Janet Bond Brill - Intermittent Fasting For Dummies

1 Know yourself.After you do that, you can grasp what you need to change and be able to gauge how much you’ve changed. You’ll be figuring how to take a personal inventory and how to set SMART goals that I discuss in Chapter 2. Take baby steps and focus on achieving small goals every day.

2 Take away the knowledge in this book as power.Find the wisdom that for you is most relevant and leave behind the rest of the words that don’t help you.

3 Practice what you’ve read.Imbibe the principles and carry them out in your life. Fight back against procrastination and inactivity and vigorously apply the knowledge you have acquired.

Life is complicated, and intermittent fasting simplifies it. Food is expensive; with intermittent fasting, you save money. Shopping, cooking, and cleaning up meals is time consuming; intermittent fasting saves you time. These benefits are what make intermittent fasting so popular among the life hacker crowd. Life hacks are strategies or techniques adopted to manage one’s time and daily activities in a more efficient way. Adopting life hacks is all about eliminating life’s manifold frustrations in simple and ingenious ways. Take your first steps of change by hopping on the intermittent fasting bandwagon and start today to sooth your brain by mitigating some of life’s stress.

Chapter 2

IN THIS CHAPTER

Mapping out your personal weight history

Analyzing your reasons for starting intermittent fasting

Applying SMART goals

Using a toolbox to measure your progress

Creating your starting line

No lifestyle change program will work until you set a goal for success. Achievable goals serve as your road map markers for your entire lifestyle-change journey. Without these guides, you’re like a driver who hops in the car and starts driving without any idea of where he or she’s going.

But before you figure out how to set your goals, you need to begin by taking an honest self-inventory — a process that will toughen your resolve and help you succeed in your intermittent fasting lifestyle. With that information, you can summon the strength to keep taking steps forward and overcome the occasional roadblocks that life inevitably sends our way.

Having a firm grasp of your current weight and body composition is also very valuable information. Knowing where you are when you start can help you to track your progress as you incorporate intermittent fasting into your lifestyle.

This chapter is all about assessing where you are now and establishing where you want to go (your long-term health and fitness goals). Following one of the intermittent fasting plans that I discuss in Part 3can give you what you need to achieve your goals and stay healthy and fit for life.

If you want to lose weight from intermittent fasting, you first need to know what a healthy weight range is for you. With that information, you can better understand what your short-terms goals are (baby steps) and your long-term goals or healthy weight range (your finish line).

The benefits of losing weight aren’t just cosmetic. Getting to a healthy weight can remediate and prevent dangerous health conditions that contribute to a shorter life. You also get a self-esteem boost, another valuable benefit.

You may be okay with your current weight and simply want to hop on the intermittent fasting train for the additional health benefits derived from this eating pattern such as disease prevention and anti-aging effects. If so, feel free to skip to Part 3and dive right into an intermittent fasting plan that is right for you.

If you’re considering intermittent fasting, make sure you first consult your doctor. Intermittent fasting must be conducted under the watchful eye of your personal doctor if you have been previously diagnosed with a chronic disease. If you have an eating disorder, intermittent fasting absolutely isn’t allowed.

People come in all sizes and shapes, with different life experiences related to their personal health and fitness. Before you estimate what a healthy weight range is for you, you need to take several preliminary steps to help you get a clearer picture of what healthy weight range is right for you.

A fearless self-inventory and your weight history help you get to the root of your battle of the bulge. With this information, you can cut through past experiences and grasp the power that food has had over your life. If knowledge is power, then knowing yourself better helps you gain power over your eating habits.

The questions in this self-inventory also can help you realize that you can’t change history — but you can equip and strengthen yourself for the future. Look closely and honestly at your past efforts, challenges, and previous weight-loss success. Defining why you want to lose weight may help you stay motivated when complacency sets in.

Put yourself under a microscope and ask yourself these questions. Jot down your responses in your journal or notebook (refer to Chapter 23for more about journaling your intermittent fasting voyage).

Were you overweight as a child? If so, how did your parent(s) react?

Does your weight affect your self-esteem? If yes, describe how.

Does your weight or the scale number affect your mood? If yes, describe how.

Does your weight affect your relationships? If yes, describe how.

Do you reach for comfort food in times of stress? If yes, describe how and when.

Does fitting into clothes or not fitting into them affect your mood? If yes, describe how.

How many diets have you tried in your lifetime? Describe them.

If you lost weight in the past, were you able to keep it off? If yes, how?

If you lost weight in the past and gained it back, what were the circumstances?

If you overeat or binge eat, what triggers that behavior and what time of day does it occur?

What is the lowest weight that you have been able to maintain as an adult for at least several months? What were the circumstances?

When you were at a weight in your adult life that you were happy with? What was your activity level? What were the circumstances?

Has your doctor ever expressed concern about your weight? If yes, describe her conversation with you.

This inventory can help you be empowered to change your life. I encourage you to revisit your answers periodically during your intermittent fasting journey. Reading your life history as it pertains to your weight can be a powerful motivator to get you back on track, should an obstacle arise in your newfound lifestyle.