Great Weekend Read
Boo… not because it’s Halloween, but because of my wife’s decision to bring home Halloween candy the day before the Trick-or-Treaters arrive.
I folded. Look, if it’s in the house, I’m going to eat it. That’s just who I am. That’s why I usually wait until the day of Halloween to get the candy.
I’ll give you one guess…. ohhhh baby, peanut butter and chocolate. Thank you H.B. Reese. You sir, are a true American… and I hate you, but love you.
Alright, confession time. I’m going to whisper this, so lean in close. I like to try different nutrition approaches almost like workouts. Yes, I’ll change my diet as much as every 4 weeks…
… but one “staple” I’ve used now for 3 years has helped me get leaner when I needed to (beach trips) and has helped me stay leaner year round (can you say Thanksgiving and Christmas?). It’s the one “trick” that I use no matter what diet approach I’m experimenting with.
The truth is that I used to scoff at this idea when I first heard it from Craig Ballantyne, who at the time, interviewed Brad Pilon, the author of Eat Stop Eat.
Honestly, I rolled my eyes as I listened. And now, I use it as a lifestyle. Who’s laughing now? That’s what I get for being close-minded.
This approach is really simple.
So, let me tell you a little story. When I was in Denver, Craig B asked me to present. The first 5 minutes, I was a nervous wreck, as I always am. I went through the same thing with two other presentations earlier this year.
And the truth, I’m MORE productive on the days I fast. I don’t get the crazy headaches that people claim you’ll get and my performance in the gym is just as good, if not better, than when I have a so-called power breakfast.But I found myself in a groove and I think it went well. In fact, Craig came up to me and said, “You have a great on-stage presence. Did you have a power pancake breakfast?”. I then told him I was in the middle of a fast.
I purposely used intermittent fasting so I could be more focused on my presentation. It’s like my faithful “go-to” nutrition approach,no matter what I may be trying otherwise. Another good example is that I used intermittent fasting, even when I was experimenting with Shaun Hadsall’s 4 Cycle Solution.
So, gather round in a really large rectangle (let’s be different…everybody else uses circles). I’m going to let you in on how you can approach intermittent fasting by my own experience and how my clients had the best success.
The first thing is – DON’T look at it as “intermittent fasting”, but instead look at it as “taking a break from food”. See? There is a difference. I learned this from the author Brad Pilon. Well played Brad.
Taking a break from food will teach you some things like:
– What your food triggers are – Why you eat for the heck of it, and not because you’re hungry (this was a big issue for me, and I’m glad I learned this) – The difference between hunger and boredomWhat I love about it is that it’s flexible and it can even be combined with other nutrition approaches. It’s like pouring awesome sauce on your current nutrition plan.
So, let’s say you start it. With Brad’s approach, you’ll take a break from food once or twice a week for 24 hours. But even that might be overwhelming, so this is what I did with a transformation contest winner, and it will work for you, too.
Start out once a week by taking a break from food for 20 hours. So, after dinner (let’s say 6 for example), you would take a break from food until 2PM the next day. You can do that. Skip breakfast and eat lunch later in the day. Boom.
Do that for a couple of weeks. Then, bump it up to 24 hours for two weeks. Then, you can add a second day using the same approach. Make sense?
Boom goes the calorie-deficit dynamite. Don’t be afraid to experiment with different times, either. That’s part of the beauty of intermittent fasting. You might find it easier to fast 2pm to 2pm every day. But either way, it works and you’ll find yourself FREE from obsessing about food.
You can read why it works here
I’ve read Brad’s book twice now. He debunks the myths like losing muscle, feeling lethargic and more. You’ll also be surprised at the studies inside, too.
So, set yourself free from being obsessive about your food choices. Life is too short to obsess about how many calories you’re supposed to be eating and more.
Before I close, here are some quick pointers for when you get started:
– Your intermittent fasting days should be the days you find yourself the busiest. For most, that will be Mondays. – A little trick I’ve used before is choosing a weekend day as one of my intermittent fasting days because otherwise, I might find myself cheating (just being transparent) – Don’t be afraid to be flexible. 4pm might be a horrible time to start fasting for you. Experiment and really discover your best times. That’s what’s so great about Brad’s approach.More cool bodyweight stuff coming tomorrow,
Mikey, CTT
Tags: fat loss nutrition, fat loss nutrition plan, intermittent fasting
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