by: Sayed Farah
You probably won’t believe me if I told you that I fasted for 21 consecutive days. I consumed no food whatsoever, only water and coffee without any sweeteners or creamers. That’s OK. I wouldn’t believe me too unless I did it. That was in the year 2004, and it was in the middle of a 60-day no-sex no-masturbation experiment. I tried to repeat the prolonged fasting experience on several occasions since, but I couldn’t break the seven-day barrier. And lately, I can’t go longer than four days. The good news is you do NOT need to be that extreme. The bad news is that you are committing metabolic self-harm and negatively affecting your health if you follow the so-called healthy lifestyles that include items such as apples and whole grains, whether you know it or not.
Humans deposit fat under the skin, which is referred to as subcutaneous fat. However, due to genetics, lifestyle, and the resulting hormonal environment and tendencies, fat can also be stored inside and around the organs, which scientists call visceral or omental fat. Human males develop a protruding beer belly at different ages. On the other hand, females are protected by estrogens and rarely develop a protruding belly before menopause. The protruding belly, often called bubble gut, is the most obvious sign that you’re leading an unhealthy life and you’re inflicting harm on thyself.
Let’s start with the Smart Protocol. The 1st step is shopping, that is, to get what you need for the week. The exciting part is that you get a free day every week, typically Sunday or Friday, depending on where you live in this world. It can be any day; it doesn’t matter. So why is that exciting? Because you get to buy the cheat day stuff with the healthy stuff. Whatever your heart desires, gummy bears, sugary cereals, candy bars, pastries, or ice cream. Such a profound psychological boost when you don’t avoid those isles in the middle. It’s also a biochemical boost involving serotonin and leptin but let’s leave the biochemistry for different occasions.
My free day would typically be Friday; I’ll go shopping on Thursday evening so that the pastries stay fresh. If we assume the cheat day is day number 7, then the shopping day is day number 6, and it will be a full day of fasting. You’ll be euphoric and in a deep state of ketosis as nutrient intake was progressively manipulated in an intelligent, strategic manner over the five previous days. Shopping will never be this enjoyable: Sweet potatoes, eggs, almond butter, chicken breasts, and canned tuna in the same cart with regular jam, gummy bears, candy bars, and the evil yummy pastries.
your good partitioner friend who used to stay lean while eating pizza and candy bars will eventually become a lousy partitioner
It is a maintainable healthy lifestyle and as a bonus, you’ll look great and feel great. But we’ll call it a diet plan for now. So how come this diet plan is suitable for everyone? Such a bold statement, I know. Sure there are remarkable differences in how we humans react to food to the extent that we can theorize that several types of humans exist. Actually, I did theorize that several types of humans exist in a previous article. At the end of the day, it boils down to something called nutrient partitioning. Other factors include energy uncoupling and differences in futile cycles. Let’s not discuss those.
I’ll get to the plan in detail in other articles, but you need to understand why it works well and why it will continue working, unlike all other plans. If you understand, you’ll commit. So what is nutrient partitioning? If what you eat mainly gets stored as fat and you have difficulty losing fat when you follow the traditional “calorie deficit” plans, then you are a verified terrible partitioner. Even your good partitioner friend who used to stay lean while eating pizza and candy bars will eventually become a lousy partitioner. Usually, that happens in the early 30s for most, and it’s not a coincidence that most athletes in sports that require a high power output retire at that age. Oh, and you run into that friend you were secretly envious of at a reunion, and your friend looks like he’s seven months pregnant. The broad, muscular shoulders have turned into tiny rounded shoulders, and the buffed arms have turned into soft noodles.
The main problem with most plans out there is that a bodybuilder or a fitness influencer designs them. These people have ideal partitioning, and what works for them will not work for most people. On the contrary, a plan designed by someone with the worst possible nutrient partitioning like yours truly will work for everyone. Check out the about page on my website to read about the nutrient partitioning spectrum concept that explains it all. You can reach the website from the link in the bio on my Facebook profile.
Boys and girls, welcome to my world. Bad partitioning is my area of expertise. You’ll find several definitions for wellness. I have my own: Wellness is the middle ground between longevity and bodybuilding. My mission is to teach you how to look great all year long and reap all the benefits of ketogenic diets and fasting while avoiding all the pitfalls. Allow me to explain. Bodybuilding is the exact opposite of longevity. Take a look at practitioners and preachers of both lifestyles, and you’ll understand what I mean.
Let’s start with the fitness models and bodybuilders. Buffed, ripped, and looking good on the outside but with compromised cardiovascular and organ health. Bodybuilders are dropping left, right, and center with failing hearts, livers, and kidneys. Higher incidences of cancer are also indicated. High insulin over extended periods is the main culprit and, of course, the uneducated use of anabolic agents and stimulants. I’ve seen all the protocols, and most if not all, are completely illogical and frankly idiotic. Knowledgeable logical people do not speak out because they’ll get slain by the blind fanatic followers of some rice and chicken influencer guru. Take, for example, aromatase inhibitors and selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs). They are the greatest gift of science to men to be used with TRT but, of course, in a specific manner. However, the happily feminized influencers of both bodybuilding and longevity will have none of that. They agreed that those are evil. We’ll delve into that in other articles, and I highly recommend you read my article about estrogens.
a confession that you are not “well,” and a decision that you need to make a change
While bodybuilding revolves around activating m-Tor via insulin, growth hormone, anabolic pathways, and as many carb-based feedings as possible, longevity is the exact opposite. It revolves around the ketogenic state and minimizing growth pathways. Extended fasting to keep insulin release at a minimum is one of the main targets. In reality, most longevity fanatics are on more pharmaceuticals than bodybuilders. You name it: Sleeping aids, insulin sensitizers, antidepressants, appetite suppressants, some weird herbal extracts, and a cocktail of experimental compounds. That is not a healthy lifestyle, and it shows. Yes, thin and no beer belly but no muscle size, and muscle definition, no power, and no zest for life. Do not repeat my mistakes. I had a 26-inch waist, and I had a 40-inch waist with the the latter both as a skinny-fat individual AND as a muscular man with little subcutaneous fat.
Don’t be an extremist. Open your mind and understand the facts. It all begins with a confession and a decision, a confession that you are not “well,” and a decision that you need to make a change. You deserve to attain and maintain the healthy athletic version of yourself. Depending on your beliefs, that is what God or nature intended for you. We can’t all be the mighty alphas, but we all deserve to be well. How to achieve that is what I hope I can teach you.
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