Six Days without Food: Hacking Your Mind to Make Do with Far Less

Fasting is most definitely NOT bad for you. You literally fast every night.

Extreme, stupid, idiotic fasting is, however, bad.

I'm going to jump right into the idea of fasting for 6 days and the unfortunate reality that most people in our field(s) don't.

1. know how to lose weight (really) 2. know how to eat 3. know how to workout

Here, if you want to try fasting, which I do recommend, give this a shot. http://www.leangains.com/ or do the Warrior diet (one huge meal a day). A 16/8 fast is great. Heck, I sometimes even do an eat-stop-eat way and skip an entire day after I had a cheat day.

If you want to lose weight, it isn't about a crash diet, it most DEFINITELY is not about cardio and will never, ever be about low fat.

Here it is, in a nutshell, to lose weight and maintain decent muscle mass through life.

Eat whole foods in these categories only. Veggies, organic/grassfed meats (chicken, beef, fish etc), organic eggs. Some fruit (don't go nuts) and, only if you tolerate it, very little dairy.

Some rules: every meal has protein, no exceptions. Fat is your friend. Carbs from veggies and fruit only.

Now, exercise like this: Hard, very, very hard. And short. Think lifting big weights in a complex manner like squats and deadlifts. If someone says you should be doing front shoulder raises, run.....

And sprint...bike REALLY fast for a short period of time, or jump rope really fast...something intense and short. Kettlebell swings in the 150-250 range would be great.

Do that a couple of days a week (2-3) there are awesome programs out there so don't think too much about this, rather just do it. 5x5 programs, strong lifts, or even the leangains guide has some.

There are awesome ways to get lost in details in all this, but that is like a 10 minute guide that I wish someone gave to me when I was 14. It literally took me this long to unlearn all the damage the high-carb, low-fat movement in the 80s did to us.

Sounds like your body transitioned into ketosis during the third or fourth day. You can know for sure by buying ketone test strips and drinking enough water. I've tested out ketosis for myself and experienced some strange effects: salad tasted better, but I had no cravings and no hunger; some days all I had was an egg.

It's not a good idea to stay in ketosis for more than a few weeks, since it's making your liver work harder to convert fat (rather than glycogen) into energy.

If you fast, when you stop fasting you will gain 20 pounds because your brain and body will be in "famine mode" and you will store everything to fat. Go ahead and try it.

I've been hovering around 155 to 160 my whole life, that is until the day I fasted for about 2 1/2 days, at which point I immediately started gaining weight after. It's been a daily battle since to not overeat. My subconscious mind says: "Eat, consume, gorge, because tomorrow there will be none" and my conscious mind has to say "no".

As someone who fasts for a full month of the year, I can chime in. It is true that you probably shouldn't do it for the weight loss alone, as you tend to compensate, or over-compensate, once fasting is broken.

That said there are many other benefits, as acknowledged by the author. Most people feel a heightened sense of awareness and clarity during fasting (the opposite of the lazy feeling after a meal). There is a reason most spiritual traditions include an element of fasting. Besides this there is a range of proven health benefits (Wikipedia cites reduced risk of cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, insulin resistance, immune disorders, slowing of the aging process, and the potential to increase maximum life span).

Just like exercising, it is 'unpleasant' for the mind to be forced into, but feels 'right' once you get it done and you actually grow fond of it in spite of the hardship.