Ep. 310 - Comparing Fasting Protocols: What the Research Shows | ADF vs 5:2 vs 16:8 | Holiday Season Strategy | Realistic Results & Long-Term Adherence | Personalizing Your Approach | New Fasting Persona Quiz!

Fasting For Life

Scott Watier

Nutrition, Health & Fitness, Alternative Health

4.6 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 9 December 2025

⏱️ 38 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this research-driven episode, Dr. Scott Watier and Tommy Welling break down a comprehensive meta-analysis comparing multiple intermittent fasting protocols, revealing what actually works for sustainable weight loss and metabolic health improvement. They examine alternate day fasting, 5:2 fasting, and time-restricted eating, comparing outcomes for weight loss, cholesterol improvements, insulin resistance reduction, and long-term adherence rates. The hosts deliver crucial perspective on the trade-offs between aggressive protocols that produce faster results versus sustainable baseline approaches that support consistency through life's challenges. With the holiday season in full swing between Thanksgiving and Christmas, they provide a realistic framework for maintaining progress without perfectionism or all-or-nothing thinking. This episode helps you understand why chasing the fastest results often backfires, how to customize fasting protocols to match your lifestyle, and why taking the pressure off during the holidays—while maintaining a simple 16:8 baseline—can actually set you up for greater long-term success than aggressive restriction followed by complete abandonment of your fasting practice. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Take the NEW FASTING PERSONA QUIZ! - The Key to Unlocking Sustainable Weight Loss With Fasting!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Resources and Downloads: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠SIGN UP FOR THE DROP OF THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO BLOOD SUGAR CONTROL⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠GRAB THE OPTIMAL RANGES FOR LAB WORK HERE! - NEW RESOURCE! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠FREE RESOURCE - DOWNLOAD THE NEW BLUEPRINT TO FASTING FOR FAT LOSS!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠SLEEP GUIDE DIRECT DOWNLOAD⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠DOWNLOAD THE FASTING TRANSFORMATION JOURNAL HERE!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Partner Links: Get your⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ FREE BOX OF LMNT⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ hydration support for the perfect electrolyte balance for your fasting lifestyle with your first purchase⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ here!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Get ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠25% off a Keto-Mojo⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ blood glucose and ketone monitor (discount shown at checkout)! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Click here!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Our Community: Let’s continue the conversation. Click the link below to JOIN the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Fasting For Life Community⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, a group of like-minded, new, and experienced fasters! The first two rules of fasting need not apply! If you enjoy the podcast, please tap the stars below and consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes. It takes less than 60 seconds, and it helps bring you the best original content each week. We also enjoy reading them! Article Link: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12309044/pdf/12937_2025_Article_1178.pdf

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, I'm Dr. Scott Wadier.
0:03.0	And I'm Tommy Welling, and you're listening to the Fasting for Life podcast.
0:07.0	This podcast is about using fasting as a tool to regain your health, achieve ultimate wellness, and live the life you truly deserve.
0:15.0	Each episode is a short conversation on a single topic with immediate actionable steps.
0:20.0	We cover
0:20.9	everything from fat loss and health and wellness to the science of lifestyle design.
0:25.2	We started fasting for life because of how fasting has transformed our lives and we hope
0:29.2	to share the tools that we have learned along the way.
0:31.6	Hey everyone, welcome to the Fasting for Life podcast. My name is Dr. Scott White here, and I'm here, as always, my good friend and colleague, Tommy Welling. Good afternoon to you, sir.
0:47.2	Hey, Scott, how are you? Doing fantastic, my friend, excited for today's conversation. We're going to be getting into a pretty cool paper that came out.
0:55.9	It is called The Impact of Interment Fasting on Body Composition and Cardiomatomic Outcomes and
1:00.6	Overweight and Obesce Adults, Systematic Review and Metanalysis of Randomized Control Trials.
1:05.3	So we're going to be talking about obesity is a global health crisis and applying it to the fasting for life way, the lifestyle adaptation that we want for each and every one of you.
1:17.1	So if you are new to the podcast, welcome in.
1:19.5	Thanks for giving us a listen.
1:20.7	Thanks for giving us a shot and making us part of your fasting for life journey.
1:24.3	Well, we hope you stick with us.
1:26.2	If you want to know more about who we are and why
1:27.9	we do what we do, head back to episode zero and episode one. Give it a listen and you'll learn more
1:32.9	insights into why Tommy and I do what we do with fasting week in and week out with these podcast
1:38.8	episodes, our free resources, our challenges, our coaching, et cetera, because fasting has had such a just transformational
1:46.1	effect on us and so many of thousands of others now over the last few years. So welcome in,
	...

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