Welcome to Episode 355 of The Intermittent Fasting Podcast, hosted by Melanie Avalon, author of What When Wine Diet: Lose Weight And Feel Great With Paleo-Style Meals, Intermittent Fasting, And Wine and Vanessa Spina, author of Keto Essentials: 150 Ketogenic Recipes to Revitalize, Heal, and Shed Weight.
Today's episode of The Intermittent Fasting Podcast is brought to you by:
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SHOW NOTES
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Join Melanie's Facebook group Clean Beauty and Safe Skincare with Melanie Avalon to discuss and learn about all the things clean beauty, Beautycounter, and safe skincare!
LMNT: *NEW* LMNT Chocolate Medley is available! Go to drinklmnt.com/ifpodcast to get a free sample pack with any purchase! Learn all about electrolytes in Episode 237 - our interview with Robb Rolf!
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Listener Q&A: Lori - Could you take a deep dive in the data that can be gained by smart scales ?
Accuracy of Smart Scales on Weight and Body Composition: Observational Study
Listener Q&A: Leslie - Does NMN break your fast?
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TRANSCRIPT
(Note: This is generated by AI with 98% accuracy. However, any errors may cause unintended changes in meaning.)
Melanie Avalon:
Welcome to Episode 355 of the Intermittent Fasting Podcast. If you want to burn fat, gain energy, and enhance your health by changing when you eat, not what you eat with no calorie counting, then this show is for you. I'm Melanie Avalon, biohacker, author of "What, When, Wine" and creator of the supplement line AvalonX. And I'm here with my co-host, Vanessa Spina, sports nutrition specialist, author of "Keto Essentials" and creator of the Tone Breath Ketone Analyzer and Tone Lux Red Light Therapy Bannals. For more on us, check out ifpodcast.com, melanieavalon.com, and ketogenicgirl.com. Please remember, the thoughts and opinions on this show do not constitute medical advice or treatment. To be featured on the show, email us your questions to questions@ifpodcast.com. We would love to hear from you. So pour yourself a mug of black coffee, a cup of tea, or even a glass of wine, if it's that time, and get ready for the Intermittent Fasting Podcast.
Melanie Avalon:
This is episode number 355 of the Intramurton Fasting Podcast. I'm Melanie Avalon, and I'm here with Vanessa Spina. Hi everyone. Vanessa, I have two things I wanna talk to you about. Okay. One is a story about pharmacies and compounding pharmacies and taking agency with your health.
Melanie Avalon:
And the other one is about birthdays. Which one should we do?
Vanessa Spina:
birthdays.
Melanie Avalon:
Okay, because my birthday is approaching. By the time this comes out, it will be way in the past. But I'm super curious when you have like your birthday or you're celebrating anything in general. And we might have talked about this on the show before.
Melanie Avalon:
I don't think we have. Do you eat something celebratory that you wouldn't normally eat? Cause food is like such a big part of this show.
Vanessa Spina:
So I definitely do, but these days I don't go that crazy for me. Like if I have it all my way, Pete and I will go to one of our favorite restaurants that's like, you know, elevated dining and I'll have an amazing steak.
Vanessa Spina:
Like that's like what I want usually. So there's a couple places that in the city that we really love and that's usually what we do for my birthday. And one is like a French bistro and they have this incredible aged steaks that are absolutely amazing.
Vanessa Spina:
There's another one that's like right on the river and it's like super romantic and beautiful. And it's yeah, like we will splurge a little bit on those nights. But the food that I want is usually like an amazing steak.
Vanessa Spina:
Even though we have amazing steak at home too, it's just, you know, restaurants will have like amazing sauces with it and stuff like that. But I don't really do anything like sweet. Like I don't really get excited about anything like that.
Vanessa Spina:
Oh my goodness. I have so much.
Melanie Avalon:
many thoughts. Okay, one, elevated dining. That is such an interesting phrase. I've never heard it called that before.
Vanessa Spina:
I don't know where that came from. Oh, you just made that up. Yeah, I was just like, it's an elevated dining store. I was like, what is it? White tablecloth. Like fine dining? Yeah, but like we'll go to a place that has like, yeah, fine dining and, you know, they'll have like an amazing tenderline with like a hollandaise sauce or something.
Vanessa Spina:
Like that's my treat. And similar with like the other place that we like to go. Or they'll have like an amazing truffle sauce or something like that. That's like really like a big indulgence, I guess.
Melanie Avalon:
Okay, this is a complete tangent. I was just thinking, I'm so sorry. I was just thinking about you and Prague and these restaurants and how I want to go with you. Is Taylor Swift going on the Ares tour to Prague?
Melanie Avalon:
I don't know, but that would be amazing. Okay, because listen, if I go to Austin to record with Dave and then London for Thanksgiving and I get these travel skills, and if I maintain these travel skills, maybe I'll come to Prague.
Melanie Avalon:
If Taylor is going to Prague,
Vanessa Spina:
Yeah, that would be incredible. So is she doing an international tour now? Yes.
Melanie Avalon:
Yes. I was actually just talking last night with Rebecca Rudish, who I've had on the show, the founder of Yummers, who side note plug. I adore Yummers. If listeners want delicious pet food toppers for their dogs and cats, cannot recommend it enough.
Melanie Avalon:
Listeners can get 20% off, which is awesome at yummerspets.com/IFpodcast with the coupon code IFPodcast. I don't know if this will still be running, but they did have a special as well to get free dog food.
Melanie Avalon:
Side note, she's a dear friend of mine. My birthday is approaching. I just said that, which is why I'm talking about the birthdays, but we were talking about stuff to do and she was like, we should go see Taylor somewhere internationally.
Melanie Avalon:
So maybe I'll just like blend this all together into some magical adventure. Okay. And we're back. So Prague stakes.
Vanessa Spina:
What's your indulgence? Birthday.
Melanie Avalon:
I just love the food that I normally eat, but I love going, like you said, I love going to a really nice restaurant. I'm such a, I love like fine dining restaurant experiences or like thematic restaurants.
Melanie Avalon:
I just, I'm all about it. I love it. So kind of similar to you. I love going and I love getting like a multi course entree with multiple meat manifestations, meat and fish.
Vanessa Spina:
That's the most exciting part. I'm like, I don't really care about the dessert, to be honest. Like, I just want.
Melanie Avalon:
all the meats, bonus points, if you can get a different type of meat in multiple courses, like major bonus points. So if I can get like a shrimp cocktail, carpaccio, sashimi, a steak, and then maybe get one of the appetizers that I didn't have for dessert.
Melanie Avalon:
And I talk about this all the time, but I literally have gotten entrees as my dessert, which side note, Barry Conrad, who I've also, who we've also had on this show, who lives in Australia, we were talking, did you know that?
Melanie Avalon:
Oh wait, actually, maybe in Prague, what is an entre? Oh, but it's a different link.
Vanessa Spina:
Like there's appetizer and then entree is the main meal. Yeah.
Melanie Avalon:
So that's the way it is in the US. Apparently in Australia and other places, the entree is the appetizer.
Vanessa Spina:
I know I've heard this before and it's, that's what it means in French. You know, it's like the first dish, but yeah, I find it really confusing. Entree to me is like the main dish. But yeah, I also love like a big treat.
Vanessa Spina:
Like I'm the same if I get like a surf and turf. So like steak with like a side of shrimp or I'll order, you know, a lot of steak houses, they'll have like sides and extras and things. We're definitely on the same page with that.
Vanessa Spina:
It's fun to get dressed up, you know, get a little glam on and, you know, go to your favorite restaurant. That's actually what we did for my most recent birthday. We went to our favorite restaurant on the water and I had like the best ever.
Vanessa Spina:
I had a tartare for api with like a truffle mousse and then a tenderloin with like an amazing hollandaise and, you know, had some, some greens with it or something. And it was, it was incredible. I was just so satisfied.
Vanessa Spina:
Sometimes I'll get like a cheese, like a cheese plate or something like that. If I really want dessert, but most of the time I'm fine. And then if I, we get home and I still like want something, I'll make like some kind of yogurt, something like that.
Vanessa Spina:
And I'm just happy with that.
Melanie Avalon:
It's so great. I'm normally torn between fish and steak, so that's why I really like getting two entrees.
Vanessa Spina:
Yeah, and also if like sometimes you can get to and like share it's fun too. But yeah, I'm, I'm all about it. The sake and the seafood too. It's so.
Melanie Avalon:
good. I used to, like, because I do, it just speaks to me like birthday cake. It really does. Like that, it's just something, it's overwhelmingly lights up my dopamine centers. Like the concept of, you know, unless there's no this like fun, fatty cake or birthday cake.
Melanie Avalon:
So I used to get keto versions online and sort of make like these sugar -free versions, which honestly taste amazing to me and taste very similar because I haven't had real sugar in eons. But it's just too much of a slippery slope for me.
Melanie Avalon:
I think some people are moderationists and some people are like extremists and I'm an extremist and I would just rather not have that than have a little bit.
Vanessa Spina:
Yeah, same. I find it is a little bit different now. So when I make Luca's birthday cake, I make it with all the sugar -free icing and the sugar -free sprinkles and all that. And I'll have a piece. And usually when it's, I know it's like, we still have it.
Vanessa Spina:
I'm aware of it. I'm aware that there's cake in the fridge. Not a feeling I normally have. And then, you know, I'll usually like, just basically, I'll have like a piece maybe the next day and then I'll just like cut it off because I don't want to like keep having it every night.
Vanessa Spina:
It's like it should be that for that special occasion. And it's a same. I noticed like when I, we were in the U .S. when I was pregnant with Luca, I tried out some of those keto ice creams because I'd never tried them.
Vanessa Spina:
And I was like aware that they were in the fridge. Like when I walked by the kitchen, like it was like, they were like, hello, like where are we in there? And I was like, why am I aware of this? Like I don't have that feeling normally.
Vanessa Spina:
And I way prefer to just not like, I don't want to think about it. I don't want to waste mental energy thinking about something or being like, oh, I'm going to have that later. Like I just don't like that feeling.
Vanessa Spina:
I prefer to just not have it at all. And just like enjoy a tea after dinner or something like that that just works for me now. And yeah, I'm an obscener for sure.
Melanie Avalon:
I've read about that. It's a very real psychological thing. So like if your brain, I totally read about it. So if your brain knows the potential of this thing that it wants is there, it doesn't forget.
Melanie Avalon:
It like keeps it very present until it's no longer an option. It talks to you like, hello, I mean, when you're so that's why it can be so important, especially if people are starting like intermittent fasting, for example, and they think they're going to be tempted by certain things to get it out of the house.
Melanie Avalon:
Like it doesn't matter if it's like closed and in the pantry, like it needs to not be accessible because it's not about you and your willpower so much as what I just said that your brain, as long as it's there, your brain's going to be wanting it.
Melanie Avalon:
And then once it's gone, it won't.
Vanessa Spina:
Yes, and it's gonna drain your willpower. I remember reading about that too with like, if you work in an office and someone has like a bowl of M &Ms or whatever your favorite, for me it would be like hard candy.
Vanessa Spina:
If someone had like a bowl of hard candy or something at the front, like that you suck on, like do you remember like nerds or rents or things like that? Like I love those like the fruit shaped ones. If someone had a bowl of that or if I had, what was your favorite runt?
Vanessa Spina:
Oh, I love the red ones and the banana. The banana was magical. And nerds, I loved also like, if I had to walk by a bowl of that, like an open accessible bowl of that every day, it would drain so much of my willpower.
Vanessa Spina:
But like I haven't thought about rents in like five years, you know, because like they're just not in my environment. Like, and it's such a good point you bring up, like just having it there, it's draining and it does take up your willpower and it does take up mental energy that you could use for more productive things, I think.
Melanie Avalon:
Laffy taffy. Did you ever have Laffy taffy? I remember it though. So good. They had this version called tanky taffy. And it was like the, it was like a massive version of the Laffy taffy, but they had this watermelon one with like watermelon seeds.
Melanie Avalon:
Oh, so good. Comment though about the fasting. So I think a way that fasting is sort of a hack on this. I still think get the stuff out of the house. What's so amazing with willpower and fasting is that when you, you get this window and then you no longer have this debate with yourself about to eat or not to eat.
Melanie Avalon:
Cause like, if you're not doing intermittent fasting and you're dieting, it's like, do I eat this? Do I not eat this? Do I eat some more? Do I not eat some more? Like it's like that constantly, which is exhausting.
Melanie Avalon:
But with fasting, it's like, okay, not my window. So then you don't have to like think about
Vanessa Spina:
But yeah, I call it the noise. Like it's just like sort of in the background noise or this like distraction that's there. And when you cut it out, it's like a laser. Like you can just focus so much more on what you want to focus on and just take that out of the equation.
Vanessa Spina:
And I think that's probably the biggest thing for me with intermittent fasting is just having that having that framework that it just like, I don't know. I think maybe some people thrive on it more than others.
Vanessa Spina:
You know, some people, if you're not an obscener, if you're a moderator, then I wonder it would be really interesting to see if obsceners gravitate more to intermittent fasting, I would bet that they do.
Vanessa Spina:
Whereas moderators, you know, don't gravitate as much to this kind of lifestyle. That's so yeah.
Melanie Avalon:
I bet. And also a bit of encouragement. I think a lot of people will use the clear out the kitchen thing as like the, oh, this is the last time to like eat all the things. I think it can be a spiral where people think they need to like get rid of all the things and eat all of the things.
Melanie Avalon:
There's like this idea, especially like, and I think we will have recently had Glenn Livingston on the, oh, so next episode, perfect timing. Next episode should be with Glenn Livingston. He wrote the book, Never Binge Again, which it's not just about binging.
Melanie Avalon:
It's really about anybody who's struggling with what he calls like the inner pig, which is like this voice that like wants the things. He's amazing for dealing with the psychology of dealing with your food cravings and choices and such.
Melanie Avalon:
But one of the things he does talk about is like all the excuses that this, this pig voice in your head will make about eating and like how one of them is like, oh, this is like the last time, you know, like I'll just eat all these and this will be like the last time when really it's, it's not, that's just like a lie.
Melanie Avalon:
Like it just like, it just lies to you, this voice. So don't listen to it. His solution is basically don't argue. So like when you have this voice in your head that's like, you know, wanting you to, to break your diet rules that you came up with.
Melanie Avalon:
And I don't want to make this sound like overly restrictive or, or disordered or anything like that. But, but basically you have a healthy plan that you've set out to do a diet, fasting, whatever it may be.
Melanie Avalon:
And if you're struggling with this voice in your head that is trying to get you to not engage in that pattern that you believe will be healthy for you and that you would like to do, his solution is you don't argue with it.
Melanie Avalon:
You don't debate with it. You just like don't listen to it. It sounds really simple, but it can be life changing. Basically like you, you isolate it as like the pig voice and you just don't listen to it.
Melanie Avalon:
So check out next week's episode. I think it'd be very helpful for people. Okay. Yes. Next time we talk, I will tell you my crazy story about the compounding pharmacy. Okay. Sounds good. It's crazy. People have you just as a teaser, how do I say this?
Melanie Avalon:
Like, how do I say this? Have you ever had an experience where you are smart and intelligent and have information and know what you're doing and you're just being completely talked down to by somebody who believes they're in a power of position?
Melanie Avalon:
This happened to me with a compounding pharmacy and it's a crazy story. So teaser. Okay. Anything from you before we jump in the questions?
Vanessa Spina:
Can I share something I'm really excited about? Oh yes, please do. It has to do with red light therapy and something new that I'm launching, but I just, I'm so, I'm just buzzing about it because I've been working on it all week.
Vanessa Spina:
So, you know, I use the red light therapy panels. I'm starting to embrace the cold more because it helps activate more brown fat, generate more brown fat. And I also, I'm using my red light therapy panels more these days because it's getting colder outside and I'm not outside all day.
Vanessa Spina:
Before I was getting red light at sunrise and all throughout the day and then in the evening, I'm not anymore because the seasons are changing. So, I brought out all my red light therapy panels. They're all in the bathroom and around the house because my husband and I both use them.
Vanessa Spina:
But one thing that I was noticing is I wasn't doing my face protocol or my face treatment as much and it's because I'm usually with Luca and that's my two year old toddler. And he, you know, he doesn't want me to be like holding this red light therapy panel in front of my face.
Vanessa Spina:
He wants me to play with him and play with his choo choo train or make, you know, Play -Doh butterflies or whatever we're doing. So, I realized that I should use the red light therapy masks because I, a year ago, I customized a couple of them because I was gonna launch them as a product.
Vanessa Spina:
So, I just been so busy with other stuff that I kind of like left them on the shelf. So, I started, you know, I pulled them out, I started wearing them like, this is amazing. I can get a full red light therapy session on my face while I'm still playing with Luca.
Vanessa Spina:
Like he doesn't care that I have a mask on and he actually likes it. He likes like playing with the remote and changing the colors on me. But I can get a full session in and I have my hands free. And, you know what?
Vanessa Spina:
When usually you're doing a face treatment, your eyes are closed because you're not gonna like stare into these powerful lights unless you're specifically doing that for like an eye treatment. Usually your eyes are closed and you can't really do much, right?
Vanessa Spina:
But with the mask, like you've got your hands free, you can see things, you can like watch things, you can read things, you can just interact normally. So, it's like the ultimate multitasking. So, then I posted about it as a kind of a joke for Halloween and I was like, this is my Halloween mask.
Vanessa Spina:
And so many people in my community and like listeners of the podcast were like, this is amazing, I want one, like can I order one? Just like, okay, let's do this. So, I've been having so much fun creating the new mask.
Vanessa Spina:
So, I've created the new Tonelux Crystal red light therapy mask and it is amazing and it's so easy to use. You just like put it on, strap it on your face and then you can set the program on the remote to, there's all kinds of different programs, but set it on and just relax.
Vanessa Spina:
Like you can, if you don't have a toddler that you're playing with, you can lay in bed and relax. You can read a book, you know, you can watch a show, you can listen to podcasts and, you know, it's just the ultimate multitasking.
Vanessa Spina:
So, I'm super excited about it and it's an amazing product and I've just been having so much fun doing like the box design, working on the box design, the manual and customizing like the bag, there's like a travel bag with it that goes with it and all the stuff.
Vanessa Spina:
So, I just been buzzing because as we've talked about so many times before, like this is the most fun part of like creating products is like actually creating the designs and the customization and also just because so many people are excited about the masks, I think they'll be a really fun like Christmas gift and just something awesome that people can use and there's just so much interest in the masks, it's really, really exciting.
Vanessa Spina:
So, that's my latest update.
Melanie Avalon:
A while ago, the closest thing I've been using to this was Saluma. Do you know that brand? I don't know. They make a, it's basically like a dome and when you're laying down, you set it over your head so you can't be moving around with it like this.
Melanie Avalon:
I would go in the infrared sauna and I would lay down and I would put it over my head and it would do red light and it also had near infrared and blue light as well for acne, which you said, you changed the colors on it.
Melanie Avalon:
So is it red light and other lights as well on yours? Thank you.
Vanessa Spina:
So it's got four wavelengths in it, and it has these programs. So you can have it go between the main light. So it's got a 630 nanometer red light. It's got a 590 nanometer. It's actually orange light, but it's in the red light family.
Vanessa Spina:
And then it has two 830 and 850 nanometer for near infrared. And so it has these programs where it'll do like five minutes of each, or you can just create your own program or set it to how you want. Or you could just have it be on red light the whole time or in a combination and you can set the time and all of that.
Vanessa Spina:
But yeah, those are the main wavelengths in it.
Melanie Avalon:
Yeah, because I've been, like I said, I was using that sluma wine and I've been wanting to get something like that for when I was laying down in the sauna. But the issue with that, what I liked about it was it wasn't actually touching your skin.
Melanie Avalon:
So, does this actually touch your skin or does it?
Vanessa Spina:
Yeah, it goes on your face. Like it goes, it's like any other mask, but it's made of silicone, so it's quite comfortable. Oh, cool.
Melanie Avalon:
I love that you can see and you can breathe through it and looking at the pictures and see through it. This is so cool.
Vanessa Spina:
that. I was testing another one, which was like, they call it the Iron Man mask, and it's a full, like it's gold, and it's a full mask. And at first I thought that I was going to like that one more. But when I had it on, I just felt like I couldn't breathe.
Vanessa Spina:
I just didn't feel good. Whereas this one, the silicone one is like so light and easy to wear that, you know, you can put it on and you can still like breathe normally, you can still see normally, you know, and it's got to be comfortable if you're going to, you know, do it.
Vanessa Spina:
And you only have to do it three, four times a week, like 10 minutes, or you can do longer ones if you want like 15 to 25. But I'm just so excited that I can get back on track with my red light therapy sessions, because it's so amazing for boosting collagen and elastin factors and just improving, you know, overall skin health.
Vanessa Spina:
And I just like had kind of stopped because it was too hard, you know, to do it with Luke and then for a while I would like wait until he would go to bed and then I would do it like at night and that's not optimal either.
Vanessa Spina:
So yeah, it's, it's just, you know, great to have your hands free and your eyes free and still be able to do other things.
Melanie Avalon:
This is so cool. So how does it attach behind it?
Vanessa Spina:
to you? It's got actually three straps. So each strap is like on each side, and then it attaches in the back. And then there's another one on the top, which goes and attaches to those two. So it's quite secure.
Vanessa Spina:
And yeah, it's just like Velcro straps. And you designed this? Yeah, I mean, the like the, the one that hit the one that is on my Instagram that I think you're looking at is actually not the one that we are doing, but it's a newer model.
Vanessa Spina:
That was like an older model that I had that I was just like testing out. And then I was like, okay, I want to go with this. But it's a newer model that features the infrared as well, which is what I was kind of waiting for.
Vanessa Spina:
Yeah, it's, it's, yeah, really, I'm so excited about it.
Melanie Avalon:
Is it on the website now?
Vanessa Spina:
Yes, yeah, if you go to ketogenic girl, I just was setting that up today. Yeah. And we're still working on the design as of today. I might do a fuller like print on the face and everything. This is so.
Melanie Avalon:
Cool. Yeah, this would be an amazing gift for people. People don't talk about the orange light.
Vanessa Spina:
Yeah, it's interesting. So my SAFAR panel, which has four wavelengths of light also, one of the wavelengths is also orange, and it has some other benefits, like for the skin. I think it complements the red.
Vanessa Spina:
And some of the masks that they have, they have every wavelength. They've got all the colors, because apparently they do different things. But not all of them are things, I think, that people would be interested in.
Vanessa Spina:
Some of them are skin whitening. I'm like, it's not something that I'm interested in. What light does that? I think it's cyan.
Melanie Avalon:
How interesting.
Vanessa Spina:
Yeah, so all the wavelengths have different properties to them. But red light therapy obviously has all the really well -documented benefits. So I don't think there's as much research behind the other ones.
Vanessa Spina:
But yeah, there are some masks you can get that have all kinds of different colors in them.
Melanie Avalon:
Like I said, the one I was using did the red near and front and then the blue for the acne, which I could see that being the blue being really helpful for people if they have acne.
Vanessa Spina:
Yes, that's a sign, yeah.
Melanie Avalon:
Wow, well, super cool. So what's the link for people to get this? Thank you.
Vanessa Spina:
Oh yeah, they can check it out at ketogenicirl.com if they just navigate to the website and then look up the Tone Luxe Red Light Therapy. There's basically just two things on the website. That's the, you know, the tone, breath ketone meters and the tone red light therapy.
Vanessa Spina:
So yeah, it's right under there if you want to check it out there.
Melanie Avalon:
Awesome. Yeah, that would make a great gift for people. Although by the time this comes out, it will be past the holidays, but always giving gifts to people. So, do you, that's a question. Do you, for like Christmas and things like that, do you get presents throughout the year or do you wait until right before?
Vanessa Spina:
Christmas shopping, I usually do, like I probably should start now, but I usually do it around Christmas time. What about you?
Melanie Avalon:
I'm pretty intense. I'm like looking all year. I'm like, gift giving is my love language, so I'm really intense about it. And I got a fact check this. My mom, I think, said this year that we're quote, not doing presents or something.
Melanie Avalon:
I was like, wait, what? I understand not wanting to feel the need to like have to spend a lot of money on people, but I really express love through giving gifts. So even if we're not doing gifts,
Vanessa Spina:
My brother is also gifts, his love language. Ever since we were a kid, he would get so excited about Christmas gifts and he still does. Like giving them? Giving them, receiving them, it's definitely his love language and it's really cute how excited he gets about it.
Vanessa Spina:
So it's like, you know, you have to get Matt something really thoughtful because it's his love language. You really want him to feel loved. So it's like, yeah, it's so cute.
Melanie Avalon:
Well, what's funny is it's my giving, but it's not my receiving. So, words of affirmation. Yeah. Lights me up. How about you? Do you know yours?
Vanessa Spina:
Yes, some mine are words of affirmation and affection. Receiving or for both? I think giving is affection and then words of affirmation and receiving. Affection and physical touch, you mean? Yes, and receiving is words of affirmation and then physical touch.
Vanessa Spina:
That when my husband and I were dating, we realized we had really different ones. Oh, what are his? So we both have affection as a main one, but his number one way of showing love is acts of service.
Vanessa Spina:
And for me, it wasn't even on my radar. We had to learn each other's because obviously the first couple of years you're together, you're just on this dopamine high and everything is amazing and you feel loved and you shower each other with so much of everything, affection, words, all that stuff.
Vanessa Spina:
But it took me a long time to realize that he was doing things for me. He would carry my suitcase for me and that was his way of showing me. He's taking care of me, protecting me, loving me. But I didn't feel love through it for a long time and we had to learn each other's.
Vanessa Spina:
So I had to learn how to show him love through acts of service, which was not in my vocabulary. So it's really cool and you understand each other's and you kind of have to learn them. And he's had to learn to be more expressive with words of affirmation because it's not one on his radar.
Vanessa Spina:
So yeah, I have to kind of learn how you both are wired to make sure the other person feels loved all the time.
Melanie Avalon:
I think it's so important. It should be mandatory, because there are so many different quizzes out there and profiles and compatibility reports, but this one is pretty, I don't know, I think it would benefit everybody to know they're giving and receiving and their partner's giving and receiving.
Vanessa Spina:
Yes, it's huge. It's really huge. You want to be, obviously it's great if you can be the same. And I'm glad my husband, I have one in common. But if we didn't know that about each other and we didn't learn each other's, then I don't think we would feel loved.
Vanessa Spina:
And it's just, it's critically important. I think a lot of people are aware now about love languages and they're so accurate. It's really amazing. So yours expressing is the gifts.
Melanie Avalon:
gifts, yeah, and then the receiving is words of affirmation.
Vanessa Spina:
Yeah, I think also women tend to have words more often and men tend to have acts of service more often. Like it's interesting to see, I see that pattern come up. Like and men are often more like action oriented and women are more words like when it comes to relationships but that's not saying that's everyone but I've just noticed that a lot.
Melanie Avalon:
I've noticed that as well. The other one I guess we're leaving out is time. Quality time. Yeah, so quality time, physical touch, words of affirmation, acts of service.
Vanessa Spina:
quality time I know and
Melanie Avalon:
Oh gifts and gifts. Is that all of them? I think there's five. Yeah. So gifts, time, access service, words of affirmation, and touch. Yeah. Which my like anti one, are any of those anti ones for you?
Melanie Avalon:
Because like I don't like
Vanessa Spina:
I'm not big on gifts. I don't like it. I always tell people, don't buy me anything, just write me something. But, you know, of course, if he gives me a gift, I'm like, okay, that's really nice. But I'm like the person who's like, let's not do gifts this year, guys.
Melanie Avalon:
Okay, so you're like my mom. And I'm like, wait a minute. When you said that?
Vanessa Spina:
I was laughing like every year. I'm like, I think my mom is actually maybe gifts too. So every year I'm like, can we not do gifts this year? My mom's like, no. And my brother also, right? So yeah, I don't usually win.
Vanessa Spina:
I've never won that we always end up doing gifts. And it's fine. Like once I get into it, I'm like, okay, this is fun. But I have moments where I get, I feel like it's being pushed on us. Like you have to give gifts to your loved ones or you don't love them.
Vanessa Spina:
Like I get this feeling like this commercialization of the holiday that I don't like. You know, I'd rather just give a gift because I saw something spontaneously and it made me think of that person. But you know, once you get into it, you're like, okay, it's fine.
Vanessa Spina:
And it definitely would feel really weird a Christmas morning to like not open anything or do anything. So the last few years I've asked for donations to things cause that like feels like a more, a less commercialized gift.
Melanie Avalon:
my experience of it is it's the way I show, the way I can show love because it's like, I have to really know the person. And then I like take the time to think about like, what would they like, what is like perfect for them?
Melanie Avalon:
So it's like me, it's kind of like, it's not an active service, but it's me like doing this thing to like show how much I like care about you and want to like give you this thing that represents that in a way.
Melanie Avalon:
I totally get it. It totally makes sense. So my mom though gives really good gifts. She goes, yeah, she finds stuff like, like so unique and special. I'm like, where did that come from? So yeah, she's sweet.
Melanie Avalon:
Well, on that note, shall we answer some listener questions? Yes, I would love to. Okay, doke, would you like to read the first question from Lori?
Vanessa Spina:
So, Lori on Facebook asks, could you take a deep dive into the data that can be gained by smart skills? I have a GE fit profile and I really like it. I'm wondering what the healthy target ranges are for visceral fat, bone mass, muscle mass, dot, dot, dot.
Vanessa Spina:
I have found the information fascinating. I am a 54 -year -old perimenopausal woman who practices one to two 36 to 42 hour fasts a week. I have a protein forward diet getting on average 100 grams a day.
Vanessa Spina:
I would love to learn more. I'm interested to see if my muscle mass and my fat -free mass changes much after the fasts and if they go down. Trends over time show things are really about the same and I think I am at a plateau.
Vanessa Spina:
I would like to get rid of some more fat in my thighs but my belly fat is mostly all gone. I fluctuate between mostly a four sometimes a five on visceral fat. My bone mass isn't budging staying at 6 .2 but I never had a DEXA scan.
Vanessa Spina:
I'm not sure what the 6 .2 means or if it is low or good. I would love to hear what you can find out.
Melanie Avalon:
All right, Lori, thank you so much for your question. And this made me remember something that we did not discuss the episode before last, where we were talking about Valter Longo, which I will put a link to that episode in the show notes, which was ipodcast.com/episode352.
Melanie Avalon:
I asked him about the fasting mimicking diets effects on muscle loss. And he said in their studies, they found that basically there was a transient muscle loss from the five day fasting mimicking diet, but it all came back within a day, which was interesting.
Melanie Avalon:
I don't know if you have any thoughts on that. It all came back within a day. So basically they were, I have to double check what he said exactly, but basically there wasn't any long term muscle loss from the fasting mimicking diet.
Melanie Avalon:
So that's super low calorie, low protein, five days. That there was transient, but he said it came back after the study. And then after they stopped. And so I asked him, how long did it take to come back?
Melanie Avalon:
And he said it was 24 hours. Do you have thoughts on that, Vanessa?
Vanessa Spina:
So, yes, actually just released an episode on my podcast yesterday where we were talking about this because Dr. Bill Campbell, who's a physique scientist in Florida, he actually just changed his opinion on rapid fat loss protocols because he just did one in his lab and he found that what was happening is they weren't measuring total body water and that a lot of times these studies were showing that rapid fat loss protocols were actually causing a huge loss in lean body mass, but within two weeks it would come back and it was actually water and because our muscles store the most water in the body and that's one of the ways that you can actually game the system if you're doing like a dexa scan.
Vanessa Spina:
If you chug like a gallon of water before having a body, a dexa scan, it'll look like you added 10 or 20 pounds of muscle mass and it's because the dexa is just measuring the dry mass so water can conflate the lean body mass measurements.
Melanie Avalon:
Yes. And I think so. I think that's huge. I'll have to, I want to fact check if he said it was 24 hours that it came back, but it was relatively short. And I would need to check, he made it sound like they were checking the difference between, you know, body composition.
Melanie Avalon:
But I would need to read the actual studies, which speaks into this whole question about the scale and measuring all of these different things because it can get so convoluted, like Vanessa was just saying, especially because of the role of water.
Melanie Avalon:
So the way these smart scales work, they use something called bioelectrical impedance analysis, or it's also called bioimpedance analysis, BIA. And basically what it does is you have your feet on the scale, it puts a current, a not harmful current.
Melanie Avalon:
But if you have a pacemaker, they do recommend that you, you know, speak to a doctor or it could interfere with pacemakers. The current runs up one leg through your torso, and then down the other leg.
Melanie Avalon:
And then because of the way this electrical current travels through water versus fatty tissue versus muscle, it guesstimates, it guesses based on the level of resistance, how much water, fat and muscle you have.
Melanie Avalon:
And there are just so many potential issues here. So basically I did find a study, it was 2021, it was called Accuracy of Smart Scales on Weight and Body Composition, an Observational Study. It did not look at the scale that Laurie was using, the GE fit profile, but all these scales are essentially using the same technology.
Melanie Avalon:
And so they looked at three scales, they looked at the body partner by Tefal, the diet pack by Torellion and the body cardio by Nokia withings. They found that all of the scales, oh, and then they compare, basically they did the, they weighed the people and they compared it to Dexa scan, which I have comments on Dexa as well.
Melanie Avalon:
They found that all of them were accurate for weight. So just your basic weight were accurate. However, fat and muscle were not accurate, like at all. So fat mass was off, and this isn't kilograms, but was off by between 2 .2 to 3 .7 pounds.
Melanie Avalon:
And the negative, so basically it said that they weighed, they had less fat than they did. So it was underestimated. And then for muscle mass, it was off by 4 .5 pounds. So in the positive, negative 6 .6 pounds.
Melanie Avalon:
So negative saying they had less than they did and four pounds. So saying they had more than they did. So all over the place. And their conclusion was that this technology and smart skills is not accurate for determining muscle and fat, but the scales are probably accurate for weight, like just weight.
Melanie Avalon:
And so a lot of factors, and there are a lot of reasons for that. There's a lot of factors that can influence just the system. So your body setup, your feet, where your feet are on the scale, whether you're standing up straight or not, the current isn't even like measuring upper body.
Melanie Avalon:
So it's kind of extrapolating from there. It's just not, and her question says that it's measuring visceral fat. Specifically, I have no idea how it thinks it's figuring that out. Like that's something that I don't think even Dexa shows that.
Melanie Avalon:
You'd have to have an ultrasound. Yeah. So that, no, it's it, no. And then bone mass, again, I don't know how it would be determining that. And something that's interesting. So Dexa scan is what is used for bone mass.
Melanie Avalon:
But I talked with Gabrielle Lyon about using Dexa for muscle. She doesn't even think that it Dexa is super valid for measuring muscle mass. She recommends deuterated creatine.
Vanessa Spina:
Yeah, which you ingest, I guess, and then measure after.
Melanie Avalon:
Yeah. She says DEXA, I'm just quoting from the transcript that I had with her. She says, it's not a direct measure of skeletal muscle mass. It's an extrapolation. It's directly measuring body fat and it is looking at bone.
Melanie Avalon:
The rest is extrapolated. So if we're comparing this to the scale, for example, so scale is basically getting your weight and then the smart skills, getting your weight and then using this current to kind of guess at things based on a level of persistence.
Melanie Avalon:
But it's just not accurate, probably compared to DEXA, which is accurate for body fat. So it is actually giving you body fat. It is actually giving you bone. But then the muscle mass, it's extrapolating.
Melanie Avalon:
It's not actually measuring muscle mass. And that goes back to what Vanessa was saying, like the amount of water you have, your hydration levels can all affect that. So she says that the way of the future is deuterated creatine, which is actually tagging skeletal muscle, looking at the creatine, because creatine is found in skeletal muscle, and then that's going to be the way to really get an accurate picture of muscle.
Melanie Avalon:
So all of that to say, Lori, I wouldn't make any recommendations about the scale because you just can't know if it's accurate. I wouldn't look at it. What are your thoughts, Vanessa?
Vanessa Spina:
So my, I love everything that you shared about it. I am not a big fan of these kinds of scales because I just don't think the technology is there yet. I think they can be used for trends. And some people, like I know, physique competitors will use them to assess their body fat at home and they'll look at the trends.
Vanessa Spina:
But I do think, as you said, they could be accurate for weight. In terms of body composition, I'm a big fan of Dexabody scans. They are the gold standard of what we have now. And I know what we were talking about with the D3 creatine.
Vanessa Spina:
It's coming. It's just not there yet. And I would be interested to try it for sure myself and, you know, potentially recommend it. If it's, if it's something that turns out great. I was actually talking to Dr.
Vanessa Spina:
Bill Campbell about this yesterday or on the episode that came out yesterday because, you know, I was asking him about these different methodologies. So they have a physique lab and mostly what they study is his fat loss.
Vanessa Spina:
And so they use ultrasound often for that, even, which is like they have one in their lab, which is amazing. He loves Dexa. Like he thinks it's fantastic. And I agree with him. I know it can be manipulated, but for the most part, I do think it gives us the best picture out of the options that we currently have.
Vanessa Spina:
And I'm sure better options are coming, but I found it to be very accurate when I myself go for scans, when I recommend scans to other people. And it can even show you, you know, where your fat is, you know, where you carry it, you know, exactly how much you have in different parts of your body.
Vanessa Spina:
You can learn exactly how much pounds of fat, fat mass you have on your body. You can also, you know, learn your resting metabolic rate from it and your bone density. So I have no idea how a smart scale is purporting to be able to analyze bone density or visceral fat.
Vanessa Spina:
Like that's just not possible. So I wouldn't put much weight on that at all. I would just use it for trends, possibly with your body fat. You could look at, you know, what the trends are. Does it look like it's going up or going down?
Vanessa Spina:
And I do think the technology is coming. I've seen some different models of this on the at home smart scales where they basically would have these like wands that surround you and scan your body. You know, so that is like more like a dexter, right?
Vanessa Spina:
That that makes sense to me that it could give you accurate information in your home. But in terms of like even bioimpedance, air displacement, the pod pods, I'm not as much a big fan of those. But Dr.
Vanessa Spina:
Campbell says, if you're using one method, whatever it is, just make sure you control the conditions and use the same method when you're doing the before and afters. So yeah, I unfortunately, I just don't think that any at home skills right now have the technology that that'll really give you the accuracy.
Melanie Avalon:
And even with the DEXA, I think it can be important to make sure that you go in in the same sort of conditions when you get it, because the water can influence that a little bit as well, like with the muscles specifically.
Melanie Avalon:
Yeah. And a nice thing about DEXA as well is it's pretty low on the EMF, or sorry, on the radiation exposure compared to other potential things. So I think that information gained from it is very valuable.
Melanie Avalon:
That's great. No, yeah. So, I mean, it's not minimal. I mean, it's not, you know, non -existent, but it is relatively low. Shall we answer one more question? Yes, I would love to. All right. So, yes.
Melanie Avalon:
So we have a question from Leslie, also from Facebook about does NMN break your fast? And I have a lot of thoughts on this, but Vanessa, have you played around with NMN?
Vanessa Spina:
So I have some in my fridge and I haven't actually taken it yet, probably partly because I'm pregnant, but also because it's really hard to know how effective NMN is, you know, because we'll never really have the data in humans, you know, to see whether or not it really does affect our longevity.
Vanessa Spina:
But I do have some, but I do not believe it breaks so fast. What about you?
Melanie Avalon:
Yes. So if it's pure NMN, it shouldn't break the fast. I'll be curious how it goes in the future, because it's in a gray zone right now with the FDA in the US as of this recording. I was actually going to release an NMN and then it became a whole thing, which is, and I think the reasoning behind it is because pharmaceutical companies potentially want to, you know, patent it, which I will not go in that soapbox.
Melanie Avalon:
But in any case, no, it should not break your fast. I do take a pure powder form of it at present. I will say that, so NMN, just briefly, it's a precursor, stands for nicotinamide mononucleotide. It's a precursor to NAD, which is a master coenzyme in our body involved in all of our metabolic processes.
Melanie Avalon:
So important for health and it gets depleted with things like aging and stress and sickness and boosting your NAD levels can be really good for health and longevity. And since NMN is a precursor to NAD, that's why people take it.
Melanie Avalon:
You can also get NAD straight as an IV or an intramuscular injection. I was doing those for a while. There needs to be more research, but theoretically, I'm pretty, I find the studies pretty compelling.
Melanie Avalon:
And I have some good friends in the sphere who believe in it a lot, like James Clement, who I really love. The thing about those is your mileage may vary, but for me, they A, they're very expensive and B, they always make me feel a little bit sick, which is like, it's like a lot of money to spend to not feel very well, but it's temporary.
Melanie Avalon:
It's only like 10 minutes that you don't feel well. But for me, I do not feel well after those injections, even though I know the long -term benefits are probably there. I did get really excited recently because I found a new brand that makes NAD patches and I am obsessed.
Melanie Avalon:
So out of all the options, like the NMN, the NR, which is another precursor to NAD, the IV is the injections. My favorite now is the NAD patches. Friends, this has changed my life because it gives you the access to putting NAD into your bloodstream, but it's transdermal.
Melanie Avalon:
And you have it at home. I made a video recently on Instagram about how to put on the patches, because you have to activate the NAD and you pour it on this patch and there's like saline solution. It's like a whole thing.
Melanie Avalon:
It's easy to do once you learn how to do it. They last for 14 hours, and then you can just have them at home and use them when you need. So I'm basically, because I usually go out once a week, so I'm kind of using them once a week the day after going out to boost my NAD levels after a night out on the town.
Melanie Avalon:
So I love them. They're called Ion Layer. And if you go to Melanieavalon.com/ionlayer and use the code MelanieAvalon, you get $100 off, which is crazy. So that's Melanieavalon.com/ionlayer with the code MelanieAvalon for $100 off.
Melanie Avalon:
But yes, to recap, NMN should not break your fast, NR should not break your fast. I like supporting NAD levels and my favorite now are NAD patches. Okay. Anything from you Vanessa, before we wrap up this episode?
Vanessa Spina:
episode. I had so much fun with you. I love the questions. As always, keep them coming and I can't wait for the next one. Me too. I had a lot of fun.
Melanie Avalon:
But so, so much fun for listeners. If you'd like to submit your own questions to the show, you can directly email questions@ifpodcast.com or you can go to ifpodcast.com and you can submit questions there.
Melanie Avalon:
These show notes will have links to everything that we talked about, like those studies, and those will be at ifpodcast.com/episode355. And you can get all the stuff that we like at ifpodcast.com/stuffwelike.
Melanie Avalon:
And you can follow us on Instagram where I have podcast. I'm Melanie Avalon. Vanessa is ketogenic girl. And I think that's all the things. Anything from you, Vanessa, before we go.
Vanessa Spina:
I just had so much fun. Yeah, just love getting to talk about all these topics with you. And I can't wait for the next episode.
Melanie Avalon:
Likewise, I will... talk to you in the future. Bye. Bye.
Melanie Avalon:
Thank you so much for listening to the Intimation Fasting Podcast. Please remember, everything we discussed on this show does not constitute medical advice and no patient-doctor relationship is formed. If you enjoyed the show, please consider writing a review on iTunes. We couldn't do this without our amazing team. Administration by Sharon Merriman, editing by Podcast Doctors, show notes and artwork by Brianna Joyner, and original theme composed by Leland Cox and recomposed by Steve Saunders.
STUFF WE LIKE
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LINKS
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Melanie's What When Wine Diet: Lose Weight And Feel Great With Paleo-Style Meals, Intermittent Fasting, And Wine
Vanessa's Keto Essentials: 150 Ketogenic Recipes to Revitalize, Heal, and Shed Weight
The Tone Device Breath Ketone Analyzer
The Melanie Avalon Biohacking Podcast
More on Melanie: MelanieAvalon.com
More on Vanessa: ketogenicgirl.com
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