Fasting Space

Special.
Hello to everybody on the podcast.

This was an especially visual live stream.

I took lots of pictures and shared them
from my recent hiking vacation

in North Carolina, but there's also a lot
of really good thinking.

I think about exercise, fasting,
health, and life in And so I thought,

you know, I'll keep this audio
on the podcast if it's helpful.

If you really want to see the pictures,
of course,

follow the links,
check out the live stream on YouTube.

But hopefully I describe it

well enough that you can picture
the beautiful mountains and the flowers

and all these Highlight in here
for everybody on YouTube listeners

a given people a free simple fasting mug
if you'd like.

That applies to podcast listeners to
of course get in touch.

Send me an email link in the description.

So often we are told that if we do not eat

something even keep eating something
almost continuously,

that we can barely do anything.

We've got to keep the carbs flowing,
keep the energy coming in,

and it has this subtle implication
that we are weak and fragile.

Fasting showing us the complete opposite,
that there is power inside of the body.

There is energy in here
and it is waiting to be unlocked.

The need for constant consumption
is definitely not the end of the story.

When we train
and we lean into the power of the body,

we can help to unlock the energy
within us, help us

become both leaner and stronger
at the same time.

And I have really personally experienced
this over the last week.

I have been major leaning

in to hiking and fasting.

Took a family summer vacation
this last week, North Carolina,

Blue Ridge Mountains and we did
six straight days of hiking big hikes.

I'm going to share some pictures of that
with you.

Here is me up at the top of a mountain
I climbed.

I did fasting, hiking.

This week.

I did a straight amid one meal a day

and hiked all day and then a dinner meal.

And so I'm going to tell you about
my experience and take your questions.

I'd love to hear how you are doing.

And we're going to lean
into this physiology,

because I want this session
to be an inspiration to you.

Not that you have to

go climb up on a mountain, but that we can
just take the amount of this concept

that we want into our life,
some amount of fasting space,

whatever feels like joy and openness
and positivity, some amount of movement.

You bring these two together.

And to me this is a major, major unlock.

I climbed up one day

at their pinnacle hike, literal Pinnacle
hike Winter Star Mountain

in North Carolina, and it is labeled
as one of the most arduous hikes,

if not the most arduous hike
east of the Mississippi.

Name. You were not hiking in the Rockies.

Okay, 3000ft elevation gain

over the course of five miles,
and then you got an unwind it back down.

And it was so inspiring.

I was just completely inspired
by the whole process,

sitting up at the top of the mountain,
looking out at the beauty of this space

and then feeling it in the fasting space,
which is something

I told the story
of the century of my century right

the other week,
which I didn't do any fasting.

I was like, I'm taking it easy on on this,
but I've done it in the past.

I did 100 mile ride fasting space.

And you know, as I was reflecting on it,
I was like, I don't know.

It was an interesting experience.

It felt great doing it, training to do it.

And so I've been taking
this season of time

that we're in our lean in challenge.

How are you doing with it?

Week four since we launched it,
what is your experience been?

Let me know in the comments.

Whether for good or bad, of course.

I'm happy to hear I say share the love
and share the struggle of the journey.

Whatever the reality is,
we're focused on the reality.

But my thought heading out hiking,
I was just reflecting on the century,

right?

And the different ones that I've done,

different exercise, I've done fasting
and I was really feeling it.

I was like, man,

I need to lean into this fasting space
and just want to experience it.

And so I'll tell you my experience.

I'll show you a few pictures
as I share my experience with it.

So first hike we did, and we'll
get back to me at the top of the mountain.

First hike
we did North Carolina, Hawksbill Mountain

we did when we got there.

And so this is a view of the

the peak off in the center is table rock.

And so we're viewing off from the top
as we got up there.

So my experience
doing OMD most of the time I would say

there was a transition for it
the first day.

Okay.

When we're driving in with the family,

we saw Carolina roadside barbecue

and everybody's always should stop.

Everybody wants lunch.
You know, we've been driving.

And so day one and this is a point
you know you're doing OMD.

This can be flexible.

You're doing any type of fasting can be
intuitive flexible fitted into your life.

Everybody wants to stop for this.

Barbecue is so incredible.

So I ate lunch day one
and then I left it at that.

Got a half rack of Carolina barbecue ribs.

Incredible. It was so good.

And that was good.

And then have fasting evening. Okay.

And so then the evening
we got in this hike

to get up this mountain,
some of the best views.

This is 360 degree views.

And so looking around
at a different point on that mountain,

say this was the beginning of that

fasting space, had a launch
and then hike in the evening.

To me
I say you're looking for fasting space.

This photo looking out of this mountain,
look at that space.

I mean, to me, this is just
a major metaphor for what we want in life.

Space in the top of a mountain is showing
us such an incredible imagery of that.

Open up some space.

See the big picture of life and health.

You know the beauty of this experience.

So we had six straight days of hiking.

We were out of Madison here for ten days

and some travel on the side, stopped
and saw some family.

I show a quick photo of that too,
but six straight days of hiking

kicked off the first one

with the lunch
and then fasting evening hike.

As we're getting in and more views
from the top of that mountain.

And then the rest of the hiking
that I did, grab a coffee in the morning

and head out and hit the trail.

First day of that,
I felt it was like a little bit

like to get going with it,
and then the next day is every day

that I did it, I felt stronger
and leading to this pinnacle

hike, Winter Star Mountain,
that was so intense, so long,

hiking all day from morning till evening

and just feeling the energy flowing.

This is what this is
what I want to inspire you.

I want people to be able to experience
this type of thing.

Feeling so good,
feeling like the energy is just flowing

in the body, feeling like a switch
has been flipped and it is unlocked.

That's how I felt.

I felt man,
I have unlocked some energy in this system

that I have been looking for, and that is
a beautiful thing to find on a vacation.

You know, different types of vacations
you can have.

Here is just a picture on the trail.

This Blue Ridge Mountains, I guess,

is the the world's

headquarters for rhododendrons
is rhododendron forest,

and they were blooming
while we were there.

And so it's just,
you know, thousands of them everywhere.

So beautiful.

I want everybody to get inspired.

I want people to see, oh,
I see what is happening.

Body is storing energy for me.

Energy
is here to power life and experience.

I tell people fasting space
can start very, very small and it can stay

very, very small and simple,
especially if that's what you need.

If that is the right thing,
never any pressure to have to do anything

and look at all
the disclaimers that I have.

I'm not telling anybody to go
do an arduous hike.

You know, on day one, you know,
that is probably not going to be pleasant.

But training yourself, opening up,
just taking a walk, that's the next step.

I always say
you got to walk before you can run,

and you got to be able to sit
before you can walk.

And so it is enough in a fasting space
just to sit.

Maybe you find a beautiful spot, sit
and look at the rhododendron flowers,

you know, and then realize in that space,
okay, body is still working.

It's using energy.

And as we are gaining in strength

that fasting is its own kind of strength
people get.

Okay, how much weight can I lift?

You know,
what kind of anabolic strength do I have?

And how far or fast can I run?

You know, some sort of aerobic strength.

But a fasting strength is like,
how tuned in

is the body to using the energy within it?

And something like a hike,
that is, it's not a sprint.

It's like a low level
but continuous activity that is like prime

weight loss space, Prime fasting space.

Just keep the energy flowing at low level.

So next day
we did the Hawks bill that night.

And then the next day we got up.

We climbed Grandfather Mountain.

And this was a pretty interesting hike.

A lot of these ladders.

I took the photo here, the ladder.

So climbing up there's like cables.

This is a difficult hike.

You're basically climbing straight up
the face of this for a long period.

I mean, there's probably two miles you do
that is like normal hiking.

And then there's,
you know, a mile and a half

where there's like cables and ladders
that you're trying to go up.

So couldn't bring the dog on this one.

They stayed at the Airbnb and

but what an interesting experience.

I took this photo on the way up.

Just thought I'd share it to
give a little framing to our discussion.

So we are sitting here in a health space.

I'm talking to you about the power
that is within the human body

that we are trying to get there
to enact the practices

that help life
and health to flourish in the body.

And to me, this photo

like as I saw it, I'm
I'm hanging on a cable.

I think on the side of the thing,
I don't know, we're

right on all these rocks and,
you know, in this rhododendron forest.

And then here's a baby rhododendron
growing out on the side of the rock.

And then we've got the fungi here.

And it's like, to me,
this is the whole cycle of life, right?

In a photo, right?

We've got birth and we've got death.

And like the and then the death

and the fungi are recycling
and releasing the energy back in.

And this is a cycle of life in one photo.

And so I just thought it was a beautiful
little scene and.

Can help us zoom out.

You know, that's what I want to do.

You see something like that.
You see nature.

We see we are a part of this.

And then and then, you know,
you can dial in on some big thinking

also and realize,
well, we're in a cycle like that too.

And wherever we are at in this cycle

or practices,
we're trying to focus on the green side.

You know, we're trying to lean
into the life side and squeeze

as much life and health and vitality
out of it as possible.

But realize like, there's
no there's an end date to this experience

to brings to me
a bit of a sense of urgency to it,

a bit of a thing that's not something
we like to think about a lot,

but it's something in medicine.

Of course,
we just think about all the time, and

to me it just highlights the beauty of it
and the importance of it.

And as I was looking at it
anyway, I'm saying, man, let us super dial

in, you know, let us dial in

as much as possible and squeeze
as much health out of this as possible.

And this is what excites me
about the space that we are in right now

is a fasting space is like we are
barely scratching the surface of it.

That's what I feel like.

And this society, even here, even myself,
this is the thing.

As I was looking at it, I was like, man,
we are only scratching the surface

of this practice.

And so I was super leaning in on it
in this trip.

And I hope that some of these thoughts

can help inspire you to say,
how can I bring elements like this

that help to make this cycle
that I'm in my life, my experience

as healthy, powerful, enjoyable,
as strong as possible?

Here's the type of grandfather mountain
we were hiking basically intermittently

in, like super fog and rain

and for for part,
I don't know, half a mile of the trail.

It was like just walking up a river
that was flowing down at us.

And when we got to the top, like most
of the time, you could not see anything.

You could barely see
these trees in the foreground.

The clouds were so thick,
but then you would look out

and occasionally like a little window
would open.

And I captured one that was like 10s,
where you could look out,

and then you could see other mountains
and trees, like through this window.

So that hike was not like the epic views
that you might see

if you Google Grandfather Mountain
and you can see, you know,

these huge views in every direction.

But it had its own kind
of mysterious beauty.

And I do like the analogy of

like the window
and just being able to look out

and for even a moment
to see something more clearly.

And this is certainly a type of experience
that I was having

in this fasting sort of space,
hiking and leaning into it.

I was like,
oh, this is like a window for me here,

because I am seeing that

there is so much energy and strength here,

and it's something that I
maybe have experienced different,

you know, points
where I've really gotten into it

and then, you know, get away from it
a little bit.

And so here I'm like, oh, like,
we can see it.

The strength to be able to do all of this
stuff, not eating anything else,

just all the energy coming out of the body
to me, a window to help us see it.

Another day
we hiked to this beautiful space,

Catawba Falls,
and this was a shorter day of hiking.

But then there's only a couple miles,
but then just a lot of splashing around

with the dog in the family
and it's pretty hot.

And so after a couple big hikes,
hiking up to a waterfall

and spending the day in some cool stream
water

really welcome a thought like this.

You know, in our space.

To me that is saying like, okay,

every day doesn't have to be
a pinnacle mountaintop experience.

We can have variation in our practice.

Back off for a little bit,
make sure we're enjoying the journey.

Everything doesn't have to be pedal
to the metal.

Take some time, you know, stop.

Sit by a waterfall and.

Of course, a natural flow of water
reminding us stay hydrated.

Right
here's like a super key to our process.

Okay, I did all this hiking.

No food, but I definitely stay hydrated.

I pack double water bottles.

I had coffee before we left.

And that is loading up for a pleasant
fasting space.

That's what you that's what you want.

Show picture.

Here's
my guys hiking up the mountain here.

I just wanted to show
a picture of this trail.

I think this must be

on this winter star hike
when we're going.

But all the rhododendron flowers,

you know, had been blooming
all at the start of the week.

And then by the end of the week, they're
all dropping their petals on the trails.

So the whole trail are like these flower
petal line trails that we were walking on.

I thought it was kind of a magical thing.

Seemed almost like a wedding, you know,
it's like, oh, we're throwing the flower

petals all down on the ground
as we're heading up and walking,

and it just felt like
a beautiful gift of nature. And.

I just I just love it.

This is the
this is the experience that you have.

You get out in
nature is such an inspiring place.

And just breathing the fresh mountain air

and all of these, all of these things.

Give us as many tailwinds as possible.

This is what I am saying
about our experience here in the summer.

So many tailwinds
that we want to lean into the season. And.

The beautiful sun,
the open sky, the fresh air,

the flowers, even doing their part,
giving us inspiration.

This was our big, biggest hike up
Winter Star Mountain,

ten miles up and down, 3000ft up.

Described
as the most arduous hike, like I said,

but beautiful views up at the top.

Looking out over this space.

I felt stronger at the top of this hill
than I did at the bottom.

And as I was coming down, heading out
like mile eight, mile nine, mile

ten, as we're like getting through it,
I was, you know, I wouldn't say,

you know,
sometimes people who are like masterful

at like meditation,
all this sort of stuff, which I'm not.

It's like, I wish that I was people
who are super dialed in,

especially in a fasting space.

Remember these two things,
like super dialed into the same sort

of space, open
space and mind, body and spirit.

I wouldn't say I had any sort of vision,
you know,

but I did have like a big, powerful
thoughts, you know,

and the thoughts that were just coming
were like.

Man, like there is real strength here.

That's just the thought that was coming.

And I was having thoughts like,
you know, I'm not an Army Ranger, okay?

I'm not 20 years old either, like my son
who's just basically run the whole thing.

Both of them, you know?

But I was like, I'm feeling really strong.

And if you know, we're doing ten miles,
like, I was like,

you know, if somebody needed somebody

to do 20 and it's like, get to the other
side of the mountain range.

No food like I would call my own number.

That's what I was thinking.

Like, I can definitely, definitely do it.

And it just felt like a, like very
grounded, like reality based strength.

And it just felt personally to me
very, very encouraging.

That's that's what I want.

So just sitting there looking out
over this space, I felt so encouraged

and I felt, you know, just strength
like I haven't felt in a while.

It was like
I was trying to reflect in there.

What was harder doing this like arduous
mountain hike or doing the century right?

I don't know, you know,

they're in the same kind of level,
I would say, and a same time frame.

We probably spent more time
while we definitely did.

It took longer,
certainly to do the hike. And.

I would say I felt stronger doing it
though, you know,

and that was the difference.

You know, this was my little N of one,
not really a study, but, you know,

I ate all day doing the century ride

and I ate nothing doing this
gigantic hike.

And I felt better.

I will say, I don't know,
they're not the same event.

Maybe I'll go back
and I'll do a fasting century again.

Now I'm very curious to compare it,

but at least in this experience

of my summer leaning in toward

exercise and fasting felt so good.

Felt the energy flowing in a huge, huge
positive way.

Have you experienced this?

Have you experienced
opening up some fasting space

and then experiencing energy
coming out of the body in a powerful way?

Maybe that's
just in a little bit of space.

You say, hey, I'm not big into fasting,
but I have gotten the okay

from my medical team.

Try it out, take a walk.

You know, just anything small to start.

I told the story before I left.

Take a hike,
I said, and walk off the weight.

Right.

I told the story of a gentleman
that I met in my weight clinic who,

when he retired, he just became a walker,
and he started dialing up the walking

little bits at a time
and built it into this huge

experience where he'd just pack

a day, pack with some water
and some backup snack if necessary,

and spent the whole day hiking around town
and had incredible

weight loss, incredible weight
loss, and felt so good and loved it.

This is what I want.

This is the only thing I want for people.

I want people finding.

I want you finding.

If you are here trying to dial in
on weight loss and health,

improving the metabolism, I want you
to find something that you just love.

You know that feels good.

Never forced everything that I am
talking about, from fasting to exercise,

mental health practices
and open exploration of health.

And this picture, right?

This picture is the feeling
that I want people to have,

just like wonder and openness
and loving it.

Open space.

That's what fasting is, open space.

I think that's why
I'm drawn to the mountain so much.

You see the open space,
the potential, the opportunity

that is before us and the thoughts
that I'm sitting here thinking about,

you know,

as I'm sitting looking out at this
and just reflecting on,

you know, my physical experience, be like,
I'm doing this,

no food coming in,
all the energy coming out of my own body.

You know, just I think it's important.

I think we should talk about it.

I want people to know this.

Like, this is something that I want
people to know.

Like, I think most people do not believe
that this type of thing is possible.

And I just think about all the money

and all the supplements and all the things
to say and, and, you know, everybody

that I'm hiking with, bless them,
it's just fine because like people

not in the mindset for it, people
just consuming stuff all the time.

So you got to keep the energy up
and it's not a problem.

It's, you know,

especially kids, you know, as a kid
certainly don't need to lose any weight.

Load them up
with all the trail mix that you can.

But if you are in a space where you say,
I'm actually like,

I want to use some of this energy
within me, how many people know?

Do you know, like, this is real energy?

That is, say, is it locked up in there?

You can use it, you can use it.

And here is a space.

But so often have you felt that way
like it is locked up.

And how do you get at it.

You say I don't feel that way.

Okay.

The big thing that we're trying to do,
fasting space, can help you unlock it

because there really is a lock,
and that lock is insulin

and other hormones
that are created by the environment

that we are putting the body in to say,
it's not time to access that energy,

and you really can't get it
if the hormones not allowing it.

And so between the practices

creating a mental space of peace
and contentment.

So our chronic stress
level is turning down,

that is dialing in on this hormonal state,
the cortisol, all these things,

trying to get all the processed foods
out of our life

so that our insulin can stay low.

Opening up these movement spaces,
see space everywhere in mind

and body and spirit
so that we can let the energy flow.

And that is the unlock.

That is the unlock.

Here's our last hiking day.

Mount Mitchell,
highest point east of the Mississippi.

And this was a nice way to end the

hiking because this the summit here.

We did other hiking around the park, but
you can basically drive right up to it.

It's like point
two miles from the parking lot up to the.

Top. And it was.

And then we get beautiful
views like this

looking out without an arduous hike.

Yeah.
So this is a view from Mount Mitchell.

We are looking out and it's 360 views
like this actually on this range.

As we're looking around we can kind of see
all the other hikes we did.

It was such a nice way to.

End the trip and see it.

And so everybody if anybody else
who's watching coming in new

I've running a little thing
given everybody simple fasting mug.

Are you trying to lean
into a fasting space.

You want to do it in a very gentle
and thoughtful way.

That is like these pictures
openness in the body.

Shoot me an email, doctor
Z at simple fasting.

I'll put it in the chat.

And if you're here on the replay,
same thing applies.

To me, this is something I ordered up
one of these for myself

a couple self a couple years ago
when I started up the channel.

It's a type of thing is centering to me
say, oh, this is kind of

a grounding thing.

We sometimes we say,
you know, fasting is nothing.

And some people say,
oh, like I've described, okay, try

to make fasting tangible in a way,
you know, when it's nothing, it's like,

how do we hang on to it?

How do we really get into it
when when it's nothing.

And so here's something you can hang on to
if that is helpful

to anybody a hook you up with that.

So Mount Mitchell the air in this place

I'll tell you it's all a spruce
kind of spruce fir forest.

And it was one of the most
beautiful spaces just to breathe.

We took some time up here. We just sat.

We watched the clouds
and took some deep breaths

and it just felt so good.

Oh my gosh.

I love like we're we're pretty much up
over the clouds at this point.

watching some clouds.

Maybe one of my favorite things to do.

I've got a fasting space video
section on the video side of the channel.

Fasting with clouds.

If you are feeling like spending a little
time, you know, dial in on that one.

That was like a little cloud meditation
about like, look at clouds, right?

Just the lightness of it
floating through a space.

Don't
you want to have that sort of mindset

really not tied down by anything going
where the breeze is blowing.

Not a care in the world, right?

If you want to reduce some stress, sit
and watch a cloud.

You can meditate on that.

And also
it's like it is like pure hydration.

This is what we're trying to do
in a fasting space.

Stay hydrated.

Find lightness both in the mind
and the body.

To me, cloud is a perfect metaphor.

All right, I think I got a few photos.

Fun things to end the trip.

Okay, on the way back from.

North Carolina to Madison,

we just randomly stayed
in Corbin, Kentucky, which it turns out

is the home of the original Kentucky
Fried Chicken.

And I'm like, who knew?

And so everybody in my family
seemed to be very excited about it.

I was like, you know, see, is a fast food,
not my thing.

But I'm like, you know, when in Corbin,
okay, we'll go to KFC.

It's like a museum
of all things KFC there.

And I was thinking like,
I don't think I'm going to.

It must have been two decades
since I ate a KFC and I was like,

you know, I'm like, my family's excited.

We're all going
to get the big bucket of stuff.

I was like,
I'm just going to eat some KFC.

I've got, you know,
we got all the trail food.

I'm like, I could eat some of my
pack of nuts and and be just fine.

And I was like, I probably should do that.

That'd be the healthy choice, right?

But I'm like, you know, I'm
trying to take my own medicine, you know?

So I'm like, I will just do it.

And then I was talking myself into it.

I was like, it's chicken.
It can't be that bad, right?

And so I got green beans side
and I'll have a couple pieces of chicken.

I would say my experience eating it,
I mean, I haven't had the closest thing

that I ever do to fast
food is like a Qdoba or a Chipotle.

You know, I will do that sometimes.

Never, never any burger stuff.

Okay.

Oh, and yeah, a long time
since KFC is so salty.

This is my thing.

Do you have a KFC is so salty.

I was like, oh my goodness.

But it wasn't so bad. Like eating it.

I was like, oh, this is okay.

It's like some chicken
and some green beans.

But I'll tell you, I didn't feel good.
I just didn't feel good.

Like about 20 minutes later I'm like, oh,
I shouldn't have done it.

That's how I felt.

I was like, it wasn't worth it
and I'm not going to do it again.

This is my big encouragement to you.

It's like,
just stay away from the fast food.

If you end up in Corbin,
you know, it is kind of fun to look at all

the stuff and, you know,
think about it, but like, you know.

Okay, this is where we stayed in Corbin.

We were staying at Airbnbs across the way,
and we found this little tiny

house, Airbnb.

And this was just fun.

Kids loved it.

We just, you know, we got in late
and we ate our KFC in the screen porch

and screened porch.

I think the volume of the screen porch
is about double the entire house.

And we just actually had such a fun time
staying in here.

Great pictures.

Thank you.

Gotta go hiking. Yes,
absolutely. It's just.

What a beautiful thing to do.

I always say walking is the world's
healthiest activity.

I think it is.

And then to put that into a hike,
you know, as all the better.

Got this simple
fasting coffee cup. Awesome.

Glad to hear it.

Keep fasting.

Love it, love it.

Here,
I'll show you the inside of this house.

This is me
standing on the very far edge of the house

and then heading in like
you can see the kitchen through the door.

Is the bathroom
like all the shelves are built into

that space under the stairs
and a little stairs heading up to the bed.

And if we were to flip around,
you'd see a tiny bed.

On the other side.
And that's that's the whole thing.

But they got a mini split in there,
and it was 100 degrees.

And it was it's like it's
basically like a tiny refrigerator.

So we were actually very comfortable, but.

Yeah.

So tiny House,
I gotta tell you, rounding out the trip,

it was a really interesting tiny house.

I don't think I've ever been
in a tiny house like this.

And I've done a couple shows,
a couple of these live sessions

on minimalism and fasting and which,

you know, minimalism as a concept,
I'm like super into and fasting.

I was described as minimalism
for the body.

And I was like, you take these ideas
of minimalism that like,

we don't want to much,
but it's not that we want nothing either.

It's just we want the best things,
you know, the things that we have.

We want to be high value, high utility,
nothing wasted.

To me, all these principles of minimalism
is fasting to me.

And so sort of bring it in.

This is like max level minimalism to me.

I was like, wow,
we have really cranked this

to an interesting place
is a little much for me.

I'm not I'm not going to sell my house
and move into the tiny house.

Just, you know, I'm just saying.

But it was interesting to experience
and everybody had fun with it for sure.

So from my perspective,

a place to derive analogies
as much as anything

and then ending up the trip,
we we visited some family.

Here's doctor Z, can you pick me out?

We went to a theme park and rode

some roller coasters and waterslides
and this stuff.

Kentucky Kingdom.

We were in Louisville on our way back
and a good time was had by all.

So as as we think about

this cycle of the vacation, right,
the experience of fasting

throughout this process, leaning into it,

this is what I'm wanting to
do for everybody.

Just I'm doing it along with you.

Lean in challenge week four.

We've been going through in the summer.

Say summer is the time.

We're trying to
make hay while the sun shines, right?

You think about the hardest times
in the year.

To lose weight is like Thanksgiving,
Christmas, whatever your holidays are,

it's like there's treats everywhere and
it's cold outside and it's hard to move.

And it's like we have like
everything stacked against us.

And here we are
at the complete inversion of that.

It's warm out.

You can find a time in the day
that is the right temperature.

Maybe that's early or late,

but the sun is shining
and the flowers are blooming

and everything is green
and beautiful on some days.

Or if it's foggy, you know,

like our hike up Grandfather Mountain,
it's like there's this own beauty.

And so.

And then the food in the summer,
we just said, did you have a good fourth

if you're stateside, you here with me?

Did you have a good fourth?
Most of the food.

So much of the food in the summer,
you know, people grilling brats.

And you can have a burger with half a bun
if you're open to it,

and some extra lettuce if you're trying
to get some lower carb sort of options.

It's a lot easier to eat

in a lower carb, lower processed food way.

With summer holidays and with winter
holidays, most of the winter holidays.

And we get so much baking and so much

cookies and all these sort of things
that it's a real challenge, right?

So I want people as much as possible, say,
lean in.

That's why I call our challenge Lean In.

I say lean out by leaning in, right.

We're trying to lean out.

We want to be leaner and stronger
and fasting plus exercise.

Just an incredible way
to do both of these things.

And I am appreciating this in a deeper

and more profound way after my experience.

But lean into it now,
I say, let's make as much progress

as we can in the summer, and then we'll
keep trying to do it in the fall.

So we got the momentum going
as like getting that train running

like an old steam engine,
and we got to climb up the hill.

It's like
we want to build up ahead of steam

so we can smash through the winter.

Okay, it's going to come,
but it's a long way off.

Okay. Don't worry.
But here we are in the summer.

This is where we're trying to

build up our momentum right now
when it's as easy as it ever get.

Do you agree?

Like, is summer
as easy as it will ever get?

Maybe not in our own personal life,
in our season,

because there's many variables.

If you're going through a difficult
or stressful time, of course

that can happen at any point
and then that becomes the most difficult.

But just as a broad stroke, okay.

A lot of natural benefits
to trying to lose weight in the summer.

So I'm saying let's just lean into it.

One of the thoughts I was having
as I was hiking along for hours and hours

was just like the concept
of a weight loss vacation.

And this is something I've been thinking.

You know,
I love doing these live sessions.

I love connecting with people live.

I've been thinking, oh, should I make
an actual video for the channel?

I was coming to me a weight loss vacation.

You know, many times a vacation.

We have the mindset.

It's like,
oh, vacation is just like, relax.

And this is just fine.

But like, let's
think about a comparison of two vacations.

Vacation is just relaxed, like the
the cliche would be like,

oh, we're just going to sit on the beach.

This is this has been the experience
of our vacations in our family

when I used to plan the vacations,
here is how it went, especially

when I was completely strung out
at my university practice.

I was like, okay, we are booking a flight

and we are renting a condo
on the beach in Florida,

and we are going to go and sit
and just watch the ocean.

And we did this
actually a number of times.

I found a condo that is like right
by a natural food store.

And so I'm like,
we're just going to fly down,

we got a little kitchen,
we're just going to get food

and we're going to cook delicious food,
and we're going to sit on the beach.

And and this was great.

And for the right sort of time,
it's like you got to do it, you know.

But then I remember sitting on the beach
at like the fifth vacation of,

like sitting on the beach.

And my wife was like,
she's like, we've got to go do some stuff.

Like, we cannot just sit here anymore.

And so then she started
finding Florida hikes for us.

And it was her that really like started
getting the hiking bug for us.

And now I don't know
if we are like five years in on

just all of our vacations
have been like super

hiking around the country,
and we've been hiking national parks

and Yellowstone and Tetons
and Utah and across

Arizona and Texas and Florida
now on the east.

Oh, and Rocky Mountains.

We've been Zimmerman
family hikers now, big time.

And my wife, an incredible planner.

She planned all these hikes
and all this stuff.

And I was like, you know, you plan
the trip and like, we just get healthier,

like we get stronger
and we have these experiences.

And ironically, me, I plan the trips and
we just kind of sit around and eat like,

this is like I was reflecting on this

and very grateful for that.

As we were planning
this, we're putting this all together.

We're getting ready to leave on the hike.

You know, I've I've been working so much
and all these things, I was like,

why aren't we going back to the beach?

I was saying that, you know,

I was like, why aren't
we just going back to the beach? But like.

And then here it turned out, and this was
this the most epic, fun thing.

And then it created this space
where I was able to lean into

this fasting space, which has been such
an inspiration to me in this.

And I feel so much stronger
coming back from this trip.

And so I was reflecting on it. Okay.

A weight loss vacation.

This was a weight loss vacation.

I mean, everybody in our family,
I think leaner coming back, especially me

because I was the one that was leaning
in on the fasting space with it.

And I'm feeling much stronger

than when I left,
and I'm feeling like so empowered now.

So like, just take like the next step,
like one of the thoughts

that came to me,
so many thoughts coming to me in the

I don't know what your experience
has been.

My experience, both with exercise
and with fasting space is both of

these are like spaces
that can really drill into the mind

and help to unlock thinking.

And if I want to do my best thinking,
I'm always going to do that

in a fasting space.

Sometimes if I'm stuck
dialing on an exercise space, sometimes,

you know, you get out on a run
and or a walk and it's like 20 minutes out

and all of a sudden

it's like another avenue to start
breaking through some barriers.

Good morning. So nice to have you here.

Still doing my fasting although I kind of
fell off this past weekend.

Hey, it's a holiday weekend.

Much grace, no stress.

Get back to it this week.

That is the thing to do.

Absolutely.

You're in the right place here
and the right mindset

and I hope you had a beautiful weekend.

Thank you for being here.

Yeah.

But definitely the one of the thoughts
that was coming to me,

one of these hikes, I just felt like

the body was saying like,
you can be a lot stronger.

This is one of the messages,
so you can be a lot stronger.

You've got to open your mind
to strength here.

And it was just
such an encouraging thought.

And then I was kind of like,
you know, meta.

Thinking about it,
I was like, isn't this interesting?

I've like really pushed into a space,
stretching myself here,

both with fasting and with this hiking,
and look at the messages

that are coming to me.
I'm feeling stronger.

I'm feeling like the body's saying,
you can be a lot stronger.

I was feeling like the body is like
wants it.

You no body wants to be strong.

And so I am feeling very inspired
personally by it.

Say, I've got to lean
into this personally.

I'm going to be a lot
stronger in the future.

And, you know, another thought was like,

even in my own self,
as somebody who's like running

an entire fasting, consulting,
you know, media sort of thing,

the body was saying,
hey, look like this is a really good like,

you are not even appreciating
how good this is for you.

And it's like, you don't you don't lean
into it like the way that you might.

And I just the feeling was like
the body was like, thank you.

Like,
this is like a major vacation for us.

You know, we are cleaning house.

We are strengthening up, powering up.

Can you feel the energy flowing?

I was like, yeah, I'm like feeling it.

I'll tell you.
We really overclocked our dog.

I show you like our dog is like,
this is city dog.

You know, it's like I run with our dog.

I'll go out like 2 or 3 miles for miles
sometime.

Dog loves it.

But then just,
you know, knocked out for the day

and taking the dog

on the most arduous hike
east of the Mississippi.

You know,
it was a little much for the dog.

And I mean, she loved it.

But by mile, you know, eight of rocks

and all this stuff, her poor paws
were, were getting really saw.

And so she would stop and she was like,
look in them.

And I'm like,
this was this was too much for the dog.

Loved having the dog on the trip.

All the other hikes like were good.

But that peak hike, especially at the end,
it was just too much for.

And so I was sitting here
at the end of this hike

and I was thinking
I was feeling bad for the dog.

I'm like, man, we still got a mile, mile
and a half to go.

And and I'm having these thoughts
that I'm expressing

to you, like I'm feeling
stronger and stronger as we go.

I'm thinking,
I haven't eaten anything in 24 hours.

I am feeling the strongest
I've almost felt in years.

Like I just can't believe it.

And I'm watching this poor dog and I'm
like, you know, I can just carry the dog.

And so I did.

I carry the dog about a mile, dogs
about 35 pounds.

And that was hard, I will tell you.

But it felt so good.
It just felt like the thing to me.

I don't know how this life,
you know, works, but it just felt like

the thing that was supposed to happen
because I was like, look,

not only am I finishing this hike, I'm
feeling stronger.

I'm going to carry also the dog. I'm
going to help the dog out.

And that was a little painful,
mainly in the biceps, you know,

like there's not
I had I also I was carrying my kids pack,

so I had double packs of our stuff
and I was like, Anna.

So I can't really throw her over
my shoulder.

The dog was so happy.

I'm trying to like, just lock arms,
hold the dog.

I didn't carry it straight for a mile.
Okay?

I do like a quarter mile.

Set it down, let it walk a spell.

I kind of shake out the arms and then.

And then she'd start
licking the paws again.

And then I would carry again.

And that is where I was having
some of this really deepest thinking

about, like,
just strength and leaning into the body

and body is saying,
no, you got to be stronger

and you can be stronger and like,
look at this.

Like, here's an opportunity
to lean into it even right now.

End of the day, it's like 5:00 at night.

And we've been hiking
since seven in the morning.

And and look, you can just ramp it up
and ramp it up as like take a step.

Take a step as like,

I never could have imagined starting out
that I would be doing that.

And yet the energy is still there
and I just I was so grateful for it.

Even when it was hurting my arms a bit.

I was like, you know, this is like
a beautiful thing to be doing.

And it was just showing me, okay, like,

you have strength here
that you don't know about.

And that's to me
what I was saying, really inspiring.

And so I'm not trying to
I feel bad even saying it.

I'm not trying to like, brag about it
or anything.

I'm just trying to say
this was my human experience.

And I want people to experience
strength, okay?

And I say strength like that is not
something that I've been experiencing.

I'll do a workout,
you know, I'll go work out for 30 minutes.

And I go about my day.

And I was like,
we just leveled this up on this.

Like after hiking. For how long?

Five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten hours
hiking and then do this massive carry.

I was watching, you know,
sometimes I watch different fitness,

you know, things
and think about resistance training.

And I was watching this guy
the other day, some, you know, a light

Trainer guys
video just popped up on my YouTube

and he was talking about,
you know, simple minimalist exercises.

And I forget this whole guy's story,
but one of, I mean, you know,

incredibly strong guy and, you know,
one of the main exercises he just does,

he just grabs dumbbells
and he just walks around his neighborhood,

you know, and
and because he is totally ripped,

he's like carrying 30, like 230 pound
dumbbells around.

I'm not going to be at that level,
you know.

But he's like he's like,
you don't understand how much strength is

just happening.

When you carry a weight,
you know, in your hands, it's like you're

loading your entire frame
in a completely functional movement.

And I was like, oh, this is so as I was
carrying my dog down the mountain,

then I'm just thinking about this guy
in his video.

I was like, you know,
this is really like a key human activity.

You know, think about people
in the history of people.

People just carrying stuff.

You know, there didn't used to be gyms.

There didn't used to be exercise
contraptions of any kind.

People just walking around
and working and carrying stuff, you know?

And so to me, it felt.

What is the word very grounding about,
like the, the history of people.

I was like, here we are doing something
that people have been doing.

You know, most of these trails, the trail
we were on, the, the the hike

up Grandfather Mountain,
it was the Daniel Boone Scout trail.

She's like, oh, Daniel Boone is here
exploring this country.

And presumably I think, you know, like
he's just following indigenous trails.

You know, people been in these places
for thousands of years and.

You know, I always have, or at least
sometimes I have that thought to like

when I'm hiking out in some wilderness
and you're on this trail,

you could never make it
through a wilderness without a trail.

And where did these trails come from?

From just generations
and generations of people

walking around and carrying stuff
around these exact places.

And this is how people lived
and navigated through these places. And.

So to be out in a space
like that, fasting space to

and then fasting to me in that space
is like so much amplifying it

because like,

sometimes I'll be hiking out in a space
like that and I think about, man,

you just turn the clock back a tiny bit,
you know, we're back

here we are at the holiday 250,
you know, 250 years of America here.

But I mean, isn't
this just like one second tick

on a cosmic clock and you realize, okay,
we go a second back

and there's not even a us anymore,
and we and we've got indigenous

peoples is living here, and we're just,
like, way back all of a sudden.

And to me, I always used to think like,
how did people do this?

How are people living here?

And it's like all of a sudden you start
tapping into some fasting strength

and you realize, oh my gosh, like,
there's no 7-Eleven and I'm just fine.

You know, I got a couple beef sticks
in the pack if like, we need it.

It's like just to find
that sort of strength.

This is my long
winded rambling of just saying.

It felt like such a deep human activity
to be on these ancient trails

and in a fasting space, and finding
strength and power in that space

and just felt connecting,
kind of like reaching back in time

and thinking of like the history
of all the people

that have come through these trails
for generations.

And here we are now,
and now we're carrying something.

How much stuff were they carrying?

Maybe they shot some deer, you know,
somewhere, and they're carrying it back to

wherever they were.

You know, I don't know how it worked.

I'm just thinking through the things.

And anyway.

These are these were my experience.

So this whole big thing was a thought,
like weight loss vacation.

I was telling the story, like, if I was
just, you know, I'm not a logistics guy.

If I have to plan something, I'm like,
okay, we'll go sit on the beach

and we'll do it again sometime.

It's a good thing to do, take a load off
if it's the right time.

But even not thinking it is,
how incredible is it so many times.

Okay. I'm in. Okay.

My weight management clinic.

Right.

People coming in.

This is a common thing that happens. Okay?

As many people experience
something like that,

you get on track
with something you get off.

That can happen with a fasting exercise,
dietary plan, anything.

Right?

Say, oh, for a while I was fasting
and then I kind of got out of it.

And then we did the sessions.

Restarting, fasting, sometimes restarting
harder than even starting the first time.

Absolutely it is.

And then it's like that for anything,
because we build up some skill

and patterns and routines,
and then we compare the peak

of our experience and performance
to where we have to start over.

And then we experience that gap
that you don't experience

the first time
you start out with something.

Same thing with exercise,
same thing with anything.

Okay. So this is a common experience.

People are on track
with some sort of weight loss process

and say everything was going so well
until right.

And then it's like,
then we went on vacation, right?

Then we got out of the habit, right?

And it could be anything
else. Could be okay.

Then like the

the illness happened or my family member
had to go to the hospital or something.

This is like now
we're sitting and eating cafeteria food

and it's a terrible, stressful
time, right?

So many different ways
that can derail our health progress.

But ironically, one of them can be taking
a vacation is a vacation

is supposed to be the most positive,
refreshing sort of thing.

So I think a vacation is something
you got to really dial in the mindset it's

okay to have a beach vacation,

I say, but how can you turn it
into the most healthy and positive thing?

Can you bring some fasting
onto a beach vacation?

Say, just sit on the beach
with a coffee as isn't.

So many times I say, oh, people
start saying, oh, now I'm on vacation.

Now I have to start, you know,
eating three times a day, plus snacks

and all these things, and people

put on a lot of weight on vacations
and then it's like hard to restart.

And so I love the concept of a weight
loss vacation.

And fasting is the sort of thing to me
that can make it so much better.

Whether you're having a
very exercise focused vacation

like we just did, like here
would be like a pinnacle sort of thing.

I say hiking, hiking, hiking,
hiking and fasting.

And it's like,
that would be like to me about like

there's got to be on the pretty extreme
end of vacation, I say,

or you're like, doctor
Z, original vacation.

You know, where it's like,
okay, we're going to sit on the beach,

maybe have a sparkling water
instead of an alcoholic beverage.

That would be a doctor Z preferred choice.

Maybe. I'm going to say
bring fasting on vacation.

And if we're just going to sit, remember,
I like to say it's like fasting.

You can just sit, right?

Let fasting do the work.

You don't have to be hiking up a mountain
like anybody else.

We're not in any sort of comparison space.

We're seeing what do we need right now
if we need to just sit?

I know I've needed that

at places in my life where I was like,
I cannot do another thing.

I need like 12 hours of sitting
and looking at the ocean,

you know, and like,
that's it's own therapy.

But like, if you want to take that space,
we want multiple win wins, right?

We want win, win, win across every domain.

Get to a vacation space.

See, the benefit of a vacation
specifically as I'm seeing

now is a total pattern interrupt.

It's like, get us out of our routines.

Like, especially if we don't like
the routines that we're in.

Take a vacation. Okay.

Get out of the space now.

Okay, now we're opening stuff up.

All of a sudden, all the triggers
that are in our normal way of life.

Okay, those aren't there.

And so this is opening up change.
This is the thing.

This is kind of why we fear
change could be better but could be worse.

And then it's like so so often
we don't change

because we're like we just keep
the status quo.

There's we've gone through in the playlist
thinking fast and slow, getting us super

into that, that a lot of the emotional,
cognitive deep centers in the body.

It just wants the status quo because
we feel safe when everything is the same.

And so now a hopefully
thoughtfully planned

here's an opportunity
to break out of a cycle,

get all the cues out of our environment
like we're seeing from atomic habits.

Create something new.

So I say weight loss vacation.

Be the opportunity to create a framework
where we can have a lot of win wins,

get out of previous ways of thinking
and into something different.

And it could be max level,
like hiking the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Or it could be heading to the beach
and say, just sit

and and here's where I would just dial in
with that for you right now.

It's like wherever you're at, fasting
can make it better if you are trying to

lose weight like anybody, say,
somebody who is like underweight.

Hey, look at all the disclaimers.

Fasting is a tool, okay?

Fasting a tool to help

get at energy that is stuck in the body
that we want to get out.

Somebody doesn't need to be fasting.

Don't take a fasting vacation. Okay.

But if you are saying,
okay, I'm on a path either

if we're not on the path,
we're trying to get on it or on the path

we're trying to stay on it, create
a beautiful experience where you can

let fasting help you on vacation
so you can have a beautiful time.

Stress reducing. Also enjoy food.

I enjoyed a ton of food on my like
fasting vacation, but oh man, right?

One meal a day
like we have all this hiking,

all this open space, it's like,
don't even think about food to me.

I'm just like out in the world
feeling the energy flowing.

And then we come back.

Now we're in the air BNB now
because I've got a thoughtful partner

who did all the planning,
and now we have a beautiful meal

and we cook it and we eat it
and it's like, oh man, it's so good.

And. To me, fasting can heighten

and highlight the beauty of good food.

And so this would be the incredible
balance.

Can you have a vacation and say
consider it a weight loss vacation

where we're both the stress is going down
and we're losing weight

and we're enjoying food at the same time,
and we're having fun.

Like, see, this would be the way
to just be crushing it across every level.

And so if you're in a good flow,
bring it on the vacation.

You don't have to get out of that.

Sometimes I think there can be
a lot of pressure to say, oh,

like, we're on vacation now.

Now we it has to look like this.

It has to be.

We have to start eating all the things,
and we have to eat out a lunch and

a dinner and maybe a breakfast to be like,
you don't have to do stuff like that.

And wouldn't it
be great to come back from a vacation

and feel better
and have had fun and have lost weight?

And that's what I want for people.

Weight loss vacation.

I think I got to turn it into a video.

Well, we'll take the concepts
where it's not just me

rambling on for 20 minutes about it,
trying to get the thoughts out.

We'll put it into four minutes.

I'll write a note to do it.

How are you feeling?

Let me know.

I. I tell you another thing
about a vacation.

Just to take a break,
I got to tell you, take a week off.

Been quite a while
since I took a week off.

I've been doing the lives every day.

I guess I took the week off going to Peru.

Okay, I did, but that was really kind
of a working vacation.

But this was like a true vacation.

But it is feeling
good to be back in doing this.

You know, it's
such an interesting environment.

You know,
it feels so good to be out in nature.

You know, I was pretty much screen
free for the whole time.

I mean, I got the GPS on the phone
driving, you know,

I was like,
that's kind of like screen time, but like.

Not really.

You know, you let me know what you think.

I did the video on the channel,
digital fasting.

And so there's another dose
of my own medicine.

Try to get the screens out for a week.

I got to tell you, it felt so good.

And just to be looking at sky
and clouds and trees

and dirt and stuff, you know,
I feel totally refreshed and rejuvenated.

And so now it's just it's so interesting
to be back here in this space.

I got cameras and screens and lights
and I'm like,

all in this artificial sort of space.

But, you know, it feels good.

And this is the balance
we only balance in our life.

And so to me, this is a big thing
that we are trying to do.

We are trying to find a balance
across every domain,

balancing our time outside and inside
and working and resting.

And then the special balance

eating and fasting and.

This is a balance.

I was reflecting on it.

I've been in a couple places.

I've been we kicked off.

I didn't put it on this
the night before we left.

We went to a concert over in Milwaukee,
watched Ed Sheeran and the kids

really wanted to get to Ed Sheeran.

I don't know,
I had never listened to Ed Sheeran.

I've.

But the kids liked him.

So I say, well, we bought him tickets
and we went to a concert.

So we're, you know, in huge,
you know, amphitheater of all the people

get into a space and, you know, anytime
I'm in a giant crowd of people,

I start reflecting, you know, on
it's like, oh, like just society.

Like it's easy to see.

It's like, oh, we're looking at
tens of thousands of people here.

And like, what is the experience
that everybody is having?

And I just am wondering
how many of these people know,

like how many people know
that you don't have to eat all the time?

Actually, you know, and I'm
just watching people and this is fine.

I'm not trying to
I'm not being judgy about anybody. Right.

Just like but I'm just watching everybody
going to the concession stand, drinking

sodas and beverages of all kinds
and eating all these sort of things.

And then I'm just thinking like, okay,
how much balance,

where is the balance
and how many people need to know it?

That's what I want.

How many people would benefit
from just knowing that, okay,

fasting here is a space that can be gentle
where you can actually feel good.

This is like tying in this this thought.

Like our experience, the barrier to entry
to a fasting space is feeling hungry.

I don't like feeling hungry
as much as anyone else does.

You see,
that is a space that it just feels like.

It's like not necessarily like pain,
but it can definitely be uncomfortable.

And like, I totally understand that.

It's like we're trying
to like realize though,

that by practicing fasting

that we can build a relationship with it,
that we start to see all this.

This is a barrier that isn't as high
as we thought it was at some point,

and that we can work our way through it
and come to master it.

And this is what I want.

And so I'm seeing how do we help?

This is my thoughts
as I'm looking at crowds of people.

How do we help create a message?

This is what I would
ultimately love to do in this space.

How do we create a platform,
a message to help people

see, okay, you don't have to brute force
people through it.

Think of how fasting is described
by people who are cynical about it.

So we're just starting ourselves
in some fashion.

Very negative connotation.

How do we help people to see pictures
like I'm showing the mountaintop

that fasting is openness
and an exploration of energy

in the body,
that it can be like liberating energy

and that you can come to feel stronger,
and that it is a pathway

to help release energy, to power life
and to spur us on toward our goals.

And so, like, at least in my head,
from my bias perspective,

the thoughts as I'm thinking out over
people is like

compassionate
sort of thoughts is what I'm trying.

Like, how do we help people to see that
fasting can be a way of being?

This is something that I talk about
very much on the channel.

A way of being in the world
is what we're looking for.

That is balanced just to find the line.

How many times a day do I eat?

That helps to bring things into balance

in the metabolism,
in the body, in the mind, in the spirit.

If that's three times like bless
you is fine if fasting is not required,

if you don't need it,
if everything's great, beautiful.

But like so many people
struggle, struggle, struggle

and like here is another balance point
struggle versus flow.

I talk a lot about this
struggle toward health is real.

It's difficult
to be healthy in this modern moment.

It takes work and dedication and effort.

And then then on the other side of it,
the real way to do

that is finding a space of flow
where we can flow through it.

And I want to help
you do that on the channel here.

Really wonderful
to share this space with you.

Thank you for being here
to look forward to

continuing the journey together.

Have a great day everybody.