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

lulabellewoowoo

Well, I did it!!! 24 hours. Of course, it would have been easier if I hadn't had to feed my kids. We went to Panera. They got soups, I got non-sweetened iced tea. But I brought a book with me to occupy my time while they ate and we talked. It will be easier to do this once they are in school. My hardest time was around 2 p.m. That is the only time during the day that I know I had TRUE hunger, not just boredom hunger. But I was also very tired from having only slept 4 hours the night before, so taking a nap took away 3 hours of time. When I finally did eat, I was surprised that I actually didn't have a ravenous appetite. Had half a veggie sandwich, cup of maryland crab soup. Hubby even stopped and got a brownie to split with me, and I could only take 3 bites because my belly was uncomfortably full. Very weird for me. But I learned alot about my eating habits yesterday and so today am truly going to LISTEN to my hunger rather than just eat to eat. A lot easier than I thought. So one down, 8 more to go for this month. I think Sunday evening and Wednesday evenings are going to work best for me.

Something else it did for me? This past weekend I overate on a lot of junk. A day of fasting actually helped me to "reset" my body and thinking and stop the binging process so that I could make better choices even when faced with bad ones.

I explained it to my hubby and he was impressed, but said he could never do it. But it was easier than I thought. So I'm going to do my second one on Wednesday from about 5:30 to 5:30. That way I can eat dinner with my family.

Stewie, 20 hours is still very awesome. I agree with imagymrat. It takes playing around with. I'll be interested to see the weight benefits next week (if any)

imagymrat - thanks for posting this. and for your encouragement. it makes a huge difference.

pfenixa

Something else it did for me? This past weekend I overate on a lot of junk. A day of fasting actually helped me to "reset" my body and thinking and stop the binging process so that I could make better choices even when faced with bad ones.

I was reading this thread yesterday and I'm really intrigued by the whole thing. This past weekend my husband and I went to the beach for the weekend and I ate terribly, but figured I'd just get back on it yesterday. Mondays are my off days and then when I got home the in-laws decided to get pizza...usually I can hold back well enough to still to well for the day, but it feels like after a weekend of terrible eating I just couldn't hold back from eating terrible some more. I was thinking the fast could be a "reset" like you mentioned.

I'll admit though, I'm extremely intimidated at the thought of not eating for that long. My job I sit in a room all day and only leave to do two mail runs or go to the bathroom. My snacks and lunch are something I look forward to. :ohwell:

I was thinking I could try it Friday night to Saturday night and then maybe I could just exercise Saturday afternoon/night and then eat afterward. Does the exercise need to be resistance training? All my exercise has consisted lately of running or doing 30 Day Shred, and to be honest I'd have to check what all is resistance training. :blushing: Oh, and since I'm still working on losing weight and doing 1200 calories per day, if I do the fast do I try to squeeze as much of that in before and after for the day, or do I just finish off the day like I usually would? Then I'd be eating way under 1200, I'm sure.

imagymrat

Something else it did for me? This past weekend I overate on a lot of junk. A day of fasting actually helped me to "reset" my body and thinking and stop the binging process so that I could make better choices even when faced with bad ones.

I was reading this thread yesterday and I'm really intrigued by the whole thing. This past weekend my husband and I went to the beach for the weekend and I ate terribly, but figured I'd just get back on it yesterday. Mondays are my off days and then when I got home the in-laws decided to get pizza...usually I can hold back well enough to still to well for the day, but it feels like after a weekend of terrible eating I just couldn't hold back from eating terrible some more. I was thinking the fast could be a "reset" like you mentioned.

I'll admit though, I'm extremely intimidated at the thought of not eating for that long. My job I sit in a room all day and only leave to do two mail runs or go to the bathroom. My snacks and lunch are something I look forward to. :ohwell:

I was thinking I could try it Friday night to Saturday night and then maybe I could just exercise Saturday afternoon/night and then eat afterward. Does the exercise need to be resistance training? All my exercise has consisted lately of running or doing 30 Day Shred, and to be honest I'd have to check what all is resistance training. :blushing: Oh, and since I'm still working on losing weight and doing 1200 calories per day, if I do the fast do I try to squeeze as much of that in before and after for the day, or do I just finish off the day like I usually would? Then I'd be eating way under 1200, I'm sure.

Resistance training in a nutshell can be using dumbbells, rubber exercise tubing, your own body weight, bricks, bottles of water, or any other object that causes the muscles to contract, Some of your DVD's that you do may have resistance incorporated right into the program. The benefits, for me with fasting for the one day, is that it makes it easy for me to meet my calorie deficit without having to be too strict with counting my calories on my non fasting days. Congrats lulabelle! the first is ALWAYS the hardest, I caved the first day, but the second attempt, like mentioned before I tweaked my timing to better suit my body, and voila! 24hour no problem, and I didn't even feel the need to eat right away, more like a few hours afterwards.

lulabellewoowoo

imagymrat - Here is another quick question. You said you are doing it once a week to just maintain. Is twice a week for weight loss and once a week for maintenance? What are other benefits to fasting other than weight loss?

Thank you for all your posts and information and personal experiences. It is extremely helpful and motivating.

Stewie316

I'm starting again today at 2pm til 2pm tomorrow. Getting through tonight shouldn't be hard, hopefully I won't be hungry in the morning.

chrisdavey

lulabellewoowoo: That would be case dependent because of each person's diet and exercise habits. No one person all fits answer I wouldn't think.

I did it yesterday. 7:30pm to 7:30pm. Just had my regular Wed night dinner (which is a big one as it's a workout day :P) but didn't really over indulge I don't think.

My workout was ok. I think I was at about 90-95% of a regular fuelled workout.

I survived the day with ****loads of water, green tea and sugar free chewing gum.

lulabellewoowoo

Well, as of 6:30 I have started my second fast of the week (and in general). I have a pretty packed evening tonight right up until bedtime and then all day tomorrow, ending my fast with a workout at the gym ending at 6 p.m. I should be good and hungry. My only issue will be preparing lunches for the kids, but I might have hubby do that in the morning before he leaves so that I won't be tempted to "nibble".

Great job jzpowahz. I wish you all the success.

Stewie, you can do it! Earlier in the day is probably better. That means when you wake up (as long as you are not waking up at 2 a.m. like I have to), then you close to being there.

Thank God for water and diet soda!

lulabellewoowoo

Okay, 12.5 hours down, 11.5 hours to go. I am actually feeling hungry earlier today, but I realize that I probably didn't eat enough calories yesterday. But I will persevere. I'm going to love my Mediterranean veggie sandwich and cup of chocolate milk come 6:30 tonight.


How is everyone else doing?

AwMyLoLo

I've been reading through this since you started the thread and toying around with the idea. I've had to fast a lot recently for the testing I've been going through trying to figure out what is wrong with my stomach. I absolutely HATE fasting all day...... but...... I just decided I am going to do it today. I haven't been able to work out this week (other than 20 minutes AM Yoga and 3 mile dog walks) because my stomach is so uncomfortable. Yesterday I was swelled up to where I looked 7 months pregnant. Yesterday my attitude toward eating healthy and exercising was "F it" -- because I didn't feel like complete dog crap when I ate whatever I wanted and considered 30 minutes on the elliptical to be a kick *kitten* workout. It wasn't until I started P90X and being a freak about what I ate that I started having problems. So, anyway, enough about that. Last night we had homemade pizza for dinner at 7pm. So tonight I will eat dinner of pork chops and rice at 7 again... If I feel up to working out I will do P90X Legs & Back and Ab Ripper X.

rcatr

This sounds really interesting and something worth considering. I've done detox cleanses before that included fasts. My body felt very peaceful afterwards. Thanks for posting this!

lulabellewoowoo

AwMyLoLo - I'm sorry you are so uncomfortable. And feeling bloated is never any fun. I went through several tests and a few years of it. Even had my gallbladder removed, but it ended up causing more problems than good, plus 10+ lb weight gain. The fasting is more a mental thing for me today. I am truly hungry, although surprisingly not tired, even though I got up at 3 a.m. So it has that benefit. But I sure am looking forward to dinner. You'll do great!

AwMyLoLo

AwMyLoLo - I'm sorry you are so uncomfortable. And feeling bloated is never any fun. I went through several tests and a few years of it. Even had my gallbladder removed, but it ended up causing more problems than good, plus 10+ lb weight gain. The fasting is more a mental thing for me today. I am truly hungry, although surprisingly not tired, even though I got up at 3 a.m. So it has that benefit. But I sure am looking forward to dinner. You'll do great!

I had my gallbladder removed in late 2007.

AwMyLoLo

I'll admit though, I'm extremely intimidated at the thought of not eating for that long. My job I sit in a room all day and only leave to do two mail runs or go to the bathroom. My snacks and lunch are something I look forward to. :ohwell:

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This is the same situation I am in...

reesegirl521

Maybe someone asked this ( and I apologize if it has been asked, I didn't see it but...) this is a 'lifestyle' change for you then? Like you plan on doing Eat Stop Eat from now on? Or are you supposed to do it for a while and then go back to regular eating?

rcatr

i'm supposed to have a night in on Friday and working from home on saturday so i'm going to try it out Friday PM to Sat PM. Will report back.

kdiamond

This is also known as The Warrior Diet, as another poster added. I do this at least once a week, usually Friday evening through Saturday evening. Sometimes I also do it mid-week.

I find I also feel amazing all day long, and it makes for a guilt free dinner that night!

I have found NO negative effects on muscle loss, infact I've never been in such great shape and have terrific workouts (carb load) the day after!

I really recommend this as a way of changing things up, especially for someone who maybe has hit a plateau or something.

mrsyatesy

Hmm - I think this is my plan for next week - thank you for posting this and for all the information everyone has added in!

Stewie316

Whewwwww, I got through it. It was not easy at all, but hopefully it'll get easier. I ate right away. I'm going to try to do this every monday, to restart after the weekends. I think, I'm going to do noon to noon, next time. Hopefully, it'll get easier.

lulabellewoowoo

Great job Stewie.

Well, I succeeded. Last night, went on a special dinner with family and again found I wasn't overly hungry. Now the day after last time, I found that I ate a lot more, and the second day not so much. We will see how I do. What I have learned on non-fast days? I have started cutting out mindless munching. If I want a bite of what the kids have, I make my own portion so I can be aware of what I am eating and how much. Let's see if I can keep this up. I think Sunday evenings to Monday evenings and Wednesday evenings to Thursday evenings are going to work for me. Did not get fuzzy mentally. Even did a kickboxing class and although I felt like I was "swimming" through the class (I felt like I was moving through water), I ended up burning the same amount of calories.

I definitely recommend to everyone to at least giving it two tries before deciding.

reesegirl521

So I started last night at 630pm. This morning has been fine but I've only been up since 5am so we'll see how the rest of the day goes. I packed a bag full of water and tea to get me through the day at work!!