Lose Weight With the Mini-Fast and Exercise Program

Julian Whitaker, MD

The tsunami of obesity is crashing down on our society. You can see the gathering storm every time you go out—two-thirds of the folks walking around are overweight or obese. This means that 150 million people in this country are either dealing with or heading toward a host of weight-related health challenges.

Tens of millions have already been ravaged. Diabetes, which in nine cases out of 10 is caused by obesity, is our number-one cause of blindness, amputation, and kidney failure/transplant. This condition also dramatically increases the risk of hypertension, heart failure, heart attack, stroke, and death from heart disease. Arthritis, bladder problems, gallstones, gout, sleep apnea, and some types of cancer are also related to excess weight.

We can argue all day as to why this epidemic of “diabesity” is happening, but that won’t help those already caught up in it. If you are overweight—whether or not you’re already afflicted with diabetes or any of the other conditions mentioned above—you need to lose weight and you need to lose it now.

I know weight loss can be difficult. That’s why I encourage you to participate in my Diabesity Challenge by enrolling in our 12-week mini-fast with exercise program. I can confidently tell you that it is the most effective program for shedding unwanted pounds that I’ve come across in my 35 years of practicing medicine.

Cut Calories Without Feeling Hungry

First, the mini-fast with exercise program allows you to significantly cut calories without feeling hungry, which is the bane of most diet regimens. There’s no doubt that calorie restriction will cause weight loss. But this approach is very difficult to maintain for any significant length of time. Hunger always gets in the way. Well, the mini-fast regimen offers a solution to this perennial problem.

When you “mini-fast,” you simply don’t eat breakfast. I know this goes against the conventional wisdom that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. The difference here is that I’m suggesting that you “break your fast” around noon, instead of upon arising. The caloric reduction that skipping breakfast bestows is huge. As long as you eat normal, healthy meals at lunch and dinner—without making up for the calories you didn’t eat in the morning—you will reduce your caloric intake by about 30 percent.

Best of all, you won’t feel hungry because the other requirement of the program—morning exercise plus optional thermogenic supplements—stimulates fat-burning, and fat-burning results in a sense of satiety. Yes, you do need some discipline to stay on this program. You may have to wake up earlier to do your morning exercise. You may miss breakfast at first, and you can’t go hog-wild eating the rest of the day. But the mini-fast requires substantially less discipline than you’d think because you will not be waylaid by hunger, which is the primary reason people can’t and don’t stick to diets.

Burn Fat With Exercise…

The second all-important requirement for sustained weight loss is the burning of fat. Merely cutting calories here and there during the day will not promote vigorous fat-burning—just ask anyone who’s tried to lose weight and keep it off that way. Exercising while you’re fasting, however,most certainly will. Let me explain.

Even if you’re of normal weight, your body has significant amounts of stored fat—it’s nature’s way of stockpiling fuel. Carbohydrates, on the other hand, have a limited storage capacity and are rapidly depleted. When you wake up in the morning, you’ve been “fasting” for an average of 10–12 hours, and your carbohydrate stores are low. Once they’re used up, your body resorts to burning fat and produces ketones, which serve as energy in the absence of carbohydrates. This is called ketosis.

Eating, especially typical high-carbohydrate breakfast foods like orange juice, cereal, toast, and fruit, shuts down this fat-burning process, and the body goes back to metabolizing carbohydrates, its preferred energy source. Skipping breakfast, however, and going for a walk or engaging in any other form of aerobic exercise rapidly depletes your remaining carbohydrate stores, and your body shifts to ketones for energy. When your muscles burn ketones as their primary fuel, you’re burning fat at a high rate. And you’ll continue in this mode until you eat again at lunchtime.

This is the gist of the mini-fast with exercise program that I’m challenging you to commit to. Give me three months of compliance—morning exercise, nothing to eat before noon, healthy foods for the rest of the day—and I guarantee that you will lose weight. And if you make this regimen part of your permanent lifestyle, you’ll not only keep that weight off, but you’ll lower your blood sugar and A1C level, reduce your blood pressure, and reap a bounty of other health benefits.

…And Thermogenic Supplements

I also want to encourage you to try the thermogenic supplements we use at the clinic as an adjunct to this program. They certainly aren’t a prerequisite for success, but they do kick things into high gear.

Glycine is an amino acid that stimulates fat burning and reduces appetite. It triggers the release of glucagon, a hormone that turns on fat burning in the liver, and generates pyruvate, a substance involved in energy production that enhances endurance and fat burning. Glycine also reduces inflammation, which is an underlying problem in diabetes, obesity, and heart disease, and it protects against glycation, a destructive process that contributes to diabetic-associated damage to the eyes, kidneys, and other organs. Therefore, this inexpensive, sweet-tasting amino acid has the potential to not only facilitate weight loss but to also reduce the risk of diabetic complications.

Brindall Trim is a combination of hydroxycitric acid (HCA), extracted from Garcinia cambogia (also called brindall berry) and L-carnitine. HCA turns on fat burning in the liver and boosts the production of ketones. In addition, it helps maintain normal blood sugar, which puts the brakes on hunger. Ample amounts of the amino acid L-carnitine are required for HCA’s thermogenic activity, and together, these two substances turn your “furnaces” up and your appetite down.

Metabolic Essentials is a special blend of botanical extracts that include green tea, Amla and ivy gourd , along with magnesium and vitamin D. This unique supplement supports thermogenesis and also targets multiple aspects of metabolic syndrome—it helps promote weight loss and supports normal blood pressure, blood sugar, and lipid levels.

The Proof Is in the Pounds and Inches

My inspiration for this challenge is the profoundly positive feedback we’ve received from patients, subscribers, and staff members. The average weight loss for men is 20-30 pounds. For women, who lose weight more slowly, it’s 10 pounds. But that doesn’t take into account the increase in muscle mass and decrease in waist circumference—some of the women have gone down two dress sizes in just three months.

Most everyone marvels at how easy this program is. No breakfast requires an adjustment for some, but they all appreciate not being on a highly restrictive diet or counting calories. The toughest part seems to be finding time to exercise in the morning, but most people report that after a few weeks, exercise became a habitual part of their daily routine. And virtually every participant feels that they could continue the program indefinitely.

Write Your Own Success Story

Whether you want to lose 10 pounds or 100, get a handle on metabolic syndrome, diabetes, or hypertension, or reduce your risk of heart attack, diabetic complications, and other serious conditions, I encourage you to participate in my Diabesity Challenge.

Recommendations

• Suggested doses of the recommended supplements are 5 g in glycine (mixed in water) and 4 capsules of Brindall Trim prior to exercise; plus 2 capsules of Metabolic Essentials with lunch and with dinner (4 total). These supplements may be ordered by calling (800) 810-6655.
• To learn more about the Whitaker Wellness Institute’s safe, natural approach to treating diabetes and other weight-related challenges, click here or call (866) 944-8253.

Modified from Health & Healing with permission from Healthy Directions, LLC. Photocopying, reproduction, or quotation strictly prohibited without written permission from the publisher. To subscribe to Health & Healing, click here.