From everything I have done, I have come across 3 SUREFIRE (non-surgical) methods to FAST fat loss. I'm talking results in less than a WEEK:
- Keto diet
- Very low calorie diet (VLCD)
- Fasting
I do not recommend #2. Study after study has shown VLCD's to work, but study after study has also shown that nobody can maintain their results with it in the long-run.
Going keto works. You can go full keto to lose the fat, and then scale it back to a low carb diet for maintenance.
However, I've discovered that #3, fasting, is both easier and quicker than going on the keto diet.
With the keto diet, you need to learn so much and there's so much work you need to do. With fasting, it GIVES you more time in the day, you don't have to learn about new recipes, or shop for new ingredients, and you can start right NOW.
Now, the reason I'm revisiting fasting with you, is because for the past month, as a weight loss experiment, I was doing Ramadan fasts alongside my Muslim friends and clients.
I found it extremely challenging at first.
I basically did 20 hour a day fasts every day for 30 days.
Unlike with traditional intermittent fasting, with these fasts you're not allowed to eat or drink ANYTHING. Not coffee, no low calorie snacks, not even water.
I read that the legendary Vince Gironda did long periods of fasting like this, I thought there had to be something there, something that's more beneficial than the standard types of intermittent fasting everybody is recommending these days.
The two most common forms of intermittent fasting recommended today are as follows:
- there's the 8:16 fast, where you have an 8 hour window to eat, and you fast for 16 hours. You may start your fast say at 10pm, and break your fast at 12pm the next day. You do this every day.
- there's the 24 hour fast 2 days a week, commonly done on Mondays and Thursdays.
Both of the above allow you to drink water, coffee (without milk or sweetener), and a very low calorie low carb snack.
Compared to the above two methods, 30 days of 20 hour fasting with no water and no low calorie snacks is extreme.
However, with extreme effort comes extreme reward.
Plus you don't have to do it for 30 days to see benefit. You can just do it for 6 days and lose a LOT of weight.
Since it's May already, with summer just around the corner, you're probably in a rush to get slim so you can enjoy the outdoors more when it's hot and sunny.
I truly believe this style of Ramadan fasting is the quickest, most surefire way there is to get in shape for the summer.
However, you can't just fast like every Muslim does and expect to see results. Unfortunately, most people who fast, do it totally wrong. I discovered that even if you fast 20 hours a day for 30 days, you can still end up fatter, with poorer health by the end of it, if you eat wrong during your daily 4 hour eating window. This is what happens to the MAJORITY of Muslims around the world every Ramadan. What you do during that 4 hour window of eating, MATTERS, it can make or break your results.
All of my Muslim friends and clients tell me that they have never lost weight during Ramadan, despite all those long hours of fasting. They always either maintain their weight, or even GAIN weight.
This is all down to what they were doing during that short window of eating.
I personally got it wrong for the first 3 weeks, during which I GAINED some weight. Then, in the final 6 days, I started doing it right, and not only did the weight come off, the fast itself was MUCH easier. Basically, by eating the right way when I was allowed to eat, I trained my body to be able to live off of my fat reserves while I was fasting, thereby not only helping me to burn fat and lose weight, but also giving me energy throughout the fast.
To discover the details of how I achieved this, you can check out my Ramadan fasting post #2 here.
If you're in a rush to get lean, and you are willing to do something EXTREME for a short amount of time, that can literally CHANGE YOUR LIFE, then do check out post #2 linked above, and give this method a go. It might take some experimentation before you get it right, but it'll be totally worth it. Imagine being able to fast with ease any time you want, for as many days in a row that you want. Since fasting (done right) is by far the most surefire way to reduce body fat there is, it's like having a fat loss method available at your fingertips, having fat loss on demand, anytime you want. Sure, it isn't instant, but you can achieve surefire fat loss within a week, what other fat loss method can give you that?
The reason why I say this could change your life, is that one of my Muslim clients had never been able to lose weight with ANYTHING. He had tried low carb dieting, intermittent fasting, keto, and countless other diets and exercise regimens, all to no avail. This was the only thing that ever worked for him, and knowing that he now has a tool he can use to predictably lose weight whenever he wants, and lose as much weight as he wants, has literally changed his life.
Do read post #2, and you can also learn more about fasting in my book on intermittent fasting here.
Click here to discover the step-by-step details on how to do fat busting Ramadan fasting with ease