I vividly remember one of the first times I tried intermittent fasting. I was lying face-down on our family room carpet hungry, thinking: when is this going to end?!? A quick phone call to my friend – the one who got me started on this fasting ‘fun’ – remedied the situation with a couple of tips.
If you’re new to intermittent fasting or have yet to incorporate this incredible tool into your healthy lifestyle, I’m excited for you!!! After reading this post, you’ll discover why most people fail with intermittent fasting and how you can integrate this health tool into your lifestyle with ease.
Don’t worry! Like my friend, I won’t leave you face-down on the floor in fasting defeat. As Jen Sincero says, “The only failure is quitting. Everything else is just gathering information.” So onward and upward, friend! Rise stronger and keep reading.
After reading this post, you’ll discover why most people fail with intermittent fasting and how you can integrate this health tool into your lifestyle with ease.
INTERMITTENT FASTING 101
Before diving into the pitfalls of intermittent fasting, let me quickly summarize what it is and why you should consider using it as a tool to reach your health goals.
Intermittent fasting is a timing method of when to cycle between eating and fasting. For example, most people fast while sleeping, break their fast with breakfast within an hour or two of rising, and stop eating within an hour or two of going to bed. In other words, they spread their eating throughout the day over roughly 12 or more hours.
Two scientifically supported ways to practice intermittent fasting are time-restricted feeding and whole-day fasting. With the former, you restrict your eating to eight hours per day and fast for the remaining 16 hours (often referred to as 16/8 intermittent fasting.) With whole-day fasting, you reduce your caloric intake for a full day or more.
If you’re scratching your head thinking why would I want to do such a thing, intermittent fasting has so many health benefits, but here are just a few:
1. Burn Fat
While fasting, your body uses up its stored energy and burns fat for fuel.
2. Detox
As you fast, cells release stored toxins which the liver and other organs detoxify.
3. Renew
Fasting also kick-starts a process that cleans up cellular debris and damaged cells to make newer, healthier cells. Hello, healthy aging!
So if intermittent fasting is so great for you, why isn’t everyone doing it? Let’s dive into three reasons why most people fail with this incredible health tool and how you can integrate intermittent fasting into your lifestyle with ease.
Two scientifically supported ways to practice intermittent fasting are time-restricted feeding and whole-day fasting. With the former, you restrict your eating to eight hours per day and fast for the remaining 16 hours (often referred to as 16/8 intermittent fasting.) With whole-day fasting, you reduce your caloric intake for a full day or more.
KNOW WHAT YOU WANT & WHY YOU WANT IT
Lying on the acupuncture table, the medical doctor asked if it’d be okay to add electrical stimulation to the needles (aka Electroacupuncture for Fertility). “YES!” I emphatically told her. She smiled and replied, “I love working with women to conceive; they’re willing to do whatever it takes!” So true. I was willing to do whatever it takes to bring our child into the world. I was crystal clear on the goal (a baby) and why I must achieve it (to love a child as a mother.)
Many fail with intermittent fasting because they lack clarity on what they want and why they want it. Most of the time, we’re crystal clear on what we don’t want. I don’t want to be fat. I don’t want to fail. I don’t want to pick up the phone and call that person. If you’re like me, you have a list of ‘don’t wants’ you can rattle off lickety-split.
The best tool I’ve used for clarity is called the 7-Level Deep Exercise. First, read 3 Keys to Getting the Results You Want, where I walk you through this soul-deep process. Then, please do it for yourself. When you finish, you’ll be crystal clear on why you MUST use intermittent fasting as a tool to reach your health goals.
Many fail with intermittent fasting because they lack clarity on what they want and why they want it. Most of the time, we’re crystal clear on what we don’t want. I don’t want to be fat. I don’t want to fail. I don’t want to pick up the phone and call that person. If you’re like me, you have a list of ‘don’t wants’ you can rattle off lickety-split.
USE A PROVEN-STRATEGY
When my youngest was about three years old, I was frustrated with my lack of progress after working out for a solid year to get my pre-baby body back. So I went on an evening walk with my husband to rehash my “lack of progress” issue for what felt like the millionth time.
I hired my husband to push me through more challenging workouts, fired him when I didn’t get the results I desired, re-hired him, and then fired him again! Thankfully he’s humble and forgiving. I’ve since found a personal trainer who’s helped me transform my workouts into results I love. Lesson learned: follow a proven system with an experienced guide.
Most people try intermittent fasting without using it as part of a system. Instead, Save Your Self Time, Energy, and Money with the proper tools, guide, and tribe. Nutritional tools support your body’s natural detoxification process so you don’t fall short of the fasting finish line. But even with the tools, it’s best to have a competent guide and an empowering tribe to inspire you back into action when you fall off-track (because life can be one big distraction.)
HARNESS THE POWER OF YOUR MIND
Humans are motivated by both pain and pleasure, but pain motivates us more than pleasure. We avoid pain like the plague! So the trick is to link pain to the right thing. Years ago, we discovered that gluten caused our daughter’s digestive dis-ease. Once she connected her pain to gluten, avoiding gluten became a heck of a lot easier. I have a vivid memory of her smiling surrounded by friends eating chocolate cake as I delivered her gluten-free pizza to a friend’s birthday party. It’s not always easy, but that moment made this Mama’s heart happy.
If you link pain to intermittent fasting, you’ll avoid it. Guaranteed. Instead, attach pain to staying the same – stuck with sticky pounds, low energy, digestive distress, or maybe it’s something else for you. Whatever your pain, blow it up big and place it behind you – like a stick jabbing you in the back to motivate you in the right direction – towards your desired goal.
You can also use pleasure to motivate you in the right direction by enlarging your desired goal and placing it in front of you – like a dangling carrot. I do this during killer workouts in my basement. I envision my husband and I hiking, biking, and exploring the most beautiful, profound destinations around the globe together. It keeps my eye on the prize – vibrant health, feeling confident with energy to be, do, and give my best self every day.
If you haven’t incorporated the intermittent fasting tool into your healthy lifestyle, maybe it’s time to clarify why you MUST routinely cleanse, use a proven strategy, and harness the incredible power of your mind. You can do it (without lying face-down on the floor in fasting defeat!) Pinky promise.
#WeAreInThisTogether for #HealthyChange
Rise stronger,
P.S. The only way to reap the benefits of intermittent fasting is to practice intermittent fasting. Yes, it takes discipline, but you’ve got choices: tip-toe or jump in with both feet. Discover Intermittent Fasting the Easy Way with a FREE 7-Day Reset. You’ll not only learn the proven strategy I follow with the exact products I use, but I’ll also share how I’ve beat routine cleansing into my lifestyle even when I’d rather go eat a bowl of ice cream.
About the Author: Dr. Sue
Sue McCreadie, MD (aka Dr. Sue), is a Pediatric Physician and Breakthrough Coach for Midlife Mamas. For over two decades, she’s helped thousands achieve vibrant health as a wellness expert. Bringing three daughters into this world, she lost four along the way, and crossed the pregnancy finish line a digestive–hormonal–emotional mess. But, over the following decade, she found a deeper meaning for miscarriages, reclaimed vibrant health, and grew emotional resiliency. Dr. Sue is obsessed with living her soulFULL purpose and helping other growth-minded Mamas do the same. She believes we are in this together to rise up, realize our dreams, and feel fulfilled in every facet of our lives.