* This is part of a year-long series called "52 Weeks to Eating better than Ever". Click on the side bar for more information and to read the previous essays.
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“Honey tastes better to a sick person.” – Seneca
 
We don’t fast enough and if we did, we would be better off in many ways.  Fasting is a positive practice and even has benefits beyond the physical.  The hardest thing about learning to eat better is learning to be a little bit hungry. Fasting on a regular basis can train us to do this.  Fasting of course goes way back in many traditional religious cultures as ways to draw closer to God or the gods and to purify the soul of idols.  Some of the age-old religious truth carries over into our approach to food and it definitely helps us to appreciate food more if we learn to limit it. 
 
Economics and Fasting- Less is More
 
More is not always better.  In economics, marginal utility is a principle that states the benefit we get from one more unit of a given item.  I’ve used the example of a slice of pizza before.  If we get one slice of pizza only, it tastes incredible and we really enjoy it tremendously.  If we get 10 pieces of pizza, this is not 10 times better is it?  No way, and so the marginal utility of a food like pizza decreases as well as eat more of it.  The same goes for pretty much every type of food- 4 cups of coffee versus 1, 3 salads versus 1, and so on.  By limiting things, we appreciate them more.  
 
A Balanced Life
 
Eating less is obviously hard.  We have discussed many tricks of the trade, like food logs, drinking more water, eating more fiber, decreasing portion sizes, and combining nutrient groups like protein and fat with other types of nutrients, in order to feel more full. Fasting can also help us eat less because it can train us to go without.  I normally fast a little on Friday, 16-20 hours starting on Thursday evening. There’s a point on Friday mid-morning where I usually think “I’m not sure if I can do this much longer” but once I get over that hill, the rest of the day is pretty easy.  I do this for health reasons, but also because it has a connection on Friday to traditional Christian practice, and so its meaningful for this reason to me.  I’ve also found that a weekly fast has increased my self-discipline in other areas of life as well, which is a nice side benefit.  
 
Fasting and Insulin Sensitivity 
 
I recommend fasting also because it could elevate your insulin sensitivity, which as we have discussed is a major plague in our society.  Insulin sensitivity is crucial for weight control and aging well.  I know clients and friends who swear by fasting and what it did for their metabolism, though I don’t think it would work for everyone.  When you’re in a brief period of fasting, less than 24 hours, your metabolism normally actually increases, with hormones like growth hormone and testosterone increasing short-term.  It is as if the body is stimulated to rev things up to make up for the fact that it isn’t getting any food.  A regular short-term fasted states promote a higher sensitivity to insulin over the rest of the week, which could make a big difference in how your body handles food over time. Be careful though, because over a long term period of fasting, more than a day or two, your metabolism would likely slow down like someone who was starving, because your brain and body would shift into a survival mode.  This would make it difficult to lose weight and be counter-productive, so stick with short term fasting.  Long-term starvation diets always lead to yoyo weight gain and loss so I don’t recommend them.
 
Some of the observed benefits of fasting in some are:

• Improved cholesterol
• Glucose levels lower
• Decreased inflammation
• Decreased addiction in some people
• Correlated with lower blood pressure
• Correlated with higher insulin sensitivity
• Possible boost to the immune system

 
3 Types of Fasting (there are others but I like these the best)

1. 1 Day Per Week, 16-24 Hours without Eating
2. 2 Days Per Week 16-24 Hours without Eating (use for weight loss phase)
3. 3 Days Per Week Eat only during an 8 hour period

 
The KISS Principle 
 
I love the KISS (Keep it Short & Simple Principle) in just about everything, and fasting is no exception.  Another unbeatable thing about fasting is it’s simplicity.  All you have to do is not eat for a period. There are no long and expensive programs, books, or shakes.  There are no “secret methods” and no gurus to learn from.  And you actually save money because you’re eating less right off the bat! 
 
If you decide to fast, keep in mind, when you come off the fast you will be extra hungry and may overeat. I did this when I first started fasting, but now am aware of it more.  Just remember it will be easy when you come off a fast to have something healthy in mind and prepared to eat, so you don’t go for the easiest junk food in sight.  
 
And as always, talk to your doctor first, before you start a new fasting program, particularly if you are diabetic.  

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Have a great week,
Scott

* This is part of a year-long series called "52 Weeks to Eating better than Ever". Click on the side bar for more information and to read the previous essays.
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We live in the age of feelings.  Turn on the TV or the radio, or pull up social media and we hear and see people talk about how they feel.  The music we listen to also focuses on our feelings,  “I've Got a Feeling” comes to mind.  Popular movies pull at our heartstrings of feelings.  If someone “feels” like they are another race, or another sex, apparently that is now on the table as well.  I even saw a case recently in The Netherlands where a man was suing the government to have his birth certificate changed to an age 20 years younger than his birth age, from his 60s to his 40s, because he felt the much younger age!  Amazingly, the court was actually taking the man serious.  In the age of feelings, the way someone feels at any given moment is to be treated seriously.  We all have to play along with the various charades in the age of feelings because in the age of feelings, anything goes, anything is both true and false, and anything can quickly shift back and forth.  Feelings are never permanent.  
 
Some feel hurt by grades, or by perceived insults, or by any variety of other slights or prejudices, and so they act out because, well, they feel like it.  Likewise, we eat what we feel like eating.  We do what we feel like doing.  We ruminate over and obsess about these things, about our feelings. We don’t feel like cooking, so we don’t. We eat junk food instead.  We don’t feel like preparing a healthy meal, so we don’t.  We don’t feel like using a log or journal to track our intake for weight loss, so we never lose weight.  
 
We feel like sitting on our butts and being lazy, so that’s what we do.  The age of feelings would have it no other way.  After all, what we feel is right, at least for now, isn’t it? We should always do “what we feel like doing.”  
 
Focus on contemplation and correct action, over feelings.
 
When it comes to eating better, and doing better in many other areas, we should focus less on feelings, and more on action.  It’s not that we should not feel, but we should take correct action, and then feel good about it.  We should contemplate our actions, to determine if they are correct actions, and then if they are, we should feel good about that. If not, we should correct our actions. 
 
So in the age of feelings:
 

• Feelings determine actions, whether correct or not.

 
In order to change our habits for the better, we need shift to:
 

• Contemplation of right and wrong action, recognizing reality and falsehoods, and healthy and unhealthy choices which will then lead to correct action, which then later determines how we feel.   

 
So we need a reversal.
 
In order to eat better, and get some things done we want to do, and to change better, contemplating and then acting correctly should be our number one priority.  How we feel about any of this is not that important. Feelings are like the weather, they change.  Feelings are nice, sometimes, but at other times they aren’t.  Feelings are no ultimate guide on how to live life.  

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Scott

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Focus on getting your food at home straightened out first.  Then move from there to work, to travel situations, and then get every other situation under control.  The key is to start small and build up.  For you, starting to eat a healthy breakfast of egg whites, fruit, and yogurt may be a big change.  Start will small wins at home and build momentum.  
 
Eat mostly at home generally if you can.You will almost always eat less and better if you eat at home.  Restaurants use a hefty dose of fat, sugar, and salt, because these things make food tasty and addictive, and keep you coming back. Keep plenty of fresh water and low calorie snacks on hand.   

Remove most everything at home that isn’t good for you.  Keep some fruits and dried fruits (though they can be pretty high in sugar), and some yogurt in case you crave something sweet.  Otherwise, get rid of the chips, the cookies, and all the high calorie, low nutrient foods from your house.  And save the alcohol for special occasions.   

Once you get home under control, take care of what you eat at work.  Start bringing your lunch to work, and bringing healthy snacks for work, to save money and to keep your weight healthy.  Start to install the same healthy habits you acquired at home on the job. It will come second nature at this point, with all the momentum you have gained at home first.   

Now plan ahead for travel.  What will you eat? What is your plan to stay healthy while traveling?  Focus on drinking plenty of water, and primarily on making healthy side choices and controlling portions.   

Finally, straighten out other issues that affect you.  This could include business meetings, emotional eating, bad influences, friends or family who don’t want you to change, and client dinners or group lunches with friends.  How can you start to make small changes everywhere else?  What are the boundaries you need to set in all of these situations? 
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Change is always hard. We are creatures of habit, including bad ones.  We need to think small and be patient.  Take small wins and over time transfer many small healthy habits into a lifetime of healthier eating and living.  Little things add up, and wins close to home build the kind of momentum you need to expand outwards into a lifestyle shift.  
 
Focus on home and build from there.

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Read Next: The 3.0 Model for Change 

* This is part of a year-long series called "52 Weeks to Eating better than Ever". Click on the side bar for more information and to read the previous essays.
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The bottom line: Eating better requires behavior change, and behavior change is hard.  Understanding how change works and having a model will increase our chance of success.  
 
There are many varied theories on change.  Some researchers and anecdotal reports point to success with a “cold turkey” or extreme approach to a new behavior.  Other studies and empirical observations show a clear benefit to a gradual approach.  I know many people who just seem to change overnight with smoking or other bad habits, while others try and fail numbers of time before seeing lasting success.  
 
One of the more popular theories of change is the “Transtheoretical Model of Change” which involves 6 steps:

1. Precontemplation
2. Contemplation
3. Preparation
4. Action
5. Maintenance 
6. Exit / Relapse

(*source – NIH)
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​I prefer a simpler model which I developed over a course of 20 years of helping people change.  This is what I call The3.0 Solutions Model for Change.  It takes the simple number 3 and applies it to change, because 3 has a natural and easy geometrical fit for models, a motivational quality, and is also easier to memorize and thus effect outcomes.  3 is simple and works well for modeling things.  It makes change easier.  3.0 Solutions is a concept I am developing to help people with Nutrition, Fitness, & Wellness and this is the 3.0 Solutions Model for Change.  Our goal is to “become a pro” in the sense that we’ll eventually do what we need to do automatically in the end, after the initial stages of awareness and action:

Remember, models make things easier.  They give us a way to “frame” things and stay on track.  This is one reason the US military uses acronyms a lot, they’re easy to remember and use.  Memorize the 3.0 Solutions Model for Change and use it to help you eat better, and to make other healthy changes in your life. 

• Awareness
• Action
• Habit

 
To become a pro, learn more and become aware, take action and keep following through, and then finally you’ll have the habit in place and be a “pro” and you will do the things you want to do automatically.  Change is hard, but with the right model, you can do it.  

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Read Next:  Don't Give Up So Quickly


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