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

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.

and your source is....?

ESE and other types of intermittent fasting has been researched and proven over and over again to be an effective and safe way to lose fat. You can google it and you will find tons of sites - some are personal experiences, others are from doctors, nutritionists, etc. There is no harm in a short term fast. Especially, with ESE, you are eating every single day. The body is not going to go into shock by waiting until dinner to eat for the first time.

I know a lot of people (my dad, my husband, etc) who do this almost every day when they are busy with work. They get up and go, never stopping to eat and finally they come home for dinner. My husband happens to be very lean, he never works out, and he eats what he wants. He eats all evening - often having two dinners, and snacks before bedtime. This is how I know it works.

I've lost a pound in the last week and I really haven't been good. I said I would count my calories, but I haven't done so since Friday lunch...LOL I've eaten ice cream, ribs, brownies, etc...LOL mixed in w/ healthy stuff of course, but the point is, it seems to be working. You eat how you want to eat, within reason, and let the fasting days take care of the calorie deficit.

One thing that I'm seeing in my research of intermittent fasting is that it is not just the calorie deficit that makes it work - it's the demand placed on the body to burn the excess fat. The longer you go w/ out giving your body fuel, the more it is forced to use it's stored fuel. Eating a 1200 calorie a day diet will get you there eventually, but if you are eating every few hours the body is rarely calling upon it's store fat. The point of ESE isn't just to lose pounds. It's to burn the actual fat and build lean muscle. You may see a lot more definition and not so much pound loss.

Also, for those that think you will starve, I thought the same thing, but decided that we don't get anywhere w/ out taking risks - and what's the worst thing that could happen - I break my fast early??? So what's the harm in trying? It turned out I wasn't really all that hungry.

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.

and your source is....?

ESE and other types of intermittent fasting has been researched and proven over and over again to be an effective and safe way to lose fat. You can google it and you will find tons of sites - some are personal experiences, others are from doctors, nutritionists, etc. There is no harm in a short term fast. Especially, with ESE, you are eating every single day. The body is not going to go into shock by waiting until dinner to eat for the first time.

I know a lot of people (my dad, my husband, etc) who do this almost every day when they are busy with work. They get up and go, never stopping to eat and finally they come home for dinner. My husband happens to be very lean, he never works out, and he eats what he wants. He eats all evening - often having two dinners, and snacks before bedtime. This is how I know it works.

I've lost a pound in the last week and I really haven't been good. I said I would count my calories, but I haven't done so since Friday lunch...LOL I've eaten ice cream, ribs, brownies, etc...LOL mixed in w/ healthy stuff of course, but the point is, it seems to be working. You eat how you want to eat, within reason, and let the fasting days take care of the calorie deficit.

One thing that I'm seeing in my research of intermittent fasting is that it is not just the calorie deficit that makes it work - it's the demand placed on the body to burn the excess fat. The longer you go w/ out giving your body fuel, the more it is forced to use it's stored fuel. Eating a 1200 calorie a day diet will get you there eventually, but if you are eating every few hours the body is rarely calling upon it's store fat. The point of ESE isn't just to lose pounds. It's to burn the actual fat and build lean muscle. You may see a lot more definition and not so much pound loss.

Also, for those that think you will starve, I thought the same thing, but decided that we don't get anywhere w/ out taking risks - and what's the worst thing that could happen - I break my fast early??? So what's the harm in trying? It turned out I wasn't really all that hungry.

Well said my friend! Trust me, I've got enough fat on me that I will not starve, lol!

It makes sense! That's why our bodies store fat, so that we can use it up later

The longer you go w/ out giving your body fuel, the more it is forced to use it's stored fuel. Eating a 1200 calorie a day diet will get you there eventually, but if you are eating every few hours the body is rarely calling upon it's store fat. The point of ESE isn't just to lose pounds. It's to burn the actual fat and build lean muscle. You may see a lot more definition and not so much pound loss.

What about the more common recommendation that if you eat more frequently (albeit smaller meals) you are keeping your metabolism going strong?

Nichole: yeah, since I have started tracking my calories on non-fasting days I have lost 4.5 lbs in the last two weeks, and have been on MFP for a month now and lost 8lbs total. I also find that I get better workouts and have more self control over food and other things too!

Jenjabbour, nicely put! I think that anyone who does their research on this will realize that it is not only safe but beneficial to our bodies and not just in the short term!

Good job!! you may find that after fasting, you are satisfied by a small to medium sized meal and not really ravenous! that's how i usually feel anyway.

Congrats Nichole, I knew you could do it. Good job :drinker:
You can do it lulabellewoowoo!!! I'll be starting another one tonight I think, over indulged and had two pops yesterday, I never have pop! I feel so bloated today, lots of water for me!!! :bigsmile:

I made it until 6:30pm. I have been about an hour or so off. Not too bad I guess. I had homemade sauce that I pulled out of the freezer so I made spaghetti. I am doing the fast again today... Just trying to get a jump start before Thanksgiving..

Happy Thanksgiving everyone...

(I will not be logging what i eat tomorrow - but I am getting up early to go for a run and to do my shred video)

i can do this!!!!! we can do this!!!!

i didn't start until midnight - because I just had to have a piece of pie, a glass of milk, and peanuts before bed last night.... otherwise, i would've started at 6 pm and i'd only have 5 more hours to go. oh well. i'll be busy this evening and i'm serving left overs for dinner tonight so I"m freed up to make thanksgiving goodies instead. so, if i make it to midnight without eating, i'll probably just go to bed and eat breakfast to break my fast... get it Break-fast??? LOL.... ok, kinda corny, but it makes sense right? i know you can do a fast for 72 hrs before it causes the body to go into starvation mode, so i'm not worried, especially since my body will be getting plenty of goodies tomorrow!

i'm not at my thanksgiving day goal weight... still 2 lbs away oh well, just going to have to work harder between Tday and Christmas... was planning on killing it anyways over the next few weeks. granted, i have not been very good lately, so it's a wonder i'm losing weight at all! I'll give ESE all the credit

i will take a before picture tonight or tomorrow to track my next 30 day journey - i am hoping with the help of ESE, a stricter diet, and working out daily i will show some good results of less fat and more muscle. wish me luck! anyone wanna join in?

Started a fast last night at 5:00, feels good to get it started early. I ate crap yesterday (no not turkey I'm in Canada lol)but today is another day, but It prompted me to start a fast and it was pretty easy because that crap kept me full all night even after two workouts!!
Good luck if anyone else is with me on this fast! :bigsmile:

Good for u Elle! I always do my workouts in the evening (I work 9-5 except holidays), so I plan my fast accordingly. I try to start the fast at 7 or 7:30 so when I get home from Kickboxing and Core Pole at 7 I can shower and eat right away then I don't find that I'm missing out, sometimes I'll slug back some milk before I hop in the shower depending on what time I started the fast. I've been super hungry today though, I've already drank 12 glasses of water lol! I'm still deciding on dinner myself, too many ideas in my brain at the moment lol. GOod job teaching her the 'good' way, hopefully she'll really enjoy it and push her mom to make her better food! Its frustrating when you eat so healthy and see kids eating crap, that's how we all got here! Hopefully your influence will help her out! :bigsmile:

Well the fast yesterday turned out pretty easy and was followed by a great dinner that we made! My cousin enjoyed it so much and said "it was the best dinner I ever had" and thought it was weird we were making chicken in the oven because her mom "buys the kind that is hot in the bag". Personally, my parents never fed me crap that was my own fault eating too many desserts and such in college, but I feel sympathy for the people who didn't learn to cook and eat right as children. Now my cousin knows how to make pasta, steam vegetables, and bake chicken, and I explained to her how I canned the applesauce we had!

Not really ESE related but I thought I would share how important it is for kids to learn how to cook &eat right

Heather, haha may be sympathy eating this week but next month at Christmas we'll all be in it together

I usually workout in the morning , so it is best for me to have breakfast right after I work out when I break a fast. On sunday I'll fast after breakfast till Monday morn. Only got 2 in this week but planning for 3 next week Have a good weekend everyone!

I'm going for it today. I have only been fasting about 2 times a month, not much. My birthday is tomorrow so my company took me to lunch today, chinese...mmmm...but so bad. Blech. And my inlaws are taking my family to dinner tomorrow. So that leaves a good 24 hours in between, from after lunch, to a early afternoon snack before dinner tomorrow. And my hubs is busy tonight so I only have to cook dinner for the kids so I won't be so tempted to eat dinner. I can do this!

Okay, so as many times as I have been trying to do this for the past month, I end up somehow slipping up or not completing it. And it's showing up. I keep making excuses. Oh just a little nibble won't hurt. But today I am determined. Of course, I am stuck in the house all day, but am loaded with tons of water and tea. Kickboxing class to end the fast at 6:30, then dinner with a friend (sensible I'm hoping). I am going to do this! No excuses!

Well lulabellewoowoo I hope you made it through this one!!!
I started my fast last night at about 8:30, its going to be a hard weekend to be 'good' ahead. I have a birthday party to go to tonight, and tomorrow night is my work christmas party, I'm REALLY REALLY going to try to get up and go to 10:00 Kickboxing class tomorrow, I hope I make it!
Anyway, have a good weekend everyone! :bigsmile:

Just wanted to recognize that this is the longest time I've stuck with any sort of "diet" - about 1.5 months with ESE!!! That's about 15 fasts!!!

I think I am going to go to 2x per week though. It will be easier, and I need more food while doing Insanity And I think I am taking a little break from ESE around Christmas when I am in California with my family, they will get frustrated with me if I fast when I'm there, but I'll probably end up doing a lot of the cooking so I can make great food!!!

How's everyone doing??