What do you think of when you hear the term “fasting”? For many people, fasting sounds like a painful process of starving oneself for much longer than anyone should actually go without eating.
The truth is, we all fast every single day. Say you finish dinner at 7pm, go to bed at 11pm and sleep for eight hours. When you wake up you’ve already fasted for 12 hours. If you don’t eat breakfast first thing in the morning (or don’t eat breakfast at all) then your fast can easily stretch to 15 hours or more without much thought.
If you really want to lose weight, I recommend you try a 24-hour fast, once per week for four consecutive weeks.
Note: Breast-feeding moms are the exception. See the Questions and Answers at the end of this book for more details.
Regular short-term fasting (a.k.a. Intermittent Fasting or IF) offers many physiological and psychological benefits that can lead to improved weight-loss and better overall health.
1. Learn to Manage Hunger – Can you remember a time when you were “starving to death”? You’ve likely even used that phrase (I know I have), but the reality is that very few of us actually know what it feels like to be really hungry.
Because we rarely experience true hunger, it’s hard for us to separate instances when our body needs food versus times when we’re just ready to eat. Intermittent Fasting (IF) teaches us how to manage true hunger and helps us respond more appropriately to moderate hunger signs.
For example, it’s common to feel a little hungry mid-morning, especially if breakfast consisted of low-nutrient food, and a common response is to instantly search for something (anything will do) to make that hunger feeling go away as quickly as possible.
This response to hunger leads many people to eat sweets or fatty foods even though their body doesn’t actually need a rush of sugar and calories. It is more a psychological food craving than a physiological need.
Having practiced IF, these situations may be approached much differently. That mid-morning tummy rumble is distinctly different than the hunger experienced after a day of not eating. A tummy rumble no longer needs to be instantly quieted – It becomes okay to feel a little hunger, knowing that a quality meal will be coming shortly.
2. Provide Digestive Recuperation – When does your digestive system get time off? Likely never. Your digestive system is constantly working to process the food you eat, and this process requires a continual supply of energy and blood flow.
Taking a day off eating provides an opportunity for your digestive organs to rest. Energy can be diverted elsewhere, and your body can “detox” naturally (no supplements or foot baths needed!)
3. Emphasize a Day of Rest – In Chapter 10 we discussed a plan for six days of exercise per week. The exercise day off corresponds to your fast day.
Since you will be taking in no calories on fast day, it’s important that you don’t put too much physical strain on your body. Your fast day becomes a day of forced “slowing down”.
I know this will make many of you busybodies feel uneasy (I can relate), but your fast day can still be full of activity – It just requires a shift in the types of activity you choose.
Reading, stretching, watching a movie, meditating, or even napping are activities that you may allow yourself on a fast day that you would otherwise pass on.
4. Offset a Cheat Day Calorie Influx – Even though you cannot ruin your progress by having a weekly cheat day, this fast day does provide an opportunity to offset the additional calories you may have taken in the previous day.
This is another reason why cheat day choices should carry no guilt. Your body will be in a calorie deficit during your fast, and will therefore use up some of those additional cheat day calories.
5. Gain Space for Planning – Have you ever thought about how much of your life is taken up by food? Preparing and eating meals can take up several hours each day. When practicing IF you will suddenly gain all those hours - What are you going to do with them?
I suggest you use a little of this “found” time to plan your upcoming week. What will your exercise look like? What meals will you be including in your plan? What shopping needs to be done?
It’s easy to say, “I don’t have time to plan each week”, but with a regular fast you will be gaining time to get this important task done.
While there are many ways to practice Intermittent Fasting, I like to keep things very simple:
74. You will not take in any calories for 24 hours
75. You can drink calorie-free drinks (e.g. tea)
76. Your fast will immediately follow your cheat day
77. No exercise will be done on your fast day
78. Try it for at least 4 consecutive weeks
Fasting is not for everyone, but I think most people will really enjoy the process if they give it a chance. I know I was terrified by the idea of going without food for 24 hours until I actually tried it. Now I enjoy the permission to slow down on fast days and I appreciate the extra time I have to do things I normally wouldn’t.
I think you may have a similar experience and I expect your weight-loss results will take off in the process.
79. What benefit of intermittent fasting do you think would be most significant for you?
80. What will you do with the extra hours you “find” when you don’t have to worry about food for a whole day?