By Alyce Collins

 

MEET the man who didn’t eat anything last Christmas and claims he can fast for up to EIGHT DAYS straight as part of the SNAKE DIET saying he believes society treats carbohydrates like a drug.

 

Filmmaker, Phil Flock (28) from Haan, Germany, who now lives in California, USA, shows off his nine per cent body fat figure as he reaps the benefits of fasting for multiple days, fuelling his body off only water.

Phil fasted for the entire 2017 Christmas period. MDWfeatures / Phil Flock

 

For the last eight years, Phil has been dedicated to his career and not found the time to work out. By December 2017, he realised that something needed to change after noticing that he’d lost his toned physique and gained weight.

 

Along with his friends, Phil decided to instigate the change right away, so they cut out all carbohydrates and set themselves an eight-week deadline. Initially, this was going well but Phil’s willpower failed him during a Christmas party on December 23, 2017, as he mistook a diet iced tea with a regular iced tea.

The snake diet involves fasting and cutting out carbohydrates.
MDWfeatures / Phil Flock

 

Phil admits that this might appear to be a minor detail, but it led his carb withdrawals to return and he felt like he’d have to start over from step one. That’s when Phil found out about the so-called ‘snake diet’ which involves fasting for prolonged periods of time and having one meal every few days.

 

“During school I was a sports trainer and a physical education teacher,” said Phil.

Phil shows off his ripped torso after doing the snake diet.
MDWfeatures / Phil Flock

 

“But later in time I had to decide what I wanted to do with the rest of my life, so eventually I switched to my other favourite interest in life which was filmmaking.

 

“Eventually I quit my job and started to work on my career as a film maker. So, for the past eight years I was focusing on my job and I totally ignored my fitness.

Now Phil wants to warn others about carbohydrate addiction.
MDWfeatures / Phil Flock

 

“By the end of 2017, I realised I needed to bring my personal life and my professional life in balance to improve my fitness. From back in the day I could still remember the very efficient way to lose weight through cutting carbs.

 

“So, me and my friends decided to try it in an eight-week period because we knew that if we started doing something, then it’s very hard to stick to it without having a finish line in sight.

Phil shows his transformation from before and after.
MDWfeatures / Phil Flock

 

“It was very hard for all of us but after a couple of weeks we got used to it because the carb withdrawals eventually stopped, and we had great results within weeks. The withdrawals which make you want to vomit all the time are the hardest part when you cut carbs.

 

“It makes it easier to remember that those are symptoms which are very normal for an addicted person, as we all are. When you treat carbs as the addictive drug that it is, it’s way easier to accept those withdrawals until they eventually stop.

Phil neglected his health as he used to put his career ahead of his fitness.
MDWfeatures / Phil Flock

 

“On December 23, 2017, I was at a Christmas party and I mistook a diet iced tea with a regular. It might not seem like a big deal for others but for me and the pact we made, it was.

 

“The carb withdrawals started again the next morning, so I researched how I could get back into ketosis faster. Ketosis is the process when the body uses ketones out of fat for energy, instead of carbs. That’s when I discovered fasting and the snake diet.

Phil before beginning the snake diet.
MDWfeatures / Phil Flock

 

“I learned that if I fasted for 36 hours, I would be back into ketosis and then I could just continue with my no carb diet, so I did.

 

“I spent two Christmas dinners without food, so I could get back into ketosis as fast as possible, and they were the hardest days ever, but I made it.

Phil shows off his toned physique after fasting for many days as part of the snake diet.
MDWfeatures / Phil Flock

 

“It was really hard to not eat anything all day and sit at the table, seeing all of the delicious food, knowing I had to wait 24 hours until I could eat again. But that wasn’t the hardest part – the hardest part was being judged all the time.”

 

The snake diet appealed to Phil because it enables the body to utilise the process of ketosis in which the body uses fat, rather than carbohydrates, to produce energy. Phil wanted to feel the results as soon as he could, so he decided to fast throughout the entire Christmas period for 36 hours.

Phil before beginning the snake diet to shed his excess weight.
MDWfeatures / Phil Flock

 

“I continued doing research on fasting and I learned that it has so many other benefits rather than just fat loss, so I started having one meal a day until the end of the eight-weeks of not eating carbohydrates,” said Phil.

 

“When the results started showing and I had a six pack, I felt great and was full of energy. So, I extended my fasts to 48 hours without food. The longest I’ve fasted for was eight days where I only drank water which had sodium and potassium.

Phil says that carbohydrates are seen as a drug.
MDWfeatures / Phil Flock

 

“I am pretty lean right now, so I have one small no carb meal a day, unless the meal becomes bigger than I intended so then I fast for 48 hours to maintain my body weight.

 

“Through fasting I have regulated my blood pressure, cleared my skin of acne, cured my body from inflammation and my joints no longer hurt. I don’t drink coffee anymore, but my mind is still boosted all the time.

Phil has given up carbs and fasts on a weekly basis.
MDWfeatures / Phil Flock

 

“Once a week I like to do a 48-hour dry fast where I don’t have water and my longest dry fast was 80 hours.

 

“Losing weight is no rocket science but people like to overthink everything. If a lazy guy like me can do it, anybody can. Very obese people can go months without eating.

The snake diet has helped Phil gain strength and power.
MDWfeatures / Phil Flock

 

“We need to learn the difference between hunger and food withdrawal. I am sure than 95 per cent of readers have never felt real hunger.”

Phil works out daily and has fasted for up to eight days.
MDWfeatures / Phil Flock

 

To find out more, check out Phil’s Instagram @phil.flock.