Intermittent Fasting as a tool for losing weight

October 21, 2025October 21, 2025The Heta AkiraLeave a comment

iFasting

One of the things that I love about science is that is always renewing for the better. There is no stubborn pride in keeping things being done a certain way when there is evidence that the old way was the wrong way or at least, not the best way.

And there is evidence to support that keeping your insulin levels high all day is far from healthy. With that being said, many meals a day (including snacks) was considered a very healthy way to feed our body. Now we know that fewer meals are better and that the quality of those foods matter the most.

The super important hormone known as Insulin goes to work every time we eat, taking glucose from our blood stream to our cells. But keep eating constantly modern food and soon enough, your body will start resisting the work of insulin, so our pancreas creates more insulin to complete the job. If this cycle keeps repeating for enough number of years, and you might end up with “Insulin Resistance” also known as the first step to become a Type 2 Diabetic. With that being said, maybe the 5 or 6 small meals a day might not be the best after all. In fact, is just the opposite. Reduce your meals and get them no so far apart and that will translate to benefits.

Here is what I mean…

Arrange an 8-hour window to eat!
After that? Water, Water and more Water. This is called Intermittent Fasting 16/8.

Before you go into shock and feed your mind with all kinds of defeating thoughts, please believe that this is something that you can do. And it will help you to lose weight and in overall it will help you be a healthier person.

This is my Plan recommendation:

No Breakfast, but you can have black coffee (black as in no cream, sugar of any kind)
Good Lunch (of course of allowed protocol food)
Light and Healthy Dinner (just before the end of the 8 hours eating window)

Example:
Breakfast – None, just have black coffee. And remember, not Splenda or other Artificial Sweeter.
Lunch – Salmon with a green salad and half avocado.
Dinner – As much salad as you want and you can complete your dinner with some Macadamias nuts.

This can be a little hard in the beginning, so here are some tips to follow:

Water, as sometimes we might think that we are hungry and we are just thirsty.
Avoid going out at night the first couple of weeks. Keep away temptations for now.
Go to bed as early as possible.

AGAIN: This is only hard at the beginning, resist and believe in yourself.

Last but not least, hop on the scale so you can monitor the results of your new tool.

Tomorrow, we start doing 16/8 Intermitting Fasting!

And Here We Go!!

October 20, 2025October 20, 2025The Heta AkiraLeave a comment

A new opportunity, life improving changes, a better you… No matter how I put it, a diet plan always starts with positivity feelings. You want to change something from you for the better. We know the science, we know the procedure and most importantly, we know the results.

As a very simple indicator, I am getting up on my scale and with that getting the following numbers:

Weight: 316.6 pounds
Fat %: 44.0

Not very different from our previous Profile, but this is our starting point for Keto.

Now, let us start putting the work to change those numbers.
There are many strategies to try, let us see how it goes.
On the next post, I will be sharing very important information from a blood test that I took a couple of days ago.

Ok, let’s Go! Start your Keto Engine Now!!! 🙂

Today you are allowed to “Eat/Say Goodbye” to some type of food

October 19, 2025October 19, 2025The Heta AkiraLeave a comment

fastfood

Wait a minute… Are you actually suggesting we eat something off protocol today!?

Let me put it this way… I am a junk food regular, Diet Coke addict and a sworn salad hater that is about to embark in a journey into the unknown starting tomorrow. So, YES, I want to say goodbye to some of my regular food, the same way that I would say goodbye to a friend. Only time will tell if that long-lost friend ends up badmouthing me, revealing that he was not such a good friend after all.

With that being said, excuse yourself today and eat away some of what has been until now your favorite food, because tomorrow, they will be gone. No harm done today, just savor the moment.

Happy forbidden meal!

Supermarket list for Keto

October 16, 2025October 16, 2025The Heta AkiraLeave a comment

ketosuper

Ok, it’s time to get ready! We must visit the Supermarket and get our food. I know that you are wondering what to get. Well, we know that we must get food for our Macro groups. So let me break it down in that same order, by Macros:

FATS

Avocado
Nuts (Macadamia, Pecans, Brazil Nut)
Butter (look for grass-fed cows)
Olive Oil
Cheese (Fatty type)
Coconut Oil

PROTEIN

Chicken
Beef
Salmon
Sardines
Tuna
Eggs
Bacon

CARBS

Cauliflower
Broccoli
Spinach
Kale

And what to DRINK?

Coffe
Tea
Lots of WATER!

While we want to get creative with all these ingredients. There are a couple of rules that if you follow the process will be a lot better.

Salad First! A Salad is something that can’t miss your new eating plan. In fact, I want it to be that it should be the first thing to it. And no, I am not contradicting myself since I know that salad is part of the Carbs group, but this is the difference between empty carbs and healthy dense food as your carbs, quite a difference. We can use Olive Oil as dressing and get our carbs more aligned with our Fat goals.
Fatty Protein better than lean protein: Don’t trim your steak, cook it with its natural fat and even at a little of butter to it. In Keto, protein shouldn’t be a lot, but protein with fat is adding to the hardest part of this diet protocol, that is “Eat Enough Fat”.
Be sure to add the fatty part of your meal. I didn’t like Avocados, but now that I see how this superfood can add up to any diet, it is part of my eating plan. So, if you are even eating salad from a restaurant, ask if they can add Avocado. That will be a great PLUS.

Well, the starting point is coming (the 20th) so get that food ready, go to your preferred Supermarket and get all your food, you are starting Keto en just 5 days!!!

Sometimes Believing is Not Enough

October 13, 2025October 13, 2025The Heta AkiraLeave a comment

believe

How do you help someone that suffers from compulsive spending?

Many people believe they can fix compulsive spending by switching from plastic to cash. Seeing real money disappear adds a powerful psychological impact.

What about smoking? Do you gradually reduce your daily cigarette intake? No, for most people, you stop smoking COLD TURKEY. Hey, this one I know from personal experience. And for this one help from friends or family is recommended.

And what about drugs? This one is tough—it falls into a category where control is minimal, and people may go to extreme lengths to obtain drugs. So going cold turkey could be in pair with being locked down somewhere having all kind of terrible withdrawal symptoms.

Ok, so what do we do with sugar addiction and weight loss? Do we follow a vague plan and hope for the best? Do we rely solely on willpower and self-belief?

NO, WE DONT!

In seven days, we’ll begin a new way of eating—unlike anything you’ve tried before.

We are going to:

Stop Refined Carbs: Bread, pasta, rice, tortillas, wafles, cake, crackers, etc.
Stop Starchy Vegetables: Potatoes, corn, plantains, yams, pumpkin, etc.
Stop (for the time being) Fruits: Yes, I know this one is very tough. And while you won’t be eating a banana, you can try berries, avocados, watermelons, tomatoes, peaches.
Stop Alcohol and sugary drinks: No drinking, not even a beer and also stop juices, soda and anything that have sugar. Your new drinks will be water, coffee and tea.

Maybe after reading all these “Forbidden Things” you still believe that you can do it. Maybe you believe you’re up for the challenge and possess extraordinary willpower.

I am here to tell you that no matter how much you believe, you won’t make it alone. So, choose a diet guardian that will help you uphold this very difficult challenge.

You have one week to stop believing that you can do it alone and get a failproof strategy that will help you in time of weakness. Use this week to find out as much as possible about clean/healthy keto and get your support partner as I am telling you again, this won’t be easy and while you might believe in yourself, this is as close and you can be to having a drug addiction (sugar addiction is real) so get help.

GET READY FOR THIS CHALLENGE, YOU AND YOUR DIET GUARDIAN!

Dirty Keto vs Clean Keto

October 11, 2025The Heta AkiraLeave a comment

By now, most of us know that the Keto diet emphasizes high fat, moderate protein, and very low carbohydrates, right?
But here’s a better question: what kind of fats, proteins, and carbs should we be eating?

If you walk into a fast-food restaurant and order a bun less burger, are you technically following the Keto diet?

The short answer is “Yes”. This is what is called “Dirty Keto” meaning that while you are following the rules of the keto diet, you are not choosing the best ingredients. You might lose weight with Dirty Keto but trust me, it can come at the expense of other important health markers.

Think about it, do you want your Keto dinner to be highly processed junk food? Of course not!!

Now imagine instead a juicy steak paired with a fresh organic salad.
That’s Clean Keto, the kind your body will thank you for.

Now let me give you a few examples of Clean Keto food for each of the Macro Nutrient Groups:

FATS

Olive oil
Avocado oil
Macadamia oil
Coconut oil
Butter
Ghee
Cream cheese
Avocados

CARBS

Spinach
Tomatoes
Mushrooms
Peppers
Lettuce
Kale
Broccoli
Cabbage
Eggplant
Zucchini
Garlic
Onions
Cauliflower
Celery
Blackberries
Blueberries

PROTEINS

Bacon (yes, bacon)
Eggs
Cheese
Chicken
Turkey
Pork
Salami
Cod fish
Sardines
Salmon
Liver
Hummus
Tofu

As you get more comfortable with Keto, you’ll naturally build your own go-to list of clean, satisfying foods. You’ll see, you’re going to get good at this!

See you on the next post! 🙂

So how does this “Keto” diet works?

October 7, 2025October 7, 2025The Heta AkiraLeave a comment

To begin this journey, you need to set aside everything you think you know about nutrition. After all, who would have believed that a diet built on 75% fat could be “good”?
But here’s the thing: that’s exactly what we’re working with and getting.

This is a diet built on 75% fats, 25% protein, and about 5% carbohydrates. Yes, hitting those macronutrient ratios is challenging, but it’s precisely how we’ll direct your body into the fat‑burning metabolic state known as ketosis.

One non‑negotiable rule: no cheat meals, no cheat days. Stray from this, and you’ll get kicked out of that magical fat‑burning zone. What is worse, it might take five days or more to return to ketosis. That is, unless you’ve become fat adapted. A level that you achieved only after months of perseverance into the protocol. At that point, slipping slightly won’t derail you so badly. It is better however to early on, stick to the rules.

How “Keto” Works

Normally, your body runs on glucose, which comes from carbohydrates. But when carbs are scarce for a long time, the body switches to other kind of fuel, ketones. Ketones are created by our liver, and they come from fat. This is without doubt one of the cleverest survival mechanisms we have.

Now let us think about it this way: when you run low on glucose, your body signals you to eat more carbs. But when your fuel is fat (especially if you’ve got excess stored), those hunger signals basically disappear. As unlike glucose (that you can only store a very small amount) you won’t feel hunger because your body will be in auto-eating mode from a pool of very dense energy source, your body fat. That being said, one of the clearest signs you’re in ketosis are: reduced cravings, reduced hunger, even when you’re eating less.

You might wonder: How long does it take to get into ketosis? That depends on how well or “damaged” your metabolic system is. For someone who’s overweight or obese, it’s entirely possible to enter ketosis in a week or more. Of course, only as long as you stick strictly to the plan and avoid anything that might pull you out.

Yes, I know… you are getting excited already.

And the Winner Diet is…

October 5, 2025October 5, 2025The Heta AkiraLeave a comment

After much research and reflection, I’ve come to a strong conclusion: for individuals struggling with obesity, the most effective dietary strategy is a Low-Carbohydrate Diet.
Here’s why:

If you’re obese, it’s highly likely that you’re dealing with some level of insulin resistance, a condition where your cells don’t respond well to insulin, forcing your pancreas to produce more of it just to keep blood sugar in check. This chronic overproduction can lead to a cascade of metabolic issues.

The key to reversing this is to restore insulin sensitivity in other words, getting your body back to a state where insulin works efficiently again. To do that, you need to avoid frequent insulin spikes, and that means reducing your intake of carbohydrates, the food group that triggers the strongest insulin response.

My personal recommendation? The Ketogenic Diet.

Keto is not just popular; it’s backed by a strong track record of results. It works by shifting your body’s fuel source from glucose to ketone bodies, which naturally stabilizes blood sugar and reduces insulin demand.
To accelerate progress, I also will incorporate Intermittent Fasting (IF). This powerful tool helps lower insulin levels even further and speeds up the journey toward metabolic health.

In my next post, I’ll dive deeper into Keto and Ketosis. I will tell you what they are, how they work, and what you need to get started. See you on the next post! 🙂

Ok, Let’s see what is out there…

October 2, 2025October 2, 2025The Heta AkiraLeave a comment

encuesta

Some people think that selecting a diet is an easy task. And I believe it is, but when others decide for you. That is, in other words, you go to the doctor to get fix, sorry, to get fit.

If you want professional help on deciding what to use as a diet, I will recommend that you put yourself in the hands on a good “Dietitian”. Please note that I said “Dietitian” and not “Nutritionist”. The first one requires a bachelor’s degree in nutrition and dietetics while the later can be achieved without formal qualifications. Is not my intention to degrade nutritionists, as I know that many of them have some kind of degree in nutrition or related fields, is the lack of curriculum standardization that work against them.

Let me give you an example of what a dietitian would do in a hypothetic case:

Patience with a severe case of NAFLD (Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease) walks into our dietitian’s practice and asks for a diet to put him on the right track to lose weight.

Do you think that is a good idea that our dietitian includes fruits as part of the diet?
Why not? Fruits are a common denominator in just about every balanced diet and the fiber would be of great help to our patience.

(imagine the Buzz sound of a wrong answer)

Fruits contains two types of sugar: fructose and sucrose. sucrose can be broken down by just about any cell in our body. In contrast, fructose has to be managed by the liver exclusively. If our patience already has an impaired liver because of NAFLD, adding extra work with fructose process is not doing anyone a favor. Therefore, a dietitian would possibly wait to correct some degree of NAFLD before recommending fruits.

Do you understand? Is not that I am saying that fruits are a bad choice for a healthy diet, only that it may not be the best choice for someone with a condition like NAFLD. And that is a kind of choice that a dietitian would do.

Let me end this post by saying that in my opinion diet is easily 75% part of the formula for health. Yes, I know, exercise is important too, but you simple cannot exercise out a bad diet, you simple can’t. But don’t worry, we don’t plan to only go for the top tier option. Exercise is also part of the solution.

Now let’s go to work! You have a few days to search for diet options. I will do the same and on the next post I will introduce my winner and maybe also the runner-up.

Until our next post and have a good time researching!

Profiling (The Before)

September 29, 2025October 19, 2025The Heta AkiraLeave a comment

Depending on your age, you might recognize this classic reference, or it might be new to you. In the golden age of comic books, there was always an ad featuring Charles Atlas, promising to transform you into a powerhouse of strength using his “Dynamic Tension” method.

Now, whether or not you’ve seen that ad, the concept behind it is universally familiar: the journey from an undesired state to a better one, backed of course, by visible proof of progress. I like to call this
“The Before and After.”

The “Before”

This is where change begins, with a decision and a record. That record should reflect the kind of transformation you’re aiming for. Often, a simple photo will do the trick, but it can be anything else that captures your starting point and later, when you reach your “After”, becomes a reminder of how far you’ve come.

The “After”

This is your destination, your goal. It can be short-term or long-term, but it must be realistic and achievable. So, please, let’s skip the fantasy of dropping 20 pounds in a month. Instead, commit to something sustainable and make it meaningful.

My Profile (Before)

Since this post is about Profiling (The Before), let me give you an idea, here’s my own starting profile. It includes both data and a photo, and I encourage you to do the same. Profiling will help you track progress and stay motivated.

And remember, your profile will differ in data depending on your goal, if what you want is to change your blood sugar levels, instead of a picture you would have a recent blood test as your “Before”.

Now let’s see…

This is my beginning profile:

Name: Miguel Andujar (Heta Akira)
Age: 61
Gender: M
Height: 5′ 9″
Weight: 319 lbs
Fat %: 44.1
Waistline: 55″

Note: The T-Shirt is XL2!!!

Ok, now commit and go make your own “BEFORE”!

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Author: The Heta Akira