See How This Teacher Transformed His Body With Proof That Intermittent Fasting Works

“You must train all day and take expensive supplements!”

I couldn’t believe that this dude from my pro wrestling class was in his mid-30s and on a super busy schedule. Not only was he natural, but he was getting in shape on a budget. My buddy J.P. Falacho is a 36-year old teacher with a beautiful wife and lovely daughter. He also coaches the football program. In other words, he has no time (unlike me)!

This is JP’s intermittent fasting before and after. We’re going to look at how to do intermittent fasting…

Get in shape on a budget

For what it’s worth, JP teaches high school math and I hated math in high school. Let’s see how Mr. Falacho totally transformed his body while saving money and working insane hours.

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All of us are always looking for a way to get into better shape and feel good about ourselves. We then get intimidated by the time or the money involved.

Is it worth paying a nutritionist and spending countless hours preparing meals for the entire week? Is it worth consuming yourself during every waking moment to attain those six-pack abs?

I want to share my secrets for transforming my body with limited time and money. I have personally used this program for 18 months, and it has been the best decision I’ve ever made in my life. This regimen is easy to maintain 365 days a year, it gives me hours of extra free time, and I can maintain lean muscle mass all year round. Following this routine will be a life-changing experience, and it will save frustrations you’ve encountered with costly dietary plans.

What’s my secret you ask?

Well, it’s very important that you understand what you would like to achieve. Personally, I wanted to get into better shape, become more athletic, increase strength and power, boost fat loss, reduce recovery time, increase my energy levels, build a strong immunity, and promote improved sleep, while saving time and money. And then I found a program that would not only accomplish all these things, but would greatly supersede all my expectations.

What’s the secret program?

Get in shape on a budget
The program is called Intermittent Fasting.

What is Intermittent Fasting? It’s an eating plan where you eat all of your regular daily calories in a smaller time frame, which is called your eating window.

This regimen dictates WHEN you eat as apposed to WHAT you eat. As a result, you will go through a fasting period everyday, which allows your body to use your stored fat for fuel. Basically, when you fast for a long period of time, it gives your body a rest from breaking down food, thus allowing your body to utilize its stored fat for energy. The program also promotes an extreme spike in growth hormone levels, which is the key component to fat loss.

Here’s a look at how to do intermittent fasting…

  1. Start the Intermittent Fasting Program with an 8-hour eating window like 10am-6pm, or 11am-7pm.
  2. Eat all of your daily meals and snacks, only within that specific designated timeframe.

Your daily caloric intake should be relevant to your goals.

If you eat 2000 calories daily in order to lose weight, then you would eat the 2000 calories during your eating window. Likewise, if you’re an athlete that requires 4000 calories daily, then you would also consume those 4000 calories during your eating window.

You can sometimes cheat on your diet (eating cheat foods), but you can NEVER cheat on your eating window. Also, some people find 8 hours too easy, and adjust their eating window down to 7 or even 6 hours. I have played with the idea of a 5 and 4-hour window. However, as an athlete, I find that a 6-hour eating window works best for my athletic performance. Essentially, a smaller eating window allows for greater results.

It’s amazing that you don’t have to wake up really early and think about what you are going to cook yourself for breakfast before going to work. You can just get ready, grab a black coffee, and go off to work.

Do I have to starve myself during the fasting? Is intermittent fasting healthy?

During the fasting period, you can’t have any calories. However, you can consume water, black coffee (no limits!), or tea with no milk or sugar. It’s also recommended that you consume sugar-free BCAAs during your fasting time. You can also get lots of work done.

Remember that fasting for a 16-hour period will promote high fat oxidation in your body. Basically, you’ll be teaching your body to use its stored fat for fuel.

What are BCAAs?

BCAAs are known as branched chained amino acids, and are the essential building blocks for lean muscle. These amino acids promote post-workout recovery, they increase muscle endurance, and they also activate muscle growth by promoting growth hormone release. During the fasting period, you should consume about 10g of BCAAs every two hours. This will help your body build lean muscle mass while still burning fat for fuel. BCAAs are extremely important to obtain the full benefits of Intermittent Fasting. An extra scoop of BCAAs should be consumed during intense physical training.

Personally, I use Allmax Aminocore or Mutant BCAAs. Aminocore is the best value for the quality of BCAA. You can purchase a large tub of 111 servings for $75 at Supplement Source. They provide free shipping to your front door and they’ll throw in a $10 gift card to Tim Hortons that you can use on black coffee.

Do I have to eat for the same 8 hours every single day?

Saving money

Nope. This is the most flexible program out there.

So, what happens if your window is normally 10am-6pm, but you’re going out to dinner for a friend’s birthday, and the reservations are for 8pm?

You go to the dinner. Studenomics is about never missing a party.

I’ve encountered this problem many times each month, but my solution to this was to simply change my window for the day. Therefore, if I knew the reservations were for 8pm, and we probably wouldn’t finish eating until 10pm, I would just adjust my eating window according to the estimated end time of my meal. If I’m going to stop eating at approximately 10pm, I would simply count back 8 hours, and so I’d have to start eating at 2pm. Thus, my eating window for that specific day would be 2pm – 10pm.

In this case, starting to eat at 2pm can be a little challenging, but I realized that sacrifices had to be made in order to go out and enjoy late dinners.

What about vacations?

You enjoy your trips!

If you go out to breakfast on your vacation at 8am, then you must stop eating by 4pm.

Additionally, you may even find yourself in the middle of last minute plans to have some friends over late. Offer them what you normally would, but for you, enjoy some water, black coffee, black tea, or your favourite BCAAs during your time with them.

In fact, the number one rule is to NEVER cheat on your window. Therefore, just be sure to only allow yourself to eat for only 8 hours. If you stay on top of this, your results will be exponential.

Does intermittent fasting work? What results should I expect?

Save money while getting in shape

There are many benefits to Intermittent Fasting that you’ll begin to notice within a couple of weeks:

  1. Your body will use fat for fuel, which increases fat loss.
  2. Better sleep.
  3. Increasing energy.
  4. Reduced inflammation.
  5. Quicker recovery.
  6. Spike in growth hormone levels, which increases strength and fat loss.
  7. Stronger immunity.

There’s no time to be sick when you have a family!

I used to get sick with bronchitis, the flu, and the common cold multiple times every year. But, during my 18 months of intermittent fasting, I haven’t been sick once with any of these ailments. As an example, during March break, my entire family was sick at home with the flu for 2 weeks. I felt like I was getting sick one of those days, but I slept it off, and didn’t end up with the flu. If you’re not constantly getting sick, you’re not missing days of work, or time with your family, or time at the gym. Furthermore, you’ll also begin to notice that this regimen will start to detox your body, and you’ll have regular bowel movements daily.

[Note from Martin: That last point isn’t a great convo starter on a first date, but it’s true.]

When should I train?

Getting in shape on a budget

When you start the Intermittent Fasting program, do your best to workout on an empty stomach.

When you train before your eating window, your body increases the secretion of growth hormone exponentially, which will boost strength and lead to further fat burning. Be certain to drink 10g of BCAAs before your workout, and another 10g of BCAAs during your workout.

The BCAAs will promote fat loss, and nourish your body’s muscles. Contrary to popular belief, your metabolism will not slow down from fasting, and you will not lose muscle while training fasted, especially if you drink your BCAAs.

At first it may seem strange to workout on an empty stomach, and you may even begin to question this tactic. Trust me, I was also asking the same questions. However, ever since I’ve been training fasted, I’ll never train with food in my stomach again. Training fasted feels amazing. I never feel sluggish, I’m much stronger, and I have way more energy to complete my workouts. Therefore, to fully benefit from Intermittent Fasting try to schedule your workout so that your eating window starts some time after your workouts.

If you’re not a morning person, and can’t train before your eating window, try to schedule your workout session a couple of hours after your window closes. If you do workout after your window is over, DO NOT have any food or shake after the workout. Only replenish with BCAAs.

[Must read: How you can start IF.]

What should I eat when doing intermittent fasting?

If your goals require you to normally eat around 2000 calories a day, then you must intake the same amount of calories during your eating window. If you shorten your window, you shouldn’t necessarily decrease your calorie intake, unless that is a part of your dietary goals.

Breaking your fast is the most important time, because your body will absorb all of these nutrients best. Therefore, you should start your eating window with important micronutrients such as vegetables of your choice, followed by a good source of protein and fat.

You should try to eat:

  • A range of vegetables throughout the week (broccoli, kale, spinach, carrots, celery, cucumbers, tomatoes, or one of your favourite vegetables).
  • Great sources of protein (chicken, beef, pork, fish, tuna, eggs, Greek yogurt, whey protein, and beans).
  • Great sources of fat (almonds, nuts, peanut butter, fish oils, coconut oil, or even eggs).

Obviously the healthier you eat, the better your results will be. However, don’t limit your carb intake to only half a yam. Have a range of foods that you eat, so that you can feel satisfied with your meals. Also, remember to incorporate fruits into your eating window. Fruits such as bananas, apples, mangoes, oranges, pears, pomegranates, blueberries, pineapple, and many others pack a great deal of nutrients that your body needs to be healthy.

You know the best part?

Intermittent Fasting allows you to eat a variety of freshly made foods, instead of something you prepared in a Tupperware for the entire week. You can make dinner during your eating window, or you can enjoy going out to a restaurant to eat.

You also save money!

You no longer have to pay for these absurd nutritional programs that have you eating unflavoured chicken breast with half a yam and half a cup of spinach every single day. Save your money on the dietary plans. The intermittent Fasting lifestyle is so easy to incorporate into an extremely hectic schedule. You can save yourself a lot of time from packing 6-8 meals in a lunch bag, and you can now eat fresh wholesome meals.

When you fast, you don’t have to think about food right in the morning.

Instead you can get ready and go. You never get stuck worrying about breakfast, and then washing dishes, and starting your day late. Basically you are skipping breakfast, and getting your day started immediately. More time can definitely equate to making more money. You’ll find that you aren’t spending hours meal prepping, and thus have more time to dedicate to something you’ve always wanted to try.

Maybe you want use your new extra time to take a course and update your qualifications, or start a side business, or start a blog. Time is money; so stop spending countless hours preparing your food for the week, because you will make yourself miserable. Let your mind relax, because Intermittent Fasting meals are flexible, and will leave you full and happy.

What food should I avoid?

Intermittent Fasting allows you to be moderately flexible with what you eat. Remember, this program doesn’t limit the types of foods you eat; rather, it dictates what time you can eat all your foods. Obviously, the less junk food you eat during your eating window, the better your results will be.

For instance, I knew that I wanted to become more athletic, shed as much fat as possible, get stronger, and become more muscular and vascular. I knew that the first thing that I had to reduce was sugar and foods containing sugar. This meant limiting deserts, chocolate, candy, juice and sodas. It was difficult at first, but every time I felt like eating something sweet, I just consumed some of my favourite fruits. I found that after doing this regularly, my brain began to associate sugar craving with fruits.

I also knew that in order to achieve my goal I would have to moderate fried foods, and potato chips. Instead of eating these items, I replaced them with almonds, peanut butter, yogurt, eggs, fish oils, or coconut oil. So, yes, I did clean up my diet substantially, but I don’t limit how much I eat, and I have plenty of choices. I’m never stuck to a certain list of foods, and eating smaller portions every few hours. I feel satisfied, and mentally content all the time.

Finally, the last thing that you should limit daily is alcohol intake. This was fairly easy for me because I’m only a casual wine drinker. Therefore, I made sure that I would still enjoy a glass of wine from time to time, but I also made sure it was during my eating window. So, do your best to limit alcohol, but if you’re drinking, be sure to do it in your window.

[Additional reading: 10 laws of fitness, fat loss, and strength.]

How do I save time and money?

Save money while getting in shape

You don’t have to worry about eating breakfast and buying a meal every 2 hours.

It’s an amazing feeling to get up and not worry about weighing food, packing 6 meals, getting breakfast ready, and cleaning up.

All you have to do is basically get up, shower, and go. You finally get to kick start your day immediately, and spend more time accomplishing things in the morning instead of worrying about food all day.

You can also stop using your entire Sunday cooking proportioned meals for the entire week. I’m sure that you weren’t looking forward to eating the same chicken, half a yam, and spinach on Friday night, while all your friends and family go out to enjoy a fantastic dinner. Mentally, you become drained and irritable practicing such absurd dietary regiments.

No longer do you have to show up to your mothers house and reheat your pre-cooked proportioned meal out of a Tupperware. Now, you can enjoy your mother’s home cooked meals and feel good about it.

Fasting has also increased my immunity, and kept me from getting sick.

Fewer days spent at home sick, means fewer days spent missing work, which could ultimately affect your income. Staying healthy allows me to accomplish goals 365 days a year. Imagine, with all this spare free time, you could be making some extra money, or working on a special project you never had time for. Additionally, save yourself the ridiculous costs of paying dieticians for meal plans that leave you hungry, irritable, and malnourished. Don’t let nutritionists rip you off on outlandish diets that achieve no results, and cause you to consider eating less calories and working out for longer periods of time. It’s nearly impossible to maintain such irrational eating plans.

SAVE YOUR MONEY and try Intermittent Fasting!

Is Intermittent Fasting for me?

The benefits are truly remarkable.

By shortening the timeframe that you allow yourself to consume calories, you give your body time to stop digesting food, and use stored fat for fuel.

This program allows you to eat all types of foods that are made fresh, and saves you time from making meals for the entire week. It also allows you to shed away excess fat, and completely change your body’s composition. And most importantly, it’s possible to maintain the plan every day of the year, especially with the flexibility of moving your window to a different timeframe. So, now that you know the secrets, it’s time you start Intermittent Fasting for yourself. When you see your body changing after a few weeks, I have no doubt that this program will become your way of life.

[Note: These statements are from my personal experience with Intermittent Fasting. Even though I have found amazing life-changing results with the program, doesn’t necessarily mean that it will be as successful for you. You should always consult your doctor before following any eating program.]

What do you guys think? Are you willing to try this program?

Fasting spikes growth hormone levels, which helps you burn fat, get stronger, have more energy, increase immunity, recover quickly, and decrease inflammation in your body.

In other words, you look sexy while never stressing about food.

18 thoughts on “See How This Teacher Transformed His Body With Proof That Intermittent Fasting Works”

    1. Hey Jim, thank you for reading. I have friends who do alternate day fasts, I haven’t personally tried the alternate day fasts (one day eat, one day fast). The 6-hour daily eating window has worked wonders for me, and it’s really flexible. But, it’s important you try different things and do what’s best for you.

  1. Dude- JP! This is hands-down the best post I’ve read on this subject. I’ve heard of intermediate fasting but never really knew the benefits. Definitely something I’ll need to try. Thanks for the post!

    1. Brandon, thanks for the kind words. The benefits of Intermittent Fasting are truly unheard of! And the best part about this, is that it’s EASY do it 365 days a year. You will not regret trying this. All of my friends and family who have started this have changed over for life.

  2. Hi! Great write up on IF. I tried IF a couple years ago and had a really positive experience from it. My husband was into powerlifting at the time and I was doing it with him. I’ve been toying with the idea of incorporating it back into my life again, and your post reminded me of the reasons why I should. Thanks 😀

    1. Sher C, I’m glad that you’ve mentioned that your husband is a powerlifter and used this program… Most powerlifters and bodybuilders would never think of doing this, but it can work for anyone!

    1. Michelle, when you have a busy schedule Intermittent Fasting is perfect! And I’ve never been sick since starting the program, which means that I can stay on schedule.

  3. Thanks for the great write up. I’ve been looking at ways to improve my eating habit. IF sounds like a good fit for me. 8 hours window is not bad at all. I will put this on my calendar and give it a try soon. Probably when school starts so I can go to the gym after dropping the kid off.

  4. This is great! It may be the answer I’m looking for for my physical goal of getting fit without having to spend my time and money on meal prepping and buying organic. Awesome article and I’ll be linking back to this from my website 🙂 Thank you!

  5. Ahhh!!!!! there is so many different schools of thought! I started counting macros and then I heard I should eat 6 times a day and then that I can eat all at one time. I have started fasted cardio but now this! Maybe I will give it a try and stick to my macros (IIFYM) I’m down 10 lbs so far and have about 15 to go. We will see if fasting works.

  6. Finally, something out there that I can try without paying for a ridiculous sum of money for diet plans that I won’t be able to loyally follow. Hahahaha

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