THIS WORKS

First, an update.

We were back at the ocean last month.

I kid you not, as we walked along the beach, day 1, my husband reaches down and picks up a portion of a sand dollar. And the muttering begins. 

His, not mine…

“I wonder if this beach has a lot of sand dollars.”

Now his head is in a perpetual downward position…always looking.

“Did you hear that bike go by? It’s probably crushing all the sand dollars…” 

I may have done an eye roll, but I just keep a small smile on my face and tune him out.

Do you know what I can’t tune out (when I’m home)? 

Our neighbors’ dog.

Well not the dog per se, but the dog’s people.

I’ve noticed this sort of thing among some other neighbors and their dogs, but it was probably true of me, too. It goes like this:

Family brings home a sweet puppy. We’ll call him, Jasper. All the other neighbors gather round and see sweet Jasper. We watch as the family lovingly takes him out and sets him in the grass to do “his business.” We hear such acclimations as, 

‘Good boy.’

‘Come here Jasper. Do you want a treat?’

‘Good boy’

‘Go tinky for Mommy.’

‘Sweet boy.’

The whole family is enthralled with Jasper.

Jasper can do no wrong. It’s a family love affair.

But as the years go by, there’s an edge to the family’s collective voice.

‘JASPER…POOP!’

‘JASPER…GET IN THE HOUSE.’

‘HURRY UP, JASPER!’

‘JASPER…POOP NOW.’

And so it goes. What started out with a sweet puppy who was so cuddly and cute and could do no wrong, has become a dog that seems (to the outside eye) to be a bother.

But whether you have a dog or not, we all do this to some degree….to ourselves. We may start out a new “mechanism” for weight loss or health/disease prevention with such kindness towards ourselves. We’re patient, learning new ropes. 

We’re hopeful. 

We’re excited.

But very soon, the tables turn. 

We become hard on self… and critical. Disappointment sets in. 

Thoughts of failure and futility. 

What just a short time ago held such promise, seems now to be a challenge and a mockery. You’re not getting the results you want, so there must be something wrong with the plan. By and large, for most diets, I would say this is true. And while success is probably just a little bit down the road, sticking to this diet for the duration of your life sounds daunting.

Been there….I get it. That’s why I don’t do (or recommend) diets. And this is why I believe in Intermittent Fasting (IF). You may say, “IF doesn’t work for everyone.” But I disagree. 

IF always works…and it’s always easy.  

‘Whoa…that’s bold Renee.’ 

Let me explain: The average American eats over the course of 15 hours. Cut that down to 12 and you’ve begun intermittent fasting. That was easy.

In 2 weeks, you can bring it down further and eat over 10 hours. This is still a pretty long eating window, but you’ve cut off 5 hours. Success!

Now you’re ready to go to an 8-hour window, let’s say, 11 am-7 pm. You may not be seeing a difference on the scale, but you notice you’re not as hungry as you used to be. Your blood sugar is stabilizing.  That’s IF!

Give it another 2 weeks and you’re eating from 1 pm-7 pm, a 6-hour window. Your scale may not move even now, but your tops don’t seem as tight. IF is at it again!

And at the is point, you’re in the sweet spot. Autophagy, the mechanism whereby your body gets rid of damaged cells and old proteins that cause disease, ramps up at fasting hour number 17. Another round of applause for IF!

People who tell me IF doesn’t work for everyone have not sat across from the women in my office and heard the stories. 

I almost gave up…but then my pants went on easier.

The scale hasn’t moved, but I feel lighter.

The chronic pain went away.

I wore a swimsuit for the first time in 8 years.

Does IF “working” always translate: Weight Loss? No

But it always produces change, both inside and outside of the body.

Don’t listen to the naysayers. IF works. 

As Gin Stephens likes to say, “It’s a health plan with a wide effect of weight loss.” 

I say, it’s good for you and makes you look and feel good. And if you’re frustrated with your pursuit of weight loss/health body, I say, “tweak it UNTIL it works.”

Not sure what that would look like for you?

Email me. I know we can figure it out together.

Talk soon,

Renee