Table of contents for The Lose It! Handbook - Keto and Intermittent fasting in LOSE IT! The Handbook

IF you’ve picked up this magazine because you’re desperate to lose weight, sleep better and live a healthier life, then you’ve done exactly the right thing. In a world that’s becoming more expensive by the day, this is a great investment in your health, because intermittent fasting (IF) costs… nothing. In the first LOSE IT! Hand-book we took an in-depth look at the keto diet. Research shows it works, not only to lose excess weight but also to increase your quality of life. Keto is the way we humans ate before we became addicted to convenience and sugar. And the same is true for IF: our ancestors feasted when they had access to food, and fasted (albeit involuntarily) when they didn’t. In this edition of The LOSE IT! Handbook to…

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➊ Does it work for everyone? No, it doesn’t. Some people – particularly women – don’t respond that well to IF because they find it difficult to do, and because it doesn’t help them to lose weight. This is apparently more common in perimenopausal and menopausal women, which would be because of a different hormonal response. And obviously if you have any chronic conditions or medical problems you must talk to your doctor first. But even if you don’t lose weight, it certainly helps all your numbers: fasting is proven to lower triglycerides, blood pressure and LDL – all good things. ➋ Can I do it if I am eating disordered in any way? Absolutely not. IF is not about starving yourself in any way. It’s about giving your body time to…

Don Vino Prins is used to dazzling audiences with his smooth notes on stage. In early February this year he wowed fans again, but this time jazzy vibes had nothing to do with it. Instead, he announced on Instagram that he’d ditched all the unhealthy carbs, which included sugar and fizzy drinks, and dropped 15kg. How? By committing to a low-carb eating plan and intermittent fasting, as well as a workout here and there. ‘Before I embarked on this healthy lifestyle journey, I used to love eating while I was busy with emails, working in my studio, or when I was bored. I loved sweet, sugary things. I’m on the road a lot, so I don’t have the time to do much meal prep. This kind of lifestyle made me…

I‘started gaining weight quite early in my life, and I was never seriously competitive in sport,’ Hendrik Marais says. ‘I did a lot of damage to my body at a young age when I developed a negative relationship with food through binge eating. I would later try to lose the weight, and sometimes I would have some success, just to reach a plateau I simply could not break through. I’d eventually mess it up and regain the weight.’ The 31-year-old attorney is also the founder of Keto Lifestyle and a published author. He first started experimenting with keto in his matric year, when he wanted to get into shape for the end-of-year holiday. ‘I achieved some results, but I was completely obsessed with the process,’ he says. ‘Once the holiday…

SPIRITUALITY JUDAISM On Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, Jews observe a 25-hour fast (ta’anit) lasting from sunset to darkness the following night. The fast is a time for confession and prayer. According to tradition, the first Yom Kippur happened after the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt in the 13th century BCE. BUDDHISM According to Buddhist tradition, Siddhartha Gautama (later known as the Buddha), born between 563 BCE and 480 BCE, meditated and fasted to overcome desire and achieve enlightenment. ‘As the story goes, he ate only a grain of rice and a sesame seed per day,’ says Rev Heng Sure, director of the Berkeley Buddhist Monastery in California. ‘He discovered that desire did not end by force, and accepted a meal offered to him by…

A major health setback finally persuaded Zain Adams that he needed to make a major lifestyle change – fast. He did, and his weight dropped from 113kg to 79kg in less than a year! He’s now only 3kg away from his goal of 76kg. Zain started struggling with his weight in his twenties. He had always engaged in outdoor activities like fishing, hiking and football, but over time he slipped into a sedentary lifestyle, and along with that went an extremely unhealthy diet. ‘I love traditional Cape Malay foods. And I travelled for about 17 years, so I learnt to enjoy different world cuisines too,’ the 57-year-old says. ‘Over the years, I picked up weight. I’ve tried many diets, but never really got my weight under control.’ All of this…

The best advice I can give a client asking me whether they should extend their fasting periods is to listen to what their body is telling them. Fasting can make you feel so much better that occasionally we need to remind ourselves that our bodies require nutrients to thrive, and food is still the delivery service for optimal nutrition! As a low-carb dietician who promotes a good weight-loss lifestyle, my goal is to make sure my clients preserve – or, even better, increase – their muscle mass while improving their health and losing weight if they need to. Good muscle function is essential to live a complete life. We need muscles not only to move around but also to be in peak condition to maintain our respiratory and digestive systems,…

ELZETTE STRUWIG Elzette studied dietetics at the University of Pretoria and trained in the ketogenic diet at Matthew’s Friends Keto College in the UK. She has worked with high-fat diets for the past few years and has witnessed the benefits for clients struggling with epilepsy, cancer, PCOS and, of course, weight loss. Her goal is to offer people support, information and access to evidence-based research on their road to optimal health. JANDRI BARNARD Jandri is a private practising dietician with a master’s degree in dietetics from the University of KwaZulu-Natal and a passion for research. She is an adventurous foodie who loves to try out new dishes and diets, and to develop new recipes while assisting others to make lifestyle choices. ‘Food should be the ingredient that binds us together,…

When 38-year-old Tammy Redmond’s fast-paced life as CEO of her own company and single mother to two girls and one boy began to take its toll, she knew it was time for a serious lifestyle change. Not only was she feeling exhausted and despondent, but her weight had also reached 89kg – the same as she’d weighed at full-term pregnancy. Although she lived a fairly active lifestyle and exercised regularly, Tammy just couldn’t seem to shed the extra kilos. ‘When I was 15, I had irregular periods and was prescribed contraceptive pills, which seemed to be the remedy for everything then. I later found out I had polycystic ovary syndrome [PCOS], which had gone undiagnosed for most of my twenties,’ Tammy says. ‘I was still within the normal weight range,…

We’re all aware that hormones play a critical role in everything from the quality of our sleep to our mood. Women in particular see this impact played out in our lives every single month. And, given that fasting has such a profound effect on our bodies, it must also affect our hormones. So what is the impact of fasting for a woman? What do the studies show: to fast, or not to fast? Let’s look at the science. FERTILITY Oestrogen (the active form is called oestradiol) is the main female reproductive hormone, and it’s critical for the maintenance of a normal menstrual cycle. Women who are overweight often have elevated oestrogen levels, which can contribute to an irregular menstrual cycle, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and even an increased risk of…

Most people finally reach out for an intervention to turn things around only when they are at a very low point in their lives. Fixing aspects of your life can sometimes be difficult and painful, and it may seem as though this requires you to make some radical changes. Too often, we set out with unrealistic goals and expectations. We make things a lot more complicated than they need to be, and we seek out shortcuts to achieve success. Sadly, shortcuts are exactly what brought most of us here in the first place. By chasing unrealistic goals and objectives we rig the game for failure, and when we overcomplicate our approach, we end up abandoning our efforts sooner rather than later. If you truly want to transform your life for…

Low mood, anxiety and depression can be huge stumbling blocks to living a full and functional life. In fact, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), depression is now the leading cause of disability worldwide. Antidepressants are the gold standard treatment for these disorders, but in reality they’re effective in only about half of the people prescribed them – and on top of that, these medications often come with unpleasant side-effects. The good news is that feeling sad or panicky doesn’t have to be your daily default setting. There are non-medical methods that have been shown to naturally enhance your mood, reduce anxiety and ease depression. Your body has an incredible capacity to heal itself, especially when you support the process with the right tools. One of those tools is…

Your brain is an extremely complex organ that controls your thoughts, emotions, memories, fine motor skills, breathing, temperature and every other process involved in regulating your body. Together, your brain and spinal cord make up your central nervous system, which works to process messages received through intricate sensory systems so it can get your body to react accordingly and appropriately. These systems are what enable us to function as human beings on a daily basis. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is probably best described as super nourishing Miracle-Gro for the brain: it’s responsible for helping neurons heal and forming new connections when they become depleted. High levels of BDNF have been shown to help rewire the brain by helping to improve memory, slow down brain ageing, increase learning capability and preserve…

‘As soon as I reach a round number, I struggle to push through. But then I remind myself that this is not where I want to be. I want to be 99 kg: only two digits on the scale.’ Linky Jannetjies has five words to describe life before keto: ‘pain, difficult, unnecessary, insomnia, depression.’ Every weight-loss strategy she had tried was either not sustainable or induced mood swings and anxiety. Apart from everything else, her obesity was causing fertility issues, and among the best positive impacts of her change of lifestyle is that she and her husband now have two daughters, aged 6 and 1. ‘I wasn’t overweight because of hormonal problems or anything like that,’ says Linky, a cardiology and oncology nurse. ‘It was truly because of what I…

KEEP ON TRACK per serving Fat 22 g Carbs 10 g Protein 22 g KEEP ON TRACK per serving Fat 53 g Carbs 5 g Protein 65 g KEEP ON TRACK per serving Fat 9 g Carbs 9 g Protein 27 g Mussels are an excellent source of iron and are high in vitamin B12 and omega-3 fatty acids. PERI-PERI CHICKEN LIVERS SERVES 4 • 15 ml (1 tbsp) butter• 15 ml (1 tbsp) olive oil• 1 small onion, peeled and chopped finely• 3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped• ½ red pepper, diced• 500 g chicken livers, cleaned• 5 ml (1 tsp) salt• 30 ml (2tbsp) tomato paste• 5 ml (1 tsp) smoked paprika• 5 ml (1 tsp) chilli flakes• 5 ml (1 tsp) chilli powder• juice of 1…

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Most of the time when you tell other people who aren’t familiar with it that you’re fasting, they’ll look horrified and immediately try to talk you out of it. Starvation is not safe, they’ll say. Your metabolism will slow down. It’s best to eat six small meals a day. To which we respond: It isn’t starvation; it’s fasting. Starvation means you don’t have a choice, whereas fasting means you do. Here’s how Dr Jason Fung, a nephrologist and world-leading expert in fasting (read more about him on page 84), puts it: ‘Fasting and starving live on opposite sides of the world. It is the difference between recreational running and running because a lion is chasing you.’ And, unlike running from a lion, fasting is perfectly safe. People have been fasting…

Fasting clearly makes most of us feel much better and more energetic, especially when we’re used to eating a diet high in sugars, refined carbohydrates, fizzy drinks and empty calories. But at what cost? Is it taking a terrible toll on us physically? How does a long period without eating really impact our health? Let’s dive in and take a look. The basic concept of fasting is to change the timing, frequency and quantity of meals, as opposed to counting calories or closely watching what you eat, and its benefits have long been recognised. In fact, as far back as the 1920s, when children with drug-resistant epilepsy were shown to have fewer seizures when fasting, the ketogenic diet was developed to mimic its effects. Although it has never gone away…

It’s been called the Peter Pan drug, rumoured to have hooked a generation of ageing stars such as Demi Moore, Kylie Minogue, Jennifer Aniston, Madonna, Suzanne Somers, Sylvester Stallone and Nick Nolte. But such is the controversy around synthetic human growth hormone (HGH) that only a handful have publicly acknowledged taking it. Caught bringing synthetic HGH into Australia in 2007, Stallone told NBC’s Today show that he was taking it under the supervision of his doctor to help with endurance and recovery after exercise. Nolte has called it ‘a systems repair’, describing on WWD how he injected it into his stomach. And Somers, the perky blonde in the sitcom Three’s Company, has published a best-seller about it – Ageless: The Naked Truth about Bioidentical Hormones – in which she enthuses…

I went on my first diet at the age of 8,’ says 38-year-old Terina Falck. ‘I’d already developed a voracious appetite that I couldn’t seem to control. I struggled with portion sizes, and would eat nearly the same amount as my dad. We typically ate boerekos, which naturally included meat, rice and potatoes.’ Terina recalls the difficulties she endured during those early stages of her life as she struggled to navigate growing up while battling with her appetite and subsequent weight gain. ‘It was tough,’ she says. ‘I was never the fastest athlete, I didn’t dress like the other girls, and shopping was a horrible experience. I hated trying on clothes because it always ended in frustration and embarrassment. ‘I experienced deep feelings of insecurity and isolation during this time.…

IF loss is your goal, both intermittent fasting and keto are extremely effective. A bonus if you’re over 50 is that both IF weight regimes increase your insulin sensitivity, which leads to improved glucose utilisation, and reduces your risk of developing diabetes and heart disease – a consideration as we age. There are many different ways to do IF (see the article on page 12), but research has shown that the most popular and sustainable plan is 16:8, which means eating healthy foods during an 8-hour window every day and fasting for the remaining 16 hours. This is also the recommended approach for women over 50. IF is more flexible than keto when it comes to the foods you can eat, and gives you more exposure to a wider variety…

WHAT THE SCIENCE SAYS ‘SUGAR CAN BE USED FOR UP TO 18 HOURS AFTER EATING, DEPENDING ON THE CONTENTS OF YOUR LAST MEAL.’ We’ve become accustomed to the notion of exercise being a means for your body to burn the fuel you feed it, but what happens when that feeding schedule (and the source of fuel) changes? Should your fitness routine change with it? Could you maximise the benefits of intermittent fasting by exercising in a fasted state, and is it safe to do so? There are nuances to the answers to these questions, so let’s start by going back to basics. HOW OUR BODIES USE ENERGY Not all types and durations of exercise demand the same combination of fuel sources from our bodies, and it’s important to bear this…

KEEP ON TRACK per serving Fat 19 g Carbs 3 g Protein 19 g Juicing is a great way to in corporate more vegetables into your diet. KEEP ON TRACK per serving Fat 0 g Carbs 5 g Protein 0 g KEEP ON TRACK per serving Fat 56 g Carbs 15 g Protein 17 g KEEP ON TRACK per serving Fat 27 g Carbs 3 g Protein 12 g KEEP ON TRACK per serving Fat 22 g Carbs 18 g Protein 9 g KEEP ON TRACK per serving Fat 21 g Carbs 8 g Protein 23 g 1 EGGS Eggs, which are rich in protein and vitamins, are easy to digest. They rank high on the satiety index, meaning you’ll feel full for longer. They’ll also stabilise your blood sugar…

KEEP ON TRACK per serving Fat 30 g Carbs 6 g Protein 13 g KEEP ON TRACK per serving Fat 25 g Carbs 3 g Protein 16 g ROCKET, PARMESAN AND BACON SALAD SERVES 4 • 150 g streaky bacon• 200 g pumpkin cubes• 10 ml (2 tsp) olive oil• salt• 40g rocket leaves• 1 small handful of purple radicchio or endive leaves• 50g pine nuts (or shaved almonds), toasted lightly• 40g Parmesan, shaved FOR THE DRESSING • 1 garlic clove, peeled and minced• 5 ml (1 tsp) Dijon mustard• 45 ml (3 tbsp) olive oil• 30 ml (2 tbsp) balsamic vinegar• salt 1. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Line a baking tray with baking paper. 2. Lay the bacon in strips on the prepared baking tray and cook in…

KEEP ON TRACK per serving Fat 34 g Carbs 13 g Protein 29 g KEEP ON TRACK per serving Fat 31 g Carbs 15 g Protein 29 g TURMERIC contains curcumin, a powerful anti-inflammatory compound and a strong antioxidant. To increase the bio-availability of the curcumin in turmeric, eat it with black pepper, which contains piperine, an alkaloid that improves the absorption of curcumin. GOLDEN MILK SERVES 4 • 20 ml (4 tsp) ground turmeric• 30 ml (2 tbsp) coconut oil• 1ℓ (4 cups) unsweetened almond milk• 2 cinnamon sticks• 8cm-piece ginger root, cut into 8 thin slices• 2.5 ml (½ tsp) freshly ground black pepper• 30 ml (2 tbsp) erythritol, or more to taste 1. Combine the turmeric and coconut oil in a small bowl and mix to form…