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Sardine Fasting: Less Hunger, More Health

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Sardine fasting beats hunger with a smile.

Being hungry just plain sucks. Your stomach growls. Your mood tanks. Energy dips. No one smiles through that for long.

Yet fasting shines for good reasons. It sparks autophagy—your body’s natural cleanup crew. Cells recycle junk. They clear out damaged parts. This promotes renewal and better health.

But full fasting risks muscle loss. Sarcopenia—age-related muscle wasting—is the enemy. Losing healthy muscle hurts strength, metabolism, and quality of life. We avoid that at all costs.

Enter sardine fasting. Eat controlled doses of sardines. You get protein and fat to hold onto muscle. This lets you extend a healthy fast, training your body to burn fat for fuel and shifting you into a ketogenic state. Fat adaptation kicks in. Insulin sensitivity improves. You feel steadier energy without the crash.

Open can of King Oscar sardines in extra virgin olive oil

One 3.75 oz can of King Oscar sardines in extra virgin olive oil (drained, 85g serving) packs 16 grams of complete animal protein. For someone targeting an ideal weight of 175 lbs (about 80 kg), aim for 80–96 grams of protein daily. That means roughly 5–6 cans spread throughout the day.

Sardines deliver high omega-3s (around 2,200 mg EPA+DHA per serving). These fight inflammation and support heart and brain health. They also provide vitamin D, calcium from edible bones, B12, and selenium. Low mercury risk since they’re small fish. Affordable. Easy — pop the can and eat. No cooking drama.

How to Dose Protein and Best Practices

To protect your muscles, target 1.0–1.2 grams per kg of ideal body weight daily (about 0.45–0.55 g per pound). Base it on your ideal weight, not your current one (which might be a little higher than ideal).

For an adult targeting 175 lbs ideal weight with King Oscar in olive oil (3.75 oz can), eat 5–6 cans a day. Spread them out: one can every 3–4 hours, or group into breakfast, lunch, and supper.

Most people enter ketosis after 2 days. Stop after the 3rd day and resume a healthy diet.

For best results, avoid all sweetened beverages — even artificial sweeteners can tweak insulin levels. Your morning coffee with a little MCT oil is more okay and makes things easier.

Combine with light walks or resistance training to boost muscle retention. Start slow: 1–3 days per week or month. Listen to your body.

Safety First

This works best for healthy adults wishing to improve insulin sensitivity and fat adaptation. We are NOT medical providers — just well-informed laypeople. Always talk to your health care professional before any dietary changes.

Skip if pregnant, breastfeeding, underweight, or have kidney issues. Watch for signs of trouble: dizziness, extreme fatigue, irregular heartbeat. Stop and eat normally if needed. Don’t go extreme long-term without guidance. Balance with nutrient-rich foods on non-fast days.

Sardine fasting keeps the good parts of fasting. Ditches the misery. Adds a little ocean-powered happiness to your day.

Sources

This post will be out of date soon. xAI used to find a new doctor.

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In 2023, I moved from Massachusetts/Connecticut to Washington, DC, leaving my trusted care network behind. Even though I lived in western Massachusetts, I always had excellent doctors and rarely needed to travel to Boston’s big hospitals.

I assumed DC—our nation’s capital—would be at least as good. It wasn’t.

In the DMV area, there are really only two options:

  1. Expensive concierge medicine, or
  2. Picking a random name from your insurance list and crossing your fingers.

I tried both.

Concierge care was nice but cost more than my insurance premiums on top of still having copays. So I switched to the usual route: go to my insurance website, choose a name, wait weeks for an appointment, and hope I got lucky.

Since I’d had great experiences at teaching hospitals before, I picked (name redacted) University. Big mistake. It actually made me worry about what they’re teaching the students there. I had providers ready to write prescriptions before asking about my history. One vascular surgeon told me “medicine doesn’t know what causes high blood pressure” and meds are the only choice. My endocrinologist said elevated insulin levels “don’t matter.” Just disappointing, especially in our capital city.

After too many pill-pushing mega-clinics, I turned to xAI’s Grok for help finding a qualified provider who:

  • was accepting new patients
  • took my insurance
  • and, most importantly, would let me direct my own care.

Older AI models always missed something and gave useless suggestions. Grok is different. It can take my insurance provider list, cross-reference it with my specific needs, pull reviews from multiple sites, and summarize everything in a short, clear paragraph. That saves hours of research and decision fatigue.

Here are the tips that worked for me:

  1. Start narrow on your insurance website (gender, specialty, accepting new patients). Get the shortest list you can. Share it with Grok as a link if possible, or upload a PDF screenshot if the link doesn’t work.
  2. Be very specific with Grok. Who needs care, what kind of care, health goals, and the personality/style of doctor you want. The more detail, the better the match.
  3. Always ask follow-up questions. Challenge the first suggestions. Make Grok dig deeper or explain weak spots.
  4. Never fully trust AI on something this important. Double-check everything: read some of the actual reviews yourself and confirm the doctor is still in-network.
  5. When picking from the shortlist, look at how easy it is to book and how many openings they show. Super-popular doctors rarely have same-month slots. Lots of openings can mean you’ll mostly see a nurse practitioner or PA. That’s fine with me—they usually spend more time, take a real history, and can loop in the MD when needed.
  6. If the first visit feels off, move on. There’s no prize for sticking with a bad fit.

Feel free to try this yourself on your AI model of choice and reply back in the comments with your results.

50 is coming, slow down, I want to have fun.

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Aging sucks. I will not go gracefully. Life is a gift.

That said, we waste time doing things that do not make us happy nor do not make us healthy.

Now we all have to work. While some have a job they love, most work to live. We can still spend some of our income to make ourselves healthy and happy.

So, as I approach the big 50, what am I doing to support my happiness and health? As I restart this website and podcast, I hope I can share that with you. Until then, leave a comment on what makes you smile and feel healthy. It might prompt the next blog post.