Think-Feel-Eat

Hi! I'm Donna Reish, IF teacher, weight loss coach, blogger, and half of "The Minus 220 Pound Pair" as my husband and I have lost over 220 pounds together (160 of that in the past couple of years through the Weight Loss Lifestyle habits and strategies I teach!).

In this episode, I present how (and why) to create a morning routine that works!

Following last week’s Evening Routine episode (#48), we are now working on the morning routine! https://donnareish.com/tfe-episode-48/

In all of my twenty years of teaching moms, I told them to fix things in this order: (1) Fix the night before first; (2) Fix the first hour of your day next!

And so it is with women who want to lose weight, maintain weight loss, and design their lives!

So here is what we looked at this week:

1) Why a successful morning routine starts with a successful evening routine

2) Your morning routine starts with self-integrity (and how to start gaining that!)

3) Your morning routine should contain the things that solve the “squeakiest wheels”

4) Your morning routine should contain what makes the biggest difference for the rest of the day

5) How to determine how much time to devote to the morning routine

6) How to build a morning routine incrementally

7) How to examine the things that make your mornings the most hurried

8) How to plan your food time, type, and amounts quickly in the morning

9) How to plan with your pre-frontal cortex rather than your “toddler brain”

10) AND….so many morning routine tips, tricks, and techniques!

Find all of my episodes, outlines, and articles for my two weekly broadcasts:

(1) Weight Loss Lifestyle broadcast (formerly Donna's Intermittent Fasting Broadcast) https://donnareish.com/intermittent-fasting-journal-index/

(2) Think-Feel-Eat broadcast at http://donnareish.com/think-feel-eat/

Sign up for my free webinar: https://intermittentfastingwebinar.com

Watch episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzaT-I58l5w&feature=youtu.be

See full article here: https://donnareish.com/tfe-episode-49/

Watch new episodes live in free private FB group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/318664198605086/

See Index for my other broadcast, Weight Loss Lifestyle (formerly Donna's Intermittent Fasting broadcast) here: https://donnareish.com/intermittent-fasting-journal-index/

See index for Think-Feel-Eat Videocast/Podcast here: http://donnareish.com/think-feel-eat/

Check out my Intermittent Fasting Course: https://iintermittentfastingcourse.com

Free Intermittent Fasting Start Up Charts: https://donnareish.com/daily-intermittent-fasting-start-up-charts/

DISCLAIMER: This is an intermittent fasting support group, blog, podcast, and/or course. None of the information/advice shared is considered to be medical advice. Information shared here is for inspiration and/or informational purposes only. Please consult your physician or medical professionals with any specific medical questions including treatment options, medications, dosages, and other medical concerns. Again, no specific medical advice is given herein. No discussion in this group, blog, or course should be considered to be a substitute for medical care.

Hi! I'm Donna Reish, IF teacher, weight loss coach, blogger, and half of "The Minus 220 Pound Pair" as my husband and I have lost over 220 pounds together (160 of that in the past couple of years through the Weight Loss Lifestyle habits and strategies I teach!).

In this episode, I present tips and tools for creating evening routines that lead to success in weight management, fitness, food, sleep, and life!

This episode (and next week’s) is one of my favorite topics of all time. I have literally been working on evening (and morning) routines for thirty-seven years or more. I was working on them before they were a thing! (Three decade homeschoolers tend to do those sorts of things!)

Every year I have gotten better and better at routines. And every year my life gets better and better. (Co-winky-dinky? I don’t think so!)

In this episode, I first sell the listener on the concept that my husband and I have used our whole lives and taught our seven grown children: A good tomorrow starts tonight!

Once I sell you on that (and the importance of sleep---TFE 34, 36, 37, 38, and 39!), I teach what I have learned over the years about how to create evening routines:

1. That the best ones will be created incrementally (as all habits are---TFE #20)

2. That they should start with what you will REALLY do

3. That you want to begin with the things that will make the biggest difference for tomorrow

4. How to leave breadcrumbs for tomorrow that really help

5. Avoiding hurried mornings

6. Sleep—have I mentioned sleep yet?

7. Deciding what lets you relax the most at night

8. How and when to shut off electronics

9. The dopamine pulls that keep us from shutting down and going to sleep (and how incredibly difficult it can be to carry out the self discipline of SLEEP!)

TFE 34: https://donnareish.com/think-feel-eat-episode-34-effects-of-sleep-on-weight-appetite-and-food-control

TFE 36: https://donnareish.com/think-feel-eat-episode-36-stress-cortisol-and-weight-management-part-i-of-ii

TFE 37: https://donnareish.com/think-feel-eat-episode-37-managing-stress-cortisol-levels-for-weight-control-part-ii-of-ii/

TFE 38: https://donnareish.com/think-feel-eat-episode-38-how-to-fix-your-sleep-problems-i-of-ii/

TFE 39: https://donnareish.com/think-feel-eat-episode-39-how-to-fix-your-sleep-problems-ii-of-ii

TFE 20: https://donnareish.com/think-feel-eat-20-tools-for-self-integrity-part-ii-of-ii/

Then I move into specific areas affected by PM routines:

(1) Weight loss

(2) Fitness

(3) Self care

(4) Other areas of success

Tips, tricks, techniques…oh my! This episode has them!

Find all of my episodes, outlines, and articles for my two weekly broadcasts:

(1) Weight Loss Lifestyle broadcast (formerly Donna's Intermittent Fasting Broadcast) https://donnareish.com/intermittent-fasting-journal-index/

(2) Think-Feel-Eat broadcast at http://donnareish.com/think-feel-eat/

Sign up for my free webinar: https://intermittentfastingwebinar.com

Watch episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vig0n3HIK9g&feature=youtu.be

See full article here: https://donnareish.com/tfe-episode-48/

Watch new episodes live in free private FB group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/318664198605086/

See Index for my other broadcast, Weight Loss Lifestyle (formerly Donna's Intermittent Fasting broadcast) here: https://donnareish.com/intermittent-fasting-journal-index/

See index for Think-Feel-Eat Videocast/Podcast here: http://donnareish.com/think-feel-eat/

Check out my Intermittent Fasting Course: https://iintermittentfastingcourse.com

Free Intermittent Fasting Start Up Charts: https://donnareish.com/daily-intermittent-fasting-start-up-charts/

DISCLAIMER: This is an intermittent fasting support group, blog, podcast, and/or course. None of the information/advice shared is considered to be medical advice. Information shared here is for inspiration and/or informational purposes only. Please consult your physician or medical professionals with any specific medical questions including treatment options, medications, dosages, and other medical concerns. Again, no specific medical advice is given herein. No discussion in this group, blog, or course should be considered to be a substitute for medical care.

Hi! I'm Donna Reish, IF teacher, weight loss coach, blogger, and half of "The Minus 220 Pound Pair" as my husband and I have lost over 220 pounds together (160 of that in the past couple of years through the Weight Loss Lifestyle habits and strategies I teach!).

In this episode, I present the last in a four-part series on qualities and skills needed in order to lose/maintain weight.

Welcome! The first three episodes in this series were so helpful for me as a preparer/teacher!

1) Thoughtfulness

2) Honesty

3) Patience

4) Perseverance

5) Self-Control

6) Flexibility

7) Confidence

In this last episode of the series, I delve into three more skills/qualities:

1) Accountability

2) Planning

3) Goal Setting

There are many reasons that in-person meeting groups are so successful---one of which is the accountability they provide! Twelve-step types of food programs, Weight Watchers, hospital programs, etc., all have the critical (for many!) element of accountability through weighing in, rewarding, and training.

Our modern day accountability has shifted to FB groups, private coaching, group coaching, etc., but these still maintain that element of others seeing what/how you’re doing.

Accountability is helpful for many people—the key is knowing how much and what type of accountability YOU need and want.

Next, I taught about planning. Again, knowing the TYPE of planner (and dieter) you are is super helpful. It is best to get out of the habit of saying “I’m not a planner” but instead say, “I am this type of planner” to help you realize that you can plan---it just might not look like someone else’s plan. (Get your free First Four Journal sheets here: https://donnreish.s3.amazonaws.com/Intermittent+Fasting/The+First+Four+Journal+Packet.pdf )

One of the most important questions we can ask ourselves when it comes to planning is the same one we need to ask ourselves when it comes to our protocol creation: What Will I Really Do? (https://donnareish.com/perfectstorm)

Lastly, the skill/quality we need is that of goal setting. In this area, I talked about making realistic goals that match up with our food protocol. If we aren’t making a “painful calorie deficit,” we will not have a fast weight loss. This is perfectly fine, but we must acknowledge it and not think we should be losing weight faster than we are.

Also in the areas of goal setting, we can plan for the next ten pounds, then ten more, etc., rather than trying to go down too low all at once.

Lastly, we need to consider non-weight goals all the time! I discussed about a dozen non-weight goals that I have every day—these are habit building that will help lead to my weight goal.

Find all of my episodes, outlines, and articles for my two weekly broadcasts:

(1) Weight Loss Lifestyle broadcast (formerly Donna's Intermittent Fasting Broadcast) https://donnareish.com/intermittent-fasting-journal-index/

(2) Think-Feel-Eat broadcast at http://donnareish.com/think-feel-eat/

Sign up for my free webinar: https://intermittentfastingwebinar.com

Watch episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KQCCfFCKOc&feature=youtu.be

See full article here: https://donnareish.com/tfe-episode-47/

Watch new episodes live in free private FB group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/318664198605086/

See Index for my other broadcast, Weight Loss Lifestyle (formerly Donna's Intermittent Fasting broadcast) here: https://donnareish.com/intermittent-fasting-journal-index/

See index for Think-Feel-Eat Videocast/Podcast here: http://donnareish.com/think-feel-eat/

Check out my Intermittent Fasting Course: https://iintermittentfastingcourse.com

Free Intermittent Fasting Start Up Charts: https://donnareish.com/daily-intermittent-fasting-start-up-charts/

DISCLAIMER: This is an intermittent fasting support group, blog, podcast, and/or course. None of the information/advice shared is considered to be medical advice. Information shared here is for inspiration and/or informational purposes only. Please consult your physician or medical professionals with any specific medical questions including treatment options, medications, dosages, and other medical concerns. Again, no specific medical advice is given herein. No discussion in this group, blog, or course should be considered to be a substitute for medical care.

Hi! I'm Donna Reish, IF teacher, weight loss coach, blogger, and half of "The Minus 220 Pound Pair" as my husband and I have lost over 220 pounds together (160 of that in the past couple of years through the Weight Loss Lifestyle habits and strategies I teach!).

In this episode, I present two more qualities/skills needed for weight loss/management.

In Episode #44, I introduced this series and began with two integral qualities—Thoughtfulness (the ability to Think about the Think-Feel—Eat cycle) and Honesty (with ourselves about ALL THE STUFF!).

In Episode #45, I continued with more qualities essential for weight loss (and, of course, how to develop them, expand the ones we have, apply them to weight loss, create tricks around them and more!). These qualities are Patience, Perseverance, and Self-Control (including my new Immediate Gratification vs. Delayed Gratification and what we can use in between the two---Intermediary/Planned Gratification).

We are on the third episode of the series (out of four) today with the crucial qualities of Flexibility and Confidence!

Here is what we focused on with Flexibility:

1. Why flexible eating plans are so popular now (including Macros, Inc; If It Fits Your Macros; Key Nutrition; and even Weight Watchers)

2. How many of us over 50 are done with the all or nothing approaches that we have tried over and over again throughout our lives and are ready to use flexibility to meet our goals

3. The importance of pivoting when something isn’t working

4. The opposite of flexibility

5. And when we take flexibility too far and it hinders our progress

Here is what we focused on with Confidence:

1. How Confidence can be an endless circle of “confidence leads to success, but we need success to feel confident” that we need to try to break into in order to achieve the confidence level we need for our goals

2. How we can use other markers of success to break into the confidence circle---making incremental changes that we succeed at will give us the self-integrity and confidence to do more and more and more

3. Confidence is a Feeling---and I plugged it into the Think -Feel-Eat cycle for us

4. So much Confidence goodness! Yay!

Find all of my episodes, outlines, and articles for my two weekly broadcasts:

(1) Weight Loss Lifestyle broadcast (formerly Donna's Intermittent Fasting Broadcast) https://donnareish.com/intermittent-fasting-journal-index/

(2) Think-Feel-Eat broadcast at http://donnareish.com/think-feel-eat/

Sign up for my free webinar: https://intermittentfastingwebinar.com

Watch episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDSBR1JmeqU&feature=emb_title

See full article here: https://donnareish.com/tfe-episode-46/

Watch new episodes live in free private FB group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/318664198605086/

See Index for my other broadcast, Weight Loss Lifestyle (formerly Donna's Intermittent Fasting broadcast) here: https://donnareish.com/intermittent-fasting-journal-index/

See index for Think-Feel-Eat Videocast/Podcast here: http://donnareish.com/think-feel-eat/

Check out my Intermittent Fasting Course: https://iintermittentfastingcourse.com

Free Intermittent Fasting Start Up Charts: https://donnareish.com/daily-intermittent-fasting-start-up-charts/

DISCLAIMER: This is an intermittent fasting support group, blog, podcast, and/or course. None of the information/advice shared is considered to be medical advice. Information shared here is for inspiration and/or informational purposes only. Please consult your physician or medical professionals with any specific medical questions including treatment options, medications, dosages, and other medical concerns. Again, no specific medical advice is given herein. No discussion in this group, blog, or course should be considered to be a substitute for medical care.

Hi! I'm Donna Reish, IF teacher, weight loss coach, blogger, and half of "The Minus 220 Pound Pair" as my husband and I have lost over 220 pounds together (160 of that in the past couple of years through the Weight Loss Lifestyle habits and strategies I teach!).

In this episode, I present more qualities/skills needed for weight loss.

In Episode #44, I presented two important qualities for weights loss: Thoughtfulness (thinking!) and Honesty (my personal goal right now). These were even eye-opening for me as I outlined and presented them!

In today’s episode, I begin with a study (“Maintenance of Lost Weight and Long-Term Management of Obesity”). In this study, it reveals that people are more likely to keep weight off when they lose one pound per week (as opposed to faster weight loss). This is a meta-study, so it brought together 29 long-term weight loss studies. (Of course, there are other individual studies saying that fast weight loss is better because of the immediate rewards, but this episode is focusing on Patience,

Perseverance, and Self-Control—all of which are more likely with slower weight loss.)

For this week’s qualities/skills, I begin with the combination of Patience and Perseverance. These two qualities are closely related in that when we are dealing with long-term goals requiring Patience, we must also have the Perseverance to keep going even when we are awaiting a long-term goal.

We persevere (don’t give up) when we see success. But we also persevere when what we are asking of ourselves isn’t too difficult to do. As soon as we take on a protocol or eating plan that is too hard to sustain, perseverance goes out the window.

The last quality I discuss today is Self-Control. I present some recent self-discoveries around the concept of immediate gratification. That is, that maybe always seeking for delayed gratification isn’t the answer. When we only have two choices---eating cupcakes now or eating them in three months at Disney World, the latter seems too far out there (time wise and craving-wise). So I offered my new thoughts on three types of gratification:

1) Immediate gratification

2) Intermediary gratification

3) Delayed/long-term gratification

I posit that this could be the reason that Intermittent Fasting is so popular (we don’t have to wait too long to eat); that Flexible Dieting (macro counting, Weight Watchers, If It Fits Your Macros, etc.) is so popular, and more.

(Of course, in the Self-Control section, I also discuss dopamine/brain circuitry’s effect and hormone’s effect as discussed in previous episodes.)

There is hope for developing qualities and skills that are needed for weight loss—or for expanding current skills in other life areas to weight management!

Find all of my episodes, outlines, and articles for my two weekly broadcasts:

(1) Weight Loss Lifestyle broadcast (formerly Donna's Intermittent Fasting Broadcast) https://donnareish.com/intermittent-fasting-journal-index/

(2) Think-Feel-Eat broadcast at http://donnareish.com/think-feel-eat/

Sign up for my free webinar: https://intermittentfastingwebinar.com

Watch episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFmt32mP4JU&feature=youtu.be

See full article here: https://donnareish.com/tfe-episode-45/

Watch new episodes live in free private FB group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/318664198605086/

See Index for my other broadcast, Weight Loss Lifestyle (formerly Donna's Intermittent Fasting broadcast) here: https://donnareish.com/intermittent-fasting-journal-index/

See index for Think-Feel-Eat Videocast/Podcast here: http://donnareish.com/think-feel-eat/

Check out my Intermittent Fasting Course: https://iintermittentfastingcourse.com

Free Intermittent Fasting Start Up Charts: https://donnareish.com/daily-intermittent-fasting-start-up-charts/

DISCLAIMER: This is an intermittent fasting support group, blog, podcast, and/or course. None of the information/advice shared is considered to be medical advice. Information shared here is for inspiration and/or informational purposes only. Please consult your physician or medical professionals with any specific medical questions including treatment options, medications, dosages, and other medical concerns. Again, no specific medical advice is given herein. No discussion in this group, blog, or course should be considered to be a substitute for medical care.

Hi! I'm Donna Reish, IF teacher, weight loss coach, blogger, and half of "The Minus 220 Pound Pair" as my husband and I have lost over 220 pounds together (160 of that in the past couple of years through the Weight Loss Lifestyle habits and strategies I teach!).

In this episode, I present two of the many qualities that we need to develop in order to achieve weight loss/weight management.

There are many qualities and skills needed for weight loss---and for weight management once the weight is lost. Some of these skills are ones we already have in other areas of our lives, but we need to learn how to apply them to weight management. Some are ones we have a little bit, but we need to learn how to increase them. And some are ones that we wish we had, but we often do not feel that we presently do.

The good news is that qualities and skills related to weight loss can all be learned! They can be practiced over and over again until we have increased them to our benefit.

In today’s episode, I delve into two qualities---thoughtfulness and honesty. These sound like qualities needed for a harmonious marriage!

But they are actually pertinent to weight loss.

1) Thoughtfulness---the ability to THINK about our own Thoughts and Feelings and change them as needed in order to Act in a certain way. (As in, the Think-Feel-Act cycle and the Think-Feel-Eat cycle!)

2) Honesty---the ability to be honest with ourselves completely. This means that we don’t stay off the scale for days; we don’t eyeball foods if we are on a measuring protocol; we don’t “forget” to record a food if we are on a record-keeping protocol; we don’t “average” our carbs or fat grams if counting those is part of our program; we don’t cheat on our timed eating app. One hundred percent transparency and honesty is needed for weight loss.

Then…I teach how Thoughtfulness (writing down what we will eat each day for 3 minutes then learning to self-coach with the Think-Feel-Eat model) will help us gain more honesty skills. (TFE #1: https://donnareish.com/introducing-the-self-coaching-model/)

And, practicing the skills of Thoughtfulness and Honesty over and over again will make us better and better at them.

Find all of my episodes, outlines, and articles for my two weekly broadcasts:

(1) Weight Loss Lifestyle broadcast (formerly Donna's Intermittent Fasting Broadcast) https://donnareish.com/intermittent-fasting-journal-index/

(2) Think-Feel-Eat broadcast at http://donnareish.com/think-feel-eat/

Sign up for my free webinar: https://intermittentfastingwebinar.com

Watch episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imvEQgv_kUI&feature=youtu.be

See full article here: https://donnareish.com/tfe-episode-44/

Watch new episodes live in free private FB group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/318664198605086/

See Index for my other broadcast, Weight Loss Lifestyle (formerly Donna's Intermittent Fasting broadcast) here: https://donnareish.com/intermittent-fasting-journal-index/

See index for Think-Feel-Eat Videocast/Podcast here: http://donnareish.com/think-feel-eat/

Check out my Intermittent Fasting Course: https://iintermittentfastingcourse.com

Free Intermittent Fasting Start Up Charts: https://donnareish.com/daily-intermittent-fasting-start-up-charts/

DISCLAIMER: This is an intermittent fasting support group, blog, podcast, and/or course. None of the information/advice shared is considered to be medical advice. Information shared here is for inspiration and/or informational purposes only. Please consult your physician or medical professionals with any specific medical questions including treatment options, medications, dosages, and other medical concerns. Again, no specific medical advice is given herein. No discussion in this group, blog, or course should be considered to be a substitute for medical care.

Hi! I'm Donna Reish, IF teacher, weight loss coach, blogger, and half of "The Minus 220 Pound Pair" as my husband and I have lost over 220 pounds together (160 of that in the past couple of years through the Weight Loss Lifestyle habits and strategies I teach!).

In this episode, I teaching about new year’s resolutions and goals—and what you will really DO for weight loss/management in the coming year.

We have all heard of SMART goals. We all know that we need specific goals. We need attainable ones, etc.

There are three areas that we are often lacking when it comes to setting goals for a new year. The first one is specificity. Our goals have to be specific right down to the exact actions, times, days, and methods for carrying those out.

Then we need to be sure our goals don’t fall into one of these two pitfalls:

1) Too long of a list that we can’t attain

2) Repeating things that didn’t work for us before

I give many tips and research info about goal setting around those two issues—how we can only attain two to four new goals at once; how we stretch our attention too thin when we have too many; how willpower runs out when we have too many; and much more.

Then I move into learning from our past---what will we really do? What did we not like before? What did we not do before? Why do we think we will do it now?

And finally, I discuss some of my upcoming goals—how I know I will attain them. How they build self-integrity within me because of my constraint in choosing ones I can really do; how I am continuing previously established ones to improve them; and much more!

Find all of my episodes, outlines, and articles for my two weekly broadcasts:

(1) Weight Loss Lifestyle broadcast (formerly Donna's Intermittent Fasting Broadcast) https://donnareish.com/intermittent-fasting-journal-index/

(2) Think-Feel-Eat broadcast at http://donnareish.com/think-feel-eat/

Sign up for my free webinar: https://intermittentfastingwebinar.com

Watch episode here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyw-yD5GmBU&feature=youtu.be

See full article here: https://donnareish.com/think-feel-eat-episode-43-what-will-i-really-do-to-lose-weight-in-the-new-year

Watch new episodes live in free private FB group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/318664198605086/

See Index for my other broadcast, Weight Loss Lifestyle (formerly Donna's Intermittent Fasting broadcast) here: https://donnareish.com/intermittent-fasting-journal-index/

See index for Think-Feel-Eat Videocast/Podcast here: http://donnareish.com/think-feel-eat/

Check out my Intermittent Fasting Course: https://iintermittentfastingcourse.com

Free Intermittent Fasting Start Up Charts: https://donnareish.com/daily-intermittent-fasting-start-up-charts/

DISCLAIMER: This is an intermittent fasting support group, blog, podcast, and/or course. None of the information/advice shared is considered to be medical advice. Information shared here is for inspiration and/or informational purposes only. Please consult your physician or medical professionals with any specific medical questions including treatment options, medications, dosages, and other medical concerns. Again, no specific medical advice is given herein. No discussion in this group, blog, or course should be considered to be a substitute for medical care.

Hi! I'm Donna Reish, IF teacher, weight loss coach, blogger, and half of "The Minus 220 Pound Pair" as my husband and I have lost over 220 pounds together (160 of that in the past couple of years through the Weight Loss Lifestyle habits and strategies I teach!).

In this episode, I present the many benefits of the First Four---my first steps for weight loss and lasting life changes!

There are many, many steps and stages to weight loss and weight management. To some, there are too many. To others, there are simply a couple—and anyone who says otherwise is making it too complicated.

The truth is that there ARE many steps and stages—but success comes from not doing them all at once. Success comes from incremental changes that last forever. (This is the reason that people who strive for weight loss for a really long time {not stopping and starting and gaining and losing but really keep working at it consistently} eventually reach their goal. Research bears this out.)

So in today’s episode, I want to sell you on the idea of truly implementing the First Four!

1) Drinking water

2) Sleeping 7-9 hours a night

3) Implementing some form of timed eating (a definite start and stop time for food)

4) Deciding ahead of time what you will eat each day

First, I describe what those are (and give you my free First Four Daily Journaling Pages!). Then I go through the many benefits of implementing these as lifestyle changes that will lead to weight loss and eventual weight management.

There are many benefits to the First Four for life in general. Any time we make positive health changes, they have ripple effects. The First Four will impact our self-integrity, our ability to create more success in other areas, and or health and wellness in general.

They also have added benefits of being something we can do easily; something that is before us every morning in a three minute planning time; and something that can ground us when we feel scattered.

For our weight loss efforts, these four go far---water fills us up and flushes out fat and toxins. Sleep…oh, glorious sleep….helps us withstand cravings better, helps us feel rested and energized, helps us to eat fewer calories overall, and diminishes hunger.

Timed eating gives us a definite start and stop time that results in eating less. It is somewhere between an instant gratification and a delayed gratification, which helps people stick to it.

Planning our food types, amounts, and times ahead of time is an amazing help to losing weight. We can plan foods we enjoy. We know what is coming next or soon. We can balance our food for the day to stay within our deficit. And we can plan something for tomorrow that we thought we wanted today but didn’t plan for.

The First Four is the first of many incremental steps that have led to my husband and I losing 220 pounds together and keeping that weight off!

*First Four Journal Pages here: https://donnreish.s3.amazonaws.com/Intermittent+Fasting/The+First+Four+Journal+Packet.pdf

Find all of my episodes, outlines, and articles for my two weekly broadcasts:

(1) Weight Loss Lifestyle broadcast (formerly Donna's Intermittent Fasting Broadcast) https://donnareish.com/intermittent-fasting-journal-index/

(2) Think-Feel-Eat broadcast at http://donnareish.com/think-feel-eat/

Sign up for my free webinar: https://intermittentfastingwebinar.com

Watch episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnXWjw8JpCE&feature=youtu.be

See full article here: https://donnareish.com/think-feel-eat-episode-42-the-many-benefits-of-the-first-four

Watch new episodes live in free private FB group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/318664198605086/

See Index for my other broadcast, Weight Loss Lifestyle (formerly Donna's Intermittent Fasting broadcast) here: https://donnareish.com/intermittent-fasting-journal-index/

See index for Think-Feel-Eat Videocast/Podcast here: http://donnareish.com/think-feel-eat/

Check out my Intermittent Fasting Course: https://iintermittentfastingcourse.com

Free Intermittent Fasting Start Up Charts: https://donnareish.com/daily-intermittent-fasting-start-up-charts/

DISCLAIMER: This is an intermittent fasting support group, blog, podcast, and/or course. None of the information/advice shared is considered to be medical advice. Information shared here is for inspiration and/or informational purposes only. Please consult your physician or medical professionals with any specific medical questions including treatment options, medications, dosages, and other medical concerns. Again, no specific medical advice is given herein. No discussion in this group, blog, or course should be considered to be a substitute for medical care.

Hi! I'm Donna Reish, IF teacher, weight loss coach, blogger, and half of "The Minus 220 Pound Pair" as my husband and I have lost over 220 pounds together (160 of that in the past couple of years through the Weight Loss Lifestyle habits and strategies I teach!). In this episode, I present benefits of being sugar-free or part-time sugar-free!

Many people equate sugar with weight gain. They automatically assume that you can’t lose weight eating sugar or that you will gain weight if you do eat sugar. Truth it, we lose or gain weight by undereating or overeating.

And this leads us to the first benefit of being sugar-free all or part of the time: when we have less sugar, we crave less and often eat less. And then guess what? Yep! We lose weight!

Several things happen to us regarding weight when we reduce sugar:

1) We possibly eat more filling foods

2) We reduce our over-hunger and our over-desire (TFE #29 and TFE #30)

TFE#29: https://donnareish.com/think-feel-eat-episode-29-over-hunger-vs-over-desire-part-i-of-ii/

TFE#30: https://donnareish.com/think-feel-eat-episode-30-over-hunger-vs-over-desire-part-ii-of-ii

3) We eat more of the 3 F’s (foods that are fiber, fluffy, and fluidy)

4) We eat fewer foods that cause intense cravings (Weight Loss Lifestyle #49)

WLL#49: https://donnareish.com/intermittent-fasting-journal-49-six-seductive-craving-concentrations/

Additionally, we prove to ourselves that we can do something extremely hard, lose belly fat, increase our heart health, have healthier brain function, experience less depression, and much more.

Find all of my episodes, outlines, and articles for my two weekly broadcasts:

(1) Weight Loss Lifestyle broadcast (formerly Donna's Intermittent Fasting Broadcast) https://donnareish.com/intermittent-fasting-journal-index/

(2) Think-Feel-Eat broadcast at http://donnareish.com/think-feel-eat/

Sign up for my free webinar: https://intermittentfastingwebinar.com

Watch episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6o9EQhDqBM&feature=youtu.be

See full article here: https://donnareish.com/think-feel-eat-episode-41-benefits-of-being-sugar-free-part-of-the-time-or-always

Watch new episodes live in free private FB group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/318664198605086/

See Index for my other broadcast, Weight Loss Lifestyle (formerly Donna's Intermittent Fasting broadcast) here: https://donnareish.com/intermittent-fasting-journal-index/

See index for Think-Feel-Eat Videocast/Podcast here: http://donnareish.com/think-feel-eat/

Check out my Intermittent Fasting Course: https://iintermittentfastingcourse.com

Free Intermittent Fasting Start Up Charts: https://donnareish.com/daily-intermittent-fasting-start-up-charts/

DISCLAIMER: This is an intermittent fasting support group, blog, podcast, and/or course. None of the information/advice shared is considered to be medical advice. Information shared here is for inspiration and/or informational purposes only. Please consult your physician or medical professionals with any specific medical questions including treatment options, medications, dosages, and other medical concerns. Again, no specific medical advice is given herein. No discussion in this group, blog, or course should be considered to be a substitute for medical care.

Hi! I'm Donna Reish, IF teacher, weight loss coach, blogger, and half of "The Minus 220 Pound Pair" as my husband and I have lost over 220 pounds together (160 of that in the past couple of years through the Weight Loss Lifestyle habits and strategies I teach!).

In this episode, I present ten things that we will want to consider in choosing/developing our own food protocol for weight loss/management.

I have uncovered ten important factors that we should consider in creating our food protocol if we want to lose weight/maintain that weight loss.

These factors do NOT include---what worked for my best friend, what made me lose fast before (if it was sooooo good, you would still be on it!), what we see advertised, or what people in a FB group tell us.

The ten factors, which I unpack one factor at a time in today’s broadcast, include:

1. Deficit: You must believe a deficit is needed

2. Sustainability: The protocol must be sustainable (these are top two for sure!!) TFE 16, 17, and 18

TFE 16: Pick a Protocol Part I of III

https://donnareish.com/think-feel-eat-episode-16-pick-a-protocol-i-of-ii/

TFE 17: Pick a Protocol Part II of III

https://donnareish.com/think-feel-eat-episode-17-pick-a-protocol-ii-of-iii/

TFE 18: Pick a Protocol Part III of III

https://donnareish.com/think-feel-eat-episode-18-pick-a-protocol-iii-of-iii/

3. Food enjoyment: Must contain foods you like

4. 3 F’s: Must contain foods that are 3 F’s at least in part: fluidy, fluffy, fibrous. TFE 29 and 30

TFE 29: Over Hunger vs. Over Desire Part I of II

https://donnareish.com/think-feel-eat-episode-29-over-hunger-vs-over-desire-part-i-of-ii/

TFE 30: Over Hunger vs. Over Desire Part II of II

https://donnareish.com/think-feel-eat-episode-30-over-hunger-vs-over-desire-part-ii-of-ii

5. Volume: Must contain foods that meet your personal volume desire (i.e. liking to be full vs. fullness doesn’t matter to you as much—this is a thing…my husband and I are opposite!)

6. Cravings: Protocol must not induce cravings/preferably will reduce cravings TFE 7, 8, and 9 and TFE 35

TFE #7: Urges and Feeling Feelings!

https://donnareish.com/think-feel-eat-episode-7-urges-and-feeling-feelings/

TFE#8: Urges and Feeling Feelings Part II of II https://donnareish.com/think-feel-eat-episode-8-urges-and-feeling-feelings-part-ii-of-ii/

TFE#9: 10 Ways to Sit With/Process Food Urges

https://donnareish.com/think-feel-eat-episode-9-10-ways-to-sit-with-process-food-urges/

TFE 35: Five Ways to Crave Less

https://donnareish.com/think-feel-eat-episode-35-five-ways-to-crave-less

7. Complexity: Protocol needs to be at your level of complexity (i.e. brainpower in its approach---some like to think a lot about protocol; others don’t want to think about all the details of foods’ macros, micros, weight, etc.)

8. Cost: Protocol needs to fit your budget (lots of specialty foods vs. not as many specialty foods)

9. Execution: Protocol needs to be at your execution level—how much cooking, dishwashing, food prepping, shopping, etc., on a daily basis do you enjoy?

10. Availability: Protocol should contain foods easily available to you.

Find all of my episodes, outlines, and articles for my two weekly broadcasts:

(1) Weight Loss Lifestyle broadcast (formerly Donna's Intermittent Fasting Broadcast) https://donnareish.com/intermittent-fasting-journal-index/

(2) Think-Feel-Eat broadcast at http://donnareish.com/think-feel-eat/

Sign up for my free webinar: https://intermittentfastingwebinar.com

Watch episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnV4INdoMJY&feature=youtu.be

See full article here: https://donnareish.com/think-feel-eat-episode-40-ten-factors-for-protocol-choosing

Watch new episodes live in free private FB group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/318664198605086/

See Index for my other broadcast, Weight Loss Lifestyle (formerly Donna's Intermittent Fasting broadcast) here: https://donnareish.com/intermittent-fasting-journal-index/

See index for Think-Feel-Eat Videocast/Podcast here: http://donnareish.com/think-feel-eat/

Check out my Intermittent Fasting Course: https://iintermittentfastingcourse.com

Free Intermittent Fasting Start Up Charts: https://donnareish.com/daily-intermittent-fasting-start-up-charts/

DISCLAIMER: This is an intermittent fasting support group, blog, podcast, and/or course. None of the information/advice shared is considered to be medical advice. Information shared here is for inspiration and/or informational purposes only. Please consult your physician or medical professionals with any specific medical questions including treatment options, medications, dosages, and other medical concerns. Again, no specific medical advice is given herein. No discussion in this group, blog, or course should be considered to be a substitute for medical care.