5 TIPS ON HOW TO ENHANCE INTERMITTENT FASTING

Huge dinners , holiday desserts, and basically all imaginable forms of overeating temptations will abound for most of us privileged North Americans this fall/winter season. It's a vital skill to know how to properly manage one's eating during these months, for those that want to stay lean and shredded throughout the holidays.

​ Now, more than ever is the best time of the year to use the tool of enhanced intermittent fasting. Basically, this is to skip eating as the first activity you engage in upon waking, and instead doing these five things:

STAYING LEAN, SHARP, & SUCCESSFUL

Tip #1 - Drink a few glasses of water upon waking Water is essential for burning fat: lipolysis happens through hydrolysis. Also, hydrated muscles will perform better. The fat burning systems of the body are optimized when one is fully hydrated. Not only that, but keep in mind you are ~70% water. Hydration is key for fat oxidation, and countless other health reasons. On average, a good goal to aim for is to drink around 8-15 glasses of water per day.

Tip #2 - Write your goals down This positive mental stimulus will increase levels of epinephrine & nor-epinephrine, the "excitement hormones" which have been proven to aid in the fat-burning mechanism. So, by writing down your goals and becoming genuinely excited about these future projections, you increase the body’s fat-burning capabilities! Creating in your head and writing down a few long-term and short-term goals per day will not only improve your future through the attainment of those goals, but will help you stay leaner in the present moment.

Tip #3 - Go for a walk Walking will oxidize your mobilized fat stores; this low-intensity cardio is ideal for burning high energy-density fuel such as lipids (fats), improving blood-flow, and more.

Walking is one of the best fat-burning exercises there is. Since it is a low-intensity form of cardio, it won’t ramp up your appetite like other forms of more intense cardio. Thus all the calories you burn while walking will likely remain burned off since your appetite will remain relatively unchanged.

Also, it will have little to no cross-effects whatsoever with your strength training or any other forms of training you may do. This means that your ability to go into your sport/training of choice will not be compromised one bit by including walking into your day. This contrasts with other forms of cardio, like high intensity interval training, which will more likely interfere your neuromuscular recovery, endurance, power, etc.

A mere 30-60 min. of walking in the morning can easily burn a few hundred calories! This will help keep you leaner and make it much easier to hit your caloric deficit without sacrificing additional food calories! Try to get in this amount of walking on days you rest from the gym. Optionally, if you want to ‘upgrade’ your walk, you can listen to and absorb the information from your favorite personal development audio-books. Alternatively, you can put on some great music and do some fasted dancing ;) Or you can simply listen to the birds.

Tip #4 - Perform positive auto-suggestion Auto-suggestive techniques for a success-oriented start to your day are most effective upon waking and right before sleep. Make it a conscious goal to stay ripped during this time of year.

Many people will tell you that before you achieve a goal, you must first visualize yourself having already achieved that goal. This idea of visualization is a form of auto-suggestion in which you coax your mind into believing your attainment of that goal as a current truth. Doing this will help dissolve certain barriers or self-limiting beliefs that may be holding back from achieving that which you desire.

A powerful quote I once read was “Brainwash yourself before others do it for you.” This rings true because at the end of the day, it is you who has that power to suggest to yourself certain ideas, actions to be taken, and philosophies held in the mind that dictate most of the decisions you make. You must cement the correct belief systems that permit your goals to be attained. You must ‘tell yourself’ the right words, and believe the validity of those words to create the life scenarios you wish to see. You have the mental, decisive, and action-taking power to change your life.

So if it is your goal to lose fat and be lean, muscular, and shredded, then you must begin to embody that identity today. Become that person you want to be. Decide it, believe it, become it. Tip #5 - Perform deep conscious breathing Many people don't know this, but the breath is the exhaust mechanism for fat. Be it through mindful meditation, simple awareness, yoga, or any medium, fat is released through the breath. This will also hopefully bring you into presence awareness.

Exhalation is the channel via which burned fat is released. So naturally, activities like meditation, in which one focuses on steady, full breathing, nicely complement the fat-burning process. Many successful people largely attribute their success, self-control, and inner peace to such activities. Without getting metaphysical, it is scientifically correct to say that deep, conscious breathing will help you burn fat, alongside all the other benefits meditation has like increased cognition, and other improved aspects of both physical and mental health. Aim for some form of morning meditation for anywhere from 5-30 minutes depending on your experience level.

BREAKING YOUR FAST THE RIGHT WAY

At this point, you'll be in the perfect mental state to get some focused, deep, intellectual work done. You may choose to sip on your favorite non-caloric beverage to extend the fast, or have a light, high-fiber breakfast.

• Teas and black high quality coffee are decent beverage options. Water always reigns supreme. Sparkling waters are okay too.

• Whole fruit, a protein source with vegetables, or protein bars are all good examples of light afternoon meals.

Make sure to stick to your strength training regiment, and you may want to even include some extra training volume with lighter weight movements, since you will likely be taking in more calories to support sarcoplasmic hypertrophy. I'm getting ahead of myself.

If you want to learn how to keep your nutrition on point, and gain muscle this fall and winter while still staying lean and chiseled, check out and receive a free specialized training split by taking my specialization quiz, with principles from my 69-page fat loss eBook, the Royal Chisel program.

Stay shredded, Keep progressing!