How does eating two doughnuts from The Donut Factory right before bed sound? Or how about a pizza from Ma Raffa's? Aside from now licking your lips, or saying, 'well, that’ll ruin my diet' (not true), it sounds amazing.

Earlier this week, Nancy Hall asked if you could ever try intermittent fasting. The poll results speak for themselves; a majority of people are in the green to give it a shot, and for those who don’t think they can, including Nancy, hopefully as one of those proponents she discussed I can persuade the doubters to give it a shot as well.

Nancy did a good job laying out the 16:8 hour fasting:eating window ratio, but that is not the only way to intermittently fast. The 24-hour fast is an option – which ,yes, I’ve done before as a break for my organs. It was a challenge but worth it.

Now what I would describe as the best way to get into this style of eating is to simply wait 4-6 hours upon waking up to eat your first meal, because, like most, I don’t love an eating window. Day-to-day life is too ever-changing to consistently plan an eight-hour block. 

The first few two to three weeks are going to be miserable for most people. I experienced it like everyone when I started intermittent fasting five years ago. Although, there are many tactics to combat early hunger pains; keep in mind during your fast you can have anything that’s 0 calories and if you’re a bit loose like me, some gum isn’t going to ruin you, either. My go-tos during the fast are water, tea, coffee, seltzer water (game changer) and, as stated, gum.

So you did it, you survived this hopefully-not-too-painstaking fast (which after the introductory period becomes effortless), what was it all for?

Yes, fasting has many “health benefits," to be honest, I don’t care about them, I just want to eat and now I can. So to break the fast, I love to go with greek yogurt It’s low calorie, high protein and has some sugar to replenish glycogen. For me, moderate snacks like this one throughout the next few hours work like magic.

You're probably still wondering, what the heck is the incentive to this fast? Simple. Now you’ve made it to around 6 p.m. with only about 600-700 calories. You now have three to four hours depending upon when you sleep to gorge, which is my favorite way to eat. You no longer have to gain weight by going out and having a feast, or having a glass or four (oops) of wine. Get the point? To be clear, that's my caloric intake; you need to find your own to ensure no weight gain.

It’s a treat at the end of every day of your fitness journey. I like to literally make one part of my feast something I LOVE as a reminder of why I fasted today.

So people ask me all the time how I stay in shape while eating doughnuts at 8 p.m. Intermittent fasting is how. It doesn’t sound so bad now, does it?

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