137: Why Feasting is Good For You
Feasting and Fasting patterns have been a part of our natural eating cycle for thousands of years. Historically, people naturally feasted during times of harvest, hunting, holidays and special celebrations. Other times, they fasted due to low food availability or as an intentional spiritual and detoxification practice. God made us miraculously and purposefully adaptable to both conditions. Our bodies actually thrive on this variation of energy. In modern society, we are out of touch with the ancient rhythms of feasting and fasting. This defies our body’s natural instinct and capability to be metabolically flexible.
During the Feast 2 Fast® program we mimic this ancient approach by using techniques such as carbohydrate manipulation and intermittent fasting to boost metabolic flexibility – which is the sweet spot for your metabolism.
In this week’s podcast we’re talking about the benefits of Feasting. Not only as a strategic metabolic tool, but also as an approach to eating that you can maintain for life!
EPISODE 137: Why Feasting is Good For You
Show Notes
(0:00) Intro
Hello my friend! Welcome back to the club, how are you today?
I have some Good News for you today - especially as we move into the holiday season - and that is this - Feasting is good for you. It’s good for your spirit, it is good for your metabolism and it is good for dietary sustainability.
When we look up the definition of Feasting it says:
To eat and drink sumptuously, to eat large quantities of, to eat or serve a plentiful and delicious meal.
I love food. I love the fellowship of food whether it’s an anniversary celebration, a night out with my girlfriends, a holiday feast, or a simply weeknight dinner around the table with my family.
For long term sustainability, you’ve got to find a way where Real food meets real life.
I needed to help people learn how incorporate junky food into their life. And they don’t teach you that in nutrition school.
So that’s how Feast 2 Fast was born.
I put all of my professional knowledge along side my Real Life personal experience and how I make it work and now we have Feast 2 Fast. My speciality is teaching the Feast.
(7:22) You’ve got to put good fuel in the engine:
Most of America is in perpetual feast mode. We’re eating too much, too junky and too often.
We are overfed and undernourished.
It’s like filling your ferrari with cheap ethanol instead of the premium stuff. It just ain’t gonna run right. It’s got fuel, but not the fuel that makes the engine go vroom vroom.
Our bodies can handle feasting with less than healthy foods some of the time but not all of the time. We’ve got to lay the foundation of nutrition.
Week 1 of Feast 2 Fast is our Real Foods sugar detox week
We reset our bodies, we flood it with amino acids, fatty acids, vitamins and minerals from our real food choices, we’re not using supplements and I don’t even like people to use protein powder in these first few weeks.
I really like people to seek out the whole food form of protein - meat, fish, eggs because those will fill you up and satiate you.
In the first week we’re also resetting our taste receptors and our pleasure receptors - we kind of have to wash out the party-in-the-mouth and party-in-the-brain to get our bodies back in tune with real food.
(9:50) Heck Yeah Carbs:
Throughout the whole program we’re managing our carbohydrate intake. This is a biggie because let’s face it -most feasting is usually about eating carbohydrates.
When we think of carbs most of us think of (what I call) the Heck Yeah carbs. The ones we’re all feasting on but that are not good for us - like the cookies, macaroni and cheese, chips, ice cream and booze. BUT those aren’t the only carbs in our lives.
Most people grossly underestimate the amount of carbs they eat which creates blood sugar dysregulation in the body and prevents them from being an efficient fat burner.
In F2F we break carbs down into 3 categories - Real Food Carbs, Whole Food Carbs and Heck Yeah Carbs and we systematically work through and layer in each level.
(11:09) Fasting:
We also use Fasting to balance out the Feasting.
There is no better antidote to a feast than a fast.
Feasting and Fasting patterns have been a part of our natural eating cycle for thousands of years.
In modern society, we are out of touch with the ancient rhythms of feasting and fasting. This defies our body’s natural instinct and capability to be metabolically flexible.
God made our bodies miraculously and purposefully adaptable to both conditions . . . our bodies actually thrive on this variation…it’s what keeps our body on its toes and not becoming overly stuck in one metabolic mode.
Feasting and Fasting creates metabolic flexibility.
During Feast 2 Fast® we kind of mimic this ancient approach by using the techniques of carbohydrate manipulation (which includes feasting) and intermittent fasting to boost metabolic flexibility.
The goal is to create a foundation of fat burning while layering in carbohydrates in order to boost hormonal and metabolic function.
In a nutshell, if you fast, if you don’t eat for 12-16 hours between dinner and breakfast, you’re going to see some good results.
Autophagy - the science of cellular cleansing.
In F2F we do a Superfast in the last week where each person extends their fasting time beyond what they have achieved so far.
(15:04) Part of managing your carb load IS building in time for the Feast.
Think of it like this - we plan our intermittent fasting and we can also plan our intermittent feasting. Intermittent means Stopping and starting at intervals.
We just can’t be in Feast mode all the time because it’s hard on a body. Just like we can’t be in fast mode all the time because it is hard on a body.
Carbs are a quick source of energy. The body burns available glucose (sugar) first.
It has to burn through a lot of sugar first and work harder to burn fat. But once you are metabolically flexible, burning both sugar and fat well.
Our body is always working in relation to creation:
When the body senses there is not enough food, it adjusts accordingly.
One thing it does is slow down metabolism to conserve energy.
We’re never meant to undereat or overeat indefinitely but our bodies are still wired to keep tabs on energy availability.
And so a feast here and there gives your body a little reassurance - like all is right in the world. There’s plenty of food.
(18:10) Roles of carbs in the body:
Being too low carb can be stressful to the adrenals.
Carbs can be important for thyroid function. Now this can vary, because I’ve seen people go straight up carnivore and improve thyroid function and others who go too low carb and their thyroid crashes. So, I’ll always add the caveat of bioindividuality when it comes to all of this. But I would say, generally, speaking a moderate carb level is healthy for the thyroid.
Carbs also help regulate leptin signaling.
(20:15) Feast 2 Fast:
One of the Scripture verses I use in this next round of Feast 2 Fast is from John 7:8 when Jesus says:
“You go up to the feast. I am not going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come.”
I’ll never forget one of the most rewarding comments/testimonial/feedback I got from one of my earliest clients and Feast 2 Fasters, Sue, is that for the first time in many years she enjoyed her Thanksgiving meal. She was not in mind drama over how much she ate, she was intentional about what she ate.
And this is what I want for you my friend. I want you to have this kind of food peace this holiday season and through all seasons.
Your eating approach should not look different in January than it does now.
Your lifestyle of eating should include times for feasting - that needs to be built in so that you do not feel like a failure over and over. Planning feasts on purpose takes away the whole deprivation, I can’t ever that again, situation - which cuts right through the mind drama. Bye bye.
Feasting is good for you my friend. It is good for your spirit, your metabolism and for dietary sustainability.
Please don’t wait until January. I’ll be feasting and fasting then too but I’m also teaching F2F right now - starting at the beginning of November.
Go here to come feast with us, come fast with us, come keep your eyes on our Lord through the holiday season. I would love to have you in our new home that is not Facebook. It is working out so beautifully.
(25:00) Outro & Disclaimer
Thanks for listening! Have a healthy and blessed week!