Hey SB, I am finally getting to your question. You asked, “Would you share with me what your day looks like lately – as far as food intake and meal frequency” Thanks for your interest – I appreciate the renaissance of interest in intermittent fasting but below you will read why I don’t do this much, but others might. TO other readers, note that I tend toward type 2 diabetes, high blood sugar and insulin resistance, so the low carb that I eat may not be the best program for you. I recently showed you all my blood test results over the past years…You can find that here.

What are in my meals and meal frequency?  Well, the first thing I do is move rather than eat. Every other day or so, I start my day with a 5-10 minute body-weight workout. I have to be quiet because others are sleeping, so I do something like this:

Stand upright and squat down into a Handwalk (to a plank) –>then a pushup –> then alternating tummy touches –> then another pushup –> then Handwalk back to the low squat then a jump with a soft landing into a squat and repeat.

Throw some side plank and low lunge with a dumbbell row, and the workout is done fast but I limbered up and heated up. [I do more thorough weight – resistance workout/circuit about twice weekly, this lasts closer to 30 minutes+ of hard exertion.] But these morning things can literally be 5 minutes.

Then a small quick meal at 7:30 AM – I had this breakfast. Frozen spinach cooked in half olive oil and half butter.  Then two eggs are set over-easy once the spinach is fully killed. I use a cast iron skillet since I do not have “high ferritin” – which means my body does not store excess iron. This pan lives on the range top so cooking is crazy fast. Whole avocado – green salsa – 1/2 decaf americano coffee. 1/2 decaf because I am already wired enough, I truly don’t need more nervous system stimulation but Oh I love the flavor and tense little edge it provides.

Breakfast the day before was only a fatty coffee. I did a good scoop of collagen peptides organic valley cultured butter, touch of odorless organic coconut oil whipped up in a Nutri-Bullet.  This time of year (winter), I only skip breakfast 1-2 times per week, and I never skip dinner. The third Breakfast was virtually identical to that above. I will often have a handful of pecans or hazelnuts at this meal too, I do need the calories, especially with playful activities like squash, cold-day sprint/jog/walks and pond hockey keeping my metabolism pretty high. AT this low carb, I am not trying to be “low calorie”

I do not eat any snacks. There is rarely a daily circumstance where anyone should.

Lunch is leftovers from dinner.  Today – Cooked chicken thighs (3) with pecans and a mess of carrot/cabbage/Radish coleslaw. Yesterday – chicken thighs (3) with salad and a few cubes of aged cheese and lots of tahini and olive oil smothering the whole mess. This provides plenty of fats without the carb load midday. Day before, venison steak with over-buttered broccoli and Brussels sprouts that were cooked in olive oil, coconut oil and some bacon fat.

Dinner: This is my biggest meal, in part because…THIS is when I relax. Normal healthy cortisol flow looks like this. Cortisol follows the other stimulant neurotransmitters like epinephrine and norepinephrine – collectively these are called “adrenaline” – the fuel of our sympathetic nervous system – aka “fight or flight”. It follows that in the evening, with adrenaline at it’s lowest we are more parasympathetic, which is the neurological state that fuels relaxation, digestion and good conversation. Throw a glass of wine in there and I can comfortably eat over 50% of my caloric needs at the evening meal. Sorry this blog post is getting sciency, but too many authorities in America still erroneously state that our largest meal should be early in the day. Every time I travel to another country with a healthy intact culture and cuisine…breakfast is the smallest meal…petit dejeuner.

So dinner: It’s like lunch but bigger and this is where I bring more carbs in. I roasted 3 white potatoes with a couple shallots and an onion in olive oil and coconut oil. there were NO leftovers with two of us eating.  This was with asparagus in butter, a couple lamb chops, coleslaw (I made with mayo, tahini and vinegar with spices) with hazelnuts. And a couple glasses of red wine at that meal.  Several mugs of mint tea following the meal.

I am at 11-12 % body fat, so for me, I am not skipping many meals, as intermittent fasting. In the winter if I go below 10% body fat I get sick or injured. It’s like a line in the sand. Normal function occurs at >10% body fat for me, and probably for most middle aged active men. (Women reading this far, and thank you if you are, should realize that 10% body fat for men functionally equates to about 15-16% body fat for women.)

If anyone of you has comments – try to add the comments here…or post something on Blood Code Facebook page if you think it will help others.

I hope this simple reflection is useful. Bon appetit.  Richard