As (a non-religious) someone who tried fasting while holding down a similar job, my advice is simple: don't break your fast every night.
It only takes 24-48 hours for your body to adjust, your fat to start melting and your blood-sugar levels to stabilise. You also stop feeling hungry. I found that while I was generally a little 'light-headed' my powers of concentration were fine and I returned to full productivity.
At first I tried drinking only fruit juice but that gave me an upset stomach so I switched to water and the occasional tea. Once I'd got through the first day of 'starving' hunger I felt great: full of energy and positivity.
As long as you have fat on your body you should be fine, however I'm not sure it would be a good idea if you are all muscle: while shutting down your digestive system saves a load of energy, if you have no fat your body it will convert muscle.
Pros:
* No blood sugar swings
* No hunger
* Fat loss
* A real sense of achievement
Cons:
* Greasy skin
* Zits
Do:
* Keep exercising to prevent muscle loss
* Drink lots of liquid
* Eat something light if the starving hunger returns
* Be careful if you are already very skinny
* Talk to a doctor
Don't:
* Binge eat every night as you'll feel starving again the next day
* Ignore a return to hunger
* Drink lots of fruit juice
* Binge at the end. Gradually introduce food back to your system.
This was probably very common in the human experience prior to the development of agriculture. People didn't eat regular meals. Hunting opportunities would not have come along every day, and sometimes hunts would fail.
I don't think humans would become too weak to throw spears because they didn't have their Cheerios in the morning.
When I hear people who have skipped a meal complain "my blood sugar is low", I worry for their health. We have fat stores for a reason. Skipping a meal should not be a big deal.
My experience with this sort of thing is that despite thrice-weekly lifting sessions, I lose a LOT of muscle. Just a heads-up for anyone thinking of trying this.
I don't get hunger when I don't eat. After almost a day without eating I get headache then I feel weaker and weaker and don't even have enough energy to make myself something to eat. Then I fall asleep. Only after I wake up next day I have enough energy to make myself a meal. I'm still not hungry but reason just has the opportunity to kick in.
I am currently working in Saudi Arabia (here, fasting is a national rule, however I eat because I'm a Indian and non-Muslim) as a programmer, and I've noticed one funny thing - people just become nocturnal. They eat and work in the night and sleep during the day. This is simply the normal routine reversed. Fasting has minimal effects on them, its not fasting, just the time in which they eat is changed! They work shorter during the day and do the hard work in the night.
Humans are funny creatures. To believe on the one hand a god laid down these rules, and then in the same thought think "Well I bet he didn't think of this loophole"
Adding a quick note here about Ramadan - the act of fasting and feeling hungry, thirsty, and tired also serves to invoke feelings of empathy with those who are less fortunate. Essentially, it is a reminder that there are always those who are in need. This is why muslims are encouraged to donate to the needy during this month.
Simply sleeping through the fast and reversing a sleep schedule seems to go against the spirit of the exercise. Of course, everyone fasts for different reasons and it is a very personal undertaking. I just wanted to clarify for those who may be thinking "Why bother doing it at all if you can flip your sleep schedule?"
Muslims around the world are going through the same materialistic tendencies as being seen all over the world. Instead of using Ramadan as a chance to cut back on worldly life and focus on spirituality, they are using it to focus on shopping, malls, entertainment, television, etc.. Fasting heightens the senses and brings an awareness to your mind about how we are only here for a short time. If you choose to sleep all day, I wouldn't call it a loophole, since you are not hurting anyone but yourself by sleeping all day during the fasting hours.
I noticed the same when I was in Kuwait several years ago. I remember going to a mall on day during Ramonda. Most everything was closed as we were on the way and most of the shops were just opening around 6 with sunset being around 7. After 7, the place was alive with activity.
While the author of the linked article expiates the hit coding performance can take when fasting I have personally observed an interesting phenomena during my observation of Ramadan. Namely, I can experience moments of acute lucidity and penetrating insight into a problem at hand.
Usually this occurs when I am in the midst of something that requires a good bit of effort such as tackling a thorny algorithmic conundrum or analyzing a particularly complex call stack. If I attune my mind to repress the pangs of bodily need I occasionally feel as if the external world melts away and I slip into an almost mystical state of oneness with the task at hand. Needless to say, I have been surprised immensely by this development.
One theory I have is that the blood flow that would normally be assigned by my body to the act of digestion is now free'd up to be reallocated to the ole cranium. Plausible? Unsure, but am certainly enjoying these life experiments!
Side note: for those observing the fast I have also noticed that my immune system is closely linked with the gut and my self-imposed starvations can lead to immune system compromise. Make sure you supplement your Iftar goodies with some replenishing nutrients such as pro-biotic yogurt smoothies rich in vitamin C and home-cooked chicken consomme.
Very interesting, my experience has been slightly different this year.
Normally my brain is thinking 10 different things at one time. It is fairly difficult for me to focus (more so since I work at an office that has 5 TVs that I can see, and a couple of channels I can hear). The first few days of fasting, I was surprised how easily I was able to focus. Frankly I was far more productive than I normally am. Unfortunately, I've since reverted to the natural state of affairs -- I can no longer tune out TVs, youtube clips, etc.
In previous years, the first few days would actually be extremely difficult. I now realize that I was getting what is often called the "carb flu." This year, before Ramadan, I was on a low carb diet (Tim Ferriss' Slow Carb). Perhaps because of that, my body was already used to fewer carbs.
Hunger is not debilitating and if I could have water, I could probably 'fast' for 48 hours pretty easily (such fasting is actually recommended by the likes of "East Stop Eat" author Brad Pilon).
I've been trying one of the more popular Intermittent fasting protocols -Leangains for 20 days and counting.
It was uncomfortable only for the first 3 days.
16-20hr (well-hydrated) fasts ended with a heavy lifting workout and BIG meal at 'breakfast' (6pm or later for me).
FAQ: http://examine.com/leangains-faq/
I love it.
Increased alertness, focus, no more mid-day food comas.
I'm a fat guy, so my body is probably fat-adapted after a couple weeks of IF.
And i work at my ghetto standing desk from 9 to 5 weekdays.
I can't imagine living any other way now.
It's wonderful not to be a slave to food. I see food as just fuel now.
Note: I do take 10g of BCAAs before lifting heavy fasted.
There is evidence that they prevent catabolism of muscle.
(Disclaimer: I'm a militant atheist now) I think I would find stopping five times a day for prayer to be a bit of a distraction, though I imagine the short bursts of meditation would be good for my concentration overall.
I tended to gain weight during Ramadan, but that's probably because my family made a big deal of every iftar, inviting extended family members, eating out and having big greasy Pakistani meals almost every night. I'm somewhat convinced that the type of food in my family would go towards explaining the early 60s life expectancy. Thankfully I married Japanese so I'm hoping that cancels it out!
I found fasting to be generally easy, even in quite long days in Saudi Arabia. Rather than hunger it was more the habit of snacking as a reaction to it that catches you out. The main tactic we had for dealing with it was (as much as possible) sleeping during the day and working at night, though I imagine you'd need a very understanding employer (or sufficient litigation) to pull that off as a full-time dev.
> Let’s just say fasting isn’t one of them. All of my co-workers; I have worked with past and present have been extremely understanding and respectful of the [month-long] fast. Also as a by-product of this kindness they have coined the term: "Ramadan code".
There isn't much you can do; at least you can't make religious fasting the reason for your actions unless you are interested in lawsuits and tons of negative publicity.
What does it take to start a new religion? What if I start a new religion which says working more than 4 hours a day is against my gods? Can employers deny me jobs? Or if they don't deny it, are they bound to pay me full salary even though I work half the hours? If not, why am I being discriminated against when you are accommodating others(prayers 5 times a day, month long fasts, pregnancy etc).
If I were an employer, after reading this, I would encourage my observant Muslim employees to change their schedules and work at night, and from home if possible. Not every job can accomodate this, but many can.
I'm fasting and coding now - I really don't see a drop in code quality. Nor have I noticed it in others who have been fasting at the time.
We all seem to look for externalities to explain bad performances. Maybe the code wasn't very good, or the design not conducive to writing good quality code?
I suffer mainly from the caffine withdrawal. But this is good in a sense. By the end of Ramadan, I typically rid my system of a lot of junk that I'm used to putting into my body. Also, the effects of "performance enhancing" chemicals not being there also means you just have to work harder at what you do. While this may be hard in the beginning, it gets much better as time goes on.
Despite all of this, I know all about Ramadan code. After 5pm my blood sugar drops low enough that I can barely write a line of code without introducing serious bugs or typos. So, I try to get most of the coding done in the morning.
On the other hand, I find myself a lot more focused and productive in Ramadan.
Knowing that I'm not supposed to eat or drink, I don't have to think every other hour what should I gulp down my stomach. This is a distraction which is a bit difficult to get rid of in normal days.
Also, meal timings become strict which automatically instills disciplines. In normal routine I would adjust the meals by few hours just to get some part of code done. Having such flexibility also allows some buffer to visit Social Media or Hacker News. However with empty stomach, one stays relatively bound to complete the work rather than procrastinating.
EXACTLY my thoughts. The reduction of snacking distractions and washroom breaks has always been a productivity boon for me in Ramadan. Nothing to do but pray and code. I love it.
There is quite a lot of science and study behind fasting, and it can actually be good for your health. I say this as someone who does a caloric fast (read: no caloric intake at all, fluids allowed) 6-7 times a week for intervals of 16-20 hours, in addition to my 3x weekly heavy weightlifting programme and my full-time job as a programmer/devops.
As of right now I'm the healthiest I've ever been in my life (physical strength and cardiovascular health), and my mind is as sharp as ever, especially when I'm fasting.
For those of you who feel clear-headed after fasting for a day or two: you might have a delayed food allergy (google "IgG food intolerance"). The most common such allergies are to gluten (not just coeliac sufferers are sensitive to gluten) and dairy products. I believe these delayed-onset allergies are fairly common in western societies, and are due to a "leaky gut", or permeable intestinal lining, that results in an immune system response when those foods get absorbed. Because IgG allergies can manifest themselves up to three days after you eat the offending food, some people may never figure out the cause of their fatigue or foggy-headedness. IgG allergies might be worth looking into if you have those symptoms.
Fasting helps me stay focused. I wake up at 8:30 am and have my first meal at around 4pm-5pm, and I just don't get hungry, and the lack of blood sugar level spikes doesn't get in my way.
IANAN (I am not a nutritionist) but I strongly suspect that the physical and mental exhaustion is primarily related to dehydration (as Mahdi Yusuf himself indicates by bolding "drink"). Looking at some of the comments here, the main difference between those who describe positive experiences with fasting and what the author describes is that the former drink water throughout the day. In that light, let me quote from a very good article [1]:
A normal average human body is made of approximately 60% of water. Water is the natural transport fluid involved in all important communication networks of the body. Drinking a lot of water (medium to low mineralization) ensures that the organs responsible for filtering and cleansing have sufficient carrying capacity and can eliminate toxins and wastes. You can see the argument as just plain good sense that we need sufficient water for dilution of wastes. Chemists and physicists know water as a truly exceptional fluid on many accounts. It is not by chance that life emerged and organized itself with water. Water is the best solvent that can dissolve an astonishing number of solid substances. Dehydration is a dominant cause of tiredness, pain and chronic diseases. Drinking about two liters per day plays marvel to keep energy and remove fatigue. Indeed, unknown to or often forgotten by the public is the fact that many chronic diseases may be associated with an insufficient intake of water. Such a simple gesture as drinking water regularly during the day may go a long way towards avoiding fatigue and remaining healthy.
I emphasize drinking pure water and not sodas, cokes, processed juices, coffees and so on. Just plain water. The drinks that are processed by agro-business are in general provided with added sweeteners that are known to promote malignant cell growth [Servan-Schreiber, 2009]. In addition, drinking with sugar (glucose, saccharine) prevents the body from strengthening its metabolic pathway of storing fat in time of surplus and burning fat efficiently in case of need. By feeding our body continuously with sweet drinks and sugar, we saturate our blood with sugar and we weaken considerably the metabolic processes of storing and retrieving sugar, making us more vulnerable to hypoglycemia in the rare cases where external sugar intakes stop. The consequence is to easily feel weak and tired. In contrast, letting the body be just flushed by plain water for hours ensures the build up of its metabolic capacities to burn fat efficiently. This is like muscle build-up by training. Art de Vany [2010] develops convincing supportive arguments for this. He correctly argues that our body is basically inherited from our hunter-gatherer evolution and we are thus adapted to strive in a patchy and varying environment for which our metabolism has derived efficient solutions to the energy flow problem. This backfires with our modern caloric and sugar rich, but nutritionally depleted, foods that are available at little expenditure of energy [de Vany, 2010], in the form of chronic diseases, an on-going so-called epidemic of obesity and many other modern so-called developed country diseases [Campbell and Campbell, 2006].
For the determination of the amount of needed water, a rule of thumb is to keep urine transparent. Do you feel a bit tired? Drink water. The effect is almost instantaneous. I constantly keep one or two liters on my office desk and drink when I feel like it and outside meals. I always carry water with me on trips. A minor nuisance is to drink it all before going through airport security._
_Of upmost importance is to drink our water outside meals. Most people use breakfast, lunch and dinner times to fill their body with both the liquid and solid nutrients that their bodies require. This is logical since meals are the times when we re-fuel our body. However, this behavior constitutes a fundamental mistake. Ponder this question: what other mammals in the whole animal kingdom drink their water together with their solid meals? None! We are the only one among about 5500 known mammal species who do it. The convenience of tools and the development of technology have put bottles on our meal tables to consume at the same time we ingest solid food. This apparent gain of civilization collides against a healthy diet for at least three reasons:
(i) Drinking lubricates and help swallow insufficiently chewed morsels; but digestion in the stomach requires the comminution of our food into particles that should be as minute as possible in order to maximize surface over volume ratio and therefore facilitate the digestive chemistry performed by the gastric secretions. This is just plain and simple good sense chemistry. When digesting unbroken food morsels, the stomach and the whole digestive system has to secrete more, takes more time to process our food, all this cumulatively increasing tiredness and fatigue on the body over the long run. I therefore recommend chewing so that you “drink your food”. Similarly, water and liquids should stay a while in the mouth before swallowing to warm up and mix with saliva so that you “eat your drinks”. A difficult digestion starting in the mouth is probably significant contributor to the feeling of tiredness after a meal.
(ii) Starch and other vegetable substances start their digestion with the help of enzymes found in the saliva; lengthy chewing ensures optimal chemical reactions with these enzymes and saves energy for the rest of the process in the stomach and intestines.
(iii) Ingested fluids dilute the stomach secretions, thus hindering the digestion process. Again, plain and simple good sense chemistry.
The article was originally written by a true scientist for his Ph.D. students. I think the physical dangers of our work is quite similar in that programmers and phd candidates or scientists will tend to get absorbed in front of a screen, sit for too long at a stretch, forget about or get negligent about food and drink, etc etc. I recommend this article.
________________________
[1] D. Sornette. Optimization of brain and life performance: Striving for playing at the top for the long run. Schweizer Monat, pages 38–49, Dec 2011.
Yes, fasting really isn't bad if you drink plenty of water. I fast and pray semi-regularly (I'm a Christian). It is rough at first but you get into the groove about half-way through the day. Fasting never hurt by ability to code. Fasting sharpens sensitivity; my body kicks into "prayer" mode and I can focus better. On the other hand, it is really hard to fast and stay up late! I usually end up going to bed early.
Everything that Didier Sornette writes is worth reading, if you can understand it. His explanations are very clear, yet quite terse.
If you are into mathematical finance, geophysics, modeling of economics and/or social phenomena, complex systems (especially with respect to catastrophies), go read Sornette now.
The reference from the parent is his only "philosophical" publication as far as I know. Does anyone know of any others?
I recently grabbed a metal water bottle from a startup event. For the past week or so I've been drinking a full water bottle every hour or so. Totally anecdotal, but I've felt more productive and less exhausted, even as I've largely cut down my caffeine intake.
As a Christian I would like to tell you my opinion on this subject.
Very often people tend to forget that fasting differs from dieting.
Hence, there are all these advices on various "tricks" and "optimizations" :-)
What is missed here is that when you are fasting - you are not trying
to reduce your body weight or improve your mental abilities :-)
In fact, the fasting has nothing to do with you - this is done by you only
to praise The Lord, who has created you, is looking after you
and forgives your sins.
And if one finds fasting too hard and starts making a shortcuts,
it is better not to fast at all - there will be no value in this
"eating trickery" for you :-) (or anyone else).
The fasting is all about God and He gives you the strength to fast -
but you need to ask Him by praying, reading The Bible, caring about
your brothers and sisters, helping other people, giving to poor.
And if you find fasting too hard - most probably you are trying to fast
for wrong reason or your dieting has nothing to do with The Lord.
Personally, when fasting four times a year, I try doing good Christian
things - helping people around me, charities, those in needs.
Trying to put my own interests even further away, making peace with enemies,
asking for forgiveness of people that I hurt somehow. Working on my project
"Read and Think: The Bible for command line people" :-)
This is what fasting is for me and these are my "special tricks" :-)
The best source to read about fasting is The Bible:
................ == THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO SAINT MATTHEW == ...................
=== Chapter 6, Verse 16 ===
16 Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance:
for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast.
Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;
18 That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in
secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.
How about life without nonsensical ancient superstitions? I am very much not being purposefully offensive when I say that. The initial premis of needing to fast is highly flawed when looked at rationally.
I know this is the complete opposite for most people, but my experience fasting is very different. for some reason (maybe someone can help explain why?), I find that while fasting I actually become significantly more productive and enter a state of extreme mental lucidity. the best way I’d describe it as is being on a high-dose of adderall (if you aren’t a regular user), but with a clearer head.
this usually kicks-in after the second day of fasting and stays pretty consistent throughout the month. I really feel it peak at about midway through my conscious fast each day (about 7hrs after waking-up) and it lasts up and through the time I eat.
I should just note that, in case someone’s thinking this, I’m pretty sure it’s not attributed to some sort of increased spirituality or something like that (I’m not particularly religious; more-so fast as a personal challenge and use the opportunity as a sort of annual ‘reset’ to physical habits)
as for how my fast goes, I think it may be considered somewhat extreme compared to others I know: beyond a fairly large iftar (dinner) at around 8:30pm I don’t really eat much else; I still keep vegan when I do eat; never wake-up pre-dawn to eat (though I sort of subconsciously wake-up throughout the night and drink water); and I don’t change any of my habits outside my time fasting (i.e. still go to gym after dinner most days, still go out at night, still drink (alcohol), still wake-up early for work, etc...)
I fast everyday. By not worrying about food while I do web-development I've noticed not only am I less distracted and get more done, but I am also less tired because my body isn't diverting energy to digesting food. I'd get really sleepy after lunch usually.
I practice Intermittent Fasting. I typically fast for 16 hours and eat for 8. I've been doing it for about a year now and I love it.
I fast regularly and if you already on a low carb diet, then the transition is much easier on your body. I don't notice a a diminishing of mental capacity, but I do notice that I need more sleep.
There are a lot of things you can do to prepare for a fast. For example, cut back on caffeine, sugar and even salt in the days or weeks ahead of your fast. Also, gorging on food the morning of a fast is not really healthy and is a sure recipe for "Ramadan code."
There was a fantastic article on fasting in Harper's Magazine this past March that covers the history of fasting, "Starving your way to vigor: The benefits of an empty stomach." Sadly, you have to be a subscriber to read it online:
I'm currently on Ferriss' low-carb diet and I have found constant carb-withdrawal hard to bear on days on which I do much programming (basically every working day). There are some tricks though which help me keep up focus:
- MSM,
- Caffeine (less is more - just a sip of coffee, or half a cup of green tea; too much of it actually downs me after the first high),
- and regular consumption of "allowed" carbs (lentils being my favourite) and fat (peanut butter, olive oil,...). Native coconut oil is a real brain booster, I feel super-focused after having eaten a spoonful.
MSM does really do much in this regard for me, it feels as if it's helping my body renew its energy stores. I can go a lot further with less food when having taken it - and I do need to take it in order to seriously lose weight.
Eating nothing for more than 4 hours shoots my focus down for hours, and is hard to rebuild with low-carb food.
[+] [-] sambeau|13 years ago|reply
It only takes 24-48 hours for your body to adjust, your fat to start melting and your blood-sugar levels to stabilise. You also stop feeling hungry. I found that while I was generally a little 'light-headed' my powers of concentration were fine and I returned to full productivity.
At first I tried drinking only fruit juice but that gave me an upset stomach so I switched to water and the occasional tea. Once I'd got through the first day of 'starving' hunger I felt great: full of energy and positivity.
As long as you have fat on your body you should be fine, however I'm not sure it would be a good idea if you are all muscle: while shutting down your digestive system saves a load of energy, if you have no fat your body it will convert muscle.
Pros:
Cons: Do: Don't:[+] [-] nsxwolf|13 years ago|reply
I don't think humans would become too weak to throw spears because they didn't have their Cheerios in the morning.
When I hear people who have skipped a meal complain "my blood sugar is low", I worry for their health. We have fat stores for a reason. Skipping a meal should not be a big deal.
[+] [-] neutronicus|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] barking|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] scotty79|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jezclaremurugan|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ramblerman|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] skMed|13 years ago|reply
Simply sleeping through the fast and reversing a sleep schedule seems to go against the spirit of the exercise. Of course, everyone fasts for different reasons and it is a very personal undertaking. I just wanted to clarify for those who may be thinking "Why bother doing it at all if you can flip your sleep schedule?"
[+] [-] salibhai|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] varikin|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] quasistar|13 years ago|reply
Usually this occurs when I am in the midst of something that requires a good bit of effort such as tackling a thorny algorithmic conundrum or analyzing a particularly complex call stack. If I attune my mind to repress the pangs of bodily need I occasionally feel as if the external world melts away and I slip into an almost mystical state of oneness with the task at hand. Needless to say, I have been surprised immensely by this development.
One theory I have is that the blood flow that would normally be assigned by my body to the act of digestion is now free'd up to be reallocated to the ole cranium. Plausible? Unsure, but am certainly enjoying these life experiments!
Side note: for those observing the fast I have also noticed that my immune system is closely linked with the gut and my self-imposed starvations can lead to immune system compromise. Make sure you supplement your Iftar goodies with some replenishing nutrients such as pro-biotic yogurt smoothies rich in vitamin C and home-cooked chicken consomme.
[+] [-] paperwork|13 years ago|reply
Normally my brain is thinking 10 different things at one time. It is fairly difficult for me to focus (more so since I work at an office that has 5 TVs that I can see, and a couple of channels I can hear). The first few days of fasting, I was surprised how easily I was able to focus. Frankly I was far more productive than I normally am. Unfortunately, I've since reverted to the natural state of affairs -- I can no longer tune out TVs, youtube clips, etc.
In previous years, the first few days would actually be extremely difficult. I now realize that I was getting what is often called the "carb flu." This year, before Ramadan, I was on a low carb diet (Tim Ferriss' Slow Carb). Perhaps because of that, my body was already used to fewer carbs.
Hunger is not debilitating and if I could have water, I could probably 'fast' for 48 hours pretty easily (such fasting is actually recommended by the likes of "East Stop Eat" author Brad Pilon).
[+] [-] vimalg2|13 years ago|reply
16-20hr (well-hydrated) fasts ended with a heavy lifting workout and BIG meal at 'breakfast' (6pm or later for me). FAQ: http://examine.com/leangains-faq/
I love it.
Increased alertness, focus, no more mid-day food comas. I'm a fat guy, so my body is probably fat-adapted after a couple weeks of IF.
And i work at my ghetto standing desk from 9 to 5 weekdays.
I can't imagine living any other way now. It's wonderful not to be a slave to food. I see food as just fuel now.
Note: I do take 10g of BCAAs before lifting heavy fasted. There is evidence that they prevent catabolism of muscle.
[+] [-] boothead|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] alinajaf|13 years ago|reply
I tended to gain weight during Ramadan, but that's probably because my family made a big deal of every iftar, inviting extended family members, eating out and having big greasy Pakistani meals almost every night. I'm somewhat convinced that the type of food in my family would go towards explaining the early 60s life expectancy. Thankfully I married Japanese so I'm hoping that cancels it out!
I found fasting to be generally easy, even in quite long days in Saudi Arabia. Rather than hunger it was more the habit of snacking as a reaction to it that catches you out. The main tactic we had for dealing with it was (as much as possible) sleeping during the day and working at night, though I imagine you'd need a very understanding employer (or sufficient litigation) to pull that off as a full-time dev.
[+] [-] gwern|13 years ago|reply
If I were an employer, after reading this...
[+] [-] irahul|13 years ago|reply
There isn't much you can do; at least you can't make religious fasting the reason for your actions unless you are interested in lawsuits and tons of negative publicity.
What does it take to start a new religion? What if I start a new religion which says working more than 4 hours a day is against my gods? Can employers deny me jobs? Or if they don't deny it, are they bound to pay me full salary even though I work half the hours? If not, why am I being discriminated against when you are accommodating others(prayers 5 times a day, month long fasts, pregnancy etc).
[+] [-] dsr_|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] wr1472|13 years ago|reply
We all seem to look for externalities to explain bad performances. Maybe the code wasn't very good, or the design not conducive to writing good quality code?
[+] [-] Killah911|13 years ago|reply
Despite all of this, I know all about Ramadan code. After 5pm my blood sugar drops low enough that I can barely write a line of code without introducing serious bugs or typos. So, I try to get most of the coding done in the morning.
[+] [-] ramblerman|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sharjeel|13 years ago|reply
Knowing that I'm not supposed to eat or drink, I don't have to think every other hour what should I gulp down my stomach. This is a distraction which is a bit difficult to get rid of in normal days.
Also, meal timings become strict which automatically instills disciplines. In normal routine I would adjust the meals by few hours just to get some part of code done. Having such flexibility also allows some buffer to visit Social Media or Hacker News. However with empty stomach, one stays relatively bound to complete the work rather than procrastinating.
[+] [-] mishmax|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] krmmalik|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jperras|13 years ago|reply
As of right now I'm the healthiest I've ever been in my life (physical strength and cardiovascular health), and my mind is as sharp as ever, especially when I'm fasting.
[+] [-] primodemus|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bevan|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pizza|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rsl7|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] HSO|13 years ago|reply
A normal average human body is made of approximately 60% of water. Water is the natural transport fluid involved in all important communication networks of the body. Drinking a lot of water (medium to low mineralization) ensures that the organs responsible for filtering and cleansing have sufficient carrying capacity and can eliminate toxins and wastes. You can see the argument as just plain good sense that we need sufficient water for dilution of wastes. Chemists and physicists know water as a truly exceptional fluid on many accounts. It is not by chance that life emerged and organized itself with water. Water is the best solvent that can dissolve an astonishing number of solid substances. Dehydration is a dominant cause of tiredness, pain and chronic diseases. Drinking about two liters per day plays marvel to keep energy and remove fatigue. Indeed, unknown to or often forgotten by the public is the fact that many chronic diseases may be associated with an insufficient intake of water. Such a simple gesture as drinking water regularly during the day may go a long way towards avoiding fatigue and remaining healthy.
I emphasize drinking pure water and not sodas, cokes, processed juices, coffees and so on. Just plain water. The drinks that are processed by agro-business are in general provided with added sweeteners that are known to promote malignant cell growth [Servan-Schreiber, 2009]. In addition, drinking with sugar (glucose, saccharine) prevents the body from strengthening its metabolic pathway of storing fat in time of surplus and burning fat efficiently in case of need. By feeding our body continuously with sweet drinks and sugar, we saturate our blood with sugar and we weaken considerably the metabolic processes of storing and retrieving sugar, making us more vulnerable to hypoglycemia in the rare cases where external sugar intakes stop. The consequence is to easily feel weak and tired. In contrast, letting the body be just flushed by plain water for hours ensures the build up of its metabolic capacities to burn fat efficiently. This is like muscle build-up by training. Art de Vany [2010] develops convincing supportive arguments for this. He correctly argues that our body is basically inherited from our hunter-gatherer evolution and we are thus adapted to strive in a patchy and varying environment for which our metabolism has derived efficient solutions to the energy flow problem. This backfires with our modern caloric and sugar rich, but nutritionally depleted, foods that are available at little expenditure of energy [de Vany, 2010], in the form of chronic diseases, an on-going so-called epidemic of obesity and many other modern so-called developed country diseases [Campbell and Campbell, 2006].
For the determination of the amount of needed water, a rule of thumb is to keep urine transparent. Do you feel a bit tired? Drink water. The effect is almost instantaneous. I constantly keep one or two liters on my office desk and drink when I feel like it and outside meals. I always carry water with me on trips. A minor nuisance is to drink it all before going through airport security._
_Of upmost importance is to drink our water outside meals. Most people use breakfast, lunch and dinner times to fill their body with both the liquid and solid nutrients that their bodies require. This is logical since meals are the times when we re-fuel our body. However, this behavior constitutes a fundamental mistake. Ponder this question: what other mammals in the whole animal kingdom drink their water together with their solid meals? None! We are the only one among about 5500 known mammal species who do it. The convenience of tools and the development of technology have put bottles on our meal tables to consume at the same time we ingest solid food. This apparent gain of civilization collides against a healthy diet for at least three reasons:
(i) Drinking lubricates and help swallow insufficiently chewed morsels; but digestion in the stomach requires the comminution of our food into particles that should be as minute as possible in order to maximize surface over volume ratio and therefore facilitate the digestive chemistry performed by the gastric secretions. This is just plain and simple good sense chemistry. When digesting unbroken food morsels, the stomach and the whole digestive system has to secrete more, takes more time to process our food, all this cumulatively increasing tiredness and fatigue on the body over the long run. I therefore recommend chewing so that you “drink your food”. Similarly, water and liquids should stay a while in the mouth before swallowing to warm up and mix with saliva so that you “eat your drinks”. A difficult digestion starting in the mouth is probably significant contributor to the feeling of tiredness after a meal.
(ii) Starch and other vegetable substances start their digestion with the help of enzymes found in the saliva; lengthy chewing ensures optimal chemical reactions with these enzymes and saves energy for the rest of the process in the stomach and intestines.
(iii) Ingested fluids dilute the stomach secretions, thus hindering the digestion process. Again, plain and simple good sense chemistry.
The article was originally written by a true scientist for his Ph.D. students. I think the physical dangers of our work is quite similar in that programmers and phd candidates or scientists will tend to get absorbed in front of a screen, sit for too long at a stretch, forget about or get negligent about food and drink, etc etc. I recommend this article.
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[1] D. Sornette. Optimization of brain and life performance: Striving for playing at the top for the long run. Schweizer Monat, pages 38–49, Dec 2011.
(I believe the article is available on Arxiv.)
[+] [-] no_more_death|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] beagle3|13 years ago|reply
If you are into mathematical finance, geophysics, modeling of economics and/or social phenomena, complex systems (especially with respect to catastrophies), go read Sornette now.
The reference from the parent is his only "philosophical" publication as far as I know. Does anyone know of any others?
[+] [-] peter_l_downs|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] reat2012|13 years ago|reply
As a Christian I would like to tell you my opinion on this subject. Very often people tend to forget that fasting differs from dieting. Hence, there are all these advices on various "tricks" and "optimizations" :-)
What is missed here is that when you are fasting - you are not trying to reduce your body weight or improve your mental abilities :-) In fact, the fasting has nothing to do with you - this is done by you only to praise The Lord, who has created you, is looking after you and forgives your sins.
And if one finds fasting too hard and starts making a shortcuts, it is better not to fast at all - there will be no value in this "eating trickery" for you :-) (or anyone else).
The fasting is all about God and He gives you the strength to fast - but you need to ask Him by praying, reading The Bible, caring about your brothers and sisters, helping other people, giving to poor. And if you find fasting too hard - most probably you are trying to fast for wrong reason or your dieting has nothing to do with The Lord.
Personally, when fasting four times a year, I try doing good Christian things - helping people around me, charities, those in needs. Trying to put my own interests even further away, making peace with enemies, asking for forgiveness of people that I hurt somehow. Working on my project "Read and Think: The Bible for command line people" :-)
This is what fasting is for me and these are my "special tricks" :-)
The best source to read about fasting is The Bible:
................ == THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO SAINT MATTHEW == ................... === Chapter 6, Verse 16 === 16 Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; 18 That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.
Thank you,
[+] [-] jibjaba|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ramadan-fast|13 years ago|reply
this usually kicks-in after the second day of fasting and stays pretty consistent throughout the month. I really feel it peak at about midway through my conscious fast each day (about 7hrs after waking-up) and it lasts up and through the time I eat.
I should just note that, in case someone’s thinking this, I’m pretty sure it’s not attributed to some sort of increased spirituality or something like that (I’m not particularly religious; more-so fast as a personal challenge and use the opportunity as a sort of annual ‘reset’ to physical habits)
as for how my fast goes, I think it may be considered somewhat extreme compared to others I know: beyond a fairly large iftar (dinner) at around 8:30pm I don’t really eat much else; I still keep vegan when I do eat; never wake-up pre-dawn to eat (though I sort of subconsciously wake-up throughout the night and drink water); and I don’t change any of my habits outside my time fasting (i.e. still go to gym after dinner most days, still go out at night, still drink (alcohol), still wake-up early for work, etc...)
[+] [-] stephengillie|13 years ago|reply
Can we apply this to sleeping too?
[+] [-] dfischer|13 years ago|reply
I practice Intermittent Fasting. I typically fast for 16 hours and eat for 8. I've been doing it for about a year now and I love it.
[+] [-] kanamekun|13 years ago|reply
There are a lot of things you can do to prepare for a fast. For example, cut back on caffeine, sugar and even salt in the days or weeks ahead of your fast. Also, gorging on food the morning of a fast is not really healthy and is a sure recipe for "Ramadan code."
There was a fantastic article on fasting in Harper's Magazine this past March that covers the history of fasting, "Starving your way to vigor: The benefits of an empty stomach." Sadly, you have to be a subscriber to read it online:
http://harpers.org/archive/2012/03/0083829
Fasting doesn't have to devastate your mental faculties. I actually find that it helps me focus, and I have started doing it a few times a year.
[+] [-] manmal|13 years ago|reply
- MSM,
- Caffeine (less is more - just a sip of coffee, or half a cup of green tea; too much of it actually downs me after the first high),
- and regular consumption of "allowed" carbs (lentils being my favourite) and fat (peanut butter, olive oil,...). Native coconut oil is a real brain booster, I feel super-focused after having eaten a spoonful.
MSM does really do much in this regard for me, it feels as if it's helping my body renew its energy stores. I can go a lot further with less food when having taken it - and I do need to take it in order to seriously lose weight.
Eating nothing for more than 4 hours shoots my focus down for hours, and is hard to rebuild with low-carb food.
[+] [-] shurane|13 years ago|reply