In my last post we talked about the first way you could literally outsnatch a donut – here it is again for those who might have missed it –

Eat as many whole, organic, natural foods as possible, focusing primarily on lean red meat, poultry, fish (especially cold water fish), berries, fruits, and vegetables.

The second way or method is well, a little different. And, admittedly, it’s a departure from what I’ve practiced, preached, and implemented my entire life, except for the last 6 months or so.

Before I tell you what it is, I want to tell you about my results using this “new” method.

In the beginning of October 2010, I was about 220lbs (218-222) and my weight fluctuated in that range. I had heard about this strategy way back in 2007, and of course, being the smart guy that I am, promptly dismissed it. So, I decided to start implementing this strategy for various reasons – my wife is pregnant and my life is about to change, I wanted to focus on other things besides my obsessive need to control my calories, and a few other things.

I chose one baseline measurement – “true waist.” True waist is not where you wear your pants (or where you push your pants down to in order to not buy a new pair) but right around the middle – right around your navel and of course, those pesky lovehandles. My “true waist” measurement was 38.5 inches. Yeah, that surprised me too.

Last weekend, I weighed in at a “dry” 206lbs and my “true waist” measurement was 33.5 inches. That’s a 5 inch decrease. Not bad. One inch per month without stressing about it. One inch a month while enjoying all my favorite foods. One inch a month without being on a fat loss program. (I imagine that I would have lost a ton more fat if I was on a fat loss program.) One inch per month or approximately 3 pounds of “weight” – fat, water, etc.

I want to put that number – 33.5 into perspective. I haven’t seen that in quite some time – perhaps as long as 15 years. Why not? Because I have been on essentially a maintenance plan as far as eating goes. I’ve only hit one strict dieting phase to lean up in that time period and that was after I injured my hip in 2005.

So what is this magical formula that is so easy to use?

Well, first, let me give you a disclaimer – I found it easy. Some of my clients find it easy. Some of my clients won’t touch it. It’s very polarizing apparently. It may be for you. It may not be.

It’s Intermittent Fasting (IF).

Essentially, it’s a period of eating followed by a period of not-eating.

Not-eating?!

I know – crazy.

(OK, in the interests of fairness, I do combine IF with another component – I guess I should write about that next time…)

But if you think about this logically, if the easiest way to fatten up is to eat, then the easiest way to drop that fat is to do – wait for it – the opposite – not eat.

I know what you’re thinking – that makes too much sense. It can’t be that simple. There must be a catch.

Well, there isn’t really – not one that I can think of. Oh, wait a minute, there’s a small one –

(A-ha! I knew there was a catch!)

You *might be* – and Heaven forbid this happens to you, because, it might be the end of the world as you know it (sorry – forgot the “sarcasm alert”) – you might be hungry for a short period of time.

I know, I know – that’s crazy. How could one possibly allow themselves to go or be hungry? Well that’s a whole ‘nother topic for a different post my friend.

So how does one get started with Intermittent Fasting?

Pretty simple.

Stop eating.

Yeah, I know – too simple.

So, what I recommend you do, is to do exactly what I did – read the primer on Intermittent Fat Loss – Brad Pilon’s, Eat.Stop.Eat. (Yes, I bought it and it’s sitting on my hard drive in its own special file.)

In it, he goes into the science behind fasting – why it works, myths about it not working, the best ways to implement it into your days and weeks, how many times you should be IF’ing – the works. It’s a great read and will really make you think. (I’ve email exchanged Brad and he’s agreed to do a full interview with me sometime in the future – when both our schedules align in order to give you the full scoop on this IF stuff.)

Best of all, it’s really, really, really super simple to implement, once you understand the mechanics behind it. There are no special supplements to buy and your grocery bill will actually go down.

Do you have to get Eat.Stop.Eat. in order to start Intermittent Fasting and dropping your waist down?

Nope.

But if you’re like me and you value your time, you’re not going to google-search “intermittent fasting” and spend hours and hours and hours reading up and researching the best IF practices when you can get all the hard science and an action plan in less than one hour.

Tomorrow I think I might add an extra bonus onto this series and show you the strategy I use that allows me to eat all my favorite foods and has contributed to that 5 inch “waist-loss” which ultimately will help you Outsnatch Your Donut too.

Leave me your thoughts below.