Finally Getting in Shape: The Japanese Rule to a Healthy Diet

I’m no biohacker, but I have a profound interest in nutrition, food, and how we can optimize our health and well-being. So of course, I always read and watch a lot of videos on new research surrounding diets like the ketogenic diet, intermittent fasting, paleo, and anything else that claims to be the key to optimizing our health.

Most recently, I tried intermittent fasting for 7 days. To be fair, I’m no licensed nutritionist and my diet was developed over my own research online. Here are some details on how I pursued it:

When I Ate:

• There are multiple ways to intermittent fast, and multiple levels of strictness and control, but basically I just skipped breakfast and dessert for a week, ate an early dinner, and focused on eating whole foods.

What I Ate:

• While I mainly focused on the time frame of when I was eating, rather than what I was eating, I was still careful to incorporate lots of vegetables and protein to maximize “fullness” without overeating.
• Typical meal: Broccoli (boiled), 3 eggs, pan-roasted edamame with chili garlic and cumin, bread, hummus, and an apple, with lots of water.

What Happened:

• First 24 Hours: I feel great! A little hungry before going to bed, but that’s probably because I don’t have dessert sitting in my stomach (I was used to treating myself to half a bar of dark chocolate, 250g, or recently, a piece of pineapple cake that my little sister sent me from Taiwan)
• 72 Hours: I am finding that I am SCARFING down all of my meals, because I am so hungry. I would feel incredibly full after lunch or dinner, but find myself really hungry again after an hour. I consider that I am not eating enough calorie-dense foods. Will add more bread and butter to my meals. Generally, I feel pretty good about what I’m doing and can see myself continuing this long-run with a few adjustments.
• 5 Days: I am still hungry all of the time, even after adding more calorie-dense foods to my meals. I have a constant headache, feel groggy, and emotionally don’t feel so good. I will go from feeling great to feeling really low, and am looking forward to the end of the week. I also find myself constantly thinking about food, even while I’m eating.
• 7 Days: Let this end.