More Protein Fasting (Wolf's Protein Fasting): How to eat more mindfully and reduce calories

MPF – no, that's not a new abbreviation for expressing confusion, but an improved fasting method by Christian Wolf. What's behind it, how it differs from conventional intermittent fasting, and how it works – we'll tell you all about it in this blog post. Enjoy!

MPF is… we'll keep you in suspense and start with the origins of MPF: intermittent fasting. With intermittent fasting, the time window in which we eat is reduced. This leads most people to eat less, consume fewer calories and therefore achieve a calorie deficit. The most common forms of intermittent fasting are 14/10, 16/8 and 20/4. So far so good – there's just one problem: protein intake…

Protein intake is often neglected with intermittent fasting. As we know, protein is one of the most important factors for our body: it helps us build and maintain muscle, for example¹. But what is even more important is that an optimal protein intake is essential for our health. Many advocates of intermittent fasting have recognised this and no longer recommend the method – including Dr Peter Attia.

The solution? MPF! More Protein Fasting is an improved and smarter form of intermittent fasting developed by our founder Christian Wolf. As with intermittent fasting, an eating window of 6 hours is chosen. However, instead of fasting completely, we fill the "food-free" time with 2 portions of protein. This makes it easier to achieve a calorie deficit without complicated tracking, whilst simultaneously optimising our protein intake. Of course, this only works if a sufficient amount of protein is also consumed during meals – but more on that in a moment.

Another important factor for your health and your MPF journey is avoiding sugar: as we know, sugar can make you ill and have serious health consequences². However, you don't have to give up sweet treats – at least not with our flavour powder Chunky Flavour. You can sweeten your yoghurt, quark, coffee and more, whilst saving calories compared to conventional sugar³.

And the last, but equally important point for your health and success is exercise. The problem is that we tend to sit too much and move too little. Whilst this may be comfortable, it can become a problem for our physical and mental health. But don't worry: even 10,000 steps a day can help you improve your physical fitness, strengthen your immune system and minimise the risk of illness⁴.

So what's the optimal protein amount? We recommend consuming 2 g of protein per kg of body weight daily to build and maintain muscle mass¹. This isn't something we came up with ourselves — it follows the recommendations of numerous experts such as Dr. Peter Attia, Dr. Layne Norton, Prof. Dr. Stuart Phillips, and Dr. Eric Helms⁵.

We now know what MPF is all about, but we don't yet know what it looks like in practice or how to get started. Let's take a look at that now:

• Before you start with MPF, we recommend determining your optimal protein intake. As a reminder: 2 g of protein per kg of body weight, so multiply your own body weight by 2. We then divide that number by 4 – for 4 protein portions, 2 protein portions within and 2 outside the eating window. This way, we spread the daily protein amount across our meals and achieve optimal stimulation.

• Then choose a 6-hour eating window for yourself, e.g. 10am–4pm or 2pm–8pm. When and how you set it up is up to you – after all, it should fit into your day. When eating, make sure to hit your calculated protein amount.

• You bridge the fasting period with 2 portions of protein, for example with Clear Whey, Protein Coffee, or regular protein powder. Here too, keep your calculated protein amount in mind and adjust the portions accordingly.

More Tip: Make sure to stay well hydrated during the fasting period, for example with Zerup, our sugar- and calorie-free drink syrup!

And here's what a sample day could look like:

• 7 am: 50 g More Clear → Protein Shake
• 10 am: 45 g More Protein Iced Coffee → Protein Shake
• 2 pm–8 pm: Eating window
• 2 pm: First meal, e.g. a salad or a bowl with a protein source
• 6 pm: Dinner, e.g. roasted vegetables, pasta, or similar with a protein source
• 7:30 pm: Dessert, e.g. a quark bowl

More Tip: If you're looking for recipe ideas, tips, and inspiration, check out Chris and Toni – careful, it might make you hungry!

Yes! And this is also reflected in current study findings: In this study, two nutrition concepts were compared: one group followed a normal caloric deficit, while the other group practiced protein fasting – i.e., intermittent fasting combined with protein – and thus consumed significantly more protein⁶.

More Protein Fasting is a smarter method of fasting that's designed to help us achieve a caloric deficit. What makes it special is that we enjoy 2 protein shakes during the fasting period, which typically allows us to supply our body with an ideal amount of protein and, as a result, usually helps us reach a caloric deficit. Another special feature of this method is that we can adjust the eating windows entirely individually, according to our own preferences, to fit our day.

Sources:

¹ Protein contributes to an increase in muscle mass.

² https://www.zentrum-der-gesundheit.de/ernaehrung/lebensmittel/zucker-uebersicht/zucker

³One serving (3 g) of powder, containing only 6 to 12 kcal depending on the flavor, has a sweetening power equivalent to about 50 g of sugar with 200 kcal.

⁴https://www.aok.de/pk/magazin/sport/workout/10000-schritte-am-tag-wie-gesund-ist-das-taegliche-gehen/

⁵https://peterattiamd.com/category/nutritional-biochemistry/protein/

⁶https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36575144/