A (0:00)

Poor recovery speeds up aging. When you don't recover from stress properly, your cells get weaker and accumulate damage. HeartMath changes that. The inner balance coherence plus trains your body to recover at the source your nervous system. The setup is pretty simple. You connect a sensor to your ear that pairs to the HeartMath app, which guides you through an HRV exercise. In five minutes a day, your body shifts out of stress mode and into coherence, the state where recovery, focus and peak performance happen. Most devices only track recovery. HeartMath trains it. It works by targeting heart rate variability, or hrv, your body's most reliable marker of resilience. Higher HRV means faster recovery, deeper sleep, and stronger performance. Decades of Science prove that HeartMath works. Over 400 studies show measurable results in as little as six weeks. That means less anxiety, better sleep, more energy, and sharper focus. That's why elite athletes, hospitals, and the US Military all use the interbalance Coherence Plus. This is one of the things I think everyone should be doing. Don't just track recovery. Train it to get 15% off. Go to heartmath.com Dave Right now, millions of Americans think they're burning fat when they fast. And I learned this the hard way. I used to weigh 300 pounds. Probably can see my abs. Can you? Too bad they're real. I started fasting and the scale dropped. But then something weird happened. The weight came back way faster than before, and it was even harder to lose the second time and the third time and the fourth time. So you lose weight, you gain more. You lose weight, you gain more. This happened to me for more than a decade. And one of the problems that I figured out is that I was fasting wrong. When I would gain weight after a fast, and when I learned how to fast the right way, everything changed. In fact, I ended up losing over 100 pounds. And I've kept it off for over two decades. Now, fasting wrong doesn't just fail to burn fat. It actually makes your body better at storing fat. And here's what nobody tells you. Fasting can age you faster than almost anything else you can do if you do it too much or you don't do it correctly. But when you flip one simple switch inside your body, fasting does the opposite. It can make you younger. It can make you live longer, and it can make you burn fat and keep your muscle. In this video, I'm going to show you exactly what that switch is and how to flip it. And I know this because I've taught a Hundred thousand People how to Fast Without Being Hungry and written two major New York Times bestsellers about fasting. So what's really happening when you fast? Wrong. When most people fast, they think they're automatically burning fat, but they're not. They can be burning muscle. And that's the worst thing that could happen, because losing muscle is what makes you fatter in the long run. So before you learn what it means to fast wrong and how it eats your muscle, let me tell you why losing muscle might be one of the worst things that can happen. It all starts with your metabolism. Your metabolism determines just how many calories your body burns each day. And muscle is one of the biggest factors in that equation. The more muscle you have, the higher your metabolism and the more food you can eat while still burning fat, your metabolic rate goes up. And here's where that gets really important for fasting. When you lose muscle, your metabolism drops. And studies show that people who lose weight by burning muscle instead of fat can see their metabolism crash by 20 to 30%. Which is a bad thing, because after the fast, you just don't burn as much energy every day. If you don't burn as much energy, you don't have as much energy. That means when you start eating normally again, you can gain the weight back faster than you lost it. And this is one reason that people yo yo diet. But if you can keep your muscle during a fast, your metabolism stays high. When you finish the fast, your body doesn't panic and store everything as fat. But here's the big part about muscle a lot of people don't know. Some scientists are calling muscle the organ of longevity. A leading doctor in exercise science says it's the closest thing to the fountain of youth we have. Plus, a few studies support this, too. Researchers at UCLA followed 4,000 adults for just a decade, and they found adults with more muscle just lived longer. And scientists at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging found two sessions a week of muscle growing activity can reverse age related cell damage in your body. And A study followed 2,200 middle aged adults for just 44 years. I don't know how they stayed middle aged for 44 years, but let's roll with this. They found that good muscle strength is the strongest sign of a long life. Muscle releases special proteins called myokines that go directly into your bloodstream. And those myokines travel throughout your body and tell your other organs stay young. Myokines protect your brain from decline, and they keep your bones strong and dense, and they also protect your heart and that's why people with more muscle tend to live longer. That's also why I was able to lose £100 and keep it off. Once I understood that protecting muscle was the key, everything changed. But there's one problem most people run into when they fast. And like I used to, it's also why they burn muscle instead of fat. Your body runs on a very simple fuel hierarchy. First, it uses the sugars you've recently eaten. Then it taps into glycogen, which is the stored form of carbohydrate that your body keeps in your liver and in your muscles. Which means that it's the sugar your body has stored in your liver and muscles. Glycogen also holds a substantial amount of water, like 3 or 4 grams of water for every gram of glycogen. So when you stop eating and start burning through glycogen, you also lose a lot of water. That's why you can lose a ton of weight in the first day or two of a fast. But it's mostly water weight, not fat, unfortunately. And because muscles store a lot of glycogen, they look flatter and may feel weaker once that sugar and water leave, even though the muscle fibers themselves are still there. There. But there's another process happening in the background. Your brain uses approximately 20% of your body's energy, and it still runs mostly on glucose. In the early part of your fast, once the quick sugar is gone, your body has to keep feeding your brain somehow. And if your body hasn't switched to burning fat yet, it'll go looking for another way to make sugar. Problem is, that's where the glucose often comes from. From your muscles. Because proteins make up your muscle tissue, and. And proteins themselves are chains of smaller building blocks called amino acids. So when you're not eating, your liver can break down some of the amino acids from your muscle and quickly turn them into glucose to keep your brain alive and happy. And that process is called gluconeogenesis. If you're eating food, your liver can use amino acids from the protein you just ate. But since you're fasting and there's no carbs or protein coming in, your body has to get that fuel from somewhere else, off in your muscles. So you break down muscle just to feed your brain. That was my biggest mistake. When I first started fasting at 300 pounds, I was losing weight, but I was losing the wrong kind of weight, and that's why it all came back. Or you could just give your body some amino acids during a fast. I like to use perfect amino for that. And you use Code Dave to get a discount. Here's something even the most dialed in biohackers miss. You can look great and feel fine, but you could still be aging fast on the inside in one area but not another. That's because each of your organ systems changes at its own pace. And systemage from Generation lab can show you exactly how each of your internal systems, your brain, your hormones, your mitochondria, your immune system are holding up over time. This goes deeper than just blood sugar or cholesterol testing. It tells you what's working and what's not. Is the daily supplement stack you're taking actually making you younger? Well, now you can know. And you don't just get raw data. They give you an action plan to improve. What nutrients is your body missing? What to eat more of, where your body needs extra recovery. Best part, it's a 5 minute pain free blood test you do at home. And it gives you a level of data most people never see, even with the functional medicine team. Go to generationlab.com, use code DAVE20 to get $20 off and see what your body's really doing behind the surface. Less muscle means you burn fewer calories at rest and you can regain fat faster once you do start eating again. The goal of fasting is to get past that stage and flip the metabolic switch. So your body isn't looking for sugar or protein, it's looking for fat. And here's how that works. Insulin, which is the hormone that helps your cells take up sugar, has to drop and fat cells start releasing stored fat in your bloodstream as fatty acids. Your liver then turns some of those fatty acids into ketones, which are clean, powerful fuels that your brain can use instead of sugar. And once ketones rise, your brain's need for sugar drops and so do your cravings. It means that your body no longer has to steal amino acids from your muscles to make glucose. And when that shift happens, you're entering a state called ketosis, where your body runs mostly on fat instead of carbs. And there's a bonus. Most people feel way sharper on ketones, because your brain loves ketones even more than it loves sugar. So the key isn't just stop eating. The key is to helping your body switch fully from sugar to fat and ketones. And that's when fasting stops draining muscle and starts burning fat for real. But the problem is that your own daily habits can quietly sabotage the fat burning switch. When I was losing my first hundred pounds, I was Sabotaging myself without even knowing it. And let me show you the mistakes I made so you don't have to repeat them. Stress, for example, raises a hormone called cortisol. And cortisol is a useful hormone unless it's too high or it's high at the wrong time. And during those times, it's your built in alarm system. High cortisol, as opposed to normal cortisol, will push up your blood sugar, which keeps your insulin high. Also, if your insulin stays high, you stay stuck in burning sugar instead of fat even when you're not eating. And you add in some really bad sleep on top of that and it gets much worse. Sleep is when your body releases growth hormone, which is one of your best natural protectors of muscle. If you don't sleep well, make less growth hormone. And then of course, your muscle is going to break down more easily when you do start fasting. And then there's constant snacking. If you're used to eating every couple hours because you're hungry right after you finish eating, it means your body never gets good at using fat for fuel. So when you suddenly stop eating, your body panics. Instead of pulling energy from fat, it breaks down muscle to keep your brain running. And that's why many people feel weaker and foggier and depleted when they fast. But you could flip the switch faster and protect your muscle with a few simple steps. First, prime your system before you ever even start the fast the night before. Reduce carbs and choose protein and fat. So your liver and muscle glycogen are already heading lower as you go into the fast. That doesn't mean you need to starve yourself. It means a dinner focused on clean protein and healthy fats instead of bread, sugar, even fruit or a big starchy meal. Lower glycogen and lower insulin at the start of your fast. Make the switch easier. Yes, this is permission to have a rib eye for dinner before a fast. Next, remind your body to keep muscle. Do a short, intense, resistant workout 12 to 24 hours before your fast. You can do push ups, you could just do squats, you can do resistance bands. It doesn't have to be a lot, it's just something to tell your body we still need this muscle. And that makes your body less likely to break muscle down for fuel. During the fast, remember your minerals. Stay hydrated and make sure you take electrolytes or at least some good quality salt in your water so that your cells don't panic and trigger stress hormones that raise blood sugar. Salt makes you more resilient a glass of water with that pinch of salt and a magnesium supplement or an electrolyte mix with zero sugar. It'll help your cells stay calm and prevent a stress response that that would probably raise your blood sugar and block your fat burning. And most importantly, skip alcohol, skip the sweet sauces and don't do late night high carb snacks before a fast. Keep your stress as low as possible and get a good night's sleep. And that's going to keep your cortisol and your insulin lower. If you prepare this way, fasting is much easier, it's smoother and it works better. Your body slides into fat. Burning faster protects your muscle and it keeps your energy stable instead of letting it crash. You can fast perfectly. You can flip into ketosis and start burning fat. But the way you break your fast can erase a lot of that progress in one single meal. If you end your fast with sugar and refined carbs, pancakes and ice cream, your insulin spikes like a rocket. That sudden surge shuts down fast burning and it pushes your body back into storing fat mode. And if you jump into a two or three day fast before your body knows how to burn fat well, you have a higher risk of losing muscle unless you do the amino acid hack with perfect amino I talked about before use Go Dave. Long fasts can also backfire if you don't refeed properly. Without enough nutrients to rebuild, your metabolism slows down and that leaves you tired and primed for rebound fat gain. So think of fasting as pressing pause on your metabolism. When you hit play again. What you eat determines whether your body's going to keep burning fat or just slam right back into sugar mode. A lot of people undo their entire effort from a fast because they see the end of a fast as a green light to go out and have pizza and beer. And that one mistake is why they don't see long term results. The answer is refeed. Strategically break your fast with protein first. Grass fed beef, eggs, fish. That gives your body the amino acids it needs to repair and rebuild muscle tissue. And then add in healthy fats like MCT oil or butter. And those keep you in mild ketosis for longer and they prevent insulin from spiking too much. And only after that do you want to introduce carbs and keep your fasting windows realistic. 14 to 18 hours is a sweet spot. 18 is a little better, unless you just can't go that long, in which case 14 is better than not fasting at all. And once your body is fully fat adapted, a longer fast is much easier. And if you push yourself to fast more than is good for you, you'll feel stressed, jittery, anxious, and it doesn't have the same benefits. So you want to fast until your body hits the limit and then refeed. Unless you're pushing for a multi day fast. When you end your fast with the right foods, something powerful happens. Instead of getting stuck in that cycle of losing muscle and gaining fat, your body learns to smoothly move between fasting and feeding, and that is the metabolic flexibility that sets you free. It's the difference between losing £100 temporarily and losing £100 permanently. And when you protect your muscle and you flip the metabolic switch, the weight stays off and it stays off for good and you feel better, you're nicer to other people and you're going to live longer.