Ep. 207 - Fasting Resolutions for Health in 2024 | Strength, Cardio, & Heart Rate Variability | Fasting, fitness, & energy for your unique needs | How to make your goals more motivating | Playing the “long game” with your fasting lifestyle | Fasting Challenge | Nutrisense CGM

Uncategorized Dec 12, 2023

 

***JOIN THE MASTER YOUR FASTING CHALLENGE THAT STARTS DECEMBER 13, 2023!***

- Want to LOSE weight BEFORE the holiday season ramps up, while enjoying food guilt free? 

- Want to get the SCALE moving and master your fasting habits to end the year strong?

- Ready to start 2024, having already LOST weight and with massive momentum??

- New to fasting or want to get back on track? Need to break that plateau? Leverage the holiday season that is upon us, and JOIN below!

We'll teach you how to FAST to LOSE FAT for good, and use 'fast cycling' to achieve uncommon results! Join us on DEC 13th for the Master Your Fasting Challenge!  REGISTER HERE! Click the Link for DATES, DETAILS, and FAQs!

DECEMBER 13TH CHALLENGE REGISTRATION LINK



Nutrisense CGM LINK to Discount  - Get $30 off and one-month free dietician support with the PROMO CODE “FASTINGFORLIFE” www.nutrisense.io/fastingforlife

 

Get your FREE BOX OF LMNT hydration support for the perfect electrolyte balance for your fasting lifestyle with your first purchase here!

 

 

FREE RESOURCE - DOWNLOAD THE NEW  BLUEPRINT TO FASTING FOR FAT LOSS!

  1. Learn how to RAMP UP into longer fasting windows!
  2. Gain insights into the non-weight loss benefits of fasting!
  3. Personalize your own fasting schedule and consistent FAT LOSS results!
  4. Get answers to what breaks a fast, how to break a fast, and tips and tricks to accelerate your fasting wins!

 

THE BLUEPRINT TO FASTING FOR FAT LOSS DOWNLOAD

 

In today’s episode, Dr. Scott and Tommy guide listeners through a shift in perspective from traditional weight loss to a holistic approach to health. They emphasize the significance of defining health beyond the scale, focusing on cardiovascular fitness, strength, and overall well-being. The role of fasting in achieving sustainable health goals and recommend tracking activities of daily living as an alternative to scale obsession. Encouraging a personalized approach, connecting fasting, fitness, and long-term well-being as the year concludes.

 

Get 30% off a Keto-Mojo blood glucose and ketone monitor (discount shown at checkout)! Click here!

 

Let’s continue the conversation. Click the link below to JOIN the Fasting For Life Community, a group of like-minded, new, and experienced fasters! The first two rules of fasting need not apply!

 

Fasting For Life Community - Join HERE

 

New to the podcast and wondering where to start? Head to the website and download our  Fast Start Guide, 6 simple steps to put One Meal a Day Fasting (OMAD) into practice!

 

Get our NEW sleep guide here!

SLEEP GUIDE DIRECT DOWNLOAD

 

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please tap on the stars below and consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it helps bring you the best original content each week. We also enjoy reading them!

 

Articles For Reference

https://medium.com/beingwell/break-free-from-the-scale-3-better-fitness-benchmarks-30547906eec1

https://news.gallup.com/poll/467696/seven-americans-likely-set-goals-2023.aspx

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26277879/

https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/12/3/372

 

Fasting For Life Ep. 207 Transcript


Hello. I'm Dr. Scott Watier.

And I'm Tommy Welling.

And you're listening to the Fast
and for Life podcast.

This podcast is about using fasting
as a tool to regain

your health, achieve ultimate wellness,
and live the life you truly deserve.

Each episode is a short conversation
on a single topic

with immediate, actionable steps.

We cover everything from fat

loss on health and wellness
to the science of lifestyle design.

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.

Hey everyone, just want to hop
on real quick before we get into today's

episode and let you all know that
the final master fasting challenge of 2023

is coming up on December 13th
through the 19th.

That is right.

Perfectly placed
in between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

And we want to give you additional support
and encouragement this time of year

because no one likes to go off the rails
for a couple of months

and then come back in January going,
Oh man, I did it again.

And where there is no guilting or shaming
or wherever you are on your journey,

we want to meet you where you're at
and make this the best

holiday season when it comes
to your health and weight loss goals.

So if you want to end 2023
with massive momentum

and you want to start 2020 for ahead
of the game, then join us on December 13th

through the 19th for our final holiday
version of our Master.

Your fasting challenge.

Head to the show notes, click the link
and we'll see you on the inside.

Hey Ron,
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,
Tommy Welling.

Good afternoon, sir.

Hey, Scott,
how are you doing? Fantastic, my friend.

Excited for the challenge
that starts tomorrow.

Drum roll. Oh, that's terrible.

I don't want to bang on my desk
and make the microphone vibrate.

Excited. Last minute.

Larry's last minute. Lucy's
speaking to you.

Speak at me.

Come on in. The water's warm.

Head to the show notes. Click the link.

Last seven days, master
your fasting challenge of the year,

strategically positioned right in between

Thanksgiving and Christmas
before the New Year.

This is when we found that
people need more support than ever.

This is when I felt asked
the most in my weight loss journey.

Pre fasting too. Yes.

So come on in, check it out.
Head to the shownotes.

Click the link.

Tommie, today's conversation,
we want to head back to some of

the big picture basics
as we transition from 2023 to 2024.

We did this last year as well.

We launched our new blueprint
to fasting to fat loss

in January of last year,
which has been really incredible.

That's a free PDF.

You can head to the show notes, click

the link for that, will zoom
it over to your inbox, your email inbox.

But as we transition
to the end of the year,

this is when the pressure increases
the opportunity.

It increases the stigma around our health
and our diet and our weight loss,

all of that stuff in that dieting culture,
weight loss culture comes to mind.

We have a fasting lifestyle.

We want to think completely opposite
of that construct, right?

We want this to be an empowering,
simplified version.

You want to show up fasting for life,
aptly named, right?

Gave you and I our lives back,
improved our,

you know, our labs, reduced our weight,
increased our decrease.

For me, my undiagnosed prediabetes,
asthma, allergies, COPD for you

we really want to go big picture here
as we transition

in sets of intention for 2024
and this is for us the season to do it.

This is when you plan, right?

If you don't plan, plan to fail, right?

That's a cliche because it's true.

So we're going to get into this
big picture defining health

and then looking at how to break free
from the scale and really focus

on some better fitness and activity
benchmarks and how fasting fits into that

and how some of the pitfalls with fasting
can kind of go make it more difficult.

And we'll talk about exercise, etc.

But this is a really cool
article written by Michael Hunter, M.D.

Publishing being well,
and this was back in October,

and it really just started
a cool conversation between you and I.

So we'll get into that in just a second.

Just want to
welcome in all the new listeners.

If you are coming to the podcast now,
perfect timing, right?

We're going to set the stage,
hit the ground running.

You want to hear more about our story

and how fasting transformed our lives
and why we come to you each and every week

with a fasting related episode
or lifestyle application of fasting.

Head back.

What's in episode
one for all the OGs continuing to listen?

You're on this journey with us.

We're going to continue to show up.
We've got no plans in stopping.

We only have plans of increasing
to help people pull you in starting

the diet and weight loss mentality.

I'm trying to get there and pull you
out of the diabetes and obesity epidemic

that we currently have here in the States

and across the world and empower
you to know that you do have a choice.

You can break free from that stubborn

little piece of plastic metal or glass
that's on the floor in your bathroom.

Yeah, literally just measures
the gravitational force of the earth

on your body.
That's what it is. It's a number.

But with that number comes
a lot of emotion and feeling.

And that is why I love this conversation
about breaking

free from the stale
three better fitness activity benchmark.

So, Tommy let's let's dive in.

Yeah it's it's so easy to just say, okay,
that's how I kind of define my goals.

What's your biggest goal for the year
for your health?

Well, it's, you know, oftentimes
it's a weight loss goal.

And you know what?

We need to or we need you to pull down
some stats on that because I'm sure that

weight loss or financial goal,
it's got to be one of those.

Yeah.

I mean, it's got to be like
seven out of ten plus, you know,

I don't know for New Year's resolutions,
I don't know how many times I did it,

but it's kind of the crazy train
when you're kind of defining

your overall health by one single number,
it's really not that simple.

It's also not worth having the scale
like define your day

or your mindset or your quarter
or your year.

You know, based on this one number,

if it's an important goal,
then great, let's go after it.

But at the same time,

let's let's have

some other better indicators that we're
kind of measuring ourselves by as well.

And then work fasting into that.

So you're talking about 80%

health and fitness goals?

Yeah, 70, 69, 70% financial goals,
and then 60% personal development

or career goals.

So, yeah, I mean, let's go keep going.

I was just I just had to look it
up. Incredible.

That was from a Gallup poll.

It's so easy, so.

Well,
you know, like your overall fitness, like,

you know, cardiovascular fitness
to, you know, strength, your ability

to move your own body
in a way that feels unencumbered

and it feels like you are free to do so
and to do the things that you want to do

is like an important starting point,
because when we hear the word fitness

or we hear exercise or strength
training, oftentimes

we go to like pictures of the gym
and very heavy

weights and very rigorous exercises
and things like that.

Lots of cardio
Biggest Loser type classes for sure,

expensive machinery and,
you know, needing access and memberships

and canceling these memberships,
you know, maybe in February or March.

Yeah, if they let you.

So all of these things can actually be
a deterrent

or a detractor for going after these
things are very important.

Fitness is very important

and it's should be part of your definition
of health.

And, you know,

we talk a lot in the challenges
about how to work in your fasting

with your exercise and your fitness
and defining fitness as well,

because these are important
levers to pull.

But at the same time,

a lot of times we have kind of a mixed up
definition of some of these things

just because of like diet, culture
and gym culture and things like that.

We don't have to be at a gym to be fit
or to be working on our fitness.

And we don't have to be training for
something in particular to have fitness

as one of our overall, like, right
pillars of health, right, Right.

And I think it's interesting that we said

included, would do the same thing.

But with the fasting lifestyle, you know,
we really want to shift that mindset

from the on off
to the lifestyle component, right.

And that just takes repetition.

And I really feel like this book begins
with the incorrect definition of health.

Right?

So you mentioned this
and I want to start there

because when I started fasting, I was
and I know this is similar to you as well,

it was like I woke up
and I was the overweight,

not massively overweight,
but I had the visceral fat

belly from my years of powerlifting
and I was doing the macros and calorie

counting and tracking and, you know,
and nutrition challenges and exercising

measuring and doing all of those things.

Right.

But the reality is,
when I came to fasting and, you know,

you shared with me
what you had been doing,

I was like, yeah,
I did some intermittent fasting.

But then I really started looking
at fasting from a different perspective.

I was like,
Wait a minute, this is a simple fire.

This is a life giver, right?

And when I started fasting,
I was doing it to get healthy again

because my labs had started to look off
and I was tired all the time

and I wasn't as great of a husband
as I could be,

and I wasn't as productive as work,
and I was trying to sneak in naps

so I could have energy during
the witching hour to play with my kids.

Yeah, me too.

So this definition of health
is this thing that lives often.

Peter Pans never,
never land in the future.

It's like, Well,
I don't want to have Alzheimer's.

I want to prevent disease. Right?

But in the now
you don't have an anchor to that, right?

So fasting is a way to stack the deck
in your favor to create long term

sustainable habits to get you results,
because fasting can do that very quickly.

And it comes to me

back to this definition of health,
like what is the definition of health?

And I used to ask this when I would do
these lectures, weekly lectures for years

when I was in clinical practice
and I would say,

okay, I would put the word health
up on the board and say, All right,

what is the definition of health?

And nine times out of ten
people would say, I have no pain.

My bloodwork looks good, right?

Those types of
I have no physical ailments, right?

I'm able to live my life. Right.

And the reality is,
when you look at the definition,

it's the overall condition of an organism
or a person at any given time.

So it's Merriam-Webster
of being sound in body, mind or spirit,

especially free from physical disease
or pain.

Mm hmm.

Right.

It's a general condition of the body,
a condition

in which someone or something
is thriving or doing well. Right.

And if you look at the World Health
Organization definition, health

is a state of complete
physical, mental and social well-being

and not merely the absence of disease
or infirmity.

Yeah, it's not that because, number one,

yeah, it has an emphasis on
not just no disease, Right.

I like
I like that as as kind of a second part.

Hold on.

So guess what?

No disease for me.

I had a couple of labs that were off.

I had these day to day symptoms,
this fatigue, the extra visceral fat

I was doing, the eat less move
more consistently for year after year

after year after year after year.
Yeah, right.

So I didn't have any disease yet,
but I was absolutely a pre-diabetic

when I got my fasting insulin tested
and it was 22.

Disease was not defined in the right way

that set your individual circumstances
at the time, correct?

Yeah.

So, you know,
when you think about not having disease,

but you have like these,
you know, physical well-being.

Right.

And just going back

to what I was talking about before, as far
as going about your daily life in a way

that,
you know, feels like I'm able to thrive,

not just survive,
but I'm able to thrive in my my day to day

activities means that everyone's
going to have a different level

of desired fitness,
and you don't have to have a six pack or,

you know, large muscles
in order to be at a good fitness level.

If that's one of your goals,

that great, that can be worked
into a fasting lifestyle as well.

But if your goal is to do activities
of daily living better or more easily,

or to have higher levels of energy
to play with your kids or your grandkids

or take a hike,
or do whatever it is, recreational stuff

that should be woven into your definition
of your own personal health.

And then reverse engineer will go through,
okay, how do I actually integrate

my fasting lifestyle with that
and with those goals?

I love a good goal.

I just don't like to be aiming

at the wrong target like a single number
on the scale as defining

my overall trajectory
for health and wellness.

Yeah, and it's interesting because I love
listening to like, you know, Dr.

Peter Attia and the such and the like,
I should say,

when he talks about grip strength,
being able to do a dead hang

for 2 minutes doing able to do your body
weight and farmer's character, right.

Like not can I go run a mile right
not the president's fitness tests

that we did back in the day in school
or just how much do you bench.

Yeah.

Can you stretch
and put your fingers past your toes?

Right.

So I love the concept of this conversation
from Dr.

Hunter where he talks about three
better fitness benchmarks,

because I worked in clinical health
care for a while

and if you lose your health
or you get diagnosed

or you have a knee issue or a joint issue
or something or a disease process,

then you spend your time, effort, energy,
money, doctor's office visits,

medicines, protocols,
trying to get your health back, Right?

Yeah.

So this idea that we need to stay moving,
right.

So if you look at the centenarian
population in Okinawa,

most dense in the world,
what do they do? They walk everywhere.

They move, right?

So movement is key.

My grandmother, she stopped walking.

She stopped driving in her fifties
and her health steadily declined.

Yeah, she stopped moving.

My dad sick, suffering insulin,
diabetic, 15 medications.

He stopped moving. He was sedentary.

They're saying now, being sedentary
is worse than smoking in terms of your

mortality risk. So he stopped moving,
couldn't get the weight off.

You stuck use all these meds.

Now when he comes to visit,
I don't have a to do list for him.

When the grandma and grandpa come down,
I don't have it to do this big enough.

I can't stop. I can't get him to sit down.

He's out there to energize the a cul
de sac is run into the hardware store.

He's climbing the ladder.

He's in the attic.

I'm like, This is what I'm talking about.

And my mom's always done that, right?

Can't keep up with her.

But like, this movement, this fitness,
this activity component, right,

is where we really want to focus over the
you know, when we go through

these three different benchmarks
that we're going to talk about. Yeah.

So when we're talking about actual
just physical activity, like,

I think it's important to to remember
like,

you know, we've had a few conversations
about trackers,

different activity trackers,
because that can be one thing.

We see a lot of people
with Apple watches and Fitbits and

and all of these kind of things.

But and we've talked about

how they can be inaccurate
and how 10,000 steps is not the Holy Grail

and you know, reviewed
some of the research on that.

I just like the fact
that there is a reminder of, hey, you know

what, staying active like you just talked
about is so important.

I remember
there was a book back in the day,

it was called Spark, and it was about the
the connection between your movement

specifically, you know, walking

or running your cardiovascular,
you know, just moving your body

and the health of your brain,
your cognitive function, you know,

pushing off things like Parkinson's
and Alzheimer's and all of these

these kind of things that were just,
you know, huge.

And this was the book
was probably written 20 years ago.

But just a gentle reminder
that movement is important to you

and a number that you can quickly look at,

whether it's on your phone or on a watch
or on a different wearable like that.

I think it's big and it's not that
it has to be that this one number defines

you just like the scale.

It's not like it's
a holy grail of a number of weights.

I say it weights a problem
because we know what comes

with it carrying weight year after year
like I was doing.

It's a problem.

The United States, 75% of the population
is overweight or obese, 40%

in the category of obese.

More obesity
in kids than ever before. Right.

So we're not saying that
it doesn't matter,

but it's it shouldn't be the sole focus
and the attachment to your identity.

Right? Of course, for sure.

Neither should that Apple Watch.

You know that
that number of steps that I took today.

Oh, don't even get me started.
I have a woop. Now shout out.

Come on, let's go get on board.

But my wife, like,

she would like like when she first got it,
I was like, Oh, she's a data head.

I'm like, Oh, my God, stop.

Yeah.

And I find myself doing that
sometimes, too.

So it's a data. It's a tool, right?

Yeah.

We're closing the rings
like my wife will say that for her.

Apple Watch, like, Oh,
I close all my rings today. No, I don't.

I mean, it's great. It's a reminder.
Yeah, Yeah.

But just the fact that, you know,
it's important to you and it's a visual

reminder is like one of the problems
in our modern, you know,

overwhelmed with technology, kind of,
you know, a state of being is the fact

that it's easy
to lose sight of what's important to us

because we have so many different things
going on.

So a little bit of a reminder
throughout the day kind of creates

a little bit of of self accountability
and keeps it front of mind.

And that's huge for sure. Right.

And here's the thing is we think Biggest
Loser, oh, I got to work out to be fit.

I got to do these crazy long workouts.

I got to go get five miles in. Right.

It's really physical activity
versus vigorous exercise.

Like we know that non exercise activity,
thermogenesis, the neat category

of closet burn on a day to day
basis is from this category

of activities of daily living, Right?

So we want to get out of this, you know,

body mass index weight scale thing,
not saying again, it's not important.

That was just a metric to be able
to quantify data in populations.

Right.

So when we talk about this fitness,
we want to be looking at the measurements

that we get from those wearables, Right.

So resting heart rate,
we just had a question

from one of our coaching clients was like,

Hey, what's the ideal resting heart rate
might lower, right?

Yeah.

So 40 to 50, right?


There isn't a time when outside
of an emergency situation right?

So you want to see your resting heart
rate lower because that shows

that your heart is healthier
when you're not doing any activity.

And then time you do your whole set.

Yeah, more efficient. Right.

And then the second thing
is the heart rate variability,

which is considered
a sign of good cardiovascular health.

And we've talked about a couple
of fasting studies in regards to HIV.

Yeah, we have

because we know that as we are better
and more consistent with fasting,

that it's better
for your resting heart rate

and thus your heart rate variability
as well.

To go from a 16 hour fast
to an 18 hour fast to a 20 hour fast.

And so it's it's cool to see that
as we get better with our fast.

And it's not that you're next
longest fast is the holy grail

or that it needs to be ultra long
but understanding that hey, I might not

have any benefit at a ten or 12 hour fast,
but I might have a benefit

at a 16 hour fast
or increasing that a little bit to an 18

or 20 hour fast might have an even better
benefit on my overall health picture.

And then the fact that
if I'm using like, let's say,

like a wearable to remind me
that movement is important,

I can structure some of that movement
around my fast and breaking my fast too.

So that's going to

support my overall insulin goals that lead
to my overall health goals as well.

So we can work these pieces together
like pieces of a puzzle,

and they serve as various reminders
throughout the process

that kind of help us
stay focused on these things

so that we can take a measurement
like heart rate variability or resting

heart rate and go, Yeah, you know what?

I don't care about, let's say the six pack
and I don't demonize a six pack

or anything, but it's such an easy
like I ain't got one,

I still got a few pounds of visceral fat
that's in the way right.

Yeah.

But you know, would be more important
to actually think about long time.

Right? That's, that's awesome.

But you know, heart rate variability
is something that I could measure

and then I could say, you know what,
This is highly correlated to overall

health and longevity and quality of life
lifespan and health span.

So let me work on moving the needle there
rather than just, you know, hey, can I

can I see the number on the scale
move a little bit more?

I mean, both would be better,
but let's expand our thinking on

what would be a good goal
to shoot for here

as well as we kind of
transition into 2024.

So that couple of facetimes

you just mentioned,
we have the research articles pulled up

and it was pressing heart rate decrease
by anywhere from 5 to 8

or nine beats per minute in the different
fasting groups, right?

So that's people like oh five.

That's not statistically significant
according to research.

I'm like, or you know what,

if you're a pre-diabetic on the
A1 sea range and you get into the non

pre-diabetic range
and that's only point one difference.

That's a big difference. Yeah, right.
So just really sitting there.

Yeah. Right. You That's right.

It's significant to you. Right.

So that was one of the studies
and then there was another study

for the heart rate variability component
that showed reduced HIV.

So you want to have a higher heart rate
variability showing cardio health

overall cardio metabolic health. Yeah.

So a reduced HIV was associated
with insulin resistance and lower

insulin sensitivity.

So we're talking about future blood
sugar issues and metabolic problems.

Right?
So this was a non overweight individuals.

I can tell you in my heart rate is lower
and I see it like that next day.

I know that when I have a bad night's
sleep that my cravings

are going to be higher,
that my blood sugar maintenance

and management
is going to be less that day.

I can feel it. Yeah, right.

So when we're talking about this fitness,
you know, fitness, yes.

We want to get in.

We'll talk about the fitness here
in just a minute.

But looking at these metrics, right,
to track these in terms of long term

health, sustainability or viability,
and if you are going to be focusing on the

things that move the needle with fasting
that get this stuff to move, guess what?

The weight is going to come off too. Yeah.

And like you just tied it back to where

that sleep and that heart rate variability
kind of predicted

the fact that your cravings
were going to be worse the next day.

Well, that's where your overall health
kind of came to meet with.

How easy or how intuitive
your next fastest going to be, too.

And so it's cyclical in that way.

And that's that's important to remember
because so often, like I joined a gym

or I got on with my diet

and which tended to mean that I was on
with my exercise component as well.

But as soon as I got off with one,
the other one tended to follow

because I was I was linking them together,
but I was aiming in the wrong direction.

So if I can think about it like supporting
my overall health means that I'm going

to make my next fast a little bit easier
to get into, a little less like I'm,

I'm feeling like I'm restricting
or I'm frustrated or white knuckling it.

That's a really good thing.

And we talked about that
throughout the challenge as well,

because that's one of the things
like it can be easy to get off track

and then once I get off track,
it could be tough to get back on.

I totally forgot about continuing that.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So day five is
when we talk about this stuff now, day six

excuse me is when we talk about exercise
and it's a huge like firestarter, right?

It's like, sure, the benefit of exercise
is for cardio metabolic health,

overall health, it's

not the biggest needle mover
for weight loss because you're not burning

enough calories. Right.
Doing your typical workouts.

Now, building muscle increases, your
metabolic flexibility, your body's glucose

ability to process energy,
increases your instant sensitivity.

So absolutely.

But we get stuck in the Biggest Loser
type, no pain, no gain type workouts.

Right.

So I love the perspective
on this point, too,

was check your fitness
so hit your physical activity targets.

So I had mentioned a dead hand
or a farmer.

Carry the doc here in the article mentions
abdominal strength.

How long can you hold a plank right Arm
strength, endurance.

Because you mentioned this earlier.

Tommy is and I love this
because I use R.P,

which is the rate of perceived exertion
in my group when I track my peloton zone

training workouts.

Okay.

And it'll be like somedays I'm like, Man,
that was easy.

It was like a too.

And other days I'm like, Oh my goodness,

that was a 25 in the scale
only goes up to 15, right?

But if I look at the trends
on those journal entries,

since I've been doing that training,
they've come down.

I RPE has gotten easier until I retest
my zones and then it gets harder again.

Sure. Right.

That's like the calibration. Right? Right.

And you're like, well I don't need
I don't have this fancy stuff.

Great.

So listen,

can you walk up the stairs at your office

consistently
without getting out of breath?

Yeah.

Can you play with your kids
without feeling like the biggest thing

we hear in the challenges for me
is I can tie my shoes again

without getting falling off the bed
or feeling like I'm out of breath.

I can carry the groceries in more easily.

I can pick up my kids, I can,

you know, those those lifestyle type
things you don't need R.P.

rate of perceived exertion scales, right?

But it's like,
how does this check your fitness

so hit the daily physical targets
are weekly physical targets

and use those as a metric because again
if those move which also

when you're doing those long, harder type,
more strenuous type workouts

that can cause more hunger,
which can make fasting more difficult.

Yeah, sure.

So strategically planning for
that is also part of this equation.

Yeah, those are some great points.

And you know, when you're making this real
to you, to what you do every single day,

that's where this really starts
to become your own

individualized definition for
what is what is health to you.

And the really cool thing

that's not often talked about
is when you define it for yourself

and you make the variables important
to you and the outcome measurements

important to you.

That's where motivation starts
ramping up exponentially too,

because you take a number on the scale
like, Hey, I want to lose £20.

It's arbitrary.

Even if your doctor said
you absolutely had

to, it's still being like imparted
by somebody else.

And it's not based on a lot of things

that are deeply rooted
in an emotional response from you.

So it can be hard to like muster up

the motivation, right,
to like, kick in things in the high gear.

I'm the only person that said I'm going
to workout five days a week after work

and then I'm going to do it in the morning
and then the day gets away and is like,

Nah, that's right.

Oh, no, that's all right.

Tomorrow
I'll give it another go tomorrow for sure.

We want to shift our perspective here on
the application of this fitness component.

And we are not saying, yeah, exercise.

Yes. Building muscle. Yes, yes.

For cardiovascular and decrease mortality

risk, 100%
sedentary living is part of the problem.

It's tough
when you're in pain and you're overweight.

I'm speaking from experience
because it's harder

to want to do those things,
which is why it's hard to get moving.

Yeah, fasting can be so powerful
because you get that scale moving quickly.

You get some of the weight off
and decrease the inflammation.

And we've done, you

know, dozens of episodes on the non weight
loss related benefits of fasting.

So yeah, the final thought today
is really looking at,

you know, and breaking free from the scale
and putting fasting

and weight loss into perspective
is really looking at the ADL component.

And this is something that we had to track
when I was in clinical practice

because we needed to submit it
for insurance claims and never mind that,

but re exams and checkpoints of, hey,
we're trying to not

have you have knee surgery,
so how are those staircases doing?

And this falls into the category of what
we call activities of daily living.

We talked about this a little bit,
but tracking your ADLs

is a really great alternative
to weighing yourself, right?

So not just this flight of stairs, but,
you know,

maybe it's the time you can do the loop
around the green area for the walk.

Maybe it's, you know,
can you do the dad dating?

It's so hard and try to bring all
the groceries in in one trip,

you know, but just make it apply to you.

And these three things can really help
shift the focus away from the scale.

And what we want to do is shift it to,
more importantly, sticking to your fasting

timers, playing the long game,
putting health as the priority.

Yes, the weight is going to come off.

Yes, fasting can make that happen
more quickly too.

Yeah, You know, and I think
at a certain point of of mobility,

flexibility, all of these kind of things,
oh, God is going to act on the activity.

Right.

Activities of daily living might be
a really important starting point,

especially if you've been immobile
or inflexible

or, you know, had a hard time
getting around for a while.

That's a great place to start.

And then, you know,
working your way up through consistent,

you know, reminders
and self accountability.

We talked about the wearables, right?

And just just little things like that.

Combine those
with some consistency with your fasting

and then watch some of the improvements
they tend to stack over time.

And that's a really great process no
matter where you're kind of starting from.

So I think like taking your fasting
and the way you define your health

to the next level, like now in 2023,
or if you're listening to this in 2024,

it's the perfect time right now to do that
and expand your thinking for it.

Yeah,
you just took my takeaway from today.

I want to encourage
you guys this time of year.

Put you first. Keep voting for you, right?

If you need additional support.

That's why we do these challenges
this time of year.

Hop in, head to the shownotes,
click the link, check it out.

Let us know if you got questions.

It's typically
where people need the most support.

And this is just from our our experience
and now taking, you know, 5500 people

plus through that through the challenge
experienced.

It's really like
now is the time when the stress is higher,

the sleep is less,
the more food opportunities are there.

Start
putting some of these big rocks in place

because then the smaller rocks in the sand
can fill in when you start the year

with some momentum.

So true.

Really want to just go big picture
here, long term health vision.

It definitely relates
to our journey. Tommy.

So I just really hope that you guys
can take

a couple of things away
from this conversation, shift that focus,

keep that momentum going,
and we're going to encourage you

to step outside of your comfort zone

and hop on in
for the final challenge of the year.

So tell Tommy, as you wrap up today.

Appreciate the conversation
as always, sir.

Thanksgiving is in the rearview mirror.

Christmas is right around the corner.
So happy holidays.

Merry Christmas to all of you. Yes.

We'll be back with episodes throughout.

Close

Get started today!

The Fast Start Guide takes the guesswork out of using intermittent fasting. Your guide will be immediately delivered to your inbox, giving you the confidence to get started now!