How I Reset My Metabolism Every Year Before Eating Season

Once a year, as my annual reset or in recent years I've considered it a metablic reset occurs right before the holidays to ensure I'm 1) metablicly healthy and 2) make sure I'm lean and mean prior to 'eating season'.

So what I do is the week before thanksgiving I plan to have a very productive week and in general abstain from eating while focusing on the below. I gain mental clarity, increase my insulin sensitivity AND certainly drop several pounds of fat at a time of the year this would otherwise not happen for me.

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Since I'm not a huge fat of water only fasting (READ: feeling like crap for a couple of days), I cheat my ass off to make it 90% productive from what I'm trying to accomplish with only 10% of the pain of a 'fast'.

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NOTE: I'm not a doctor or legalized fasting recommender. This is simply what I did, what may work for you, and it certainly may not. So talk with a doctor or whoever you trust as your fasting spiritual advisor before engaging. And remember, if you do try something like this and it doesn't feel right, you have a great tool at your disposal that you can use anytime and it's called FOOD.

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First off - I generally start my fasts on a Monday and I completely overbook myself so I don't actually have time to eat. I also book a project for the evening (this time of year was doing leaves) that I engage in when I get home vs. hitting the fridge. If I can knock that out and get to bed on night #1, I'm money. The rest of the week (this sounds insane) is literally downhill. But evening chores / running kids around actually comes in handy. (I'm skipping dinner tonight as I write this and Duke is at football practice)

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Ladies - Note that this is a protocol for a dude. Ladies are going to find more success with shorter fasts generally in the first 14 days of your cycle. NOT after that. For more information I highly recommend following Dr. Mindy Pelz on this topic.

Here was my supplementation / movement scheme / Saving grace.

• 3 servings of Aminos (morning, noon and night) - I use the Body Health brand that we carry at the gym.
• Take all the supplements as normal (vitamin D, colostrum, fish oil, methylene blue, and Urolithin A.
• I'm not a caffeine guy but go for it if that's your thing, just know that you're going to be more sensitive to the caffeine so perhaps cut it down a cup or two.
• Get bone broth and hammer it - I like the Kettle and Fire brand. It's expensive but so is diabetes. Some days I'll do this for breakfast if I'm struggling, other days I'll do it for 'dinner'. Of the 5 days, I had it 2x a day once and that was on Thursday.
• 3 LMNT per day (I used the can’s and they’re amazing). I'll take a powder first thing in the morning and then I thoroughly 3 cans throughout the day. This is 4,000 mg of sodium. It's energizing and refreshing.  
• 2 servings of Creatine in the morning - This is normal and crucial for keeping your muscles hydrated. Research is saying ladies should be taking even more.
• Sauna session daily - I did this instead of cardio 3x during the week and would have done it daily if I had the time.
• 1+ gallon of water. This is a minimum for sure. I prefer Pelligrino as it leaves me feeling more 'full'
• One body part to failure lifting each day - and that is it (nothing high intensity. My goal here is to lift, stay strong, but not burn out. I hit 3 lifts this year and one really good workout on Monday. Keep your intensity down but you can and still should lift heavy. Low reps (5 or less) and keep the sets to ~5 or so.

I use a continuous blood glucose monitor also to make sure I'm not going to kill myself AND to understand what is happening to my sugars throughout the week and when I think I'm getting to full on fat burning mode.

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Again - go by feel. If you think you're going to die, eat and try again next time.

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FINAL PRO TIP - do this with a friend so you have an accountability buddy.

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