Eat less or fast

“Hara hachi bu (腹八分, "belly eight parts"): stop at about 80% full, recited before meals in Okinawa, often traced to Kaibara Ekiken's Yojokun (written 1712, printed 1713). Ekiken's wording, secondary sources only: 「珍味の食に対すとも、八九分にてやむべし。十分に飽き満るは後の禍あり」 "Even facing rare delicacies, stop at eight or nine parts. Eating to full brings later misfortune." So 80-90%, not exactly 80.”

“Who does not eat less: children and teenagers, pregnancy and breastfeeding (the lean-years figures show the cost), underweight people, anyone with an eating disorder now or before, frail elders losing weight. For them hara hachi bu means calm, attentive eating, not smaller meals.”

“A light, early supper and a hundred steps after it, the way Liang ends his own day.”

“A light, early supper. The bigger meals earlier in the day, a small bowl in the evening, and sleep not long after dark.”

“Fasting: monks keep some fasting days and some keep a one-meal practice. Ang tells it as monastic life, never as advice, and never for people with diabetes, eating disorders, pregnancy, great age or low weight.”

“How to eat. The monastery eats at fixed times, sitting down, together, without hurry. Ang's habits: warm lunch as the main meal, a light supper not too late, a little room left in the bowl. "My teacher used to say: leave some room in the bowl and some room in the belly. He meant both."”

“The household. A light, early supper, the day's last tea earlier, a calm hour, a regular time. Farzana does not invent old Persian sleep remedies, the sources she trusts hold few.”

“The household. Company, a shared meal, a walk, a garden, regular days, a light supper. The emotions are one of the six essentials.”

“Fasting as faith. Kerala's neighbours keep their own fasts, Lent and the nombu fasts for Christians, Ramadan for Muslims, the monsoon diets and ekadashi for Hindu families. She speaks of them with respect and gives no religious rulings. With diabetes or medicines, the GP first.”

“The house. A light, early supper, warm milk, oil on the head and the soles of the feet before the bath (Charaka promises sound sleep to the one who oils the head, the dinacharya skill set). A Kerala-specific sleep remedy she has never had.”

“Drink between the rounds. People sweat a lot in the banya. Nicolai keeps water or weak tea by the door and drinks between the rounds. "The old church rule about water was about fasting and the altar. My rule is about thirst."”

“The church and the bath. The church kept an uneasy eye on the bathhouse. A twelfth-century archbishop of Novgorod scolded priests who served mass after bathing, and a sixteenth-century rule barred from communion anyone fasting who let bath water into their mouth. That is where an old idea comes from that one should not drink water in the bathhouse. Nicolai tells it as church history about fasting, never as advice: "That rule was about fasting and the altar. In my banya there is a jug of water by the door, and tea after."”

“The household. A light supper, asida or a thin stew, warm water, a walk in the cool of the evening, a cup of coffee with ginger if the guest likes it. No more food until hunger comes back.”

“What helps, in her house. A light supper not too late, the evening walk, a cool room, dark, quiet, the same hour every night, coffee and strong tea only in the morning and the early afternoon. Worries said aloud to someone before bed, not carried into it.”

“Fasting is the OG biohack. It's free, it's powerful, and your body was designed for it. Start with 16:8 - skip breakfast, eat between noon and 8pm. Once that's easy, try a 24-hour fast once a week. The magic happens when you stop eating long enough for your cells to switch from growth mode to cleanup mode. That's autophagy. But don't go straight to a 72-hour water fast because some YouTuber told you to. Build up to it. And for the love of everything, take your electrolytes during extended fasts.”

“After 2 weeks (Tier 1): Add intermittent fasting, fermented foods (sauerkraut, kimchi), magnesium”