My 23 Food Rules to Maintain 8% Bodyfat

Meal timings

The timing of the meals is a very important variable and it's often overlooked. My approach is to seek regularity. Our body is having an internal clock, called the circadian clock. The target here is to give it enough predictability to work well. And also some hormetic stress via fasting.

I eat all meals roughly at the same time every day

• My breakfast is around 8 am, lunch around 12:30 pm, and dinner between 6-8 pm
• Snacking is considered eating as well, so I don't snack throughout the day
• Why: your body has a "circadian clock". If you teach it to be fed at the same time, the body will prepare digestive enzymes and it will digest the food more effectively. 
• Source: Circadian Code (Dr. Satchin Panda)

I do not eat at least 3 hours before sleep

• 3 hours are minimum. I usually aim for 4-5 hours
• Why: Digestion interferes with sleep. Sleep is really important for regeneration. If you eat before bed, your regeneration will be significantly worse
• When I have a very late training, I'll just have dinner before
• Source: Circadian Code (Dr. Satchin Panda)

I skip meals

• When I'm not able to have a good-quality meal at the approximate time of my feeding window, I'll skip it.
• I also fast for 24-36 hours once per week 
• Why: fasting is an important stressor and it helps us to regenerate. It deepens autophagy (cellular cleanup). Plus it trains mental endurance.

I try to eat in a 10-11 hours window

• Why: the more time you spend in a fasted state, the better for body regeneration
• The old approach to intermittent fasting is based on skipping breakfast. I was practicing it for years, but it wasn't working for me nearly as good, as having breakfast and occasionally skipping dinner.
• Source: Circadian Code (Dr. Satchin Panda)

Meal Content

I don't drink any sweet drinks

• I'm drinking water mainly
  • Filtered to get rid of the chlorine
• 3 cups of coffee per day
  • non-sweet
• Red and white wine
• Whiskey, rum, vodka (occassionally)
• Beer - bad for you, very occasionally, like 1x per 14 days
• Fresh juices - very bad for you - avoiding them
• Juices, coke, coke zero, anything of this style - very very bad for you, having like a can per year
• Drinking any sweet beverages is one of the biggest diet mistakes you can make

In terms of macros, I follow a high-fat low-carb diet (50g - 150g of carbs)

• This is individual, but I eat a LOT of fat and a moderate amount of protein. A friend of mine thrives on a high-protein diet and other friends on a high-carb diet.
• Source of fat is Avocado, Ghee, Butter, Seeds (soaked), Coconut products (milk, oil), Meat, Eggs, Fish, Oils
  • I used to eat a lot of dairies (cream, sour cream, milk, cheese, goat products), but I've eliminated it and it feels better

I buy food of the highest quality

• Free-range meat and eggs
• BIO grade of most of the other things
• fish with a small mercury load
• Why: I strongly believe, that these types of food have a higher content of micronutrients and they are actually very good for us

I do not eat any processed food

• When it has more ingredients than 1 in its content, then it's processed
• I'm, of course, reasonable with it and occasionally have some. But my foundations are only wholefoods
• When I'm picking some cheat meals (protein bars, flapjacks, etc), I'm very careful with the ingredients as well

I'm avoiding dairy 

• Milk can be easily replaced with a coconut milk
• If I eat dairy, then I aim for products made from goat/sheep milk
  • They contain less of A1 casein and more of A2 casein
• Once per 2 days, I have some coffee with cow milk, but just a small amount

I eat only cold-pressed extra virgin oils

• Refined oils are undergoing a complex chemical alteration
• This alteration changes their structure and properties
• I'm not able to reference this claim, but I somehow have a mild belief, that refined oils are carcinogens

I'm not eating pro-inflammatory foods

• Deep-fried food
• Processed food, mainly sweets
• Peanuts, hazelnuts - allergen for me

I do not eat gluten

• Gluten contains zonulin
• Zonulin leads to opening your intestine barrier
• Then things that should not be in your blood are flowing into your blood
• Based on the information I read, gluten might be problematic for like 50% of the population

Breakfast is my biggest meal of the day, lunch medium, and dinner is small

• I follow a circadian eating pattern, where I have a huge breakfast (1kcal usually) medium lunch and smaller dinner
• I've tried so many eating regimes:
  • one meal per day
  • no breakfast
  • lots of 1 day / multiple day fasts
• This schedule fits me the most

I prefer to not have meat for dinner

• It's a personal preference. But meat is digested for a longer time, so I'm usually having free-range eggs or fish for a dinner
• This helps me to get better sleep. That means a better regeneration and overall healthier life

I eat fish once per week

• It's usually salmon farmed in BIO quality
• I do not eat fish that much often, because of the mercury load
• Sardines are also perfect - they have a very small mercury load

I'm not overdoing vegetables and eating them mostly cooked

• I don't think, that eating tons of raw vegetables is good
• I eat mostly cooked vegetables, they are easier to digest for me

I watch my body and I do not eat things, that make me feel bad.

• Signs are, that I'm feeling heavy after the meal
• Or your heart is beating
• Skin rashes or eczemas

I'm not eating canned food

• Cans linings contain BPA - which is a hormonal disruptor
  • This means, it's castrating you
• if I have to eat from the can, I never use metal cutlery, as this disrupts the lining even more
• Wood/plastic is OK

Superfoods I'm often including

I use top quality multivitamin

• Dr. Mercola Superfoods 
• You should be taking like 8 tablets per day. Having 2-4 per day is completely ok
• https://www.mercolamarket.com/product/1010/1/whole-food-multivitamin-plus-240-per-bottle-90-day-supply

I drink bone broth

• Bone broth made from bone marrow, cooked for 12+ hours is very healthy for your GUT 

I drink kefir

• I'm making home-made kefir from goat milk/coconut milk
• It's a great source of probiotics food

I eat fermented food

• It contains probiotic bacteria

I eat caviar from wild salmon

• It contains the most bio-available omega3 fatty acids
• AFAIK these are some of the few, that can actually be delivered to your brain

I eat free-range chicken livers and sardines

• Both are great sources of micronutrients
• Sardines should not be canned

I eat a lot of blueberries

• Simply because I love them