* From "The Einkorn Cookbook" which currently comes with Young Living's Einkorn flour.

Are you presently happy with the number on the scale or the size of your jeans? Truth be told, I'm not. I've been gradually putting on a few pounds and my clothes are feeling tight and uncomfortable.  

As we move toward winter, more time indoors, less farm fresh foods and two major feasting holiday seasons, concern for my health is on my mind. I wonder how I will be able to improve my weight and overall health with all these challenges. I know, I know... eat whole foods, less food and avoid feeding the emotions. But is there something else I could do to help maybe reset my metabolism? I think I found something that just might help, intermittent fasting.

I have written about fasting before (Can Fasting Be Good For You? and Slipping into Idolatry), but this approach appears to be less intense, but just as effective and beneficial.

I was watching a great documentary series on YouTube this week. Dr. Mercola was being interviewed and his discussion about the benefits of intermittent fasting caught my attention. I went to his website and did a bit of research. Here's what I learned:

• Intermittent fasting helps reset your body to burn fat for fuel instead of sugar.
• Fasting has been shown to improve cardiovascular health, reduce cancer risk, aid gene repair, and increase longevity.
• The same benefits that are gained from severe calorie restriction can be gained from intermittent fasting, which is following an eating schedule where you eat normally on some days, and dramatically cut calories on others.
• ​Intermittent fasting helps reduce cravings by normalizing ghrelin levels, or the "hunger hormone", 
• HDH, human growth hormone, is increased with intermittent fasting and this hormone is known to slow down the aging process.
• Fasting can be combined with spiritual exercises to deepen faith, increase peace of mind, and create solidarity with those less fortunate. 

Intermittent fasting can be done several ways. First, you can choose to eat normally one day, then fast by eating no more than 500 calories (for women, 600 for men) the next, continuing this pattern of every other day. 

Another way to intermittently fast is to choose two days a week to eat the restricted calories and eat normally the other days of the week. When doing this, it seems to be most effective to eat only one meal on fast days rather than snacking throughout the day, which often leads to eating more and focusing on food to much.

Dr. Mercola has a third method for intermittent fasting that he finds to be very effective. This is to limit eating to a window of time, say only 6 or 8 hours each day and not eating at all (so effectively fasting) the rest of the day. He recommends not eating 3-4 hours before going to sleep. This is continued until the fat burning process kicks in and then the hours of eating can be extended to 8-10.

Of course, eating a whole food diet and lots of fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds, means I will be nourishing the cells of the body and giving them the nutritional resources they need to work the miracle of health. 

I am eager to give intermittent fasting a try and report back in a future post. Would anyone like to join me? Leave a comment below and we will support each other.

The power of our words, even if they are still just thoughts, is undeniable.  What we think affects our choices, our attitudes and ultimately our actions. We have tapes that run in our minds all the time, words spoken by others or beliefs adopted due to past experiences, what's happened to us or what we ourselves have done. 

Have you ever gone to an event convinced that you are having a bad hair day, feel fat or just don't believe you look attractive.  When someone approaches you and says that you look nice or they like your outfit, what do you think to yourself?  "They are just being nice, I don't really look good today."  Do you usually shift your thoughts and beliefs to include the information you received or do you default to your own beliefs? 

In my own life, I often get what I expect.  In my dealings with people, if I expect a conflict, I usually get one.  If I expect a business prospect to turn me down, the prospect usually does.  It seems that without knowing it I am creating the reality that I believe will occur.