Ep. 154 - Fasting during the Holidays that allows Maximum Enjoyment | Free Intermittent Fasting Plan for OMAD

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In today’s timely episode we talk about fasting during the holidays. Hear how to frame them in a way that allows for maximum enjoyment without the added stressor of worrying too much about the food and such! We also discuss if it is wise to do longer fasts going in and out of a holiday. We discuss the sustainability of that approach and the best ways to re-engage when fasting has not been a point of emphasis or has taken a back seat to the busy season. Enjoy the conversation! 

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Fasting For Life Ep. 154 Transcript

[Dr. Scott Watier]
Hello. I’m Dr. Scott Dr. Watier.

[Tommy Welling]
And I'm Tommy Welling. And you're listening to the Fasting for Life podcast.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
This podcast is about using fasting as a tool to regain your health, achieve ultimate wellness, and live the life you truly deserve.

[Tommy Welling]
Each episode is a short conversation on a single topic with immediate, actionable steps. We cover everything from fat loss and health and wellness to the science of lifestyle design.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
We started fasting for life because of how fasting has transformed our lives, and we hope to share the tools that we have learned along the way. Everyone, real quick before we hop into today's Episode one to let you know that the last seven fasting lifestyle challenge of 2022 is upon us. It is December 7th through the 13th. You can head to the show notes for more information.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
Click the link challenge dot the fasting for life dot com forward slash registration. Yes, the last challenge of the year is here. The next challenge is not until February 1st of 2023. So if you've been thinking about it now is the time. Don't miss out. You cannot only get massive momentum in your weight loss and health journey starting 2023, but you can get results now strategically place this challenge right between Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
So we hope to see you on the inside. Head to the show notes, click the link, and now today's episode. Hey everyone, welcome to the Fasting for Life podcast. My name is Dr. Scott Water and I'm here as always, and my good friend and colleague Tom Welling. Good afternoon to you, sir. Happy post-Thanksgiving. We are in the holiday season officially.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
Happy holidays to you, sir. Happy Thanksgiving. Merry Christmas is right around the corner. How are you doing?

[Tommy Welling]
Right. I'm doing great. Merry Christmas. Happy holidays. You got me on that intro. You know, you threw me a curveball right there, so. Yeah, yeah. Doing great. And I love this time of year and I love how it integrates with with the fasting lifestyle. But there's so many things that can come our way and so many things that we can we can, like, do better than we did in years past, right?

[Tommy Welling]
Like, Oh man, I just love this time of year now. I used to feel that way.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
No. Agreed. So that's we're going to talk a little bit about that. It's why I started with the curveball and introduction around the holidays. So Thanksgiving's in our rearview mirror. Christmas is right around the corner. We've got New Year's. It seems like Halloween was decades ago. And the reality is, is like you said, we can make a lot of great progress during this time of year, lose weight, feel good, stick to our goals and not feel like we're completely missing out on everything.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
And that's what I'm going to talk about today and some conversations that we've been having in and outside of the VP coaching group and the previous challenges and some of the feedback that we've been getting on some of the trainings and lives and content that we put out in the community group, etc.. So there's a few threads that we want to go through today.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
First and foremost, welcome to all of the new listeners. If this is one of your first few episodes or first time you've come to listen, we truly appreciate you giving us a chance. If you want to learn more about our journey and how we ended up here 150 plus episodes in two and a half years strong regaining our life through the tried and true art of fasting and how we turned fasting into a lifestyle.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
Feel free to head back to episodes. You're Episode one. Learn more about who we are and why we do what we do to all of you. Long term listeners, we truly appreciate you continuing to be on this journey with us. If you feel inclined, please drop us a review. We, of course, prefer the five star kind. Love, love, love them.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
Right? They are. They are favorite. They tell the Facebook gods that we Facebook excuse me, the podcast gods that we are doing something right. And they probably tell you.

[Tommy Welling]
Oh yeah, they do. Probably. It's like probably who.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
Knows how many want to talk about that, but it just tells whoever is in control of all the stuff behind the scenes that you can hear us live. Now, whenever your press the play and it shows that we're bringing some value to the community because there's a lot of podcasts out there, so we truly are grateful. So specially this time of year, you know, with Thanksgiving just in the rearview mirror, we are grateful that you guys have chosen to join us and give us a shot.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
So, sure, the holidays, what a slippery slope. And kind of framework that we've been fed our entire life around the holiday season. Okay. So we've done episodes in the past. If you want to go back and check out some of the other episodes that are around how to manage the holidays, how to manage life events, how to manage special occasions like this.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
We've done multiple podcast episodes on it, typically around this time of year because we want to give you some structure and some actionable things. As you heard in our intro with the catchy music that we want to give you, an actionable thing that you can do today to continue on your fasting journey and building that fasting lifestyle. So yeah, we have been told and one specific episode we went into the research on it that all the holiday weight gain, oh, the New.

[Tommy Welling]
Year, New You, the.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
New Year's resolutions, yeah, you're going to see it. You're going to see the weight loss testimonials being spewed all over the place. The before and after photos. The I lost £63 on this program, and then in a tiny little print it says the average weight loss was £6.2.

[Tommy Welling]
Results.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
Typical, yeah. Results not typical. Right. So we really want to be honest and truthful about what you can accomplish this time of year. So, Tommy, I know you had mentioned this and this is the starting point. I want to I want to launch with is the difference between previous holidays and this holiday season, the potential that lies in there if you're new to fasting or if this is the first time you're going into the holidays with the fasting mindset, or if you're now going into the holiday season number two and you're comparing it to previous of how you would handle the holidays and the events and the Christmas parties and the gatherings and the the

[Dr. Scott Watier]
additional opportunities for consumption and indulgence. Right. You get to sit back and compare how this and for you guys that are that have been through it already pre fasting lifestyle to fasting lifestyle and how you manage your diet and weight loss and mindset is really powerful around this time of year.

[Tommy Welling]
Yeah, there really is like a potential for a big shift right there because like thinking back the newer you are, the more likely you are to be, you know, remembering strongly about potentially counting calories, counting macros, fitting, feeling things within like a strict nutritional plan, potentially things like that where that's really, really hard, if not kind of impossible to do if you have, you know, gathering or celebrations and things like that, it can kind of it can kind of be so much like too much to track almost or too many things that are like, maybe it's too many temptation foods or desserts or things that that you tend to overindulge with.

[Tommy Welling]
It can kind of be like, let's throw the baby out with the bathwater kind of thing. Like I'm, I'm just going to be off. I'm just going be offered for this week or for a couple of days, or sometimes it turns into longer than you would expect. Like the holiday season. Like we've seen people, you know, just get derailed for the whole holiday season.

[Tommy Welling]
Then it can be really tough to like pull yourself up by your bootstraps and get back on track.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
Yeah, and that's kind of the starting point. So we had a couple of conversations that have become threads, thoughts, threads or conversation threads in our fasting for life ecosystem. And the first one came in and it was framed in a way that I thought was interesting that could lead to a really cool conversation. So there was someone who said, Hey, life's kind of jumped up and nip me in the bud.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
I've been M.I.A. Obviously paraphrasing here from fasting for a few months. I was doing incredibly well sick ness had life take over, kind of fell off the wagon, like you said, baby out with the bathwater. You know, I want so badly to get back on before the holidays, but I've been struggling to reengage. Yeah. Why is it so hard to stay focused on your goals and the journey but so easy once you are back into the routine?

[Dr. Scott Watier]
Any tips to help me get back on track? So there's a couple of threads here that are really powerful and she alludes to what we were just kind of talking to Tommy is that this microcosm of the holidays is not this end all be all kind of, oh, if you don't succeed these few months, then you know your journey's over.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
Just give up. You're just going to be overweight and or have health concerns or just be stuck forever.

[Tommy Welling]
Or feel like fasting didn't work right until the next.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
Thing. And getting off of that dieting mindset, right? So like anything else, if you work it or if you build it, they will come right? Like the results will come if you continue to work the system. So disconnecting and reengaging our mind is the is the most important thing that we're going to start with talking about. But if we look at what the research shows is that the holiday weight gain isn't as big as a contributor to weight gain over decades of life and to things like the issues, the health issues that come with the weight, which is what we talk a lot about, the insulin resistance, the hormonal imbalances, the cardiometabolic issues, diabetes, blood

[Dr. Scott Watier]
sugar related issues, etc. all of those comorbidities or health concerns that come with carrying that extra weight for all those years. It's the consistent actions throughout the year that matter more. So we're going to zoom out to kind of what you would do regardless of when this happens, when you're trying to reengage and then talk about what to do and what not to do if are framing out, let's say, a Thanksgiving week or framing out because I know that just pass or framing out a Christmas week, right?

[Dr. Scott Watier]
So let's start with those four points that we had and really where to begin to to reengage and kind of ramp yourself back into what was working when it was working so well for you.

[Tommy Welling]
Yeah. You know, I'm going to take it back just one step, which is the fact that if if and when you kind of find yourself just just kind of meandering, just kind of like wandering off the track that was working. The the initial step is the realization that you're doing something like you're way over here on left field, in left field, like you're not on track to somebody.

[Tommy Welling]
Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're kind of chasing the butterflies, but sometimes you're kind of in another world, you don't really realize it sometimes. So. So shortening the time gap that it takes to realize that I'm not doing what I want to be doing intentionally and then and then saying to myself, okay, okay, time to get back on track. Right?

[Tommy Welling]
And that's where this question kind of started. So that would be like step negative one or step zero. And then like just step one, I feel like is kind of simplifying to get back to the basics and then going, okay, where is my mindset? What, what was helping me in the past with a focused mindset like in this case, it's, it's about fasting, right?

[Tommy Welling]
And so that that might be listening to an episode of the podcast doing something that, that helps you kind of get in the right, the right frame of mind and then going, okay, I'm not going to do anything else until I literally go back and listen to one full episode or maybe it's listen to three full episodes over three days, and then I'm going to put off something else that I would enjoy doing, or I would normally give myself the bandwidth to kind of go do as like a distraction.

[Tommy Welling]
So that's a discipline piece right there, but it doesn't have to take that much time. But I know that it's going to help get me in the right frame of mind. Does that make sense?

[Dr. Scott Watier]
Yes. So what I've heard first is the realization that, okay, I'm off track. Yeah, virtual hog. Pat yourself on the back. It's okay. Happens to everybody. Yeah. How do we get you? Quickly back in? What I just heard you describing there is putting you first, whoever you are in this situation, if you're Sara here or if you're John or if you're Mike or if you're Fred, my dad, whoever it is, right?

[Tommy Welling]
Yeah. Yeah.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
Putting you first, taking those few minutes, that little bit of time. 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes. You know, getting into that fasting mindset is so important. It's no different than, you know, if you're like, all right, I'm going to start working out again, but then you don't put out your workout clothes or change into your workout gear, and you're going to go try to run a mile in winter jackets and jeans and cowboy boots like you're not in the right framework, you're not in the right gear, you're not in the right outfit for that to be successful and enjoyable.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
Right? So I use cowboy boots. We're here in Texas that drop below 50 degrees. Everybody's got their winter gear out here.

[Tommy Welling]
Yeah, of course. Freeze them.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
Yeah. Double layered socks and boots is my favorite, but there's no snow, so no complaints. So putting you first, whatever that looks like for you to get in that mindset, if it if it's a little bit of planning, if it's whatever that is the podcast going to you to listen to do an audio, whatever, however you get no different than if you practice meditation.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
You know, the days that I do it consistently, those days are better overall. Yeah, like empirical data shows. Like if you want to ignore the empirical data, the meditation doesn't work because you think it's hokey, then fine. But the data is proof and I am living proof now that if I do it, I'm like, Oh wow, I feel better.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
But if I never sit down in a quiet room away from the you know, three little terrorists that we have in this house that we love dearly under six and the three dogs and the and the distractions and the phone and all of this stuff, then it never happened. So getting that's so huge, putting you first and getting in that right mindset.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
Love it, love.

[Tommy Welling]
It, love it, love it. And then, you know, to take that a step further, you need to actually set yourself up so that you can protect that mindset, so that you can reengage with it daily. So maybe like set yourself one thing that I need to do to go, Yeah, you know what? That's going to help kick start me back into the right mindset.

[Tommy Welling]
But then step two, I need to do say to myself like put it on my calendar, okay, fine. Be this, maybe it's the slow time for you of the day. Like, put aside like 20 minutes. Or maybe it's the time that's the toughest like to to actually fast through like maybe it's the family dinner time or maybe it's the lunch time, like, you know, hunger pangs, like stomach rumbling, that kind of thing.

[Tommy Welling]
Well, then that would be your best time to go. I need to protect my mindset during that time, so let me go. Okay. I'm going to listen to one episode of the podcast. I'm going to listen to 15 minutes of an audiobook. I'm going to take a walk every single day during that time. Like, it doesn't have to be big, but it's set aside and it's very intentional and and I make sure that I'm committed to it.

[Tommy Welling]
And I have a reminder that's going to go off every single day. So I have that protection of my mindset.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
I literally sat in the car when I used to be in clinical practice. I've seen hundreds of patients a day. I would sit in my car and get my mind right. Just listen to country music. Sometimes as a podcast, sometimes with silence. Just before I went in to show up differently for my wife and the kids, like it was, it was just that little bit.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
So don't do anything else. Please, please, please, please, please, please, please do not be like, all right, I'm going to get back on track. We're doing a 72 hour fast and set your time. Yeah. If your mindset for.

[Tommy Welling]
That too.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
Isn't right for that, then it's not going to work. And if you're sitting here listening while I've been doing all mad, but now I really can't, that's not really working for me. I'm opening up my window. I'm not making it to my window. Right. Because the framework just imagine, picture me running in two layers of winter jackets, two layers of pants, thermals and cowboy boots.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
And I'm out there trying to do run a mile. Like, it's not going to be enjoyable and it's not going to happen. I'm like, No, this is terrible. My feet hurt, I'm giving up. So don't do anything else until you give yourself. You have the realization that, okay, it's happening, I'm ready, let's do it and get in that mindset, whatever that looks like for you.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
And what I'm hearing there, Tommy, is really the third point, which would be like really getting back to the basics and like setting your timer with a little bit of intention.

[Tommy Welling]
Oh, yeah. Like, even if your habits haven't been great lately, like. Like, let's say I kind of slip back. Yeah, maybe I've been doing Nomad and that was, that was going well. And then all of a sudden my, my meal started to become a window start to open up a little bit. Maybe I found myself doing two meals a day, but I still have long term fat stores that I'd like to tap into.

[Tommy Welling]
So giving myself a very hard time to actually tap into those insulin levels or staying high the whole day, maybe even I backslid into three or four eating opportunities in a day. Even if it was something that absolutely I don't feel like I'm on, I'm on track for fasting. Right. Like clear. You could still just going into today if you take the same thing that you did yesterday, you don't have to change a single thing except add in your fasting timer today.

[Tommy Welling]
That means I just made multiple votes for my subconscious brain that I am a faster I am fasting even if I'm eating more often than I'd like to. You can work on that is like step two, but set the timer first after we got the mindset right, then put in the timer. It's a very simple habit, but it goes a long way for that simplification and for the the ability to not have to change everything all at once, even in order to, like, get get things right and get things moving in the right direction.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
I wonder how many phrases I can put in here, but Rome wasn't built in a day, right? Yeah. Yeah. So it's the consistency over the entire calendar year that matters and not so much because it's the holidays, but we get so hyper focused because of our recent failures or our dieting, mental d or failed patterning of losing, gaining, losing, gaining stock, losing, gaining stock frustration on off dieting mindset.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
Right. So from what you just said, setting the timer, you then can make two small changes from that alone. And this is how we start to stack those habits in those positive votes again is you can then say, all right, well, I'm going to move my one meal an hour later.

[Tommy Welling]
Yeah.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
Okay, great. You just now you have two positive votes. I'm going to make one better intentional decision for a nutrition opportunity rather than a fast food debauchery. Sure, you're not saying fast food is the devil and you should never eat it right? We got to enjoy our life like life without Chick-Fil-A is torture, right? I only eat it like once or twice a year, but it's.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
It's there and it's part of it, right? So it's like you can make one better, just set the timer. But then from there it's not a big leap to push my window by an hour. Make one better nutrition decision.

[Tommy Welling]
Sure. Yeah, yeah. You're closer than that. It felt right. You got closer to being on track than it felt like in that moment when you're going the last three months, just.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
Get.

[Tommy Welling]
Engaged. Yeah. And they've been all a bit off the rails for the last three months. And then you feel like you want to rip all the Band-Aids off at once. Said that 72 hour timer. And like, oh, man, like like more often than not, we see it not not going well. Right. And then and then that that just leads to more of the negative psychology and more of the like.

[Tommy Welling]
Looking back, I can't change what happened over the last couple of months. I can only make the next best decision in the moment. So how do I get back on track as quickly as possible and and do it in a way that that has momentum, not just a flash in the pan. And so to to go along with those things reinforcing.

[Tommy Welling]
Also, the last point, which would be a holiday week is is not is not the best time to like try to change everything all at once, too, because then that can just be more of the volatile. I'm trying to do everything completely opposite here, but then I'm also like to be to be that that on or that off and then have a holiday which is going to be potentially the most like it can be the most eating opportunities, overindulgent types of foods everywhere.

[Tommy Welling]
I mean, I've been to some holiday celebrations where it was just I could have I could have brought in thousands of calories of like have the highest insulin response that I would ever imagine really. And then the be over there be in that environment for enough hours to to do it multiple times potentially in a day and like regret it, slash enjoy it, pay for it for the next couple of days, feel like I'm off track and then and then have a really, really heck of a time, like trying to get myself back on.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
The sweet spot for the holidays. Because I heard a couple of things in there, the sweet spot for the holiday week is not to just push it off and say, Oh, I'll start after the holidays.

[Tommy Welling]
Yeah.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
And it's not to go crazy hard and restrict and omit everything and be like, I'm going to be the willpower master this. I'm fasting.

[Tommy Welling]
Good Thanksgiving.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
I'm going to get through Thanksgiving and be like not sustainable is my first red flag. Right. And I always joke around this. But but why? Okay, why did I make that decision? But why? Like my toddler? But why. But why. But why. But why. But why? So ask yourself this question. But why? So when you make a decision, good or bad, don't even label it.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
Just be like, But why did I make that decision? Why did I? And that starts to tap into the emotional side of things, which is building that healthy relationship and confidence around food. Because we didn't get into the situation where I was 50 plus pounds overweight, £12 of visceral, fat, big, strong man in the off season belly. Yeah, but I carried it well because I was always the big guy.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
Right? Right. Blood sugar numbers off the rails, but not diagnosable, but still really bad. Blood pressure ticking up, feeling like crap. Tired, miserable all the time. Right back in the day. We didn't get there by having a healthy relationship or decision making process around our food choices. Sure, some of it our own fault by our decisions, some of it handed down to us, some of it, you know, spewed upon us.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
Right. And all around us in the convenience and the marketing that we have. Right. Yeah. So this time of year, don't push it off and just say, oh, I'll start in December because that's that old dieting pattern or don't go too hard. So the sweet spot is actually in the middle. And this leads us to a question that came in was like, well, going into a holiday, what do I do?

[Dr. Scott Watier]
Right? So if you've got to say Thanksgiving, just pass, right? So if you've got multiple opportunities during Thanksgiving week, then you need to put some intentional planning. But through Christmas, you might have grown up. We went to two different grandparents houses. We had our home, Christmas and breakfast, and then we also went to our aunt's house. So those are just for opportunities and Christmas parties, neighbors, you know, all of this stuff, right.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
And it's very focused around the cookies and the cakes and the dinners and the hand-me-down recipes and all that stuff needs to be enjoyed. But during a week of celebration or a holiday week, you know, the question came in is like, is it better to do a long, fast and break the fast with the actual celebratory meal, like with Christmas dinner?

[Dr. Scott Watier]
Is it good too fast for 42 hours going into Christmas dinner? If you're a beginner, the answer is no. Or should you treat the holiday like Christmas or Thanksgiving as another Omar Day and just have a one meal with like a two hour type window? Right. And then you have to think about, well, what's the food selection? Am I bringing something that I can overindulge in or indulge to a comfortable level in that I'm going to feel good about?

[Dr. Scott Watier]
So that's where we talk about recipe swaps or food swaps or, hey, I'm bringing the mashed potatoes and you guys don't need to know that I put some healthier stuff in here this year, right? Because they still taste good. All right. It's like when we hide vegetables in our pasta sauce for our kids, when we make the bonds of pasta.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
Right. They don't know that there's like all their servings of vegetables in those those meatballs in that pasta sauce. Chickpeas, they don't know. Okay, you don't need to know. Yeah, I always joke. My mom puts different stuff in some of the old recipes that we used to eat growing up. Now that my dad's reverse diabetes come off 14 medications, no longer on insulin, no longer a diabetic.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
After 30 years, my mom's putting stuff in some meals. He doesn't ask. You don't know? Yeah. He's 32 years old. If you're listening to Dad, I love you. And I'm proud of you for making that change. Right? Because now you get to see your grandkids. Four more years than you were on the path for. That's awesome, and we're grateful for it.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
But this microcosm of the holiday kind of recipe for disaster is looking at the timing. Should you break your fast going right into the celebratory meal and then what are you putting in your window? And, you know, control what you can control, right? So yeah, tell yourself before you go in that you're not going to graze the whole time, that you're going to put some loose but doable boundaries.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
And then think about how you feel about those decisions. And then no matter what happens, think about how you feel after the events over and how you perform. Because for me now there are certain foods that I don't eat Mexican food. I don't like going to Mexican restaurants. I don't I don't eat it because I don't like the way I feel.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
And I'm not talking about going off the reservation into two bowls of chips and all that salt and margaritas marks, you know, half frozen, half house, half not. There's a place here locally that, my goodness, all you need is one because they're so strong. And then, you know, the whatever dessert and then the fajita combo pack, right? No, I'm not talking about I'm talking about making a good, healthy, you know, protein and fat focused meal.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
And I still don't like the way I feel after that. So I don't eat it anymore because I don't like it. So this holiday season, you've got your timing, which is a component, you've got your strategy, and then you've got your nutrition opportunity or what you're going to be doing during that window as well.

[Tommy Welling]
Ma'am, I love those points because you could literally take over. You could bring whatever you wanted as a as a dish if you needed to, because you had like very scrutinizing, you know, food critics that you're going to be around just, you know, make make two bowls of the mashed potatoes, make a second dish. Like it'll be worth it, at least for you to have one that you go, I know I'm going to feel better coming out of this.

[Tommy Welling]
That's going to be a lower insulin response. You know, maybe I just want to stay away from some of the ingredients, you know, that are in the usual suspect, you know, that everybody kind of, you know, still wants you. You could definitely do that. And and just the fact that setting that that intention around, like whatever your slippery slope might be like for me, it would just be kind of grazing throughout the the environment, the eating opportunity.

[Tommy Welling]
It would be if I if I didn't set like a specific time window, like, hey, I'm going over to grandma's house, let's say we're going to have Thanksgiving lunch, but it's kind of like, you know, we might be hanging out over there for for four or five, 6 hours. A lot of family around. So, you know, within that that 6 hours, I'm probably going to going to pick probably about an hour, maybe an hour and a half max to be able to to put, you know, whatever I'd like to kind of sample on.

[Tommy Welling]
But I'm going to draw the boundaries around that so that I don't end up just kind of grazing for for multiple hours, you know, then I want to be feeling it later.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
Yeah, absolutely. That's the part, the feeling at later. Right. So yeah, I want to make one thing clear as and don't do a long fasting, go right into the celebrator meal if you're hungry and ravenous, just like if you're going out for a celebratory dinner for a graduation or a wedding or whatever, just have a small protein dependent meal, something small before you arrive, because willpower will fade your hormones, your ghrelin, your leptin imbalance.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
If it's there, it's going to really wreak havoc and you're going to potentially have the possibility of the overconsumption and the snowball effect. So good point. So a bit of planning goes a long way. I want to touch on one last thing for today. Tommy, is the how to handle.

[Tommy Welling]
The.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
Social aspect of the holidays, because here's something that we we hear quite often is, wow, you look great. You've lost so much weight. But you're not doing that fasting thing. Right?

[Tommy Welling]
Not that crazy.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
Fast. Dot, dot, dot. So no one cares what a.

[Tommy Welling]
Double sided, you know, no one can supplement.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
They pretend to care, but that's only they only want confirmation that what they do is okay.

[Tommy Welling]
Or don't do.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
Or don't do. Yeah, they're looking for confirmation. That's what we are. We're selfish individuals. Okay, I'm sorry. It's just. Talk to my wife, okay? That's our why we care a lot about survival and ourselves. And I'm not saying that, you know, a little tongue in cheek there with family, but nobody cares. So I would not encourage you to have the conversation of what you're doing around your air.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
Quotes, diet. Don't talk about what you're doing, how you're doing. Now, if you've got a fasting buddy, they're okay. Go sneak outside and talk to them if they've adopted this lifestyle. But nobody knows your goals and your intention. So not to shy away or lie about it, but if somebody says, What are you doing? Be like, Well, I would love to share with you because I've been really working hard at this.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
I feel great. So thank you so much for noticing. But let's plan a time where we can, you know, where I can just tell you the whole story because I really want I'm really excited about being here and seeing everybody and I just it's just not the right time. But thank you so much. I'm super excited about it.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
I really appreciate you noticing.

[Tommy Welling]
Yeah. Do you think anybody really wants your best dieting or nutrition advice at Thanksgiving.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
When they're staring staring.

[Tommy Welling]
Down the barrel of a pumpkin pie like. Absolutely not. No, nobody they don't really want to hear that. But what they might want to do is is derail or potentially shy away from or confirm their own hesitation biases. Yeah. Towards fasting or something else like that. Especially. Especially if they're not feeling great about their own results right then, which most people aren't.

[Tommy Welling]
Most people what they're doing right now is not working.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
Yeah. And that's so huge because that talks to where we started this conversation today was the reason why I absolutely love Thanksgiving. And some of these conversations have come up because obviously we just went through it, right?

[Tommy Welling]
Yeah.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
Especially inside of the coaching group. So but if I look back to the holidays when I was growing up or when I was when I was heavier and I wouldn't look forward to it because I knew what I was going to eat, how much I was going to indulge, how I was going to feel about it. But I would but I would always just justify it in a way that, oh, it's just the holidays, it's just right.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
Yeah. So for me now, I love going into the season because I know the levers that I can pull, right? In order to feel great, have those connections and those conversations and see the family and spend time with the loved ones and and, you know, enjoy the food, too. Yeah. And still enjoy myself without feeling all that negative stuff that I used to feel so huge.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
The important thing is focus on the experience right over the food and everybody focuses on the food, right? Like during the holidays. This is it. Yeah. And that's okay. That's what how society operates. But if you're going to get abnormal results, you're going to be 5% of the population that loses the weight and keeps it off for at least two years.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
Right. So we're talking about sustainable weight loss, not the 75% of us here in the U.S. that are overweight or obese. And again, not about just the weight, but about the health that comes with it. But if you're going to be that, then you have to do something different than everyone else. Yeah. So putting some intention into the holidays and just accepting the compliments, but deflecting the conversation and abiding by the first two rules of fasting is you don't talk about fasting and you don't talk about fasting.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
You can talk about fasting right on, you know, January 5th, right? But not at Christmas Eve dinner.

[Tommy Welling]
Yeah. It's like there's always going to be some I'm doing something a little bit different, you know, so so part of leaning into a fasting lifestyle and getting it right will mean that I'm having to lean into, you know, being a little bit uncomfortable sometimes. Sometimes that is the deflection part of it. You know, where is especially if you're if you're not used to to putting off a conversation or just having having something that you don't you don't want to dove into, especially during a holiday that's centered around food.

[Tommy Welling]
You know, for the most part, it's like, I don't know, like let's let's talk about something else right now, you know, like, I really want to connect. I know where I know where this might be going. I'd like to connect on something, you know better than that. So that's okay. I think it's okay.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
A little recap here is if use is your first holiday with a fasting lifestyle, keep it simple. Don't go too hard and don't push it off. Yeah. What's some intention in your windows? Intention into your food, some soft boundaries. So you can enjoy yourself, right? Don't put too much pressure on yourself. Avoid the conversations if somebody smiles. Wait, what are you doing?

[Dr. Scott Watier]
I'm fasting. What? No, don't do it. Okay. If this is your second holiday and you've been adopting a fasting lifestyle and you're somewhere still on your journey, then I want you to reflect back on the previous think back to the previous years of how you felt going in, because this year is going to be different. Yeah, absolutely is going to be different.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
I go in now with the confidence that I'm not only going to be able to maintain the changes, but I'm still going to be able to make some really good progress during this 60 or 90 day period where starts with Halloween and goes all the way through.

[Tommy Welling]
The, you know, the new.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
Year hangover, right? Where people start to come back out of their shells in the second and third weeks of January when life gets back to normal and vacations are over and all that kind of stuff. So or.

[Tommy Welling]
Maybe after Valentine's Day or maybe then spring break or maybe it all just.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
Kind of day. What do you have in the spring? Yeah. Or that vacation we're taking. Right. So I also want to give a shout out to everyone because I know we talk a lot about the holidays. So if you are not celebrating with family, if you are flying solo, if you've had loss or grief around this time of the year, and that's something that pulls you back and there's sadness or emotions that come with that, I really want to encourage you to do something for you because you are worth it that this journey does not need to be done alone.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
Go to our Facebook community group, drop some posts, listen to the podcast, send us an email. The Facebook community group is an awesome place to go because it's all people of like mind in the fasting lifestyle. So we also want you guys to know that you are connected. You are connected, right, in this process because isolation is one of those things that can further that emotional connection with food.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
So we really you guys to know that as well. And Tommy, as we wrap up today's conversation, tomorrow is the last the start tomorrow like yeah in 24 hours. Okay or approximate whenever this gets released, right? Yeah. Tomorrow is the start of the last seven day fasting lifestyle challenge of 2022. Okay. So, so today is December six. Tomorrow is December 7th.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
We are starting at 11 a.m. inside of the group and yes, I am dangling the carrot. I have no shame in my game. We want you guys to feel supported and to get results and not push it off until after the beginning of the year. So this is your chance, if any of this resonated with you, if you've had these thoughts, if Thanksgiving went great or didn't you want to continue the momentum or you want to start it, now is the absolute time head to the show notes, click the link.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
It'll bring you to the registration page every single day, will be live in the group will be answering questions. We have resources, recipe packs, fasting schedules and incredibly bring you inside of our private VIP coaching group where you are. You are with people that have reached their goals, are maintaining their goals all the way back to beginners and everything in between.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
We're in there live multiple times a week, but during the challenge, literally every single, twice a day we go live and then we have a watch party and we are with you every step of the way. So I don't want you to miss out on this opportunity, Tommy. And hopefully today's conversation will be actionable for most of you.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
So, Tommy, as always, appreciate the conversation. Sir, we are going to see everyone that's listening right now that takes the action. All right. That little decision to go, click the link and sign up. We'll see you in the group tomorrow at 11 a.m. If not, absolutely.

[Tommy Welling]
Make it a great holiday season.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
Exactly. All right. Happy holidays. Merry Christmas. Holidays. Thanks, Christmas. See?

[Tommy Welling]
So you've heard today's episode and you may be wondering, where do I start? Head on over to V fasting for life dot com and sign up for our newsletter where you'll receive.

[Dr. Scott Watier]
Fasting.

[Tommy Welling]
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[Dr. Scott Watier]
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