I’ve already written a bit about fasting back in April, but wanted to write again as a great jumpstart when you start to plateau on any other exercise or diet regimen. I took up fasting a few months ago when I saw a guy named Cole Robinson on the show The Doctors. I don’t usually watch daytime TV but I was testing my cable at a new place and heard this guy defending his position against every single doc on the show. He held his own and I ended up wanting to hear more of what he had to say and less (and less) of what The Doctors had to say.
Let me warn you that saying Cole is a little rough around the edges is an understatement. If you are easily offended, he is definitely not for you. For instance, he starts most of his posts with “HEY FATTY!” This makes me laugh but I can see how some might be turned off.
Anyway, back to fasting. I decided to give it a go and took on some intermittent fasting. I chose to eat from 12pm-8pm (an 8-hour window). This did absolutely nothing for me. I then tried a couple 24-hour fasts in one week…not bad, I felt leaner and definitely was not so bloated so I kept going. The next week, I went for a 36-hour fast and one 48-hour fast. By the end of that week, I felt like I had lost as much weight as a month on HCG (I’ve done almost every diet known to man…) Not only that, but I felt amazing! Like my body was taking care of itself.
I started watching Cole Robinson’s videos on YouTube around this time as well. More information can be found HERE. Just looking at the Before and After pictures on his website can be extremely motivating! He came up with something called Snake Juice and everyone I told about it thought I was nuts. When you fast and drink the Snake Juice (an electrolyte combo of salt, No Salt, baking soda, and magnesium) it is much different than drinking plain water. I never felt light headed or deprived. I did notice that most of the time when I felt like eating, it was due to boredom, not hunger.
Of course, I am not a doctor, and neither is Cole Robinson, so for God’s sake check with your doctor first. However, I also searched the web to find a doctor that was promoting fasting. That’s when I found Dr. Jason Fung. You can find his website HERE. Cole Robinson and Dr. Fung are certainly not affiliated with each other, but I used both of them to fuel my desire to learn more.
One of my favorite catchphrases used in fasting is autophagy. Certainly, this seems like the new diet word of the day. Autophagy is when you have deprived your body of food (and caloric drinks) for a certain period of time – roughly 24 hours – and it starts to break down its own cells, replacing and recycling parts that are no longer working well. How amazing is this? Think of all the toxins we encounter during the day in our foods, drinks, and environment that have detrimental effects on our cells. Giving my body the time to take a break and fix itself seems like a great idea to me!
A great way to start is to look at the websites given and try a simple fast to ease into it. Intermittent fasting works well for some people. They might structure and 8-hour or even a 4-hour eating window, fasting the rest of the time. See how you feel and if you want to continue. Weigh yourself and take measurements. If it seems impossible to give up food for a short period of time, perhaps you want to look at the psychology behind it. We depend on food for nourishment, but we also use it for so many other reasons. When I am working and want to take a break, I will usually end up in the kitchen looking for something to eat. I’m not hungry at all, just bored.
Once you get into it, you may want to go longer, 24-, 36-, even 48-hours. There’s also the dry fast, which does not allow you to drink water or Snake Juice. Some hard core fasters don’t even brush their teeth with water or take showers during a dry fast. Cole discusses dry fasting at great lengths in his videos. I have done one 24-hour dry fast with excellent results, but I admit it was hard for me. Do what feels right for you, but know that it might not be easy, especially if you’ve never done anything like this before. We are meant to fast at night, and break the fast in the morning. However, our bodies have also been subjected to many toxins and giving it a longer break for healing can be very beneficial.
Thank u! Such great info!