i have - in order to get rid of a little of the bacon of the festive season - put myself on a diet and do "intermittent fasting".
i only eat in the evening within 4 hours and in the morning there is a "bulledproof coffee".

now i notice how this food has a massive effect on my work.
as i now "run on fat", i have a very even blood sugar and am energetically very balanced, even the fatigue hole after lunch is no longer there.

but what is almost most important - i notice that it has a very positive effect on the senses. my ears are much more open and that more constant and over a longer period of time - perhaps an effect of fasting.

i don't want to say that this concept is just as suitable for someone else - nutrition is known to be very individual and every body demands something different.

mastering makes high demands on our senses and i think that nutrition can have a big influence on our perception.

This is such an interesting topic! I recently held a production seminar here and wanted to discuss a lot of things that aren't found in the usual tutorials and resources - we spent a lot of time talking about environment (both internal and external) and how it influences our senses, focus, and overall quality and speed of work..

Several years ago I did intermittent fasting (IF) for about 18 months, though with a 7-8 hour intake window. To my surprise, it only took me about 2 weeks to really re-entrain my ghrelin hormone so that I wasn't getting hungry until 3:30-4:00pm every day - even while watching others eating or smelling food. It's remarkable how our bodies can adapt.

I found my senses, especially smell, to improve quite noticeably too. And during morning hours I was very focused, sticking to mostly water (occasionally with fresh lemon) with black coffee and green or herbal teas for extra energy or subtle appetite suppression. By the way, sparkling water is quite helpful too if you have trouble during your fasting period. The texture and carbonation are satisfying - assuming you like drinking it.

While IF has been shown to have positive, healthy effects on blood sugar levels and insulin sensitivity, I am not sure if you're technically "running on fat" which is known as ketosis. Human bodies prefer blood glucose as an energy source and you really need to deprive yourself of carbohydrates for 48-72 hours IIRC, before you're able to start using ketone bodies as energy.

Nutrition and mood absolutely have a big effect on perception, concentration and work, although it would be near-impossible to have a standard to measure these against. Therefore it's an interesting idea to share our experiences - great thread idea Dan! I can confirm a similar experience to yours, and have actually been transitioning back to an IF diet these months mainly for the focus aspect. The only reason I stopped a few years ago was somewhat work-related - here to build relationships and network you're usually required to eat and drink together. People sometimes take offense or believe you're making excuses to avoid them if saying you can't take calories. And only in these recent years has IF been gaining popularity and scientific/medical credibility - ten years ago it was thought to be somewhat insane and there was little to no media coverage, most doctors were unaware of positive benefits, etc.

IF is generally healthy for most people but from what I've read women should take a longer "feeding window" in their schedule for hormonal considerations - perhaps 10 hours instead of 6-8.

I can also highly recommend a diet high in protein and mixed vegetables in general, which provides plenty of nutrition and the highest, longest lasting satiety (protein & fiber). It also goes well along with weightlifting or other strength training routines to support lean body mass. I do not avoid carbohydrates though, but tend to eat most of them before and after exercise when they're most useful. On resting days, I stick to higher fats and proteins. That's about as complex and specific as I could accept for my dietary protocols - still simple enough to be easy to remember and adhere too, and adherence after all either makes or breaks any diet.

And don't forget to stretch your hips and shoulders with all the desk-sitting Good posture and circulation also influence perception and focus.

I've been doing the IF thing for awhile. now. If you're into this type of thing, try the HIT (high intensive training) protocol. Basic concept is pushing yourself as hard as you can for 30 seconds, then coasting for 90. You get more out of it in 15-20 minutes than an hr of a constant pace/speed.
And since we sit a lot, I've gotten where I get up for a few minutes every 1/2 hr. Apparently sitting a lot is the new smoking, not good for you.....

I have to get up for the recall photos anyway, that's the way it is.

i think, i put my trampoline back in the studio, then i can (if there are no customers) jump a bit while recording the outgear...

Eaten this way for almost ten years. Adrenaline increases slightly the further into your fast you go (up to a point), hence the alertness. And yep, 2 weeks or so is all it takes to reentrain ghrelin patterns. It's a ridiculously easy way to eat.

Bulletproof coffee is absolute horse**** though. If you're looking to lose weight, putting 100-200kcal or whatever it is of entirely pointless butter/coconut oil into your diet every day is just stupid. I don't care what that Bulletproof guy says; he has something to sell. Plenty of actual research showing it's bollocks (let me know and I can dig some out). Seriously Teebaum - just have the coffee

Since music became my full time work, training and food etc became my nerdy hobby. I like to eat. A lot

BTW 4 hours is a very short eating window. Consider allowing yourself a bit more once you've lost the Xmas timber

Haha, there's an idea! I have a few unattended session tricks too - the "couch stretch" to open your hips is a good go-to while printing. 2-3 minutes each side makes a huge difference.

A chin-up bar is also great - even if just for static hangs to relive spinal pressure.

That's great advice too - HIT is impressively efficient if your goal is burning calories. 160-175 bpm music fits this well too, good excuse to listen to some drum n bass occasionally.

Interval training with kettlebells is also fantastic, and you can easily keep 1-2 in your studio or home. 24kg is plenty to start with. In 15 minutes you can get a great conditioning effect.

Heavy weight training is pretty safe if you're using common sense and don't have existing injuries. Compound barbell exercises like squat, deadlift, overhead press or bodyweight dips and chin-ups hit a lot of muscles in a short amount of time and give your central nervous system a nice challenge. Three days a week of 30-45 minutes at this, plus some HIT gives you an efficient workout routine that yields better results than what 90% of most people at gyms are achieving. Maybe that depends on location but it's accurate in my experience.

Moving speakers and furniture around becomes much easier - there's some practical carryover.

The combination of good exercise and healthy eating also helps me have deeper, more restful sleep, making the next day of work easier too.

And back to nutrition - never underestimate hydration. 3-5L of water per day is great.

Edit:
For those of you who enjoy caffeine for energy but are sensitive and sometimes feel jittery, you can try l-theanine supplementation.

For some people, vitamin D supplementation helps a lot too. I take it with K2 and some fish oil for general health - most other stuff ranges from really not necessary to total bull****. Creatine is proven and dirt cheap so pick some up if you're doing any strength training.

Great topic. I've been on 16:8 for a while now and think it's excellent. Big meal at lunch, smaller in the evening (never been a fan of big breakfasts). I also do push ups, sit ups, pull ups and some bar work (shoulders) every other day. Only 30 minutes, but it's made a huge difference (can't hack gyms anymore).

Diet wise, Huel has been a marvel. Lost weight and gained muscle. I have it for breakfast after a workout at about 10am. Sometimes have it in the evening too, and the bars make great snacks.

Huel | Complete Food

BBC Horizon (UK TV series) have a fantastic documentary on the benefits of fasting (both 16:8 daily and 5:2 weekly options) by the way. Encourages neuron development, even in adults (the only other thing that does this is meditation).

Eat, Fast and Live Longer on Vimeo

Well worth a watch.

I tried only eating lunch (mid day) and dinner (before 8pm) every day for a few months last year, skipping breakfasts, so I had an 8/16 hour fasting regime. I could do it, but I hated it, and I actually stopped losing weight because I was so famished by lunch I would eat a huge lunch and a huge dinner. Now I'm back to just eating healthily three times a day (porridge for breakfast, small lunch, "regular" dinner with family), I am losing weight again and feel much better for it. So yeah, whatever works for you!

The biggest total life improvement I have seen over the last year is taking up a daily Yoga practise. I do it every day, maybe skip one or two days a month. The benefits in every single facet of life have meant this is something I will probably never stop doing, it really is quite incredible the positive changes it has made. I do it with my wife and daughter and has been great doing it together. Yoga With Adriene, free courses on YT, highly recommended!

I'm also walking about 12km a day, Mon-Fri, only drinking on Fridays, and we've cut our portion sizes down (can easily reduce portion size by 20% for starters and totally not notice it). Lost 10 kilos so far. Still plenty more to go, but feeling so much better for it.

Older you get, more health matters!

I did yoga for a couple of years a few years back - loved it. Need to get back into it again. Thanks for the YT channel recommendation, will check it out.

I took up running - 30 minutes/5-6km 3 times a week - mid last year and recently started doing about 20 minutes of 'core' excercise every weekday morning as well. Honestly, I don't particularly enjoy any of it while I'm doing it (I also hate the jargon, 'core' excercies etc) but it's definitely good for my wellbeing, both physical and mental.

I do try and eat healthily, but I enjoy food too much to do any specific diets. My wife follows a very strict diet with very little fat and it looks (and tastes) like hell to me. Somewhat paradoxically I found eating very healthily to be a lot easier back when I was not such a proficient cook: now I consider myself pretty good in the kitchen and it's hard to not make food taste better when you know how. I don't tend to eat huge breakfasts or lunches, though, at least during the week.

I do think (at least for me) that it's important to strike a balance. If I ate like a buddhist monk, gave up drinking and exercised for hours every day I think I'd be just as miserable as if I ate like a pig, drank every day and did no exercise at all. Or maybe I'm just telling myself that....

don't just fast. also exercise. what kind of exercise are you doing?

i do a kind of IF but really the most effective thing for losing weight and basically changing the way i look has been pure, brute physical exertion. i am mostly into running and basketball, with a hint of strength training. i also enjoy yoga and trigger point rollers.

when i'm heavy into my exercise routine i tend to forget the IF and just plow protein and fiber down my throat. the more i exercise, the less i have to think about my specific diet (beyond the obvious like not eating junk food). i'm constantly full of energy... and the stability of my mood is much better (i feel like i get out all aggression, anger, etc through exercise). there's something incredible about being able to do a high exertion sport like basketball and not run out of breath. it just feels good.

I do squat while printing.

Diddly squat, or actual squats?

Good thread, much more interesting and useful than another 'what's the correct LUFS number'.

Ms scraggs is vegan, which pretty much makes me vegan, we're not strict about it, but we really only break the rules for pizza once a month or so. Because pizza. Who would want to even contemplate a life without pizza?

I generally just have a decent breakfast and a solid dinner, don't really eat lunch. I'll have a little snack to keep from getting hangry, but for me a real meal in the middle of the day is usually a momentum-killer. Was watching an interview with Albini and he said he does the same thing, I figure I'm in good company.

Black coffee and tons of Polar Black Cherry seltzer all day. Polar should really give me an endorsement deal. Honey and lemon tea at night.

I get up and stretch while the analog chain's printing back to the computer, good way to break up the endless sitting.

Been going for some walks when it's nice enough out, looking forward to riding my bike more once spring comes. I'm not dedicated enough to ride in the cold, it just isn't any fun. And I finally started playing my drums again, after a 2 year hiatus (never again!), that counts as exercise right?

We had a trampoline when I was a kid, man that thing was fun.

Interesting stuff

I used to attend sessions with Joe Gastwirt. He wouldn't eat lunch for this very reason.

I charge more for ketogenic masters.

I think there are differences in how people react to carbs. I don't usually suffer from the carb crash after a lunch, especially if I eat home cooked food like I usually do. I eat an early lunch before an attended session starts, and notice no side effects. At the end of the day I'm usually getting hungry, and hunger takes my focus away. Luckily the session is already ending at that point.

If I eat outside, or especially if I eat anything with rice, the crash can be quite stupendous. Depends on the food I think.

18:6 diet or something like that has been on my mind, but on the other hand I enjoy my morning oatmeal too much! Diet and exercise can't be separated, these days my exercise is all about the morning walks with the dog and going to the gym twice a week, where I like to do quite exhausting kettlebell circuit training. Heavier weights every now and then.

Im a vegetarian forever and cook every evening with fresh foods. I ride bicycle every day and try to spend as much time in the woods/garden as possible.
To me breakfast and dinner are the most important meals, I never would leave home without breakfast. This just feels not healthy to me, done this for years, had bad times and never have looked back.
I drink a coffee in the morning and one small in the afternoon, and beer or wine in the evening.

All in all I think living in extremes never is a good idea on a long run (I see those food, yoga, sports fanatics and dontthink they are necessarilly more happy than others. It often even reminds me on religion, and not in a good way). As is this diet thing. I see to many people trying it out, because they were unsatisfied with weight and health, but most falls back in old habits after this very fast and have nothing gained from, but pain and unsatisfaction.
Too many ppl are kind of decoupled from nature and elements with a very "civilized" lifestyle. To me satisfaction andhappyness is mostly in those little aspects in life; getting wet from rain, getting dirty from soil, being blind in the dark and most important quietness away from all the man made noise pollution . Having good sex.
And with real happiness comes health.
In the end its about a wealthy combination of excercises/movement, fresh and healthy food, a good work/life balance (hate this term as work is always life and life is always work) and individual happyness and things will settle in a proper regions for most.

And the most important: enough sleep, or better as much as possible. I normally sleep at least 8 hours a day, often more. Less would kill me on a long run... Fully aware Im in the minority here with that, but it works for my father (a successfull business man, the only guy Im aware of who even has a bed in his office room, who already survived a lot of his friends even with a quite unhealthy lifestyle with too much red meat and no sports) and for me too. But sleeping unfortunately is often called a sign of weakness or idleness in our society.
To me the "busy as hell" lifestyle we all celebrate is what **** up most. Our craft is quite prone to this naturally. And as long as "success" is defined above a huge amount of work, it just cant be healthy as it leads to a very one dimensional life necessarily (as much as we might love the craft).

PS: and avoiding facebook and stuff as much as possible. It make us all look like narcissistic idiots, and that never can be healthy, isnt it...

Agree with absolutely everything here. Spot on.

Time is the most valuable currency. Always running out, can't be replaced and could end at any time. Always enjoy the little/simple things in life no matter your aspirations/dreams.

While imbibing sufficient fluids is essential for good health, the notion that "3-5L of water per day represents the right amount to drink" is a myth.

The Water Myth | Office for Science and Society - McGill University

Periodical fasting or prolonged fasting will heighten the senses, reduce fatigue, make you calmer and more focused.

I have type 1 diabetes and only eat once per day. Sometimes I fast for days when tuning my insulin dosages. Almost anyone can fast and eat LCHF but some will develop normoglycemic ketoacidosis, although it’s very rare.

Fasting or diets mostly will not make you happy.
It is good for detoxication, but only a real dietary change can help for a long period of time.

For some it is not easy to find their way especially when the home you grown up haven´t gave you some ideas and inspiration in that way.
For me it is relatively easy, I grown up on a biological farm and wholesome food is normal for me – also today. Since 2001 I’m vegetarian also which was easy because in my childhood we had a lot of vegetables, whole grain products, etc.

In combination with (endurance) sports (for me climbing and mountaineering) it is the only way for me to feel happy, strong and stress resistant.
On travelling when I have to eat cheap food made of white flour 3x per day it takes only a few days and I´m feeling very “wrong”. But you have to know the difference between feeling (very)good and wrong at first before you know what is wrong.

I've been doing something similar for various reasons (that I won't get into).

The changes have been quite drastic. Among other things, I lost ~50lbs last year (5'11", 220 to 170lbs, pants size dropped by 7"), and it kind of just happened. I've been to fairly intense jujitsu seminars while fasting (didn't want to break the schedule for the class) and the only real effect was that I didn't get slow after lunch. The coach commented on it, and he was apparently worried when I obviously didn't eat during the lunch breaks. Pretty much everything is better. And, I'm a lot stronger than I was.

What I do is to not eat at all before the afternoon (just water & salt), then lean very heavily on fat for ~6 hours (most days are < 10g carbs total), plus fasting a minimum of 2 calendar days per week with occasional longer fasts. When I was aggressively losing weight, I was fasting 8 out of every 14 days (longest was 5 calendar days) and never eating 3 days in a row, plus tracking everything. Blood markers have been better than they've ever been (including cholesterol, triglycerides, etc.). Maintenance mode drops the aggressive fasting for 2-3 days fasted per week.

And my ears have become more sensitive to the point that I always have earplugs in my pocket (in a case). The world is a noisy place. It's also a really smelly place, and I've always had a lousy sense of smell. I also only work fasted at least 8 hours. Everything just works better.

Yes, I was exercising the whole time....kettelbells (5x10 swings every day) plus pushups, pullups, dips, squats to failure a few days a week. I've fallen off of the exercise a little, and I've noticed a difference. But the weight hasn't come back.

I'm transitioning back into the more aggressive schedule next week. After several months at 170, I'd like to see what it's like at 155-160.

In short, I'm a huge fan. And I haven't really noticed a downside except that going out to eat with people is a challenge. People get awkward when you just sit there and chat because the restaurant literally serves nothing you can eat.

Mindfullness = meditation + yoga changes my life. Less stress, more sensibility to the all perception.... especially ears....

i ate lunch once again on sunday and now i realize that i don't really like the condition afterwards.
eating underground is somehow not the right thing for me (and by that I mean really for me).
I'd rather stay with jiagulan tea and water during the day.