Transcription
Why is nobody doing this? I'm going to share with you in this lesson three easy lifestyle hacks that you can do in less than 10 minutes each that will help you burn stubborn fat, lower inflammation, help with energy levels, and also extend your lifespan.
Let's get into the first hack. That's going to be no food at least 5 hours before bedtime. Here's the deal. When you eat too close to bedtime, it dramatically disrupts your sleep. When that happens, you're not going to get high-quality fat-burning restorative sleep. We never want to give our metabolism energy in the form of food and not use that energy. When you eat food and then lie down and go to bed, it raises your core body temperature. That is the opposite of what you want when you are lying in bed. Your body temperature needs to drop one to two degrees Fahrenheit to enter what's called deep delta sleep. Deep delta sleep is when you activate your fat-burning hormones, which includes human growth hormone. This is a very important anti-aging, fat-burning, and also muscle-building hormone. And you deplete it by eating too close to bed. This means less melatonin production, waking up in the middle of the night, waking up in the morning not feeling restored, feeling hungrier because your hormones, including the hormone ghrelin, which is the hunger hormone, is elevated from poor sleep. And your satiety, fat-burning hormone leptin, has plummeted. And studies show just a few days of poor sleep lead to blood sugar increases that could mimic somebody that is pre-diabetic. If you want to have amazing energy levels, wake up with a flat stomach and balanced hormones, we want to prioritize sleep. And one of the best things you can do to get deep, amazing sleep is to stop eating 5 hours before bed.
When you do that, your body will go into your sleep in a restful state where you activate those fat-burning hormones and you detoxify these toxins from the brain, from the body through a process called the glymphatic system. So, the simple rule of thumb here, if you go to bed at 10:00 p.m., you should finish your meal by 5:00 p.m. Give yourself five hours of digestion. That will prepare you for great restorative, deep, fat-burning sleep.
Let's move on to the second tip here. Hack number two is to go for a 10-minute brisk walk after all of your meals. This is one of the most underrated metabolic hacks that you could incorporate into your lifestyle. After you eat a meal, your blood sugars will rise, especially if carbohydrates are involved. But research shows by just going for a 10-minute walk after your meals, you could blunt that blood sugar increase by 20 to 30%. This is important because when you're not going for a walk and you eat the meal and just go about your day, your blood sugars will go up higher. Then your body, the pancreas inside of your body will produce insulin to clear that excess glucose. The more insulin that is produced, the longer you're in a fat storage state. This could also impact your digestion, lead to maybe bloating, gas, acid reflux. But by just going for that 10-minute walk, you blunt that glucose response. Less insulin is produced. You digest the food better, and you're going into a fat-burning state much faster. This works in some cases even better than blood sugar-reducing medications like metformin, and it's free and there are no side effects. The quick 10-minute walk after your meals signals to your muscles to suck up the glucose as fuel rather than storing it as fat. It activates something called the GLUT4 transporters. And this consistent movement improves digestion of that meal. Check out the study which shows postprandial brisk walking, which means walking after a meal, substantially reduced the glucose peak in both of the studies. When evaluating the glycemic response throughout the two hours postmeal, postprandial walking was more effective after consuming a low-carbohydrate meal, a mixed meal, or even a high-carbohydrate meal just by going for a walk. And it's not just the fat loss benefits and the digestive benefits. It's also the longevity benefits of getting steps every single day. This is so underrated. A meta-analysis published by the European Society of Cardiology and the University of Massachusetts found the following. It showed that individuals who walked 5 to 7,000 steps per day, which analyzed data from 15 studies involving nearly 50,000 people, those individuals who got at least 5 to 7,000 steps a day reduced the risk of all-cause mortality by 50 to 70% versus those who got less than 5,000 steps a day.
Super cool. Another bonus tip to walking after a meal, it boosts something called BDNF, which is brain-derived neurotrophic factor. This is like miracle grow for the brain. Brain fertilizer. It creates new brain cells and it helps you stay more focused, creative, and also productive. So, if you feel sluggish after eating a meal, groggy, takes you out of your productivity, that 10-minute walk might be the solution you've been looking for.
Hack number three, consume apple cider vinegar before all of your meals. Just one to two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar diluted with water within 30 minutes before your meal can completely change how your body responds to that meal. Whether it's a healthy meal or an unhealthy meal, apple cider vinegar slows the absorption of the carbohydrates. It flattens that blood sugar curve and improves insulin sensitivity. In fact, one study showed that 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar before a high-carbohydrate meal in diabetics led to a 34% lower postmeal insulin and glucose response. Apple cider vinegar also improves digestion, helps your liver produce bile to break down the fat in the food, helps with acid reflux, GERD, bloating, and heck, if you even have the apple cider vinegar before bedtime or during a fast, that could also be beneficial and suppress your appetite, and keep you in a fat-burning state. The best way is to mix one to two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, dilute it with water, drink it through a straw 30 minutes before all your meals. You could even have it, as I said, before bed and even during your fast if you practice fasting. It does not break a fast; that actually supports your fast.
And before we get to your question submitted here on this topic, I want to let you know about my brand new book, Metabolic Freedom. It's going to be published in less than two weeks out into the world all about how to restore your metabolism, burn fat, complete with a 30-day protocol, step by step, which is going to show you how to burn fat instead of sugar and live a healthy, incredible lifestyle. It also has fat-burning recipes. And I'm really excited about this book. If you pre-order it today, I'm going to give you an entire course on the metabolism for free that we sell for $1,000. You get that for free with exclusive interviews. So, either scan the QR code on the screen or if you're listening on the podcast, head over to metabolicfreedombook.com to get the free course and those exclusive interviews. We will also drop a link for that in the notes down below.
Okay, let's get to question number one here. What if I'm hungry before bed? Is it okay to have a small snack? Here's what you can do. If you do feel hungry before bed, consider taking a shot of apple cider vinegar with water, a tablespoon. You could also have a tablespoon of MCT oil or coconut oil. I've seen that suppress appetite before bed. And maybe even some water and salt. Sometimes when we experience hunger, it's could be an electrolyte mineral depletion. So by just having water and high-quality salt, that hunger will go away. And it's important to understand that hunger is normal. It's a hormone and it's pulsatile. It might last for 10 or 15 minutes. Try these tips. Distract yourself; that hunger will go away. And if you don't eat before bed, your future self in the morning will thank you for it.
Question number two, can I still drink liquids at night like tea, electrolytes, or bone broth? All of those are fine, especially the tea, and especially the electrolytes. The bone broth could be okay. There is some calories and protein, but you're not using a lot of energy to digest it. So, if you want to have a cup of bone broth, that could be a good option as well.
Is a walk after every meal necessary or just dinner? Look, I get it. I'm saying to walk after all your meals to get the most benefits here. But if that is very time-consuming, you just don't have the time to do that, then choose the biggest meal of the day to go for that 10-minute walk. And that's where you'll get the most benefits.
Can I do a 10-minute workout instead of a walk, like air squats or rebounding? Yeah, you can do that. You don't want to do anything too intense. But if you want to do some squats, some rebounding, or even some calf stretches where you just go up on your toes and back down a few times, maybe like 30 to 40 times, there are some benefits to doing that after a meal versus a walk. Those are also good options.
Won't vinegar hurt my teeth or stomach? That's why I recommended you drink the apple cider vinegar diluted with water and through a straw so it doesn't affect your teeth. It's actually going to support your stomach, support acid reflux and GERD. A lot of people who have acid reflux think it's too little acid because they feel the acid build up here in what's called their esophageal lower sphincter, but it's a result of too little acid. The gut needs to be very acidic. So, we think it's too little acid. So, most doctors think it's too much acid. It's actually too little. And you could build up the acidity in your gut by having apple cider vinegar, which will help you break down fats, proteins, and carbohydrates. It's an absolute powerhouse.
How soon will I see results from these hacks? You'll see it on the first day. More energy, more improved digestion, and over the next few days, a slimmer waistline.
Do these hacks still work if I'm not doing keto and intermittent fasting? Yes. They plug-and-play into any dietary philosophy you follow. Now, if you add keto and fasting into the mix, I believe that will accelerate your results. And in my brand new book, Metabolic Freedom, I have an entire chapter on keto and fasting and how to do it the right way. Go to metabolicfreedombook.com to go get that.
What if I eat a late dinner because of work or family? There are always exceptions. There are dinner invitations, there are events, and sometimes even for me, dinners are late. But this is the exception to the rule. If you are following this rule of thumb with no food before bed, at least 5 hours before bed most nights, you're going to benefit with the exception of that one or two nights per week where you have a dinner with family.
Can I combine apple cider vinegar and walking after meals for even better results? Go for it. You could have the apple cider vinegar before and after and go for that walk right after the meal. And the common question I always get asked is, should I walk right after the meal or should I wait? Right after is going to be the best. But even if you wait 30 minutes after the meal, it's still beneficial.
Do these three hacks. They take less than 10 minutes per day and it will dramatically increase your results. Share this episode with a friend. Leave it a rating and review if you're listening on the podcast. And thank you for watching. Thank you for listening. And if you love this lesson, I recently published a video on what happens in your body when you don't have food for 72 hours. I go through an entire timeline. I want to show you that video. Check out this clip and I'll see you in that next video. Your doctor will never tell you this. Once we get to that 3-day mark, you will not believe what happens at the 72-hour mark of a fast. It's absolutely shocking and unbelievable what to consume during the fast, which liquid supplements, who should not do this fast, how to work your way to this fast, and how to break this fast. Now let's jump into the timeline.