Interesting article but as others have stated it focuses more on the weight loss benefits and not on the many other aspects of fasting. Our bodies and metabolisms have evolved to deal with a continuous cycle of feast or famine ... if it is all one or the other we will have problems. Living in an age where near unlimited access to an abundant supplies of food (both good and bad) encourages overeating and unfortunately if you live in a neighbourhood with limited access to a good grocery store you will be forced to eat mostly processed foods. The quality of what you are eating while doing an intermittent fast is a crucial component. I am lucky to have access to healthy food and have for most of my life incorporated different approaches to fasting into my day and have come to realize that as we age our metabolism slows and we must adjust our diet accordingly. I am only eating one nice healthy meal a day and feel great; have lost weight, more energy and clarity of mind, skin is feeling and looking better, senses mental clarity have been heightened, less aches and pains ... that's good medicine. I am also physically active which is another important component in the overall feeling of well-being. A fasting couch potato in my opinion would probably not reap the same benefits. It's not rocket science ... whether intermittent fasting or not, listen to your body and adjust your eating habits accordingly. And please remember to "stop eating all the time" guys ;-)Hey! I'm writing about fasting on Thanksgiving! Why not fast for Thanksgiving? I see — also in The New York Times — "The Horrible History of Thanksgiving/Before you fill your plate, please remember why we mark this day," by Charles Blow, who says:
I spent most of my life believing a gauzy, kindergarten version of Thanksgiving, thinking only of feasts and family, turkey and dressing.Well, hell, how can you feel that bad and have it just be step 1, before step 2, "fill your plate"? No plate for you! How can you be all "I can no longer abide" and proceed to the piles of turkey and high-carb side dishes? It reminds me of Lewis Carroll's walrus:
I was blind, willfully ignorant, I suppose, to the bloodier side of the Thanksgiving story, to the more honest side of it.
But I’ve come to believe that is how America would have it if it had its druthers: We would be blissfully blind, living in a soft world bleached of hard truth. I can no longer abide that.
"I weep for you," the Walrus said:Whether we can expiate all of America's sins by fasting on the feasting day, I don't know. I doubt it.
"I deeply sympathize."
With sobs and tears he sorted out
Those of the largest size,
Holding his pocket-handkerchief
Before his streaming eyes.
"If seven maids with seven mopsThe Walrus was weeping over the great quantities of sand on the beach. He cared! He mused, and he went about his way, doing everything he wanted. But he still cried all the while. Wasn't that good of him?
Swept it for half a year.
Do you suppose," the Walrus said,
"That they could get it clear?"
"I doubt it," said the Carpenter,
And shed a bitter tear...
How about fasting for Thanksgiving? Will you join me? If R. Mutt is right, we may get some "clarity of mind" and an "overall feeling of well-being." Ah, that sounds to good for us! Better to cry and simultaneously stuff your face. That's the new American tradition.
_____________________
* It's the famous signature that made a urinal art:
Duchamp explained:
Mutt comes from Mott Works, the name of a large sanitary equipment manufacturer. But Mott was too close so I altered it to Mutt, after the daily cartoon strip "Mutt and Jeff" which appeared at the time, and with which everyone was familiar. Thus, from the start, there was an interplay of Mutt: a fat little funny man, and Jeff: a tall thin man... I wanted any old name. And I added Richard [French slang for money-bags]. That's not a bad name for a pissotière. Get it? The opposite of poverty. But not even that much, just R. MUTT.You remember "Mutt and Jeff":
Posts
67 comments:
Is there a more loathsome toad than Charles Blow?
I intermittent fast. It works for weight loss, keeping the weight steady, and just feeling good all around. Look it up on Joe Rogan, if you don't believe me.
Fast times at Meadehouse.
Our bodies and metabolisms have evolved to deal with a continuous cycle of feast or famine
There's a name for that fallacy, IIRC it's called "with natural lice and tapeworms I'm never alone."
Michael beat me to it.
Have a nice Thanksgiving and ignore the left. They are screaming for attention.
I've been intermittent fasting for about a year (though I have no intention of doing it today!). 18 hour fasting window, (most) every day. My reason for starting was borderline high glucose, but I have been pleasantly surprised with the weight maintenance benefits. I am 5' 9", 140 lbs. Previously, maintaining this weight took some effort, but it is now effortless. I highly recommend it.
"Before you fill your plate, please remember why we mark this day"
Because the white illegal immigrants ate the peaceful fun-loving natives?
Whether we can expiate all of America's sins by fasting on the feasting day, I don't know. I doubt it.
I doubt it too. I am not responsible for ALL of America's sins. Actually not for ANY sins except those I commit myself or those that I currently and knowingly allow to happen.
Fasting for weight loss. Maybe. Better to eat a regular, moderate, balanced diet and move around more. Do things!
’We would be blissfully blind, living in a soft world bleached of hard truth. I can no longer abide that.’
Speaking of turkeys.
Michael said...
Is there a more loathsome toad than Charles Blow?
No. Possibly the most ungrateful, unhappy, hate filled man in America.
Don’t be a Blow, have a Happy Thanksgiving.
"And I'm not at all impressed by the science — quotes from a couple nutrition professors who say that fasting is nothing more than another way to restrict total calories."
But the point is, it's a near effortless way to do so. I don't have to keep track of anything. During my eating window, I eat whatever I want. Lost 10 pounds and it's not coming back.
Wish I could read the article, but lately the NYTs has been blocking me.
You remember "Mutt and Jeff"
Back when they used to call them the "funny papers" or the "funnies"?
Except I can remember never finding Mutt and Jeff especially funny.
I suppose we all cannot be smart enough to read the funny papers at that age.
"Happy needless turkey murder day!" - Phoebe
It seems that most of the vocal intermittent fasters are skipping eating in the morning and concentrating on dinner. This is good if you're rushed in the morning and (especially) if you have a family and are doing family dinners (or otherwise have dinner as a way to mark the end of the workday and to socialize). Dinner seems like the most important meal. But I suspect that it's the most beneficial meal to skip for bodily health. For one thing, the last part of the fast ends up being while you are asleep, and you also avoid the heaviness of food as you're in the lying down position. And if you're a morning person, like me, you might enjoy eating in the morning and having lunch be your last meal of the day. Forget all the burdens of assembling dinner. What's for dinner? Blah blah blah. Consider the freedom of the answer being: Nothing!
'We would be blissfully blind, living in a soft world bleached of hard truth. I can no longer abide that.’
A hard truth is that the United States is not a hellhole of oppression, with most people's lives inevitably ruined by racism, sexism, etc. I look forward to Blow's rising above that hateful characterization of American life.
I intermittent fast but I call it by its other name, skipping breakfast
I eat only dinner, so I fast for about 20 hours per day, for exactly the reason our hostess states: I'm the cook in our family and I value family dinners. As for the benefits, I lost about 15 lbs that have stayed off, although I am still 10 pounds overweight and those 10 lbs don't seem to be going anywhere. The main benefit is my bloodwork (good and bad cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose and so on) has improved incredibly from moderately bad to near the best the nurse had seen.
And today, I am NOT fasting. Today is a feast day to give thanks, so that is what I am doing.
We fast every day. Eat dinner at about 6pm. Up at 5am and break our fast at about 8am or later. 15 hours of fasting. Easy when you are sleeping :-D
Very light breakfast-- 8:30 am . Moderate lunch--noonish Early and not heavy dinner.--6pm
My husband has type 2 diabetes and needs to have regular meals to avoid spikes or lows in glucose. So he snacks often between meals. Things he can take and eat on the go. Packages of nuts, cheese & crackers, apple slices & cheese, natural beef jerky (no preservatives)
Everybody fasts nightly. We break it in the morning. Anything more than that is mumbo jumbo.
"I can no longer abide that."
Neither can I, which is why I stopped subscribing to the lying New York effing Times.
This is the day I celebrate the domination by my civilization over ignorant, prehistoric savages.
"And if you're a morning person, like me, you might enjoy eating in the morning and having lunch be your last meal of the day. "
That's brutal. No food after 12 noon. Sounds like life in a concentration camp. No, I need my three square meals. My daughter just grazes through the day, like a gazelle, before having a good dinner. It keeps her thin. And if we're going to replicate people in past history, we'd be walking or light work 6 hours a day. That's the real change. We don't have to hunt for our food, or do physical labor.
Dust Bunny Queen says: My husband has type 2 diabetes and needs to have regular meals to avoid spikes or lows in glucose.
I also have Type 2. Different approaches work better for some than others, I believe. I don't get problematic lows so what I'm trying to do is avoid spikes. Not eating for X number of hours forces my body to burn fat and my glucose goes into the 80s or 90s and stays there while I'm not eating. Eating meals and snacks all day puts my glucose over 100 all day. I'm aiming for one meal a day but usually end up eating a small low-carb meal around 3 or 4 and then eating again (low-carb) around 7 when my husband is home and we have dinner. I'm losing weight and finding that eating fewer times a day results in my feeling full even more quickly than just eating lower carb does. Will often have a higher-carb meal on weekends so I don't lose my mind.
I've thought of fasting one day a week. I think I can handle that. Keep it down to say 500 calories. Of course, its in the PLANNING Stage. And I'll do it, after New Years.
THere seems to be an explosion of Type 2 diabetes - don't know why. Maybe we all died of heart attacks before we got old enough to get Type 2.
I'm thankful we live in the age of great modern medicine. I'm always shocked how young people died in the past. Harding dead at 58, TR - dead at 60. Coolidge - 61 FDR - 63. Hell, Wendell Wilkie died at 52
how does kings phillips wars which happened 50-70 years after Plymouth, have any relation,
That Marcel Duchamp. What a card he was! All those squares who talked about his stuff in the exhibits didn't even realize that he was making fun of them.
An early milestone on our civilization's road to perdition.
I break my fast every morning.
my late grandmother, if there wasn't seven courses, including dessert, it wasn't a meal, i'm exaggerating but only by a bit, rice plantains, steak, or mash potatoes, the other white meat, pork,
""And if you're a morning person, like me, you might enjoy eating in the morning and having lunch be your last meal of the day. " That's brutal. No food after 12 noon...."
I don't do this every day, but when I do, it might be: first breakfast at 5 a.m., another breakfast-like meal at 8, a snack at 10 or 11, and one more little meal at 1. Then you just forget about eating. You've cut yourself off, and eventually, you'll be sleeping and there's no hunger that wakes you up. You're just sleeping, and when you get up, there will be breakfast.
I eat lots more than I should have to, but I need something to keep the loose women all about these days from being unable to control themselves around me.
My greatest strength is knowing my great weaknesses.
Charles Blow of course is a miserable person, but what else would you expect in the NYT.
You have to wonder whether he's ever been out of the country. Americans are the most polite, friendly, tolerant people there are. (Just don't mess with them.) You want racism or abuse of women? Try Africa, any Muslim country, China, or Japan. We have more liberty and better protection from our government than citizens of the UK, Australia, New Zealand, or anywhere in Europe. The same for individual social mobility. Rivers which were once almost dead when I was a child are now full of fish, some even edible. Child mortality from infectious disease is now rare, as opposed to ubiquitous as it was 100 years ago. I could go on for paragraphs. Where is any of this in the New York Times? They were right on the case when the 100 year anniversary of the Bolshevik revolution came around.
Every day I wake up I'm thankful to be alive in this country, a gift I did nothing to deserve, but try to be worthy of.
I hope everyone here and especially the Althouses enjoy a happy Thanksgiving, each in their own way.
Althouse said...
What's for dinner? Blah blah blah. Consider the freedom of the answer being: Nothing!
I loved Gregor Voss' important film: "Here Child, Finish Your Nothing"
Dieter: Welcome to Sprockets. I am your host, Dieter. It has been a very busy week here in Berlin. Jourgen von Keitel’s exhibit “Scabs On Canvas” opened at the Schussel Calle,the Gertrude Bromf troupe previewed their performance in wax at the Theater of Unhappiness, and the Berlin wall was dismantled.
For the masses the wall’s collapse represents freedom and opportunity. But for me, it is a chance to meet the most brilliant countercultural filmmaker in the East, Gregor Voss. Seen here on East German television last year, Voss, the suppressed visionary whose films include “The Dead Coat”, “Irritant Number 4”, and “Here Child, Finish Your Nothing”.
“But I’ve come to believe that is how America would have it if it had its druthers: We would be blissfully blind, living in a soft world bleached of hard truth. I can no longer abide that.” (Oh yes, “bleached.” You know, like white.)
Oooo! Bad, BAD America! Good, GOOD enlightened Charles!
Crikey! Is there a Pulitzer for fatuous?
Blogger rcocean said...
THere seems to be an explosion of Type 2 diabetes - don't know why. Maybe we all died of heart attacks before we got old enough to get Type 2.
Two things. One is obesity. A lot of type II diabetics can get into a state of remission by losing weight to the optimal body weight.
Another is racial as many Mexicans and other Hispanics have Indian genes that do not process wheat well.
"Now is ze time on Sprockets vhen ve dance!"
Althouse said...
What's for dinner? Blah blah blah.
You can really work up an appetite after a day of cleaning nonexistent window panes.
"Hey Grandpa, what's for supper?!"
The willfully blind don't much notice the bleached nor the black faced Democratic governors.. They appreciate the soft world, though. They're always tripping and falling......The unmentioned plus side of intermittent fasting is that it helps to keep the bowels regular....I read somewhere that your metabolism slows down two or three percent per year. As you get older, you need to eat less to maintain a healthy body weight. After a certain age, you can maintain your weight by eating one saltine cracker a week. Any more than that and you gain weight.
What if it turned out that the Native Americans had a corn festival in the fall which resembled the English fall harvest festival and that, led by Squanto, the Pilgrims were combining the two? Would it be OK with the leftys if we to celebrated that. I think not. I think we'll find that Thanksgiving is bad, Christmas is bad, Easter is bad and the Fourth of July is bad and actually, I suspect, that the sight of deplorables enjoying themselves ever makes your true lefty sick. So be thankful you aren't a lefty, when you thank the Lord for all his mercies and blessings, symbolized by a great meal in a beautiful setting which you are able to enjoy with "friends and relations."
Yesterday we had Thomas Edsall wondering aloud why conservatives think the Left is destroying the family. A few weeks ago I got the Thanksgiving issue of Bon Appetit. (I used to be in the food biz and it's a holdover from those days). The Thanksgiving issue used to be filled with great recipes. This year they had 3 indigenous people giving their bitter view on what a rotten, horrible holiday it really is. The Thanksgiving issue this year was a commentary on the evils of Thanksgiving.
I've canceled my BA subscription (that was long overdue anyway, but this gave me the oomph to get it done).
There are, I am sure, dozens of articles in newspapers this week telling us how rotten and white Thanksgiving really is. That Charles Blow is right there among the rabid pack is not a surprise. He's been a faux intellectual for years. Faux intellectuals have faux knowledge to go with faux courage. It's not a good mix.
Thomas Edsall- as I said yesterday- all we need to do is look around us. Everyday we see examples of the Left tearing down what held us together as a people- all people. That the humorless Left cannot even give thanks for what they have- what we have- is an issue in their heads, hearts, and souls. To me they are the walking dead.
But...Happy Thanksgiving everyone. :)
Michael K re diabetes: Two things. One is obesity. A lot of type II diabetics can get into a state of remission by losing weight to the optimal body weight.
Yes! Weight loss is essential.
My husband, before I knew him was overweight. He went from a trim fit teenager who worked in the logging industry with his father to a wild and crazy life of drinking and eating in his 20's. Fast food, pizza, junk food and partying hardy. In his 30's he seriously started to work on getting trimmer.
Now he is within 20-30 lbs of his 'ideal' weight to height. Other than needing to watch his carb/sugar intake his glucose is really quite good. I cook 90% of our food from scratch, because I do like to cook. Rarely do we eat any fast foods and not often do we eat out at restaurants. We are not deprived of good food, occasional cocktails and still can eat "desserts" on occasion.
The loss of weight and that he is still actively working in a somewhat physical job, plus we walk and exercise often...and all my honeydo's :-D ....keeps him in a healthy zone.
So....we can splurge on special occasions like this Thanksgiving.
Oh poor Charles Blow. Consigned to live in the worst, worst, absolute Worstest country. Oh poor him. You would think he might have the means to get out, get away and leave the rest of us to stew in our misery and horror. But no, he stays. Well Charles, your country can and does produce good people, but often, sadly, it produces people like you.
Ann,
You're not wrong. Intermittent fasting is simply about constricting the hours during the day that you consume food or anything organic like drinking coffee. My biggest meal comes at about 1 pm most days. I'll then snack and eat a light dinner until before 8 pm. Works like a charm.
Charles Blow is aggressively ignorant
Mutt and Jeff? Do I remember Mutt and Jeff? Mutt and Jeff is on my daily comic feed from gocomicsdotcom, my only paid for digital daily feed. They're all repeats of course, but there's an occasional one I don't remember reading in the daily or Sunday funnies. And my kids find them funny - the humor is ageless.
I wouldn’t believe the New York Times if they told me .... I can’t think of anything non controversial enough that it would properly express my disdain for that rag.
The purpose of the New York Times is to publish leaks by war mongering deep staters.
"All the leaks the war mongering oligarchs see fit to print."
For an appetizer
https://mobile.twitter.com/yhazony/status/1200029756919554048
Perspective
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2019/11/thanksgiving-day-in-pictures-special-edition.php
rcocean said, "I'm thankful we live in the age of great modern medicine. I'm always shocked how young people died in the past. Harding dead at 58, TR - dead at 60. Coolidge - 61 FDR - 63. Hell, Wendell Wilkie died at 52 "
George Washington - 67
Thomas Jefferson - 83
John Adams - 90
Benjamin Franklin - 84
Mark Twain - 74
Herbert Hoover - 90
Harry Truman - 88
Winston Churchill - 90
Winston Churchill was born about eight years before FDR and died about twenty years later. Harding, Coolidge, and FDR all had cardiovascular disease (CVD) if I recall correctly, as did Eisenhower (78) and LBJ (64).
Modern medicine has done some great things, but even today they can't predict who will die of CVD (or anything else) and when. I, too, prefer to be alive now than over a hundred years ago, but that alone doesn't ensure long life.
Long life is based on decisions. The most critical is choice of parents.
Fasting seems to be working. For the last month I have been fasting between meals. I'm pretty happy with the weight lose, 5%. Imagine that!
I’m fasting today between various types of pie.
VERY fast!
"Why not fast for Thanksgiving?"
Thanksfasting.
If you want to live as long as the longest-lived POTUS, get Rosalynn Carter to plan and prepare all your meals. Available through the Althouse Amazon portal. Order today, she’ll probably be on your doorstep tomorrow. If you have Prime.
No surprise, Duchamp got it wrong. Mutt is the tall guy and Jeff the short one.
I have tried various eating schemes, including the 1 large meal/day. I just eat what amounts to 3 small meals a day at the present moment. For me, the main problem I ran into with the 1 meal/day is that 3 decades of eating small meals left me with a small stomach- I just can't eat a large meal of any kind any longer (I end up boxing up 2/3 of any meal I get when eating out), and just can't get enough high quality calories in a single meal without making myself sick. I have also done the one day fast, one day eating method- it worked ok for me.
Our bodies and metabolisms have evolved to deal with a continuous cycle of feast or famine
Therefore you should totally stuff your face in this Happy Turkey Day Feast!
Char Char Binks said...
I’m fasting today between various types of pie.
Turkey snack in between.
Weigh loss is 90 diet and 10% activity. On Dec. 24, 2016, I weighed 305 lbs. I regularly lifted weights (with a trainer) and cycled 3-4 times per week (weather dependent) yet I had eaten myself into an obese state. I stumbled onto intermittent fasting 3 months later.
I started on the 8/16 model with my eating window from 10am to 6pm. The theory underlying IF is that the body needs time to access stored fat and it can only do so if there is not readily available energy - the fasting period forces the body to consume itself until new food is added.
I expected IF to be a complete waste of time. However, in time, I realized my weight was dropping. Within a year, I had lost enough fat around my midsection that I was able to get into a crouch position (very aerodynamic) on the bike and maintain it for long periods of time.
By Sept. 2019, I weighed 223 lbs - a drop of 82 lbs from my high. IF has literally been a godsend for me. I love sugar, baked goods (with raisins), fruit, pasta, etc. With IF, I eat all of these foods (and more) and yet my weight is the best it has been in 30 years.
Let me just tell you this Mitt "Muddle Mouth": I'm a single parent and my kids are *amazing*! Stick that in your magic underwear. #CNNdebate
— Charles M. Blow (@CharlesMBlow) February 23, 2012
Charles has always struck me as something of a fuckhead so it doesn't surprise me he would be butthurt over an american tradition. Is there any american tradition that liberals ever unconditionally support?
Quick definitions from WordNet (intermittent)
▸ adjective: stopping and starting at regular intervals
▸ adjective: stopping and starting at irregular intervals ("Intermittent rain showers")
- as seen on onelook.com
Fun.
I believe that Pat is right re Mutt and Jeff. He is also correct in implying that Duchamp was a no-talent mountebank. But he was a bold one, and that's what makes money in the art world, such as it is. These days, it's all that makes money.
Like some others, I never found "Mutt And Jeff" funny. I figured it was for grown-ups.
Now, "The Strange World of Mr. Mumm", that I could enjoy. "Smokey Stover", too.
Separately, the lasagne that I made is looking good. We will eat it soon. Happy days.
Iowan2, choice of parents is the common "joke" about longevity, but from what I see, it's choices previous generations have made and appears to be cumulative.
I've done a single surname search on my mother's side back to my 6g grandfather. DNA matches have shown that my tracing is correct. There are lots of family branches from him. In some people who survived childhood diseases routinely died age 60 and before. In others they routinely live last 80. The difference isn't in how long the ancestors lived, it's how old the mothers were at first birth. In my line, all branches going back 4 generations age of first birth is 22-25. In the short lived branches 16-19 is far more common.
In the U.S. whites tend to live longer than blacks, and college educated whites longer than non-college educated. You can assign blame to health care availability, lifestyle choices, whatever you want, but by statistics black women, on average, have their first child before 18, HS grad whites 18-19, college educated 21+.
Fruit fly studies reveal that delaying mating a little bit in successive generations can double fruit fly lifespan in a remarkably few generations. Assortive mating has been going on for a while, at least 2 generations, in the U.S. Could be that by itself could explain lifespan averages by group.
My parents had lousy lifestyles. Both smoked like chimneys. Both drank too much. And after being divorced for 43 years died 2 weeks apart at age 82. I often wonder how much longer they'd have lived with healthy lifestyles.
My mother-in-law is 94. Her mother's first birth 21, her mother 27. Her first birth 27; my wife is probably going to outlive me.
My lovely wife and I went to the Shaw's Crab House (Chicago) Thanksgiving Buffet today. I had dozens of oysters and tenderloin, and turkey, and shrimp, and all the pies, great for 90 bucks, make your res early for next year. ( they make a profit on the wine.) Oysters increase your lifespan, or your DNA preservation.
It seems like there are a lot of ways to fast: Some people eat what they want every day but have an 8-hour window when they are allowed to take in food. My fasting, which is pretty easy but takes a bit of getting used-to is twice/week. On a fasting day, I have one meal, dinner, which is restricted to 500-600 calories. Sometimes it is a little more or considerably less. It kind of depends on what we have that night.
It is really a 24 hour fast, since I have nothing from dinner the night before until dinner on fasting day. Then another 12 hour fast until breakfast the next day.
I have been doing this for years and really don't feel good if I miss a week. Normally I do Mondays and Thursdays. I have never been what one would consider, overweight, but my weight is 10 lbs less when I am on this routine than when I go off of it. For me, this is the difference between 155 lbs v 165 lbs and I really feel it when it comes to running. Though, in fairness, I am stronger at the weight bench when I am heavier but in proportion to my body weight, I am stronger when I am lighter. That is, I never clean and jerk above my body weight when I am at the top-end of my body weight range, but it is pretty common when I am toward the bottom end of my body weight. But I do lift more absolute pounds when I am heavier.
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