Being a self-starting entrepreneur comes with many challenges such as having to spend hours staring at a computer screen. On top of that, you’re expected to be highly productive throughout the day, and if you’re not, you feel like crap. The greatest and most life changing thing I did for blackswanmedia.co was to give time-restricted feeding a shot. Prior to taking on this new eating habit, I would struggle to stay focused and would get hit with these afternoon lethargy and fatigue waves. My will power would be low throughout the day and I wasn’t able to get good sleep. After making this change, literally every aspect my life improved.
The goal is simple and the benefits are superhuman. Time restricted feeding is when you fast for 14-16 hours each day and eat all of our meals in the allotted time window. It’s not about eating less, it’s about eating at the right time and here’s what research shows:
How It Turns You Superhuman
Go back in time to our primal ancestors and you’ll discover a superhuman state of being called “ketosis”. Ketosis is when your body releases ketones into your bloodstream and burns fat for fuel. On top of that, being in a state of ketosis increases your learning abilities, memory, intellect, reaction time, physical senses, lean muscle building capabilities, focus, and energy.
This is because in ancient times, if your body entered ketosis, it signaled that you probably hadn’t had a big meal in far too long and that your body needed to power up to give you enhanced hunting capabilities.
How to Enter Ketosis
There’s two ways to enter ketosis. The first is to prevent your body from burning carbohydrates. This first method can be achieved by having a ketogenic diet which is a diet that consists of proteins and fats. And the second is to burn through all of your carbohydrates and enter a fasted state.
For the purposes of this article, we’ll talk about how to achieve a fasted state through time restricted feeding. But, before doing so, it’s important to talk about why ketosis doesn’t lead to muscle break down but instead leads to muscle build up.
In order for the body to begin breaking down muscles, it actually needs carbohydrates. That’s why people who starve themselves lose muscle and look unhealthy – their diets contain carbs. And carbs are the fuel for muscle burning. So, when your body doesn’t have carbs to initiate the muscle burning process, it instead resorts to burning fat for fuel. And that is the magic of ketosis and what separates it from deprivation.
The Window
As we said before, ketosis isn’t about eating less, it’s about eating at the right time. Researchers took two groups of mice and fed them the same exact foods. However, one group ate on the normal American schedule of breakfast, lunch, and dinner, while the second group of mice ate in an 8 hour time window. The results were shocking.
The mice from the normal time windows gained weight, developed diabetes, and a whole host of other health problems. The mice that ate during a time restricted window instead developed muscle and experienced all the superhuman benefits of ketosis.
Why It’s So Healthy
The results from these studies with ketosis has led researchers to discover that food, although essential for life, is actually damaging to the body. Time restricted feeding is incredibly healthy because aside from the benefits of ketosis, it also gives the body a 14-16 hour window to recover and repair from meals. This reduces IBS, reduces swelling, and increases the ability to process nutrients.
In Conclusion
So if you’re a digital marketer who is looking to increase your focus, then it’s time to give time restricted eating a shot. Remember, it’s not about eating less, it’s about eating at the right time. You’ll no longer get caught with those afternoon lethargy lulls, you’ll no longer be hungry throughout the day, and instead, you’ll be a focused, money making machine.