You are what you DON’T eat!

I am sure many of you will agree that the words nutrition, food, meal plans, weight and diet are emotionally charged entities that carry with them associations of frustration, confusion, disappointment, longing, dissonance, complexity and limitation.

It is no wonder that with the plethora of literature, debate, opposing views, fads, weight loss rollercoasters and complication around this topic, that we are left feeling a little bewildered and directionless. Never before in our human history have we invested more resources in meal plans and dietary programmes and yet many of us still feel that optimal weight stability is not sustainable in the long term.

The largest challenge we face with nutrition is the myopic view that ‘one size fits all’ when it comes to eating and weight management. Yet each of us is genetically, physiologically and biologically unique and so what works for your friend or family member’s drastic weight reduction, may not be the optimal solution for you.

Our passion at Made To Thrive is to walk a journey with our clients to unlock the understanding of their specific, unique biology. Together with personal self-quantification data, tailored approaches to nutrition are implemented to ensure the most likely success. Over the last 20 years, the greatest secret that has moved the needle for my clients is that it’s not about eating less or necessarily eating ratio’ed portions from each of the different food groups, but rather about eating LESS OFTEN.

In other words, it’s not what you eat but about how often you eat that is a significant part to the body’s ability to rejuvenate, regenerate and function optimally. Fasting and times of NOT eating are almost more important than the times of eating.

But if everyone’s body is unique, and the topic of fasting is further complicated between the modalities of Intermittent Fasting, Water Fasting, The Fasting Mimicking Diet, The Elimination Diet… where does one start?

I partner with clients to quantify their genetic uniqueness and through coaching and consultation, we tailor action plans to ensure that your approach to fasting is appropriate for you and your physiology.

• Do you know how to test your ketones and what it means?
• How do you monitor and manage food intake to ensure it has the most limited glucose fluctuations to ensure energy and zeal for your body?
• How  do you know you’re eating the right foods for your body? Or whether what, or when you eat at night is improving or detrimentally affecting your sleep performance?
• What stage of life are you in?
• Do you have pre existing conditions (IBS, bloating, auto immunity or the like) that need to be taken into consideration?
• What goals are you striving to achieve? Perhaps its weight loss or you have a marathon to run and want optimal performance?

Resources and tips to get you started:

Read:

• The Complete Guide to Fasting by Jason Fung
• The Longevity Diet by Valter Longo 

Start simply with these best practices:

• Start by incorporating intermittent fasts to introduce your body to fasting before embarking on longer fasting periods
• Be non-negotiably cautious about consuming inflammatory foods
• Occasionally re-feed the body with unrefined carbohydrates
• Understand what foods cause glucose fluctuations (glycemic variability) so that you can control intake
• Whenever given the option between real food and packaged or processed food, choose the former
• Always try to eat a wide variety of multi- coloured plants, herbs and spices.
• Consider purchasing an Oura Ring to understand the impact of your food intake on your sleep quality, performance and health. https://ouraring.com/