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

angrypanda

I found this to be an interesting idea, so I gave it a try from 6pm Tuesday to 6pm last night because I'm trying to break through a plateau. It sure takes a lot of discipline to not eat a single calorie for that long.

I usually work out every day, but was worried about trying yesterday because by the afternoon, I was feeling pretty tired and yucky overall. My blood sugar was pretty low by the late afternoon (49mg), and I was just feeling so tired that I wasn't even able to push myself to do a light workout by the evening. I was getting pretty cranky in the hours approaching 6pm. I also found that with all the liquid I was drinking, I don't think my body was retaining a single ounce of it, because I had to pee constantly.

I pushed through, though, and ate a high-protein, low fat dinner and wow...that was the most gratifying meal of my life! Haha. I feel pretty good today and am definitely going to give this another shot in a few days. I might go for 20 hours instead. Those last four were pretty brutal.

Does anyone else just feel pretty weak when you do this? I was hypoglycemic as a child, so I know that in general, I've never forced myself to go this long without calories because my body usually hates me for it and those around me must suffer my awful mood-swings :bigsmile:

dbmom

Read thru all the posts...very interesting...going to give it a try starting tonight at 6:30:smile:

chrisdavey

angrypanda: my first two I have done my regular weights session. I felt that I was about 90% as strong as I usually am. I don't "think" I could do one of my regular HIIT sessions though. I was timing my fasts so that I would finish with a workout as that workout time for me just flies and I can't think about anything other than the exercise.

jb_sweet_99

Well I made it 23.5 hours, I ate 3 pieces of cheese while making dinner, lol! In my defence I have mad heartburn, even after I finally ate. I did a new workout because only 2 of us showed up for Kickboxing, so we did 30 mins of CorePole, which is brutal hard! Google it, you'll see. Then 30 mins of Kickboxing afterwards, all on no food. From all the water I drank and the bouncing around my stomach is on fire. I think next time I will not drink as much water so close to working out to try to prevent that heartburn. Other than that I feel good, it wasn't nearly as hard as I thought. I'm thinking that my next day will start Sunday, I think it will be a good way to make up for the weekend where I'm sure I won't eat great! :bigsmile:

cutmd

What I'm learning: I have found that 20 hours works for me better than 24 hours. I know it's not a true fast, but since I am up at 3 a.m. my body thinks about food longer than not. I can make it to 24 hours, but it is not "mentally" healthy, as I then become too preoccupied with those last few hours. But making it to 20 to 22 hours has done really well for me, even with exercising.

jb_sweet_99 - how did you do on your fast?

Per the author, you start getting maximal effects at 18+ hours, so there's nothing wrong with a shorter fast

Angrypanda, at first I thought I was weaker, but after staying well-hydrated and pushing past the psychological stuff, I find myself at 90-100%. Jzpowahz, I have done Hiit during ese and REALLY have to psych myself up. I prefer to do it towards the beginning of an ese session to boost my fat burning.

lulabellewoowoo

Well, I was able to do my fast yesterday and it went well. I made it 21 hours. But didn't eat BEFORE the bike ride, which was a bad idea. Next time, half a PB sandwich. But now I am going away to the beach for a couple of days and feeling confident I can control my portions with all my yummy "badness".

Changes I've made? I now drink my coffee black, even on non-fast days. Figure why waste the calories on cream when I can use it for something useful. Skipping the fru-fru drinks at Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks these days too. When I'm eating my calories, making a lot of better choices and varieties. Made it through bloated period with very little bloating and much less cramps (for the first time in years). Not sure if this is coincidental or not, so I'll have to wait until next month to find out.

So thank you IMAGYMRAT for posting this. I had read other posts before, but your clear explanation really made a huge difference. And since I consider you a reasonable "dieter", I appreciate and respect your experience and opinion.

Next fast will be starting Sunday night after my delicious, delectable weekend. Hope everyone has a great one too!

firedragon064

I'm going to try on sunday night fast from 6PM to the next day.
I've been doing 500 cal every other day but I usually have to get up like 4,5 AM because I was hungry.
If I do get to eat before I go sleep I think I will have a better sleep.

SDehmer819

I am going to give this a try...sounds very doable, but will see when actually attempted. heehee!:laugh:

Sara2525

I have fasted now 3 times in the last two weeks and have lost 5 lbs! I don't know if the fasting is the complete reason but I def think it has helped and I will continue this twice a week for the next few weeks to see.

Thanks Imagymrat!

lulabellewoowoo

Started my fasting tonight at 8:30 and doing 20 hours til 4:30 tomorrow, but will probably be like 6 when I finally get dinner. Went away for the weekend and had a great time with lots of yummy goodness (or badness), so I'm looking forward to the fast to reset my body and mind and get back into the swing of things. Can't tell if I've actually lost weight in my third week in because of monthly bloating, but I'm interested to see my body fat assessment this coming friday to see what comes of that.

Congrats Sara. Awesome job.

Makinitcount - Hope it works for you. I have been able to do 24 hours, but find that 20 to 22 hours works best for me as I am up at 3 a.m. and it makes for a LONG day.

Firedragon - I don't think I could live on only 500 calories a day. Even on my fast days, I end up getting about 1000 calories in. My sister-in-law was doing 800 calories a day for a couple of weeks, but it wasn't sustainable for her.

cutmd - "Per the author, you start getting maximal effects at 18+ hours, so there's nothing wrong with a shorter fast " Thanks for this tidbit. Glad to know I'm still on the right track.

Hope everyone is doing well...

firedragon064

BradPilon,eatstopeat author, has a few video on youtube.com
One of his video, he compared
Fasting and Exercising

Fasting has most of benefits of exercise except for exercise the benefit is only last for couple of hours but for fasting 24 hours.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=da2pc3vMkSc&featur
e=related

I stopped eating at 5PM today. I planned to drink some coffee durring the fasting tomorrow.

unknownndoll

bump

jb_sweet_99

Well I started my second fast last night at 7:00, well, I guess it was actually 7:30 by the time I finished my slushy (go out with a bang right, lol). Will go to Kickboxing and eat right after, I have premade dinner today so I don't have to worry about prepping anything when I get home from class at about 7:05 or so. I'm really hoping the heartburn is less this time, I'm going to drink less in the afternoon and hope for the best. Good luck guys! :bigsmile:

firedragon064

My 1st water fast went very well..better than what I expected. My energy level only went down in the last 3 hour. of the fasting. and I wanted to eat but I hang in there. I'm going to fast tomorrow again tomorrow around 5PM.

chrisdavey

That vid is showing how exercise and fasting can work together for fat burning not just saying that you should just fast and not exercise. Just thought I would clarify that for people who didn't check the vid out

33casey

This could be a dumb question, I just want to clarify:

So, if I am supposed to consume 1200 cal/day, and I fast on 2 days during the week, do I have to consume those 2400 cals on other days, or do I just forget about them?

BRITBRITNOLA

You can eat after you are done fasting. So when I fast again on Wed, I will not eat until after 6pm. After 6pm you eat, sensibly of course. But I would recommend trying to cram 1200 calories in only two meals. My last fast was yesterday. I ate about half my calorie allotment for the day.

AFM:
My 2 days last week went surprisingly well. I wasn't hungry for most of the day. And when I did get hungry I either drank more water or exercised. I am looking forward to Wed's fast. It feels like I get more done when I am not thinking of what I am going to eat. My fast days are currently Wednesday and Sunday. Probably will change the days later on to make the closer to each other.

Hope everyone I doing well with this method. I feel like this method along with my 4 meals a day will help me lose faster. My weigh in is tomorrow so we can test that theory soon.

p1nkpr1ncess

So I'm finally going to give this a go. I've been a bit scared of it up to now but I've got a week of camping next week and although I've planned healthy meals I can see me having too many cals anyway!

I'm starting tonight from 5.30pm and going to see if I can manage maybe 20-22 hours on my first go, just to see how I go! I'm strength training after dinner tonight and I've planned some circuit training tomorrow afternoon near the end of the fast as exercise usually curbs my hunger for a bit!

Wish me luck!!
-x-x-

lulabellewoowoo

Well, I'm glad I did my fast yesterday because it saved me from a lot of unnecessary nervous munching during the day. Unfortunately, didn't do so great once I went off the fast. Let stress and situation get to me. But still was able to stay within my calories. So my next fast is Wednesday 5:30 to Thursday 5:30. I think I can pull off 24 hours this time, although I will shoot for 3:30 and see how I feel after that.

Great job on everyone's successes. I agree with Brit that it is nice not having to think about food. Yesterday, there was so much food at this pool get-together (good and bad choices), but it was nice not having to worry about any of them. I felt good too to have self-control. Not so good to lose it later. But hula-hooping with the family helped to work some of it off

katya143

Today is my fast day, will be eating at 7:30pm, let the countdown begin! LOL

jb_sweet_99

:bigsmile: Well I finished my second fast last night at 7:00 and the second time went much better than the first, I didn't drink as much water near the time I had kickboxing and took a couple Tums before I went and had no heartburn YAY!! AND I"m down 1.6 pounds today, this is huge for me because I have PCOS and normally only go down by about .2 each time. I feel so much more energetic today and have no tummy issues that I would normally have. I think I will try to keep this up on a regular basis to speed up my weight loss. Thanks imagymrat for sharing this with us! :flowerforyou:
Congrats to everyone on doing so well too! :bigsmile:

firedragon064

jb-sweet_99: Congrats on the weight loss!
p1nkpr1ncess: Good luck, I know you can do it! It's not hard as you think. We only skip breakfast & lunch.

I lose 1 lb this morning. I plan to start my fast at 5PM. On the last hour of the fast, I'll do some cardio this time.

batty5

Very interested in this especially as I have IBS & other problems including a stomach one so may be good to rest it but due to other medical problems the only exercise I am able to do is in deep water. For the next 12 weeks the pool I use is undergoing maintenance & the temporary pool will be only 1 metre deep which means all I can do is breaststroke swimming. So my question is will it work as well? I always swim to capacity. Thanks

firedragon064

Very interested in this especially as I have IBS & other problems including a stomach one so may be good to rest it but due to other medical problems the only exercise I am able to do is in deep water. For the next 12 weeks the pool I use is undergoing maintenance & the temporary pool will be only 1 metre deep which means all I can do is breaststroke swimming. So my question is will it work as well? I always swim to capacity. Thanks

Yes , check out this video
BradPilon,eatstopeat author, has a few video on youtube.com
One of his video, he compared
Fasting and Exercising

Fasting has most of benefits of exercise except for exercise the benefit is only last for couple of hours but for fasting 24 hours.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=da2pc3vMkSc&featur
e=relate


He wants you do weight lifting so you don't lose you muscle.

SaraTN

Thank you for the information. I am going to incorporate this into my program for the month of September and see how it goes. I have a total of 40 pounds I would like to loose. I have cut back on my calories, booze, and am exercising like a mad woman -- (mostly cardio driven) -- but in September I planned to add strength training to my regime. I have been somewhat disappointed with my results in August -- but maybe this along with the added muscle building activities will give me a good push!

imagymrat

:bigsmile: Well I finished my second fast last night at 7:00 and the second time went much better than the first, I didn't drink as much water near the time I had kickboxing and took a couple Tums before I went and had no heartburn YAY!! AND I"m down 1.6 pounds today, this is huge for me because I have PCOS and normally only go down by about .2 each time. I feel so much more energetic today and have no tummy issues that I would normally have. I think I will try to keep this up on a regular basis to speed up my weight loss. Thanks imagymrat for sharing this with us! :flowerforyou:
Congrats to everyone on doing so well too! :bigsmile:

I'm glad it's working out for so many people, I now do it once every other week. I have to say, I took a beating for posting this, so many nasty emails, claiming, my posts are usually helpful, but this one is just utter nonsense and how could I even think about promoting it....fact is, i'm not promoting anything, it simply works!

p1nkpr1ncess

I'm glad it's working out for so many people, I now do it once every other week. I have to say, I took a beating for posting this, so many nasty emails, claiming, my posts are usually helpful, but this one is just utter nonsense and how could I even think about promoting it....fact is, i'm not promoting anything, it simply works!

Wow that's a bit mean! The only reason I really paid the theory any notice was BECAUSE it was YOU who posted it and I know that you don't talk nonsense nor would you advise anyone to do anything that would be detrimental to our health.

I have done some more research on it and can't believe how many people recommend it

I am in the middle of my first fast day - it's 8.30am here in the UK. Wish me luck, only another 9.5 hours to go! I would be happy to make it to around 20-22 hours though on my first go. This is my "trial fast" to see how much I can handle lol.

Well done everyone who has been fitting this into their lives, I imagine it will get easier the more times we do it (hope so anyway!!)
-x-x-

lulabellewoowoo

imagymrat - YOU ARE AWESOME! I love not only your suggestions (I mean you are powerful and all, but not powerful enough to "force" anyone to do anything ) But I love your strength in deal with negativity and your thoughtfulness in posting helpful things.

jb_sweet_99

:bigsmile: Well I finished my second fast last night at 7:00 and the second time went much better than the first, I didn't drink as much water near the time I had kickboxing and took a couple Tums before I went and had no heartburn YAY!! AND I"m down 1.6 pounds today, this is huge for me because I have PCOS and normally only go down by about .2 each time. I feel so much more energetic today and have no tummy issues that I would normally have. I think I will try to keep this up on a regular basis to speed up my weight loss. Thanks imagymrat for sharing this with us! :flowerforyou:
Congrats to everyone on doing so well too! :bigsmile:

I'm glad it's working out for so many people, I now do it once every other week. I have to say, I took a beating for posting this, so many nasty emails, claiming, my posts are usually helpful, but this one is just utter nonsense and how could I even think about promoting it....fact is, i'm not promoting anything, it simply works!

I'm sorry you've gotten a beating for it :frown: if people would research it before they complained they would change their tune. I feel great while I"m doing the fasting and honestly, like you said, it simply works! I've had a few people that I work with that have just started trying to lose weight try to tell me about starvation mode and how it will burn up your muscles etc. They have no idea. Everything I do I research first, and I, like you wouldn't do, or suggest anything to anyone that would be harmful. I have PCOS and it is extremely hard to lose weight so anything extra that I can do to get the weight off while being healthy, is something I'm gong to do.
Pay no attention to the negative people, we appreciate you! :bigsmile:

On that note, I started my third fast last night instead of tonight because I skipped class last night as I wasn't feeling well, so I had enough time to make a good healthy meal with enough leftovers for tonight. I find it easier if I have food ready right when I get home from Kickboxing, the prep time just kills me, lol! Anywho. have a good day all. :bigsmile:

batty5

Am slightly confused as I had assumed that a fast meant only no cal liquids i.e. tea, coffee, water perhaps some lemon juice in tea if required but no sugar so daily intake would be 0 calories but then I see someone has 1,000 on a "fast" day!!! Could someone clarify please? Thanks