Healthy body, healthy mind, healthy spirit

I think the time has come for me to start posting about health and fitness - another important subject I'm very passionate about. ??

I thought I'd share some tips on how I love to begin preparing for the season ????

Much like everything I do, I do it with the utmost dedication: from theory to practice to mastery.

Set some goals

Goals, as we all know, are important. They keep us on track. Whether doing work, running chores or planning on how to execute your health & fitness strategy, goals form a fundamental part of where you want to get to and most importantly what you'd like to get out of it.

It's much about the journey as it is about the destination, on this particular instance!

"Different strokes for different folks.", as the saying goes. Everybody has a different goal they'd like to achieve.

Some want to get big (muscly), others want to get lean. Some want to be strong, others want to be agile. Some train for long distance, others train for short distances.

And even then, things can change. For example, what you generally see in the world of "muscle building" is that winter goal may be to get big, but summer goals may be to get lean.

My goals

My main goal throughout the year is to preserve muscle composition, as the "seasonal" weight fluctuates. I love food, and I do love to indulge, so it's also important to be disciplined when time is right and break out of the vicious cycle of never-ending good food :)

I must admit, I do tend to be a little self-conscious, so I try and stay away from lengthy "bulking cycles", but muscle preservation warrants some inevitable "cushion"!

I like to look lean and slightly muscly, and I try and maintain that all year round, with exception of the winter season where I may pack on 4-6 extra kg (muscle and fat).

On this particular occasion, I'd like to introduce you to a technique I like to follow that has worked extremely well for me for many years. I have suggested this pattern to others, with great results.

The technique I follow yields amazing fat loss, muscle preservation and general health and well-being. It is a debated technique, with a lot of publications for and against it, but one has to be brave enough and try a variation.

Another thing to be wary of is that health & fitness, nutrition as well as food industries are all big business. Their primary purpose is profit, so when they bombard you with products, you need to make sure to take everything with a grain of salt.

The technique

1. I begin by fasting for 2 - 4 days (as outlined below)
2. Upon completion of the fast, I will then ease into a low-carb intermittent fasting strategy for 2 weeks (as outlined below)
3. Following that, I begin Cyclic Ketogenic Diet (CKD) 2.5 months (as outlined below)
4. And finally, start the maintenance period (as outlined below)

I know what you're thinking - W.T.F.?!? There is a method to the madness ... :)

NOTE: I will not be talking about specific foods or food groups, as it would be beyond the scope of this article.

The dreadful, yet rewarding beginning

There's no better way than to start with a good, clean base!

For me, this usually means going without any food between 2 - 4 days. The only acceptable consumption is water, tea and black coffee/espresso. This is classified as short term fasting, although there are many different variations of fasting, namely: intermittent, long-term (more than 2 weeks) and food group fasting.

Just on its own, there are many benefits to this. Whilst this topic is beyond this article (I won't mention specific references; a quick Google search will reveal a few), it's worth noting a few:

• Immediate and visible weight loss (water, and a limited amount of fat)
• Mental clarity, improved memory recall and overall cognition
• Getting rid of free radicals
• Improved skin
• Release of Growth Hormone
• For men, an increase in testosterone
• Allowing the body to rest from the continuous metabolic process

There are some drawbacks to this approach that are equally worth noting:

• Headaches (that usually go away on the 2nd day)
• Food/sugar cravings
• First and second-day empty stomach cramps
• Some may experience weakness, so strenuous exercises should be kept at an absolute minimum - better yet, no exercise

I would always advise that whoever wants to undertake this should consult their doctor.

Some background on ketosis and ketones

This short term fasting period is a great way to kick-start your fat loss process by inducing ketosis which produces ketones, an organic compound that is a great fuel substitute.

Ketones are produced via ketosis - a metabolic process which kicks in when your body doesn't have enough glucose to burn as the source of fuel. Ketosis turns your body towards its fat stores; this results in a build-up of acids called ketones within the body.

The term was much popularized during the Atkins Diet era, whereby the complete eradication of carbohydrates and sugars causes your liver to deplete itself of any final storage of glucose and glycogen. Now, because this little sweet (pun intended) molecule is our primary source of fuel, through ketosis cycle, your liver then starts to produce these ketone bodies via metabolization of your fat.

So there you have it - ketosis and its byproduct, ketones, aren't so bad after all - they assist greatly in fat loss.

Low-carb intermittent fasting

Just as you thought it was going to get easier? - it ain't - if you get through this stage, you would be begging to go back to eating nothing ... just kidding :)

Intermittent fasting (IF) is another fasting strategy. The goal of IF is also further fat loss, but IF is also known to be used as a long-term eating plan. (Remember, there is a difference between long-term eating plan and a DIET - diets are short term). That is, some people chose IF as a lifestyle choice.

With IF it's quite simple. You break your 24 hour day into FASTING PERIOD and EATING period. There are a few different ones to note, each yielding different results [fasting/eating]: 12/12, 16/8, 18/6, 20/4 and even 23/1 (guilty).

For example, if you pick the 20/4 ratio, this means that if you stop eating at 6 pm, the next window of eating will begin from 2 pm - 6 pm.

During the fasting period, the same principles apply as at the beginning section - water, tea and coffee only.

During the eating period, for me, I would follow a low-carb eating pattern: Moderate to high protein and high good fats and low carbohydrates. Since the feast is over a period of 4 hours, this would mean you would need to eat two relatively large meals.

Whilst low-carb eating is not necessary, one will achieve even great results. IF is definitely done even through a well balanced macro-nutrition diet.

Cyclic Ketogenic Diet

Ok Sash ... now you're really going crazy.

This is the critical period and the longest. This requires maximum dedication and discipline.

Cyclic Ketogenic Diet (CKD) is a class of diets where you do carb-loading periods. Much like intermittent fasting with eating and not eating, with CKD you divide your 7-day period where you eat low carbohydrate for 5 and a half days, to get the benefits of being in ketosis, and high carbohydrate for 1 and a half days. During the low-carb phase, you eat moderate to high good fats, but during the high-carb phase, you drop your fats to no more than 80 grams per day.

CKD gives you the benefit of replenishing your liver with glucose and glycogen stores during the carb-loading period, thus giving you the necessary energy throughout the remainder of the week once you go back to low-carb eating.

CKD is special as it is one of only a very small handful of diets that can burn the fat and feed the muscle simultaneously. Generally, this is hard to do under the "traditional" balanced macronutrient eating strategy. This means that you simultaneously burn fat, and have an added anabolic effect of muscle growth (albeit not a lot).

One thing that pure low-carb diets suffer from is that if done for a prolonged period, it can have a catabolic effect (covered below). CKD tackles this problem with the carb-loading period.

CKD is also great since it prevents your body from getting into catabolism. Catabolism is the UNDESIRED process of the breaking down of things - a series of chemical reactions that break down complex molecules into smaller units. In English? Your body begins to eat into your muscles, and that is one thing you don't want to lose for many reasons, but the primary reason is that your muscles greatly keep your metabolic process nicely humming along. More muscle, more energy you burn - less muscle, less energy you burn. Besides, you didn't go to the gym only to lose all of your hard earned.

During this period, your body will go through a complete transformation. One can expect to lose a great deal of fat (REMEMBER: there is a difference between weight loss and fat loss), and maintain or gain muscle.

Maintenance

Finally, it's all over and one can go back to living a normal life, but this means trying to make good choices with the eating habits.

Term maintenance generally refers to well-balanced eating, whereby one does not surpass nor go into the deficit with respect to their daily caloric intake. You find your Goldilocks zone, and stay in it throughout the year or as long as you can.

Easier said than done though. For me personally, while I do tend to balance myself out - I do this eventually. I enjoy good food, then find myself doing short-term or intermittent fasts throughout the year to make up for the periods of indulging.

Cardio and Weights

Almost every morning and evening you will find me at the gym.

My morning sessions are generally for cardio - walking, jogging, sprinting or boxing. I don't do a lot of cross fit but will jump on the grid on my own and climb a few monkey bars.

I try and walk regularly outside, as well as push bike weekend rides.

I do weights at least 5 days, and sometimes including a day on the weekend. Compounding exercises with push/pull split, and I will almost always do same muscle groups twice per week.

Supplements

There are 4 supplements I would have in my pantry:

• Low Carb 100% Whey Protein (with BCAA - Branch Chain Amino Acids)
• Creatine (mix of monohydrate and hydrochloride)
• Fish oil; and
• Vitamins

Whey protein is great as a quick pre or post-workout meal, and it helps with recovery and muscle-fibre building process.

Creatine is a substance that is found naturally in muscle cells. It helps your muscles produce energy during heavy lifting or high-intensity exercise. 

During working out, Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) is used, due to muscle contractions. The by-product of this process is Adenosine Diphosphate (ADP). A creatine supplement helps turn ADP back into ATP for energy and recover.

I may throw Nitric Oxide in there sometimes, as it helps dilate veins and helps promote oxygen transport to all of your large muscle groups for more energy and pump.

Alcohol?

Yeah, I get it - a hard week at the office - Friday night drinks? Surely you deserved a "cheeky one, or two"?

Sure, my drink of choice, when attempting this feat, would generally be vodka-lime-soda, for the carb-conscious folks. :)

Sweets, fruits & fizzy drinks?

Depends - I generally like to keep fruits out, as they have sugar (fructose), but am known to throw in a few berries here and there.

Stevia is a great sugar substitute and it tastes great. Diet cokes / Coke zero (and other "zero" variants) are generally but not in large quantities.

How do you feel?

Whilst challenging, throughout and after this period I feel incredible. I feel powerful, confident, satisfied. I look younger, I feel younger and most importantly I feel and am healthy.

I sleep better, I'm more energetic and my mental state of mind in a state of equilibrium.

My cognition much improves, as does my comprehension, memory recall, abstract and logical thinking.

Gotchas

Insulin Spikes: Big (as well as small) carbohydrates and sugars intake can cause an undesired insulin spike. In response, the pancreas secretes insulin, which directs the muscle and fat cells to take in glucose. Cells obtain energy from glucose or convert it to fat for long-term storage. This is an undesirable process as it relates to fat gain.

Kicking out of Ketosis: To be in ketosis, you must be below certain carbohydrate quota per day. While this depends from person to person, I generally try and stay within 30 - 50 grams of carbohydrates per day. This range guarantees that I will maintain ketosis. If you go over your limit, your blood sugar will rise (insulin spike), and you will be kicked out of ketosis, losing the benefits of fat loss.

Crashing: Sometimes you will crash. My crashes can be absolutely epic. Epic in my books usually means eating everything in the cupboard. It is a two steps forward, one step back scenario, but that's ok - you're only human. You pick yourself up, dust yourself off and stick to the goal.

Cheating: Yes. I do cheat meals. When mum places that big plate of homemade pasta or mashed potatoes, with creamy sauce and beef that melts in your mouth - the whole strategy collapses for that one hour :)

Putting it all together

I know what you're thinking - this is absolutely crazy hard.

I won't lie to you, it is - and it does warrant dedication and discipline. It is also something that is hard to sustain over a long term period.

Most people will achieve great results in eating normally, following a well-balanced diet. For me personally, this approach seldom worked. I would struggle to control my macro-nutrient balance, and would quickly and easily give up.

This is a well-structured strategy that works really well if followed. The only thing that stands between you and this strategy is will-power.

For me personally, this is not just 3 months of dieting - it is much more than that. I use this period for self-reflection, pushing the limits and boundaries of what will power can do and learning a lot about myself along the way.

I hope you found this post interesting and something to consider for your own journey of health & fitness for a better mind, body and spirit.