I found this article such an awesome introduction to hGH, fasting, and fat loss that I HAD to share it with you guys. PLEASE read it...growth hormone is your friend!

If you don't read it, at least read this: hGH is what triggers your body to use stored fat for energy. If you want to lose fat and not muscle, you need to trigger hGH release in your body as much as you can. You can do this by:

  • short, intense interval training (not long, slow cardio) like tabatas. The intensity is what matters, not the duration. If you are a cardio junkie like me, you can do a tabata protocol right before your cardio.
  • sleep - the more you sleep (try for 8 hours), the more hGH your pituitary gland releases each night
  • intermittent fasting (15-24 hours is good but longer than that isn't necessary). If going for 24 hours, once or twice a week is plenty.
  • don't eat for 2-3 hours before bed. hGH gets released in doses throughout the night but your largest dose is the first one of your sleep cycle. If you have a raised insulin level from eating within a few hour of bedtime, you will not get a maximized dose of hGH. High insulin level=lower hGH level.
I went to a 5K this morning out here in suburbia, so the crowd was mostly middle aged moms and dads. I saw a lot of people, mostly women, that were wearing marathon shirts or talking loudly about how they were going to run 8 more miles after the race in preparation for their upcoming 1/2 marathon or full marathon or whatever.

What interested me the most (as the obnoxious prostelitizer on fat loss/general conditioning/anti-cardio/strength training that I have recently become) was the bodies of these women. Most of them had an excess amount of bady fat. They weren't thin, they weren't muscular. They were chubby! There were a FEW exceptions out there. I saw one woman that appeared to be mostly muscle and there were a couple of women who were thin and also without that obvious runners body that is very thin but not at all muscular. However, in general the women out there today did not have healthy-looking bodies. I wonder if any of them ever look around at their peer group and wonder if perhaps they are all missing the point and that long distance running doesn't seem to be doing them much good as far as their health is concerned.

The truth is, they could all not give a shit about how much body fat they have and could be out there running because they LIKE it. I am all for people pursuing things that make their life enjoyable. I still love long distance running and will continue doing it but I won't have any false ideas about it being great for my body or my health. It is great for me only because I love it and it is a fulfilling activity.

I did hear one woman call herself fat twice this morning. I would like to have told her that maybe she shouldn't do that 8 miles after the 5K and should instead just run the 5K as fast as she could! And maybe think twice about the post-race nutrition (cookies and a pancake breakfast)!