Intermittent Fasting Journal #37

In this Broadcast, Donna Reish, blogger, author of 100 curriculum books for preschool through twelfth graders, seeker of health and fitness, and Intermittent Fasting teacher, shares with listeners more of the “things she has learned after one year of Intermittent Fasting.” This is Part II of this topic—in Broadcast #36 she talked about how she realized she had been “dieting” on too much food/too many calories; how she can control food–food doesn’t have to control her; how overweight is not always our fault; and that sustainability is everything. In this episode, she continues with why IF is the best weight management approach for her due to her ability to adhere to it. Severe restrictions or cutting out entire foods and food groups result in immediate failure as soon as the individual goes to a party or eats out. With IF, this continually failure is not a part of the faster’s life—and success breeds success whereas failure breeds failure. Next, Donna describes the many avenues of freedom that Intermittent Fasting has brought her, including food freedom, financial freedom, time and resource freedom, decision freedom, and much more. Next Donna talks about one of her favorite new “lessons” from her year of IF—the importance of sleep on hormone balancing, metabolism, brain function, and more. Lastly, Donna describes how IF has led her to become a fitness person—someone who works out regularly, builds strength and muscle, and keeps her fitness commitments. This has been another area that eluded her prior to IF, so it is an exciting one to her! This week’s broadcast is sponsored by Plexus’ new thyroid, adrenal, metabolism, and mood product, the all natural MetaBurn!

Get More Info!

(1) Free “Calories In/Calories Out” Game Video Series

(2) Free IF Start up Charts

(3) FREE One-Hour IF Webinar (last week of each month)

(4) Month-Long IF Course (daily video teaching, outlines, graphics, and more!)

(5) Private FREE FB Group where I teach each week

A. Our Story to Date

1. One Year—I started a month ahead of my husband

2. Successes

a. Husband went from 48 to 38 and 2 X to Large shirts
b. I went from loose 14/tight 12 to loose 10’s
c. Husband lost 85 pounds/ I lost 23 pounds (45 over last couple years)

3. Immediate goals

a. Get Hubby to work out over holidays when his teaching load is lessened
b. Continue my workout schedule—5 to 7 sessions of strength training/toning of 45 minutes each per week
c. Not gain over the holidays with all the festivities and parties (but still enjoy
them!)
d. Average 18 hour fasts during last two weeks of December (probably closer to
19.5)

4. Long term goals

a. Hubby lose his last 25 pounds; I lose my last 17 pounds
b. Hubby eventual size goal is 36 and medium
c. My eventual size goal is 8 and medium (but hoping my workouts will take me
down to 6 jeans and pants!)
d. Continue to control eating window and keep learning how to reduce cravings
and appetite more and more through my research and blog study

5. Last episode’s Lessons I Learned

a. Too much food/too many calories
b. I can control food; food doesn’t have to control me
c. Overweight is not always our fault
d. Sustainability is everything

B. What I’ve Learned: IF Is Best for Me for Adherence Because of the Short-Term Deprivation Aspect

1. Most people know that they really can’t NEVER have pizza or birthday cake again, so when they go on an all or nothing food regiment, they are setting themselves up for failure from the beginning.

a. Not adhering equals failure
b. These failures build and cause us to not succeed/give up.
c. “Cheat days” often do not help because they lead to too many calories for a weekly weight loss AND initiate all of our craving mechanisms (blood sugar, insulin high continually, dopamine spikes, and more)

2. Adherence to a time-based eating protocol is short term deprivation

a. Short-term sacrifice for long-term success
b. While I eat better now than I ever did on a strict eating protocol, knowing that I can eat absolutely anything I want when I open my eating window makes IF adherence the most doable thing I have ever done.
c. Balanced blood sugar, lowered insulin spikes, trained ghrelin, hearing leptin better, etc. all cause me to make better choices when I do eat….but just knowing that I am not cutting out any food or food group makes IF a daily challenge but also a daily success.

C. What I’ve Learned: IF Brings More Freedom Than Any Other Eating Approach I Have Ever Used

1. Food freedom
2. Work/kitchen/freezer/storage/shopping freedom
3. Financial freedom
4. Time freedom
5. Trash/resource freedom

D. What I’ve Learned: Sleep Is an Important Aspect of Weight Management

1. Sleeping 7 hours or more per night

a. Results in more release of Human Growth Hormone, which helps you create muscle, burn calories etc. (HGH is released in deep, long sleep between 4 and 6 am)
b. Leads to fewer cravings
c. Provides boost in metabolism (some research shows up to 300 fewer calories are burned with under seven hours of sleep!)
d. Way less stress hormone (cortisol—hormone that increases hunger and cravings!

2. Inadequate sleep

a. High link to obesity and insulin resistance
b. 24 to 35% increase in hunger
c. Affects ghrelin and leptin
d. One study showed half the fat loss in group with same caloric intake but reduced sleep!

E. What I’ve Learned: I Can Make Working Out a Part of My Daily Life

1. Again, the success that I feel through IF carries over to other areas.

2. The more I research exercise and understand the future benefits of
of building muscle on metabolism (burning calories down the road
from today’s workout), the fairly immediate benefits of clothes fitting
and looking/wearing a smaller size than weight would indicate—
the more I have been able to make it a part of my daily life instead
of something I do here and there.

3. For the first time in my life, I look at my schedule and do everything I
can to squeeze in workouts.

4. It’s become important to me that I learn how to do all sorts of strength
training/toning exercises to be able to work out without a class when
I am unable to attend a class.

5. Proven to me more than ever before that when you BELIEVE something works
or is effective or benefits you, you are likely to do it. I believe IF will give
me the health, size, weight, aging, and longevity (health years, not just age
years) that I want; therefore, I am able to stick with it. I BELIEVE strength
training/toning makes a big difference, so I am able to stick with it.

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