Eat Stop Eat..how it's worked for me.

briteyes

I got one fast in this week and was going to start another today BUT forgot that i am supposed to take my neice out for her birthday. So today instead of fasting I am eating healthy. I have a special K bar, and then will get a salad for dinner.

i have not weighed myself - I'm afraid that I will still be the same - even though I have been running 2 to 3 miles every day, and doing the 30 day shred. My stomach feels like it has gone down some. It's just the lower belly that i need to get rid of...

I'll weigh in tomorrow and see how I am doing.

Sounds like you've done great this week! That lower belly is probably going to be the last thing to go... my friend/daycare provider spoke to a physical trainer and she said it can take years to get rid of the belly pooch because it is a different kind of fat - especially if it's from having babies. a lot of it is just loose skin and it takes time to tighten up. i know, i have a flast stomach all the way down, and then there's the pooch... and it's smaller, but the skin is all wrinkley...ugg

ErinMarie25

Ok, I am very interested in this because I *think* I may have hit a plateau. I am unsure because I haven't had the best 2 weekends in a row and I've been at 121-122 for the past 2 weeks.

Now what EXACTLY do you do? From my skim readings, I picked up... you pick 2 days out of a week to fast and pick a time and then you just go back to eating like usual? How long do you do this for? A month?

SkierElle

Hi Erin!
You should try it; it's great! Basically you pick two times of the week to fast and they should be at least 18 hours, preferably 24. You can start it whenever's convenient. I have done after breakfast, dinner, and lunch, and found that for me it is easier to fast with eating breakfast and then not eating anything till the next day at the same time.

Otherwise you should eat normally, the weekly amount of calorie intake is what matters, averaged over the 7 days. My problem at first was not eating very well on the non-fasting days, but once I did I started to lose more weight. You just need to make sure you don't binge. It gets easier and I have been doing it for 4-5 weeks and am less hungry and full quicker.

The author of the book recommends that you do resistance training towards the end of your fast. It may seem strange to work out on a totally empty stomach but it actually feels really great, and if it is after 16 hours of fasting, you should be burning mostly fat (from what I understand).

If you need more info you could do searches on google, look at some of the research done on this, or get the e-book. And you can do it forever, but probably go down to 1 day per week or so once you are at the weight you want, for maintenance. There are more benefits to it than just losing weight.

ErinMarie25

Thanks for the response! Sounds reasonable.I think I would also do it after breakfast. I currently am doing Turbo Fire and follow a set schedule for my workouts. I think I am going to wait another week first and see what my weight is and start from there. I have never purposely fasted before so at first it may be difficult especially since I am a stay at home mom and have access to food all day! Haha

SkierElle

Yeah it is a little hard at first but after the first few times I actually started to look forward to it. Not having to worry about what I was going to eat and cooking and all that (of course, since you have kid(s) you have to worry about that though!) If you think 24 hours would be too hard you can start at less and work up to it each time.. mostly so you can mentally prepare for it. It's way different because most of us have been eating like every 3-5 hours usually (except sleeping) so it's quite a change. But if you think about our hunter gatherer ancestors, they didn't have access to food like we do, so they practiced a sort of intermittent fasting not by choice.

Good luck, and if you try it, tell us how it goes!

ErinMarie25

Ok, awesome. I am going to start tomorrow, I think. From 6 AM to 6 AM Sunday. I'll keep everyone updated!

SkierElle

Good luck! i am on my last one of the week that ends at 1pm today! I did super awesome this week, and worked around all the eating out I had to do because of social events. not to shabby! Now I'm going to have some tea which will hopefully hold me over the last five hours!

ErinMarie25

Awesome!! I hope this helps. I have hit a plateau it seems. I have been fluctuating 1-3 pounds for 3 weeks straight so I am hoping it'll shock my body and help!

jb_sweet_99

Good luck on your first fast Erin! I'm on my second one of the week now, started last night at 8. Tonight won't be bad cause I have to make a cake and icing from scratch and decorate etc. and the icing won't be ready till after 8 so I can taste it to make sure it's ok! Friend's 30th bday tomorrow, otherwise I'd be far away from the cake! So I fasted today so I can have a piece tomorrow, and am prepping for a bit of booze as well, lol!
Good luck all :bigsmile:

briteyes

i was going to do my last fast of the week today, but a friend wants to meet for lunch, so i guess I'll do it tomorrow. It will be a challenge because I'll be home and it's going to rain, so I'll be stuck inside. I'll need to keep extra busy - guess I'll be getting lots done! I wish I would've just stopped eating after lunch yesterday. I was going to, but then I made dinner and really felt like eating what I made...LOL guess i need to keep working on that self-control thing

cutmd

I should do this again. Just lazy. Will do another tomorrow - well, maybe Sunday to Monday, yeah that's it...

briteyes

k, started again at 10 pm. it will only end up being a 18 - 20 hr fast, whenever we eat dinner tonight. i'm reorganizing my kitchen and cleaning house today, so i should stay pretty busy. the only temptation will come when i'm preparing food for the kids and hubby throughout the day. i am strong though

lulabellewoowoo

Need to definitely reset after all the salt and sugar last night. So like you jenjabbour I started at 10 and will go until 6 p.m. so that will be 20 hours for me. Only 12:30 hours to go. Busy day with kids so hopefully a really nice distraction. Just need to make sure I don't make the same mistake with the leftovers from last night with all the salt and sugar again when I finally eat dinner.

SkierElle

I don't know why but some days are much harder to fast than others. So I took my friend to the airport this morning and I was REALLY craving a breakfast burrito from sonic on the way back. I decided to fast from 6pm last night to 6pm tonight, so I really didn't want to break it but I wanted one so bad. To make matters worse, I pass 2 sonics on the way home! BUT I made it, and got home and had some coffee. I wasn't even that hungry, so I don't know why it was so hard to resist! But now that I did resist, I feel more empowered because of it!

Small successes like this make me feel like I can really do this... I hope you all are having a great Sunday, and looking forward to thanksgiving! I, personally, am not afraid to fast before the thanksgiving meal because I know I have the self control NOT to have way too much! Plus now I get full so much quicker, and I know I'll be really uncomfortable if I eat way too much.

I am starting INSANITY today, and I hope it won't be too hard with fasting. I might have to take it down to 2x per week, instead of the 3 days I have been doing. We'll see. anxious to see how my weigh in goes tomorrow, according to exercise and calories eaten, I should have lost at least 2 lbs.

mmnichol

bump

lulabellewoowoo

Okay ,so yesterday didn't work out, so I now have two bad eating days in a row under my belt. But kids and hubby are out of the house today, and I have 16:21 to go, and I am determined to accomplish it.

lulabellewoowoo

So I have a little over 12 hours to go. Even though I have been doing this for a month or so, today it HARD. Could be hormones. But I know that I have done this in the past, so physically it is possible. I have a mental need to eat. But I'm already 12 hours down, so the next 12 will be a breeze...

kdiamond

On the days the fast seems harder I drink a huge Coke Zero...not the best because of chemicals and what not but I'll tell you that fills your belly up big time! A lot of times we think we're hungry we're really just thirsty. Of course I also drink a ton ton ton of water during the fast but carbonation goes a long way!

jb_sweet_99

Humm I find that carbonation makes me hungry, I tried soda water during one fast and the bubbles just made it worse, oh and of course the chemicals make me crave sugar (in Coke zero that is). To each is own I suppose :bigsmile:
Started my fast last night at 7:30, had a party Sat night and drank too much and ate my homemade cake, so the fast started Sunday, lol!

briteyes

I fasted on Saturday - that was so hard, but i stayed strong! We were running errands and hubby and daughter needed lunch, so he went to one of our fav burger joints - in n out... while they ate cheeseburgers and fries, i drank an extra large iced tea (that wasn't very strong). then they ate m&ms. it all smelled SOOOO good!!! but i didn't give in. however, Saturday night, we had ribs, chili, bread... ugh so I don't know how much the fast was worth... I'm back on the fast again today... and then wednesday and friday I'll be fasting - for the sole purpose of making sure Tday doesn't count...LOL

soda - really really helps with the hunger feeling. i did not have any on Saturday and i was hungrier than usual.

SkierElle

Good job guys! I have found that I do better fasting after breakfast, and now that I've started Insanity (and will be doing it in the mornings) I will have to eat afterwards. yesterday my fast was 5pm-5pm, but afterwards I wasn't even hungry! I only had a protein drink and didn't want a real dinner! Oh well, I had a nice breakfast this morning to make up for it!

Coffee and tea does it for me if water won't fill me up, i wont go near diet pop but if it helps you then great! some days it may be hard to stick with but the willpower we build up over time with sticking to fasts is great and I think it will be useful in other areas of life!! I am going to do wednesday & friday as well for fasts this week (although my normal is Sun-Tues-Thurs)

nichole1027

I have read through this whole thread and I want to try this! I have 20 lbs I need to lose. So, I am thinking my first fast will be Wednesday afternoon- Thursday afternoon for Thanksgiving meal.

firedragon064

Nichole,
On the my 1st day, on the last 3 hour are hard. I have take coffee to keep me going but the 2nd time I don't need anything except filtered water. Today is my fasting day. I already have my dinner ready so I can eat it after my hip hop class tonight.

nichole1027

I may reconsider and start the fast now, I last ate at 7:00 lastnight, so I am already 13 hours into it. That way I can do a workout when I get home from work tonight and then eat.

SkierElle

Good luck Nichole!! I find that the last 5 hours are the hardest, just push through it!! If you are a little short of 24 hrs the first time keep in mind that 18+ hours still has benefits.

heathersmilez

I've really been enjoying doing this fast for the past few Saturdays but I have to applaud those of you who can successfully do it during the week.

I'm always starving at work and although I keep it to about 1200-1300 calories a day I could not imagine not eating until dinner. On Saturdays it’s easy, I spend my day working out, reading, grocery shopping or on the computer and it’s much easier to ignore the hunger pangs.

I am aware for ESE you shouldn’t really be counting calories during the week hence b/c I am, that why I'm only fasting on Saturday which is usually my cheat day so I may have a 1000 calorie dinner that night.

nichole1027

SkierElle, I see you have been doing it for a month or so, have you had good results so far?

funsilver

I think I am going to give this a try this week.
Green Tea and coffee will definitely be my go too to keep off those cravings

Sweet13_Princess

Fasting will probably put your body into shock. I wonder if it will make it MORE difficult to lose weight because it might mess up your metabolism.

In any case, I could never do that. I'm hungry all of the time... I'd chew my fingers off!*LOL*

Shannon

jb_sweet_99

Finished my fast last night at 7:30, I feel so much better today! I find this really helps me know when I'm hungry or just bored and be more careful with my food choices.
Sweet13_Princes if you research this you will see that it is very healthy to do 24 hour fasts, and it does not make it more difficult to lose weight, nor does it harm your metabolism, it makes it easier in fact. I have PCOS so it is very hard to lose weight and this really helps me keep the scale going downwards. I'm not saying you have to do it, but we've all looked into this (well most of us) extensively before starting it.
Good luck to all those on your first fast, I've been doing this at least once a week for the past few months. I hardly get hungry during the fast now and always feel stronger during my workouts those days and it keeps me in check on non fast days. I often do one from Sun to Mon to get rid of all that extra sodium from the weekend as I don't drink as much water on the weekends, and chose a random day for the next one :bigsmile: