Top Wellness Articles

20 Health Benefits of Fasting

author Dan Riefstahl date 04/18/2018

Fasting has been recognized for its many health benefits dating back to Hippocrates. These benefits extend to everything from better weight management, improved cardiovascular health, healthier blood composition, and better cell recycling, among many others.

Although there is not an abundance of research on fasting in humans, a growing number of health experts believe that the results of fasting from animal studies hold great promise for human health and future research efforts.

There are many different types of fasts you can choose from, and they differ in their results and difficulty. Much of the research included here comes from studies on caloric restriction and intermittent fasting. One conclusion is steadfast, fasting remains one of the most effective means of detoxifying your body and resetting your system for better overall health.

20 Health Benefits of Fasting

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The path to emotional wellness

author Dan Riefstahl date 04/07/2017

Being emotionally well is more than just handling stress. It also involves being attentive to your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, whether positive or negative.  Emotional Wellness implies the ability to be aware of and accept our feelings, rather than deny them, have an optimistic approach to life, and enjoy life despite its occasional disappointments and frustrations.

If you are a person engaged in the process of emotional wellness, you are willing and able to:

  • Arrive at personal choices and decisions based upon the synthesis of feelings, thoughts, philosophies, and behavior.
  • Live and work independently while realizing the importance of seeking and appreciating the support and assistance of others.
  • Form interdependent relationships with others based upon a foundation of mutual commitment, trust and respect.
  • Take on challenges, take risks, and recognize conflict as being potentially healthy.
  • Manage your life in personally rewarding ways, and taking responsibility for your actions.
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15 fitness tips

author Dan Riefstahl date 03/31/2016
  1. Small steps
  2. Find short-term rewards
  3. Track your progress
  4. Enjoy yourself
  5. Never ever give up
  6. Get a workout partner
  7. Vary your workouts
  8. Focus
  9. Rest is important
  10. Focus on long term
  11. Focus on your diet first
  12. Find the exercise that works for you
  13. Learn to be present
  14. Don’t let your body adapt too much
  15. Get inspired

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April 20, 2018

Snake Diet Weekly plan

I wanted to lay out my plan for the first week of the snake diet in detail. Today is Friday April 20th, 2018 and I'm 5 days into my snake diet routine. So far it is going amazing and I think I know why. Here are my top reasons as to why this diet will be successful for anyone.

  1. Your initial 48 hour fast breaks your food addictions. This is key to remove cravings and make it easier to stick to.
  2. The more you fast the easier it gets. You really don't feel hungry because are getting fed. Your body is just eating the food that is on you instead of what you put into it.
  3. You see rapid results. This motivates you to keep going.
  4. You feel better than you image you will. Mental clarity is sharper than ever.
  5. Once you have fasted for a while it is SO much easier to eat smaller meals. You just aren't as hungry and those cravings are gone!
  6. Your body's preferred state is burning its own fat. Fasting triggers chemical reactions in your body that facilitate this.
  7. It's free. In fact, you save money. Eating way less food means lower grocery bills.

The biggest mistake anyone could make, in my opinion, is to skip the initial 48 hour fast. It makes all the difference. I know this because I have tried it so many other ways, so many other times and the cravings were ALWAYS there. Your first 48 hour fast resets your body. It resets your immune system. It can be a little hard, but power through it and the results will come.

A lot of you will feel like shit during that first 48 hour fast. You think you need food and that is why you feel lousy. The real reason is that your are detoxing. Your body is working on releasing all the garbage you have stored. Once you deplete your liver of glycogen, your body needs to begin to find other fuel sources after it realizes no food is coming. This is where the magic happens. Your body goes into fight or flight mode and massive amount of chemical reactions begin. This process puts your body into ketosis. In ketosis, your body uses ketones for fuel instead. Your body makes these ketones by breaking down fat. You are on your way to losing that stubborn fat, faster than you thought.

My week so far

I began the snake fast diet on Sunday April 14th at 7pm. This when I decided to take Coles' advice and "Just fucking start" I mixed up some snake juice and began the longest fast I have ever done. Here is how it has gone so far:

April 15 - 7pm
Beign Fast

April 17th - 5pm
Break fast. I broke my 48 hour fast 2 hours early because I had an event to attend at 7 that would have people eating all around me and I didn't want to be tempted to break my fast eating shit food. As Cole says "Don't be a hero".
I had a 750 calorie meal. I had 1, cold all beef hotdog. I had a mixed greens salad with blue cheese, mushrooms, cauliflower, broccoli, red pepper, onion, zucchini, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I ate this in about an 1 hour window and then began another fast.

April 18th - 6pm
Break 24 hour fast. I broke my fast with the same meal as above. Another 750 calories. I waited an hour and checked my ketone level. I was barely out of max ketosis! I was not at max, but still in ketosis. Winning.

April 19th - 7pm
Break 24 hour fast. I broke my fast but had a little slip up. I ate a bunch of sweet potato chips. The are all natural with just canola oil, salt and sweet potatoes but not the best choice. Too many carbs. For this meal I had 1 all beef hot dog, 1 turkey hotdog, 1/2 cup of nuts, 2 pieces of sushi and about 25 grams of sweet potato chips. Total calories was about 1,500

April 20th
Its currently 12:30 pm and I'm rocking full ketosis and feeling good. I plan to break my 24 hour fast with a 400 calorie salad and 1 150 calorie all beef hotdog. So you might be wondering how well this has worked for me so far. I weighed in this morning at 216.5. I am down 5.5 pounds in just 5 days! And its pure body fat! I can see the difference.

I will check back in on Monday morning with my week one results and pics. Finally I have found the right way to eat and live. I belieive that I can and will reach my goal in 31 days. A 31 reboot that is everything I want it to be. YEARS of stored fat are going to vanish. I lost 17 pounds during my last reboot and I felt great. I exercised a lot. 5 or 6 days a week. Exercise will onyl amplify your results while fasting. This week I have only done hot yoga 2 times, walked a bit but nothing else and still will likely end up at about a pound a day of loss. Incredible. I can actually feel the difference in my body as it burns fat from ketosis.

I understand this is not for everyone. Fasting is hard and it can make it difficult for people with families and children to make it work. Family dinners are often an important part of connecting with each other. So what should you do? I suggest doing the initial 48 hour fast. For sure. You NEED this to reset your body and break your food addictions and your fear of fasting. Then fast for 23.5 hours each day. Each your dinner with your family in a half hour window every night. Simple as that. Keep doing this for as long as it takes to make your goal a reality. Then you can reassess once you are at your goal. My plan is to do a 48 hr fast to start each week and then do back to back 24 hr fasts until the end of the week. As I drop weight and get closer to my goal, I will increase the fasting time to make it happen. At the end of the day you need to stick with it. If you are making it too hard on yourself, you might slip up or fail, but I guarantee you once you start seeing results, you will want to keep going.

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