OR, ==> CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE EPISODE.
Yesterday I spent the whole day in a recording booth talking into a long stick with a mushy piece of foam on the end and I was doing this because some company paid me a (let’s be frank) ungodly sum of money (which I happily accepted) to read my own book. I told them starting out, I said, look fellas, no offense, but I’m not a professional voice actor, OK? But they said that didn’t matter because they’ve listened to my podcast and thought I should be the person to narrator–or narrate, whatever the word is–the audiobook, and I said alright well its gonna cost ya and you’re also going to have to book me at a pet friendly hotel because I can’t go anywhere without my beloved wife. They said that would be fine.
So I’ve been in Michigan these past few days in a little town called “Grand Haven.” It’s a fine town and the person in the lobby of the hotel was very amenable though I didn’t particularly care for the way he styled his hair; made him look sort of like a fish. I actually told him that, I said, you know, I like you, I like you a lot, but the way you style your hair makes you look like a fish, has anybody ever told you that? He said actually nobody had ever mentioned that before but that he’d take it into consideration. I told him I thought it was funny how nobody ever thought to bring that up since the first thing I thought as soon as I walked in was boy does that guy looks like a fish! Anyway, he seemed grateful for my advice and said if I needed anything else during my stay to just come back to the front desk and ask. All that said the main topic I would like to talk to you about today is fasting and specifically alternate day fasting.
The idea behind alternate day fasting is pretty easy to explain: Every other day you just don’t eat, or eat significantly less than you would otherwise. Now there have been a number of studies around this approach which show it has peculiar benefits. First, it achieves significant weight loss for any fat person who follows it. So much so, in fact, that I wish I had known about this back when I was a fat person myself; probably would have saved me a lot of time. Second, it produces no adverse effects in people and actually makes them healthier. One study showed no detectable metabolic “slow down” from alternate day fasting, along with an increase in this stuff called BDNF (brain derived neutropic factor) which my neuroscientist friends tell me is very important for cognition and cellular regeneration and whatnot.
I guess what is most interesting about alternate day fasting is how good the adherence is. Because on paper you would think this is something probably nobody could stick to but then in practice it seems like almost anybody can be successful with it. I think part of this is that it’s actually easier for a lot of people to abstain from eating completely than to moderate. I know this is true for me. If I eat a little, then I eat a lot, but if I just have, say, a little bit of chicken broth or some coffee or tea I can go the whole day like that and while I may get a little hungry it’s still fairly easy to get along. But if I start nibbling and munching, then yeah no way. Then I’m going to need a proper meal.
Fasting has always been attractive to me and is something I’ve used myself and with clients to great success. It is also very convenient. For example, all of yesterday when I was in that stupid recording booth I just didn’t eat anything. This made the process very efficient and the audio engineer kept asking if I wanted a snack and I kept telling him no. He probably thought I was some sort of space alien who lived off fluorescent light.
But back to the protocol. I’ve actually been experimenting with a few versions of alternate day fasting with myself and clients and the results have been quite astonishing. But in the most basic form the idea is something like this: Eat one day, and then don’t eat the next. You just abstain from food and have only non-calorie containing liquids like water or coffee. Broths would also be fine to keep electrolytes balanced. And you just repeat that process for however long you like, maybe even forever. I know there are cultures that use alternate day fasting on the regular, like people who live on islands and whatnot; it’s just normal to not eat every other day in some of those places. Plus the studies validate this by showing there are many benefits to doing so without any real negatives. You just lose weight and lose it quickly and get healthier. Does that mean alternate day fasting easy? No, but again the adherence levels to such a plan are really very impressive–just as good, if not better, than most conventional forms of calorie control.
Anyway, that’s about all I’ve got to say about that, at least for now Leave a comment if you like. I have to go back into the booth again.
Strong ON!
– Pat
PS – Here’s a secret “backdoor” link to enroll in my 5 Day Fat Flush. The cost is $27, and the plan arrives Monday for anybody who joins.
Joseph J. says
If the author is still alive and kicking, I actually prefer that they narrate their own audiobook, so good on you Pat! It’s the new hip thing.
Pat Flynn says
I’ve had a number of people express a similar feeling. Apparently it *is* the hip new thing. Thanks, Joseph.