am leaner (leanness being defined by the fact that my abs are more visible). My energy has not really changed at all unless I’m very sleep deprived which happens when you have papers that are due  (aka when you are a student).

One thing that stroke me as very interesting (Hey, I study body composition, so I get a kick out anything that is related to it) is that my body reflect quite visibly what we like to call the ”feast or famine survival mechanism”.  Concretely, whenever I wake up, I usually have quite defined abs and shoulders. Just before I break the fast, I usually have even more defined abs. I’m already quite lean so it’s normal that this happens. Whenever you fast, you heavily rely on stored body fat to fuel your muscle and the leaner you are, the more it shows. However, whenever I do eat (I will often eat 1500-2000 calories on the first meal from real foods), you can be sure that I will lose some of this definition in a few hours.

This is completely normal! In my opinion, it actually proves that my body is healthy. Whenever food enter my system, my body, which is now  adapted to periods of ”famine” on a daily basis, will use and store all the energy it has access to. In other words, it anticipate a time of famine and acts accordingly. In my case, the interesting part is that I get to see it with my eyes (Although it’s not drastic, I do lose some definition).

Another thing that has been quite interesting to me concerns my own behavior. I have absolutely nothing but theories to explain the change in my behavior but it’s interesting to say the least. Ever since I have been fasting on a daily basis, I have become somewhat more competitive, aggressive, lost some patience (only with things of no interest aka things that waste my time), focused, and more willing to prove myself.  Let’s just clear something up before we continue (and before you think I need some anger management classes). By aggressive, I mean that I know what I want and I actually GO for it. No physical or psychological violence are involved here. I guess we could say that I am more of a ”conqueror” now, if that makes any sense. Oh, and, whenever I do eat, my libido sky rocket.

Evolutionary speaking, this make a lot of sense. Most of the time, whenever evolution is being discussed, the notions of natural selection and adaptation are king. We often forget about a factor that I feel is very important : competition (between species and in between individuals). If, for some reason, you need something to survive and it’s limited (or at least, perceived as limited by your body), it does make sense that you become somewhat more competitive. It also make sense that once you get your ”survival fix”, you resume what you were created for : passing on the gene.

Well, the good news is my grades are quite high and, while I can’t say it due to intermittent fasting alone, I know it did help me (if anything, I had more time to study).This is something that strike me as quite interesting. I would definitely like to learn more about behavioral changes that are linked to food. Could being ”food-deprived” make us more dominant (or at least, more willing to be dominant?)? Anyone has any insight on the topic? Anyone has any similar experience they want to share?

 

P.S : This new approach has reinforced my stance on carbs. I eat more of them (sometimes as much as 150g when I break the fast) and I have nothing but positive things to say. This is not a nutrient war but a natural vs processed foods type of war.