The secret of health - 10 Myths about losing weight

One month back, I have written an article -The Secret of Good Health: It's Not What You Eat, It's When You Eat. The basic idea was by changing the time of your meal, you can improve your health. So does it work? I applied it to my lifestyle and after a month here are the results.

What I did basically 16-8 intermittent fasting where you fast for 16 hours and eat within 8 hours window. Within a month, I see the significant changes. Now I feel better than ever before. I am more energetic, I don't feel hungry, I can do more in my everyday life. It not only improved my physical health, but also mental health. I finish my dinner by 8:30 PM and after that I don’t eat anything. Before I used to eat snacks at night, but now I have given it up. I started with 12 hours fasting, meaning my next day breakfast time was 8:30 AM, then I gradually extended it to 16 hours to 12:30 PM breakfast time. It’s not difficult to do, after a few days, you don’t feel hungry anymore. I drank lots of water, black coffee and black tea during fasting window. And during my 8 hours feed time window, I eat normally 4 times a day - breakfast, lunch, afternoon snacks and dinner. I didn’t go for extreme diet like other people do for weight loss, but one thing I gave up is sugar.

So what is the science behind this weight loss? I figured out It’s all about controlling your hormones. Two specifically, Insulin and Cortisol. Insulin hormone helps glucose in your blood to reach cells. Each time you eat, insulin triggers and if you eat frequently Insulin level stays high in your blood and high insulin accumulates fat. So when you fast, you give your insulin a rest. And if you keep doing that your body will start getting energy from your fat and you will be in fat burnig state. Another hormone that contributes to fat is Cortisol, this is basically a stress hormone. If you are stressed out, it will increase glucose in your blood. The best way to manage this is to walk everyday, at least 30 minutes.

If you are looking to lose belly fat or want to lose weight, I think I can help you to live a healthier life without sacrificing good things in life. It worked for me, it worked for people around me, so it will work for you as well. First you need to understand a few misconceptions:

1. If I burn more calories than I consume, then I will lose weight. Wrong. Body doesn’t work that way.
2. If I avoid fatty foods, or follow no fat diet, I will lose weight. Wrong. Fat is actually good for you. Even Keto diet encourages fat consumption. You should consume more fatty food in your eating window after fasting. Fatty food doesn’t make you fat, it actually makes you more full-filled after your meal.
3. If I do regular exercise or gym, I will lost weight rapidly. Wrong. Exercise contributes to roughly 15% of weight loss, rest is diet.
4. If I do high intensity exercise in gym for a long time, then I will lose weight. Wrong. High intensity exercises for prolonged time increases Cortisol stress hormone, which actually contributes to fat. This is body’s defence mechanism, if stress comes body needs to store energy as fat.
5. If I give up Carbohydrates like rice, I will lose weight. You will lose some weight, but it’s not sustainable, you cannot give up for rest of your life, can you? Also your body also requires carbs, you will feel weak if your diet has no carbs. Better to reduce the amount. One trick that I used to lower carb consumption is to eat salads, vegetables and meat before eating rice. If you keep rice for the last, then you cannot eat much.
6. If I fast for long like 24/48 hours then I can lose weight rapidly. May be but that’s not sustainable. Your body needs nutritions. You will find lots of youtube videos suggesting prolonged fasting, but I am against it. Fast in such a way that becomes your lifestyle, that will not compromise with your energy level.
7. If I do belly reducing exercises regularly, then my belly fat will be reduced. Wrong. There is no exercise for belly fat reduction. Exercises tune your muscles not fat. If you get to the fat burning stage, then other fats will be burned first and your belly will be last. Because that’s where your body stores energy in case of threat or danger. So don’t target for belly fat loss, target for weight loss, eventually you will get belly fat loss. Otherwise you will get frustrated and give up.
8. If I do fasting for one month and if I lose weight, then I can go back to my old lifestyle. Wrong. Make intermittent fasting your lifestyle. If you continue for a month, you will see the results. You will not feel hungry anymore, your body will be used to this. You will be able to trick your mind that you are not actually fasting since you are drinking tea/coffee/water all the time.
9. If I eat a lot of protein and no or low carbs and fat, I will lose weight. Wrong. Excess amount of protein consumed can be stored as fat. Balanced food is always good for you.
10. If I only diet, I will lose weight. You will lose weight temporarily but after a while you will gain back weight. You cannot be on diet rest of your life, you will miss out many enjoyable food. That’s why its easier to control time of eating rather than what you eat everyday. Only diet won’t make you energetic and cure other diseases, you will need to add movement i.e walking to your daily lifestyle. If you can’t do it in the morning, do it in the evening or night. You don’t have to walk fast, trick you mind that your walking objective is not to lose weight but to increase your energy, to increase the blood flow in your brain. That way you can sustain for long. Use earphones and your smartphone to learn something while you are walking or talk to someone, your time will go by without any pressure. One last thing I would recommend, use a smart watch. Health apps tracks your movements and rewards you with badges which are very encouraging.

There are thousands of youtube videos on weight or fat loss, it has become an industry by itself. But most of them are misleading, confusing and will suggest to do extreme things which are not sustainable. Here what I have suggested is something anyone can do easily without sacrificing much. Just need the willpower to live a healthy life. Remember if you are not healthy, you are not happy.

Lastly, what made me write this article? Well I'm not a doctor or a fitness guru, but with experimentation and research I found out these things. One thing that fascinated me is insulin hormone. If you have a condition where your pancreas cannot generate enough insulin, then you are diabetic, on the other hand, if you generate too much insulin, that will make you fat. I'm leaving you with a video that proves my points. Hope this will help you to change your life.

For any query or questions, contact me: tashfin@kotha.app or find me at X @tashfin.