28-Day FAST Start Day-by-Day summary

So – what is intermittent fasting all about? At its core, IF simply means extending your nighttime fast – the time you already spend fasting, because you’re asleep – by a few extra hours. That’s more or less it. A host of health, wellness, and weight-loss benefits will follow. 

Sound too good to be true? It’s not. As Dr. Mark Mattson, a leading IF expert of over 30 years attests, this approach to eating offers profound long-term health gains, like improved brain function and disease prevention. And he's far from alone – respected voices from MIT to Johns Hopkins reach the same verdict: IF is a sustainable path to improved health.

It’s all about trading restrictive dieting for smart timing. No more counting calories or denying yourself your favorite foods – just restrict your eating to a certain time window – say 8 hours – and fast the rest of the time. 

The author experienced this approach as nothing short of a revelation. She’d long assumed that breakfast was the day’s most indispensable meal. But before long her habits had changed and she soon made peace with having little more than coffee until mid-afternoon. IF worked better than she ever dreamed. Eighty pounds melted away and never came back.

Amazed by the physical and mental benefits, she became an IF evangelist, eager to spread the good news. But she found many people, while experiencing benefits, eventually faltered. Why? These people lacked the tools to turn their initial enthusiasm into a lifelong habit. That insight sparked her mission to give people the tools to make IF truly stick.

When people fail to develop a solid habit around IF, it’s rarely due to fasting itself being too hard. More often, they fall victim to shaky psychology – either setting unrealistic expectations or getting thrown off course by external doubts. The key then is equipping yourself with unshakable self-trust to stay the course through ups and downs. 

With the right mindset, IF gets easier over time, not harder. Falling off the wagon once in a while is to be expected  –  it’s about being resilient enough to always get back on. Think of a toddler learning to walk. She falls, gets up, falls again, and gets right back up again – until pretty soon, it looks effortless. So too it is with your IF journey.

The first step in starting (or restarting) the intermittent fasting lifestyle is to commit without reservations to give it your all for a full 28 days – no exceptions, no excuses permitted. Consider it a pilot test – if it works for you for a month, imagine how your life could change if you stuck with it for good.

The choice is yours. How far are you willing to go?