Can I do a breakfast to breakfast or lunch to lunch fast instead?

Question:

Can I do a breakfast-to-breakfast or lunch-to-lunch fast instead?

Short Answer:

While doing a breakfast-to-breakfast or lunch-to-lunch fast will still yield positive benefits, if looking to maximize fat-burning potential, doing a dinner-to-dinner fast is recommended.

Longer Answer:

On phase 2 of our FF30X programming, a weekly 24-hour fast is introduced for a variety of reasons. By the time you hit Phase 2, you may have experienced one or two plateaus and nothing helps break through a plateau more than a weekly fast. In addition to the weight/fat loss benefits, fasting can help promote cellular repair, boost growth hormone levels, and even create new brain neurons for comprehensive health benefits. To learn more about fasting, check out this FAQ session with Dr. Anthony.

The protocol we recommend is to perform a 24-hour fast from dinner one night, until dinner the following night. Having 0-calorie water, tea, and/or coffee is recommended during this time. So if you were to perform a fast on a Thursday, you would eat your normal meals on Wednesday...starting your fast from post-dinner Wednesday evening until Thursday dinnertime. At that point, we recommend breaking your fast with a massive serving of fibrous veggies, protein, along with some healthy fat. Carbohydrate intake should be at a minimum for this meal. A large mixed greens salad with chicken, avocado, veggies, and extra virgin olive oil on top is a great example. There are several reasons why doing a dinner-to-dinner fast is more optimal.

  • Your fat-burning hormones are highest of the day during the morning hours. If we can keep insulin/blood sugar levels suppressed during this time (by not eating), we can maximize our fat-burning potential. 
  • It's easier to fall asleep without such intense hunger pangs which you can avoid when starting and when ending the fast by having dinner serve as your last and only meal, respectively.
  • Hunger is suppressed while sleeping and if you ended your fast with a breakfast or lunch meal, there is the potential for severe overeating the remainder of the day.

A caveat to all of this is that if breakfast-to-breakfast or lunch-to-lunch works better for you to execute this consistently, that trumps the aforementioned information. But for our purposes, a dinner-to-dinner version is recommended.

Yours in Health & Friendship,

- The Fit Father Project

Customer Success Team