How long can you do intermittent fasting?

When you start intermittent fasting, you may be wondering how long you’ll need to do it.

But… before you can answer that question, you need to ask – and answer – the question:

Why do you want to do intermittent fasting?

This is an important place to start. And, once you answer that question, ask yourself why you want to do whatever you answered. And then repeat… until you can no longer answer the question.

Here’s an example:

Q: Why do you want to do intermittent fasting?

A: I want to lose 10 pounds.

Q: Why do you want to lose 10 pounds?

A: I want to look good with my shirt off.

Q: Why do you want to look good with your shirt off?

A: I want to look good with my shirt off because I’m going on vacation to the beach in 9 weeks.

Here I would shift the line of questioning and now ask:

Q: Then what happens – after you go to the beach in 9 weeks?

A: I want to keep the weight off and still look good.

Q: Why do you want to still look good?

A: It makes me feel better about myself to have the weight off.

Q: Why do you need to feel better about yourself?

A: Because it gives me more confidence.

Q: Why do you need more confidence?

A: So that I can ask for a raise and promotion at work.

A: So that I can talk to that beautiful woman in HR.

I think you get the idea. What you’re often going for is a feeling. But you don’t want to just meet your goal of losing 10 pounds and then stop there.

Sure, you can practice fasting and lose 10 pounds in 9 weeks. No problem.

But…

You should think of the bigger picture.

What do you want to look like after the 9 months and vacation on the beach? That is…

Do you want to keep the weight off?

Of course you do. So why would you stop intermittent fasting?

You can make intermittent fasting a part of your life.

This is what’s great about intermittent fasting. You find a general practice that works for you and then you stick with it.

It could be as little as fasting for just 13 hours overnight.

Or you can eat just one meal a day.

It’s totally up to you. You will see and feel the results – so you know what is and isn’t working for you.

So. Once again, to answer the question:

How long can you do intermittent fasting?

You do it FOREVER. That is, you make it a part of your life.

It’s as simple as that.

One quick note before I let you go…

You should NOT make losing weight your goal.

I recommend against you making losing weight a goal!

Why?

I know that I used losing weight in the example above…simply because this is what so many (too many!) people say.

I just want to lose 10 to 15 pounds.

That’s a terrible goal because it leads to crash dieting and chronic calorie restriction.

Your goal is NOT to lose weight.

Your goal is for better body composition.

That means that your goal is to BURN FAT and BUILD MUSCLE.

Guess what happens when you diet and lose weight.

What happens to your lean body (as in muscle) mass?

You lose it! And what happens when you lose muscle?

Sure, you lose weight. But you won’t look better naked because you still have unwanted fat!

And your metabolism will slow down, meaning that it’s now easier for you to gain even more weight (fat) than you lost!

That’s all you get – for now.

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