?eat stop eat?

ewennmacher
ewennmacher Posts: 46
in Health and Weight Loss
Anyone try the eat stop eat program?? How, exactly, does it work? Opinions for or against the program?

Replies

  • jscupp1016
    jscupp1016 Posts: 52 Member
    I read a post from someone here who does this... and it worked great for him. He sent me all the information just recently, and I've read it... and am thinking of trying this myself. I may not be able to do the 24 hr fasting... 6 pm to 6 pm or 2pm to 2 pm like they say in the eat stop eat... but I think I could go 6 pm to 12 pm... that seems reasonable and if I can do that maybe I can try the 24 here and there. I was going to give it a try, just to see and I can let you know. I have no idea what to think of it as there's so many people that say completely opposite things about it... what do you think?
  • Micahroni84
    Micahroni84 Posts: 452 Member
    Im starting this sunday and will be doing it on sunday and wednesday which are my off days. I think I'm going to try 24 hours and see how i do,
  • dakotababy
    dakotababy Posts: 2,407 Member
    Intermittent Fasting - please do your research before starting this.

    I have been doing ESE for the last 3 weeks with the sole purpose of breaking a plateau. It has worked great for me! There are a few different styles of doing this...like the 16 hour fast/8 hour eating window (where you would eat your daily calories)...or the 20 hour fast/4 hour eating window...or the ESE.

    Eat stop eat is where you don't consume foods for a full 24 hours (twice a week typically - but this is entirely up to you! You can adjust Intermittent Fasting to fit your lifestyle). You can however drink water, teas, or even coffee...black? (not a coffee drinker!)

    But yeah...there is a group here with information "Intermittent Fasting" - lots of research done on it, with lots of benefits.
    Yeah just make sure you do your research before doing this.
  • ewennmacher
    ewennmacher Posts: 46
    i am trying to learn as much about this as i can without reading the book. 2 reasons- of course the book is going to tell me its great and not mention any drawbacks and 2nd, i don't want to pay for it! i am not a fan of fad diets and dont want to get stuck in one and end up gaining weight back. i lost 60 pounds in 6 months in 2011 and gained 50 back after pregnancy and don't want to do that again (the weight gain, and the pregnancy...2 is enough for me!!!!) but from what i've heard, it's about averaging out your calories in a weeks time instead of going day by day.
  • butterflydrumm
    butterflydrumm Posts: 13 Member
    To each there own but this sounds like it would have a negative effect on your metabolism. It sounds very unhealthy to me.
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,343 Member
    Intermittent fasting (IF), in any of its forms, has not been shown to create any kind of weight loss advantage over the conventional method of maintaining a caloric deficit. Martin Berkhan (creator of the Leangains site and IF protocol) has this to say about it:
    Reality check: even if IF might have benefits not seen with other diet approaches, it doesn’t magically alter the human metabolism. Calories count, regardless of the method used, and people needs to learn that. I guess this scenario is just as common among followers of any other diet approach out there, but I’ll throw it out there just to make sure everyone understands that you can’t get away with an excessive calorie intake just because you’re doing IF.

    IF is another method of maintaining a caloric deficit. Some people find it easier to adhere to than a conventional feeding schedule, and Berkhan's contention was that it kept him from constantly thinking about food and lessened the inconveniences of food prep because he wasn't preparing and eating meals all day long.

    If you feel it would be convenient for you and/or easier to adhere to for whatever reason, there's nothing wrong with IF - it's not a "fad diet" in the sense of advocating some whacky cleanses/detoxes, restricting/eliminating food groups from your diet or starving yourself. It's a perfectly valid way of eating which still advocates sensible caloric intake - just on an altered schedule from what is considered "normal" or "traditional". With that said, don't go into it thinking that it's some magic path to increased weight loss, because there's no evidence to substantiate any such claim.
  • ewennmacher
    ewennmacher Posts: 46
    Reality check: even if IF might have benefits not seen with other diet approaches, it doesn’t magically alter the human metabolism. Calories count, regardless of the method used, and people needs to learn that. I guess this scenario is just as common among followers of any other diet approach out there, but I’ll throw it out there just to make sure everyone understands that you can’t get away with an excessive calorie intake just because you’re doing IF.


    IF is another method of maintaining a caloric deficit. Some people find it easier to adhere to than a conventional feeding schedule, and Berkhan's contention was that it kept him from constantly thinking about food and lessened the inconveniences of food prep because he wasn't preparing and eating meals all day long.

    If you feel it would be convenient for you and/or easier to adhere to for whatever reason, there's nothing wrong with IF - it's not a "fad diet" in the sense of advocating some whacky cleanses/detoxes, restricting/eliminating food groups from your diet or starving yourself. It's a perfectly valid way of eating which still advocates sensible caloric intake - just on an altered schedule from what is considered "normal" or "traditional". With that said, don't go into it thinking that it's some magic path to increased weight loss, because there's no evidence to substantiate any such claim. [{quote]

    this makes seance to me. i have heard of people eating below their calorie "allotment" one day and going over the next in an effort to keep your metabolism burning the most calories possible. this seems to me like it's a matter of what works best for you IE having a calorie deficit negative 800 calories daily or 2000 calories 2x a week. so i'm thinking what ever works for you...?
  • ewennmacher
    ewennmacher Posts: 46
    ^ last paragraph is me. not sure what i'm doing with quotes..........
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,343 Member
    this seems to me like it's a matter of what works best for you IE having a calorie deficit negative 800 calories daily or 2000 calories 2x a week. so i'm thinking what ever works for you...?
    I think that pretty well sums it up (the bolded part). A deficit is a deficit, however you achieve it. Any effect upon your metabolism would pretty much be from TEF (Thermic Effect of Feeding) - but the lesser and greater intake days would even that out, so it's more or less a moot point.

    I'm dead-set against fad/scam diets, but personally I don't feel that IF/ESE falls into that category. I'd give it a try myself if it weren't for the fact that I think my adherence would be very low - just doesn't suit my eating habits. Also, I don't know about ESE, but Berkhan's Leangains IF is pretty precise about macros and I think the convenience of eating less often is offset by how precise you're supposed to be about the macro composition/timing of your intake.
  • MysticRealm
    MysticRealm Posts: 1,264 Member
    I kinda do IF but only 'by accident'. I am never hungry for breakfast so most days I eat for the first time between 12-1pm and stop eating around 9pm. I also like to have most of my calories for the evenings as that's when I am hungriest and will most want to eat. I still count calories and I don't think that it's gonna help me lose more weight than just eating my calories whenever. I believe in calorie in/calories out.
  • jscupp1016
    jscupp1016 Posts: 52 Member
    Well, started it (last night/today).... stopped at 6 pm last night and then had dinner tonight at 6 pm with only water in between. It really wasn't "bad" as far as hunger as I'm at work all day and busy.... I still went to the gym at lunch as my daily routine for twenty minutes and I ate a regular dinner as I would any other night. Tomorrow day will be normal and then at night I'll stop at 6 and do it again for Friday. Then all weekend/next week will be my normal life as before and I'll do my Wed/Friday with the IF. I don't think it's bad as I've read the studies on it and the book and I feel that it could be good for me personally, but I do see how it could be viewed negatively by a lot of people. I think to each their own and as long as we are all doing our research and not jumping into things blindly and to try to cheat the system, (we can't we have to work hard at this as a life change, no quick fixes!)... then I don't think it's wrong to try a technique that may work for our bodies when other methods may not. I personally found it easier to not eat from 6 to 6 than to figure out my meals and stick with them and not snack. Isn't that odd?

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