I am 60 and have been more than 60 lbs overweight for years. My wife & I drove a semi for 9 years. Now we are off the road. Fasting is something we have done for a long time as part of church life. When our church invites us to join a fast, I do it. Once I fasted 21 days and drank only water & a mixture of squeezed lemons, honey & cayenne pepper. That was tough, but after 3 or 4 days, it gets easier – after lots of junk is eliminated from the system. I lost 40 lbs. It felt great and when starting back on food, my body had changed and I ate differently. Our pastor fasts regularly – certain days every week, and occasionally longer fasts. He has studied fasting extensively from science and from the Bible. He always stays at about 160 or 170 lbs. and is fit & trim for a man nearly my age. Fasting has great benefits both physically and spiritually. I need it because I tend to be overweight and love to eat too much. That is my best way to control weight, by fasting regularly. Thanks for your encouragement, Joel!
I’m just getting back from a fun-filled Memorial Day weekend in San Diego with a bunch of my fitness buddies like Braig Callantynez, Vinny D, The Truth, and Dr. K.
We had a blast exploring the famous San Diego Zoo, catching some rays on Mission Beach, and of course eating our share of delicious holiday weekend food.
And today I’m fasting.
No, not to “make up” for my weekend indulgence, but rather because I know that strategically placed fasting can lead to faster fat loss when done correctly.
Here are my two favorite strategic methods:
1. The Post-cheat Fast: This is my favorite version of strategic fasting and the version I’m currently employing today. Why? Because when you use it you can lose up 2 lbs of pure fat in ONE day.
Tony-the-Tiger awesome (I know he says GRRRRREAT, but awesome is better).
You see, after a Cheat Day your body is in an optimal fat burning state with important body fat regulating hormones like leptin and T3/T4 at their peak. In other words, there is no other day in which your body is primed to burn MORE fat than on this day.
And that’s why the Post-cheat Fast works so well – it creates a massive calorie deficit on a day in which your body WANTS to release fat.
To perform it, consume only non-calorie liquids from when you wake up until you wake up the next morning. Essentially, it’s 36 hour fast. For example, if fasting on Monday you only consume non-calorie liquids until breakfast on Tuesday.
Want to lose even more fat on a Post-cheat Fast Day? Throw in lots of activity and strategically timed exercise.
This is exactly what we do in my Xtreme Fat Loss Diet program and one of the reasons the program yields such rapid results.
2. The 24-hour fast: The 24-hour fast, as it’s name suggests, is when you fast for a 24 hour period. It is more or less the equivalent of eating only one meal.
For example, after dinner on Tuesday you fast until dinner on Wedneday (24 hour period). Your dinner on Wednesday would then be approximately the same size (or slightly larger) than your “normal” dinner.
This method, when used 1 – 3 times a week, allows you to create a greater weekly caloric deficit by incorporating several very managable low calorie days each week.
I recommend placing higher carboydrate days in between 24 hour fasts to spike important metabolism-regulating hormones. This will allow you to get the most out of each 24-hour fast.
Again, strategic fast days are one of the pillars of my Xtreme Fat Loss Diet program. If you’re interested in losing up to 25 lbs in 25 days, check it out here:
==> http://XtremeFatLossDiet.com
Do YOU use fast days? If so, what has your experience been? Respond below! At least 100 comments and I’ll be back w/ ANOTHER killer blog this week.
Talk to you in the comments section!
Joel
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Grat concept!
Must ensure that whatever diet plan you are following should be such that you are able to follow it for life. Means you make changes to your diet pattern and eating habits for life. The one being suggested by you does not seem to fit the bill for this.
So a few weeks ago I had hand surgery following an accident…many delays throughout the day backed me into a 24 hour fast…It went ok…not that bad.
I had great confidence as I approached my first 36 hour fast yesterday. It went very well. I thought about eating but was not hungry. I did take the supplements as recommended. I did drink water thoughout the day. I worked hard outside all afternoon temps at 90…Was a little irratated but I probably would have been any way. I did not sleep very well last night …This morning I was not hungry…kind of had to force myself to drink a shake…very strange…I like this…Something different every day…I can do anything for 4 days…looking forward to the cheat day…I’m very good at that…will be nice to not feel bad about it…Dan
I bought the XFLD last week. Can’t wait to start it once I get my supplements. It will be good if it does what it says on the packaging.
I’m on day 4 of the xfld and the fasting day didn’t get crazy hard until dinner time. I drank lots of water and lots of bcaa pills.I will say people talk about clarity on their fasting days?! I had the spaciest brain and laziest body. I worked out because I’m bound and determined to follow the 25 days to the letter but can definately say the fasting effected my mood….due to being tired but also effected my thinking ability. How does one overcome this? Or is it more of an individual issue/blood sugar thing?
Thank you for that wonderful info! SO good of you to share.
I tried the feast-fast diet and it really worked for me. I was on a plateau at 178 lbs and then did the feast day on a Saturday and fasted for 24 hours on Sunday. I weighted myself and I had gained 1lb but after fasting I went back to the gym on Monday and was 176 lbs. I followed up with carbs days and by Friday I was 172. I have not done it again but have been on a low carb diet and hoping to be on it for the next month or so and hopefully have another cheat day. Right now I am enjoying seeing my six-pack slowly appear. Thank you, man. You are really genius.
I’m currently using an hybrid of yours and Martin Berkhan’s method. I found that fasting every single day for 16 hours is surprisingly easy (and barely feels like fasting at all, for that matter…) and i’m getting some truly astounding results combining this with cheat days and two eat-stop-eat style fasts every week. I’m a bit of a newbie, though, so i have trouble gauging how much i should actually eat.
So, is there any research, on humans, that show that maintaining leptin levels are vital to fat loss? I’ve only seen research on leptin using rodents as subjects, which have been shown to elicit different results on other, yet related (ie fat loss, metabolism, etc) research.
Fasting is a no brainer, 1 or 2 24 hour fasts/week. I don’t have use cheat meals and continue to lose 1-2lbs of fat/week.
IMX (in my experience) the 36 hour fast works LOADS better than the 24 because you are actually taking a whole day off of eating. With the 24 it’s easy to eat a whole days calories in one sitting. Fasting is just like running, you have to get through the WALL then you’re fine. My cheat days are Sunday and Monday is always a fast day because they suck anyway, can’t really suck even more. On Tuesday my hunger is non existent and usually don’t eat until dinner on Tuesday so that’s usually a 45 hour fast and he’s right- you lose all the water weight from the cheat day and a few lbs of fat. Eating 6 meals a day and doing cardio just to lose 1-2 lbs a week SUCKS compared to this. HOWEVER you can totally screw up a fast by eating too many calories the rest of the week. I’ve done it so many times, there is no way around the calorie theory. I call it a theory because some people’s genetics defy it… when they’re young :)
I do not take BCAA’s because I never noticed a difference with or without them and they are expensive. Also egg whites have more BCAA’s than the pills and the calories are null and void- you burn more calories chewing 3-4 egg whites than are in them. But still fast days should be fast days. There are people that believe (no proof yet) that your body can build muscle from it’s own body fat but it won’t do that if you eat anything. The science that’s in the Eat Stop Eat book really hints at this but the author doesn’t go as far to make the claim. I think that in the next 2 years they will have the proof. But why wait. Lift weights on the fast day and be ahead of everyone else :)
I am on a fast day today. I have no problem with this. This week, I probably will not get the best results, as I had to change my scheduled fast day to today, instead of tomorrow, as the wife is off work tomorrow also. She tends to get really pissed if I tell her I can’t go out to eat with her on our only day off together, so I have to change my schedule some times, to keep harmony in the old marriage. The wife likes to have meals together and gets rabid if I tell her I can’t eat breakfast with her. She just does not understand what I am trying to do. We only have a day or two together each week, and if I screw that up, she never lets me hear the end of it. I just drink water and black coffee, along with the BCAA supplements, and stay busy enough that I don’t worry about the food. I figure I have eaten enough in my life of 57 years, that I can cut down some and still come out ahead. I usually lose a couple or three pounds on my fast day, and the same on the day or two a week that I don’t exercise. Due to work and home obligations, I am unable to go to the gym EVERY day. My work schedule forces me to go to the gym after work, which is MIDNIGHT, and I get home at about 1 AM. This is not really conducive to eating a good meal after workouts, as that is usually just an hour before I go to bed. I don’t get to bed until about 2:00 most mornings, and get up at about 10 AM. I have no trouble maintaining my weight, but am really struggling to lose that 5 lbs of flab around the middle. But, I guess, what can you expect? I AM 57, now…
I have completed 5 fasting days in which I drink 1-1/2 gallons of water and take amino acids every 2-1/2 hours and perform 3- 25 minute cardio sessions spaced throughout the day. Each time I fasted, I lost 2-3 pounds each and every week. Never lost an ounce of muscle. Used directly after a day with a cheat meal after an intense workout delivers amazing results. In one month I lost 18 pounds.
Killer program Joel!
Monday = Cheat Day…it was glorious…. the key is, you really have to increase your caloric intake by a lot. I pick this up from Joel’s buddy John Romaniello. You don’t have to eat like a monster, but it is a cheat day, eat all those things you love, because I guarantee, by Shake day, you will be dreaming of them.
Tuesday – Fasting Day … I fortunately am not a stranger to drinking copious amounts of water and including my BCAA (powdered) drinks I drank a gallon and a half of liquid. Because I am a big guy I had to consume 11grams of BCAA 5 times a day. How did it feel…I felt great…my morning workout (Lactactic Acid Workout) was awesome and I was in a great mood all day.
I was skeptical about two more workouts for this day, but my afternoon HIIT workout was easy, and my evening 30 Minute – Slow Cardio session left me wanting more…and I normally only workout 3-4 times a week and rarely do cardio..so 3 workouts in a day, I felt like I was putting those cheat day calories to rest. The BCAAs are going to help you maintain that muscle while fasting, so I would say, if you don’t want to lose it, be sure to take them. In the past when I fasted, I had the “Hungry Headache” but I think because of the BCAA it didn’t happen. You really have to have some self-control as well. I love to eat, and everything smells so much more amazing when your fasting…but you gotta be strong…..moving on to today…shake day!
Wednesday-shake day ..I felt a bit beat today…but I was absolutely happy with my shake this morning. I am going to continue the BCAA in between shakes. …. so far so good. Strength workout was good this morning. Im a little tired..but rebounding fast…a nice shot of expresso may help ..heheh.
I look forward to hearing some of the results from others than have started the Xtreme 25, in about 24-7 more days good luck, keep fit, stay strong!
Hi Joel,
Thanks for the blog. I’ve done Dr K’s DEFL 2.0 and just finished Roman’s FPFL 2.0. This article will help me as I recycle through their programs and other programs (I do have Braig’s TT material also!).
For all concerned about the fasting – Brad Pilon of ESE mentioned that this is a really good time to watch your eating habits. With all the guys mentioining the hidden additives in processed and fast foods, it is no wonder why it would be difficult to leave food alone for 24 hrs. This program may assist in reducing these types of food and to go more natural (called ‘clean eating’).
Take care and try not to be hard on yourself. As Vince D and others mentioned – It’s not your FAULT. We’ve been programmed by the food industry and this is a way to unplug from the matrix (I am currently watching the second one!).
Best wishes to all. And thank you Joel and the rest of you guys and gals for doing your best to provide the means to unplug!
Just did a fast day for the first time yesterday. Went the 24 hr. route and did eat dinner. Not that hard to do, surprisingly, even with working out!
Hey Joel,
I’m a newbie to the XFLD – tons of information for me to know, but I’m getting through it. I started the fast and I think I missed the part where I start after dinner and then I could have dinner the following day…bummer! What happened is that I don’t eat after 7:30p.m. so I went all night, the next day until about 10:00p.m. where I had a raging headache! No wonder! I was waiting for the next morning to be able to fuel up again…. I did very well with water all day and the BCAAs….. Which leads me to a question: It seems like I was taking a huge amount of the BCAA’s…. I called Prograde to ask how many mgs there are in each capsule, but no one returned the call… Since you promote the product and are a fan of using them, do you know so I can make the correct calculation please?
Looking forward to great things,
PJ
I purchased the 1,000 calorie challenge- is the XFLD already built into that program? It sounds pretty close to what I have in my manual already-
LOVE IT!! This was just the trick I needed to get past my last plateau. THANK YOU!!
. this sounds cool. going to start it in my on my cheat day.
How do you fast when you have hypoglycemia ? I have tried fasting before and it made me weak and dissy and really shakey. Not a great feeling..:(..
I started doing ESE late last summer ~ I always did 18 hour fasts at a minimum, sometimes making it to 24 hours but 21 was more typical. I fasted on Mondays and Thurs. consistently, and was able to keep off 19 pounds that I had just lost, even while occassionaly enjoying ice cream and other “treats.” I think fasting is WONDERFUL, and my stomach feels so much flatter after a fast. I do not find that I have the mental clarity that others have, I tend to feel tired but maybe that is because I do not always eat as clean as I should day to day. I am on day 3 of Xtreme fat loss and am super duper excited to see my results at then end!
57 is a number NOT a life sentence – go for it your wife will appreciate the happier, healthier and more buff you! I am certainly going to give this a go and I’m 53
@ Carolyn:
ha ha – do your students know this is coming?? I’ve never done fasting like this before either, but I have done the Master Cleanse a few times which is similar, just for longer period of time and you DO have calories in the liquid you drink. But in my experience the first couple days were a little tricky getting used to it but then after that it was smooth sailing. having said that – the first day is almost so quick that it’s not an issue. Will be interesting to hear how it goes for you!
Joel,
Just purchased your program, it is my vacation reading. And allows for my sipps to arrive. Looking forward to this as I have my sis wedding in Cabo to prepare for in Nov. And I have a good 20 lbs to lose. But I am also excited to implement the feast/fast into maintanence. Thx
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Hey, it’s Joel! So you want to know a little more about me, huh? Well, I’d be happy to oblige :-)
I guess it all started back in 2001 (my freshman year of college) when I was just a “skinny fat” 19-year old kid. At the time, I was spending close to 2 hours a day in the gym (now my workouts last about 30 minutes), and despite my efforts, you’d probably never guess I worked out a day in my life by looking at me...