♾️ Try this for focus + love handle shredding

Read time: 4 mins…

Grand Risings Entrepreneur.

This week’s newsletter is going to cover:

• 🥩 A powerful tool to enhance your energy & appearance

Let’s dive in…👇

In December 2022, I received a gift in our work secret santa.

That gift was a book called ‘Fast This Way’ by Dave Asprey.

I had heard of fasting before this… but this book opened my eyes.

I started 2023 off incorporating multiple types of fasting into my diet, and what I experienced really surprised me…

• I felt better

• I got stronger

• My skin got clearer

• I had MORE energy

• I got more work done

• I could sustain focus for longer

Interestingly, I’d always struggled with stubborn love handles and belly fat that I couldn’t shake…

…but after 4 months of incorporating fasting they completely went away.

Here’s what I learned, how I incorporated it, and why it worked…

There are loads of different types of fast, but here’s the two I used that I think are ideal for Entrepreneurs…

1. 16/8 - 16 hour fast, 8 hour eating window

This is your easy entry level fast.

Have dinner at 7pm… then don’t eat until 11am the next day

Or you can push this so you don’t eat until 2/3pm and extend the fast even longer to amplify the benefits.

2. 24 hour fast

I use this once a week as weekly ‘reset’.

I’ll have dinner on Sunday, then I won’t eat until the same time on Monday evening.

This helps me enjoy my weekends guilt free, as I can overindulge slightly and then use this tactically to make up for it.

The Science 🧪

When you stop eating food, a chain reaction of events begin to happen in your body…

1. Glucose depletion: Your body first uses up its stored glucose (glycogen) for energy.

2. Ketosis: Once glycogen is depleted, your body switches to burning fat for fuel, producing ketones for energy.
   

3. Hormonal changes: Fasting decreases insulin, increases glucagon, growth hormone, and norepinephrine, promoting fat burning and mental clarity.
   

4. Autophagy: Fasting induces cellular "housekeeping," cleaning out damaged proteins and organelles, which may have anti-aging effects.
   

5. Reduced inflammation: Fasting can reduce markers of inflammation in the body, potentially protecting against various diseases.
   

6. Sirtuin activation: Fasting activates sirtuins, proteins involved in regulating cellular health, metabolism, and longevity.
   

7. BDNF increase: Fasting can increase brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), supporting brain cell growth and cognitive function.

5 Reasons Why Fasting is Helpful as an Entrepreneur

1. Enhanced focus and mental clarity

   This was the main reason I wanted to try fasting.

   My appetite to work and focus diminishes after every meal.

   When fasting, the brain switches to using ketones for fuel… and these little suckers are powerful.

   I noticed a boost to my cognitive function, focus, and mental clarity which sustained throughout the day.

2. Increased energy

   
   You instinctively think if your not eating you’ll have less energy…
   
   …but I found the inverse to be true.
   
   I have more energy after fasting that also remains consistent throughout the day.
   
   I found I could manage my time better & increase my productive output significantly as a result.

3. There’s more time in the day

   
   It really surprised me how much extra time you have when you skip breakfast or lunch.
   
   Not only did I now have more time to do stuff in the morning…

   
   …but it was also during my most productive hours.
   
   This stacks ups to a massive increase in output.

4. Better health and longevity
   
   Obviously time will tell with this one…
   
   …but I’ve had multiple blood tests since and nearly all my biomarkers have been in a good place & showing positive trajectories.
   
   I was worried initially fasting would negatively impact my testosterone levels…
   
   …but I actually recorded my highest ever levels when I was fasting the most.

5. Developing discipline and resilience

   Fasting is quite a tough mental challenge to begin with.

   
   When you’ve been eating 3 meals a day for your entire life, it’s a decent mental challenge to start skipping one or two of them.
   
   Being an Entrepreneur you need discipline, willpower, and resilience.

   
   I found fasting helped develop all of these significantly.

I’d be lying if I said everything went perfectly… 😬

 ❌ I made the mistake of lifting weights in the morning & then fasting all day…

…which is stupid as I deprived my muscles from the nutrients they needed to grow.

As a result, I totally minimised my gains.

❌ I found long fasts affected my mood

I found when I’m 20+ hours into a fast I have way less patience and can be more snappy.

This is not good for your teammates and so I learned to manage it (a.k.a not have any meetings during that time 😅

As always, I’m not a doctor. This isn’t medical advice.

I’m just sharing my experience.

Take it easy,

Elliott ✌🏼

P.S. I share a lot of stuff on Instagram… if you want you can connect with me here.

P.P.S. If you don’t want these to end up in your junk, here’s 2 simple things that really help:

1. Please reply to this email and say “Hi!”

2. Please move this email into your main inbox.

These two actions will ensure that these emails hit your inbox.