This is the story of one of my clients. Janet, a woman in her late 60s, who had slowly gained weight over the years and she was feeling very tired when she contacted me. We had an online meeting to explore options for improving her quality of life. Her goals were to lose the belly fat she had gained, feel more energetic and improve her overall health. It was fantastic to see her change. She looks amazing now!
How did she manage to burn that belly fat and come down to healthy waist measures? I created a personalised plan based on Janet’s health status and her goals. The plan included 6 weeks of fasting therapy with a healing anti-inflammatory diet, fasting schedule, daily exercises and deep breathing exercises. Fasting therapy involves food-fasting and pre-fasting, both are implemented to prepare the body for a longer fast (24-36h).
We had a start-up meeting and went through the plan, the course material and talked about challenges like Herxing. Herxing symptoms are common when detoxing. The unhealthier your lifestyle, the more severe symptoms you are likely to experience. Some of the common Herxing symptoms would be headache, feeling cold, pain in the lower back, smelly breath and itchy skin. These symptoms will pass.
We had a follow-up meeting a week into the course and Janet was doing ok but she was very tired and her lower back hurt a bit. These are normal detoxification symptoms. She pushed through and a week later again she felt much better. More energy and she enjoyed her morning exercise session. Janet's husband was also very supportive and was 100 % behind her every step of the way. He actually did most of the cooking for Janet. She slowly started to increase her fasting hours and in week 3 Janet managed her first 24h fast.
It takes a lot of willpower and determination to do a 24h fast, because although at this stage the body knows how to switch between using glucose as fuel to using fat as fuel (which most of us have plenty of). Many people have difficulty breaking the habit of constant eating. We have been programmed more or less, that we should eat three meals a day along with two snacks, and that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Who came up with this idea? It's highly likely that the food industry had something to do with it.
Another challenge during fasting therapy is eating enough of healthy fats. Without the healthy fats you will feel hungry and your body will not burn the fat you so desperately want to get rid of, which means you are not going to lose the weight or drop those dress sizes. I always ask my clients to keep a food diary in the client app, so that I can check if what they eat is sufficient. It is important to know that this is not a starvation diet, and a lot of times I see clients eating protein and veg and way too little fat. My client recipes have roughly around 70 % fat, 25 % protein and 5 % carbohydrates. That is another thing we have been told, Fat is harmful. Fat makes you fat. NO, eating healthy fats will help you lose weight and it will make you healthier.
Back to Janet. She passed fasting therapy with flying colours. She had reduced her waist size with a whopping 14 cm/5,5 inches in 6 weeks, and regained her energy and improved her quality of life.
6 months down the line and we still keep in touch. I get to hear and see more of Janet’s incredible journey. Janet continued eating healthy combined with intermittent fasting and she has now reduced her waist size with 23 cm/9 inches. Her family and friends love her new look and so do I. Thank you Janet for keeping me updated.
I know a lot of people are hesitant to fasting. There is a lot of false information circulating about fasting:
You can’t do a day's work while fasting
Fasting puts you in starvation mode and slows down your metabolism
Fasting is bad for your stomach
Fasting causes muscle loss
Even a majority of medical doctors say Intermittent fasting does not work. They obviously are living in the dark ages and haven’t read the science behind Intermittent fasting. How it can heal, rejuvenate and prevent certain diseases. I find that both sad and frustrating.
There is nothing to be hesitant or scared about. Not if you prepare yourself, know what to expect and train that fasting muscle by starting fasting slowly and safely. Listen to your body and trust the process.
NOTE! Fasting should not be done by seriously ill people, if you have or have had an eating disorder, if you are underweight, if you are pregnant or a nursing mother.