 Welcome everybody to Lillian's Vegan World, huge aloha. I'm Lillian Kumic, your host from Think Tech Hawaii, and I'm so so excited for today's show. We're going to be talking about intermittent fasting. So to lengthen thy life, lessen thy meals, shed weight with intermittent fasting. I'm so excited to have on my show is guest Tony Harrison, who is a retired chef. Tony, welcome to the show. We already have another thing in common. Oh, yes, yes, family. Well, the fact that you are a retired chef and I am a chef, but I think there's there's much more that we do have in common. So Tony, aloha. Aloha, thank you for having me on. The pleasure is all mine. I'm so excited to hear all about your story. Tony, you have recently been introduced and are actually practicing what we're going to talk about on the show today, which is intermittent fasting. Yes. Yes, I started, I started exactly in March, actually, when they locked down. I had a couple of surgeries, hip replacement and knee replacement year ago, two years ago. And I put on a ton of weight. I sat in the kitchen for six months, literally sat 24 hours a day and ate, and I ballooned up to 300 pounds. And I was kind of desperate. I reached a place of kind of desperation with terrible arthritis, leaky gut. You know, I had a lot of ailments, bad skin, XMI, couldn't sleep. And I saw a movie about intermittent fasting. And I was like, I think I'm going to try that. It must be really hard. So I went to a Facebook site, intermittent fasting for vegans. And I'm like, all right, I'll try it. It was so easy. That's interesting that you call it easy, because I think that is far from what most people are imagining it to be. Tony, before we continue on, let's first of all tell the viewers what intermittent fasting actually is. Sure. Sure. Would you like me to explain sort of my take? Yeah, your take on it, definitely. So I think intermittent fasting really means any period of time where you have an eating window that sort of has a time frame to it. So I started with where you could eat for eight hours. And then you don't eat anything, only drink water. I cheat a little and have black coffee in the morning. They call that a dirty fast. But I started with an eight hour window where you can eat. I'm a vegan. So I could eat pretty much what I wanted is kind of like the idea to get used to it in an eight hour window. And then after about two weeks, I shortened the window to six hours. And I started to see dramatic weight loss results. And not only that, it was some emotional and sort of mental changes that came about. And so then I closed the window down to four hours. And I mean, the amount of energy I had, it was nothing. I mean, it was literally nothing. And the main thing that happened was all my life I've been obsessed with food, think about what I'm going to eat, or the other side, what I won't eat, you know, how much I'm going to diet, how many calories can I eat, and what can I cheat, you know, and all these thoughts, endless thoughts, this mind babble, 24 every waking moment thought about food. And at about six hour intermittent fasting window, that went away, completely away. I suddenly realized like, I'm not thinking, when I'm not in my eating, when I'm not thinking about food at all, which was brand new. And it was exhausting to be thinking about food all the time. So I went down to a four hour window. And then I went to a one meal a day, OMAD, they call it. And I really thought I would never be able to do that. And the truth is, it was nothing. It was nothing. So it was incredible to hear. Yeah, incredible to hear, especially from someone like yourself who claims to have been pretty much obsessed with food, to say that it was, you know, doable and not that difficult to do. Thank you so much, Tony, yeah, for explaining that that that is pretty much intermittent fasting in a nutshell. I have actually myself been practicing intermittent fasting for about a decade, about 10 years. And I didn't even know it was called that while I while I was actually doing it. I just I got sick of eating all the time. I don't know why my body was to me, I think it's strange that people still believe that, you know, you're supposed to eat three to five times a day, well, at least three meals a day, it's too much. And I think what intermittent fasting allows your body to do is to have that, you know, fasting period where you're, get you're allowing your body to focus on other things other than trying to digest all of this food that's coming in. So it gives it time to heal in a sense. Now you mentioned that you've gone down to you said one meal a day and 22 hours you're fasting and you're eating window as they call it or period is only two hours. What are you actually eating in your feasting period? So again, when I was when I finished with my surgeries and I really I couldn't put my own socks on I couldn't walk up a flight of stairs I was in really bad shape. And I was emotionally in bad shape. I was in a lot of pain. So I started kind of like looking at food. I'll be honest, I heard someone say food's either medicine or poison. And I realized I'd been poisoning myself and a lot of my customers with the food I've been serving them and that's when I decided to become a vegan. But then I thought, let me not eat anything. I heard another saying if it comes from a plant, if it's made in a plant, don't eat it. If it comes from a plant, eat it. And so I thought, let me try and be plant only whole foods. And so my first meal, my first part of the meal, I'll have flat or everything organic as much local as I can get. We shop at places where we can see how far away the food's grown, you know. So I'll do flax, chia, hemp, and cinnamon. And I'll sometimes put some almond milk, sunflower seeds, a bunch of berries and some, you know, whatever other crunchy kind of seedy type stuff I have around. And I make a great big bowl of that and I'll eat until I really can't eat anymore. And then I'll sit for about an hour and have like almost today I had a pizza, I had a delicious pizza and some hummus and oh, I had to eat so much today. I was so full I had to sleep for like two hours to be honest. Well, that's the beauty of it. In my book Hawaii a Vegan Paradise, I don't talk about intermittent fasting, but I do talk about how you don't have to count calories. In my opinion on a vegan diet. And when you add the practice of intermittent fasting, you're taking your health to a whole new level. So that's fantastic what you're eating and I'm the same Tony. I can pick out sometimes on exactly that pizza fries, but I am always making sure that I do get, you know, lots of whole foods, grains, nuts, legumes, etc. And, you know, in Hawaii, wine is very important at around 5 p.m. every day too. I tell you one thing I do as well. I found it's really kind of interesting. I work out while I'm fasting. So I do about an hour high intensity interval training workout. I do that five days a week with a trainer and I'm almost 60 years old. I'm 59 years old and terrible arthritis, just terrible. And when I eat, when I train in my fasting window and your body's not full of food, your belly's not full of food, your pancreas isn't like pumping out, trying to work, I get so much energy. Like I'll be working out with guys that are half my age and I'm not anything, believe me, you can't really tell from this, but it's a mess. This is a mess. And I'll be working out and the other guys are like, oh, I can't, you know, they can't go any further. And you get so, I get so much energy from that agropathy, what happens to your body, that state your body goes into when you're fasting. And as long as you give it the fuel afterwards, you know, I, it's incredible the wave of energy I get in a second when working out fast. Yeah, that's exactly how it works. Because when you're in feeding state, you're actually not allowing time for your body to, you know, to go into the fat stores and start using the energy that's stored. I do wonder why we're talking about that, just to read something that I found from the New England Journal of Medicine. And it quotes, eating a six hour period and fasting for 18 hours can trigger a metabolic switch from glucose, based to ketone based energy called ketosis. This is what you want to do. You want to reach ketosis when you are intermittent fasting, and at least fast for 12 hours. Otherwise, your body won't reach that state. So in ketosis in that state, your body does start to break down and burn fat. This is why people lose weight on intermittent while they're intermittent fasting. And as you said, when you work out, when you add exercise during the fasting state, you know, people need to know more about this because you're absolutely right. People, people think that you need to eat lots and lots and lots to be energetic. But in fact, people who are practicing intermittent fasting are proving the opposite. That in fact, it's during the fasting period that you, you know, get more energy. So that's fantastic. Tony, we have some photos to show our audience. Let's take a look at the first one. Tell us a little bit about it and where were you, what part of your life did this photo come from? That was about 35 years ago. I was a chef in the Caribbean and the South of France. I worked for celebrities. That was on a yacht owned by Chade. I worked for her. I worked for David Bowie. He had a yacht, Phil Collins. I did a lot of traveling. I had a lot of fun. And I drank so much that I had to quit drinking. So I found out I was allergic to alcohol and I kept breaking out in handcuffs every time I drank. So I stopped. And but yeah, that was a lot of fun. A lot of fun traveling with those people. So you've had, you've gone through a lot during your short time, but you know, here you are proof that whatever has happened in your past, whatever challenges and trials and tribulations, you can really turn your life around. And it seems to me, Tony, although we've only met, that during this tough year, this year of the COVID-19, that you have managed to find some inner peace. You seem very happy to me, very content with yourself and how things are going. Has your well-being changed since starting a vegan diet and intermittent fasting? Absolutely. So it's not only the weight. What are the benefits? Tell us about the benefits. I mean, I just got a little infection on my finger a few days ago boxing. You know, you're putting on these gloves and it's kind of a breeding ground. So I got a little infection and for the first time in 20 years, I got an infection. I didn't need antibiotics if I got any cut, any lesion, anything on my body, especially on my legs because I had very poor blood flow on my legs, I would have to get an antibiotic. And sometimes I would have to go and get an injection and sometimes intravenous antibiotic. So my body's ability to heal itself has completely changed. My dandruff has gone away, my skin, I had eczema, that's gone away. I sleep, I sleep so well now. It's crazy. And, you know, of course, a sexual giant, which that's That is, and if anyone will see that your wife is reaping the benefits as well. Your beautiful wife. What's her name? What's her name? My wife's name is Zinnia. Zinnia, awesome. And great to have, great that you have that support from family, from your partner. That's really, that makes all the difference, doesn't it? But I do want to go into more detail after the break, Tony, about some of the benefits and continue on with your very awesome journey. So stay tuned. Everyone will take a quick break and be back for more of Lillian's Vegan World. Welcome back everyone to Lillian's Vegan World. I'm your host, Lillian Cumick, and we're talking all about intermittent fasting with retired chef Tony Harrison. Welcome back to the show again, Tony. Good to be back. This is so fantastic talking to you. You mentioned things like you having eczema. I'm looking at your skin now. I cannot have a life of me see or believe that you had such skin issues. Your skin looks healthy. It's glowing. I find that a lot of vegans do really stand out in the crowd when it comes to skin. There is just that vegan glow or something about it. We've talked a lot about intermittent fasting. I want to ask you more about how it was turning, going vegan. People really want to know how you can go to a plant-based diet, go from being a typical omnivore on an American diet and then transition to just plant-based only. How did you do it? It was really an intersection of two things. One, I just one day was making eggs for my daughter right at Thanksgiving last year, a year ago. I cracked an egg and some of the egg got on my hand. I was suddenly found it just revolting. I was like, I can't eat eggs anymore. I don't know why I just can't do it. Then I saw this show called Game Changer, a movie called Game Changer. I understand that the information is cherry-picked and there's some confirmation bias. The message about veganism and how it would help was very clear to me. I said the day before Thanksgiving, I said, you know what? I'm going to be vegan now. That was it. Then I was a vegan. I had these surgeries coming up, the hip and knee replacement. I knew I needed to do something drastic where I would never have healed up. I went vegan. I had the surgeries and I can train again. I have no problems. I couldn't put my own socks on for like a year and a half. I could put the sock on. I was completely out of breath. I was completely winded from putting a sock on. That's crazy. How do your physicians or your doctor, how do they see you now when they meet you and see such a change? Do you tell them about? I'm getting away from the doctors pretty much. Every time I went to them, they said I had to get something cut out. I just stopped going. I've been much better ever since. The sad thing is, Tony, and I do just as a disclaimer, I want to say to the viewers, please, if you're thinking about transitioning into a plant-based diet or trying intermittent fasting, do seek medical advice or some advice from a professional. But having said that, I myself steer clear of modern medicine. I'll be honest. I'm exactly like you. I do a lot of, I have a much more holistic point of view. I just think, since I started intermittent fasting, I lost about 20 pounds being a vegan and then another 70 intermittent fasting without even trying. Not once did a doctor ever mention anything about either thing to me. In fact, I was told to eat six meals a day. I was told so many different things. Then when you hear how little in medical schools, in most traditional medical schools, how little time they spend on diet and nutrition, it's like a four-hour rotation. It's not really much of a wonder. Isn't that interesting that doctors are not giving you this information? Luckily, though, we live in times where we can find it anywhere if we want to seek it out. Again, I've recommended the documentary that you mentioned earlier, the Game Changer. That is a good, yeah, it's an amazing place to start if you're just curious as to how it works. And it's this movie, this documentary, it's very mind-blowing, but at the same time, it's very informative about the plant-based diet. It's not as graphic as some documentaries, because people even now don't want to hear about the suffering and the animal things that happen to animals. And I can understand they want to turn a blind eye, but it is a very hypocritical world that we live in. But the Game Changer, it's a good place to start. And then from there, you can just go online. I love what you said about going onto a Facebook page. It was Intermittent Fasting for Vegans, which is where I, yes, which is how I actually found you. And some of the stories there are just incredible. But yours is amazing, the weight loss, everything. Tony, I want to go through some of the benefits quickly of intermittent fasting. So one of them, the obvious, is faster weight loss. You also experienced that. Very fast. Okay, the other one was increased energy. Yes, tons of energy. But I also sleep a lot more. And so I was sleeping about five hours a night. And now I sleep seven or eight. And, you know, just a completely different sleep. That is one of the benefits on the list, actually, is better sleep. How about mental clarity? They say it's going to clear up at some point. I'll let you know. Good answer. And again, this is a crazy year with all the stuff going on with COVID-19. I think if you can stay, you know, stay sharp during a year like this, then you're okay to go. The other benefit that comes up often in studies is improved digestion. There's no question. There's no question. Very regular. Everything's really comes out nice and smooth. Yep. No, that's, well, it is what it is. You know, when you think about it, why would you have a dead animal rotting away inside your body, sitting there for literally days before it gets out? I mean, that's got to wreak havoc in your system. So when you're on a plant-based diet, things just kind of go through and, you know, do what they have to do, and then they're out of your system very quickly. And I think that's one of the things about being on a vegan diet is you feel, I don't know, because I grew up as a vegetarian and then became vegan 14 years ago. I just had to give up dairy. So I'm not really sure how you experienced it. Like, did you feel, did your body feel lighter? Did you feel, it's got to be so different. I do feel lighter. There's no question. And I mean, not to get too graphic, shall I get graphic or shall I be not too graphic? Up to you, Tony. I think you can track your digestion if you eat corn, just to be plain and simple. You can see if I eat corn on Tuesday and I don't see the exit corn until Friday. That's an issue. But whatever I eat, my body's cleaned out every day. It's a new day, a new slate. What I ate yesterday isn't sitting leaking through my gut. The wall of your intestines is very, very thin. It's a membrane. It's a very thin membrane and just a chunk of steak, some factory steak, full of not just the poison that they brought to you, but then they packed it, that cryovac, the way they packed the meat. And I was a meat vendor for many years. My restaurant was a barbecue restaurant. It's so disgusting. I can't even smell it anymore. Like, even if I'm near, that smell just is revolting, the cryovac. So, you know, everything cleaned out every day is really, it's much better. I think that's part of where the energy comes from is my body's not spending days trying to deal with what I play in. Tony, can I ask, you mentioned that you, the restaurant that you were at, it was a lot of meat. How did people that you know, how did they react to this new health that you're just glowing with? I think the funny thing is, at first, some people were like, oh, here he goes on. Because, you know, I've gone on some different sort of adventures. And they're like, oh, here he goes again. And then you just can't not see the difference. You know, so people now come with me and they're like, can you tell me about this intermittent fasting thing? Or, you know, like, I had a guy come over today and eat some stuff that I made. And, you know, I made vegan banana bread and strawberry jam. And he thought it was the greatest thing you'd ever ate. But it's with, you know, just good stuff. So, yeah, I think people are sort of much more seeing what's happened than trying to pay attention to what I was saying I was going to do. Well, you know what they say, we lead by example. 100%. Yeah, nobody wants to listen to the preacher, you know, the militant vegan barking orders. And that's exactly what I dislike in the community. So I'm very much for leading by example. You show what you've got, they'll come asking. And that's, that's a great, that's great to hear that people are interested in what you're doing. Tony, let's take a look at some more of your photos. Okay, I can't remember which photos they sent you. Like, spooky. Where, how far along during your weight loss, your intermittent fasting was this photo taken? That was a couple months ago. That was probably, that was in the summer. I think it was after maybe like five months, probably lost like 60, 65 pounds at that point. That's incredible. You must be so proud of yourself. I mean, I'm pretty pleased. You know, I never, I keep, I love t-shirts. And I've got some great t-shirts from back when they would fit me 15 years ago. So it's great to be able to put them back on. Awesome. Let's have a look at another picture. Uh-huh. Oh yeah, that's, that would be like part one of a meal. Yeah. Uh-huh. You've got a, it looks like a chaseless pizza or flat bread. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that was something like. I think that was whole wheat non. And I can't really see the picture so small, but it was like whole wheat non. Oh, I know what that was. Those were rice noodles. Oh my goodness, they were so good. Oh, okay. Yeah, Korean rice noodles. Delicious. Sounds nice. Continue on. This must be the first meal you were talking about, your fruit and. Yes. And so a lot of times what I'll do is instead of putting liquid on it, I'll take a beet and apple, some carrots and any green I have, I have a garden out front. So I'll take the carrot greens or whatever I've got green, and I'll stuff it through the juicer and then cut up the fruit and the seeds and the grains and put them and mix it all together. It's such a blast. A bunch of ginger. Oh my goodness. And a chunk of lemon and rind. It's really, it's delicious. That's what we call feeding the body indeed. Like that is going to really, your body's going to thank you for that. And it's good to eat food that makes you feel good. I mean, yeah, fantastic. We do have another photo, Tony. Oh, that's just a big, we call that a big ass salad. So that's just, that's just, I think there's some edamame in there, a lot of avocado, tomato, just a bunch of stuff. I eat a lot, I love avocado. I eat a lot of avocado. I had half an, I just remembered I had half an avocado today. Oh yeah, avocado, like, you know, healthy fats can't go wrong in a salad. Tony, if you don't mind, I do want to show that the last photo for today, and this is, this is my book that is actually coming out very shortly in a few days, we've had a little bit of a delay, but it's being, it's Hawaii, a vegan paradise. I wrote the book actually, finished writing the book this year during the pandemic as well. And what a great time for it to be coming out. So I hope that people pick up copies. I'll leave the link in the description box down below. Here it is in all its glory. So I hope, I hope people check it out. Tony, it has been a wonderful chat with you. I've really enjoyed listening to your journey. And I am going to make you agree to come on again next year for a follow up. Thank you for having me. By the way, your complexion is amazing, amazing. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. That's, that's why I love getting, getting all this, you know, awesome information out to help other people. So intermittent fasting, do give it a try. Tony, good luck with your journey. It's, it's a fantastic, you know, new, new way of life that you're leading. So keep on it and keep shining. Thank you. Thank you for having me. See you again soon. My pleasure. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you everyone for watching. See you next time on Lillian's Beacon World Aloha.