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Today was my first day trying out intermittent fasting. I’m going to try doing two 24-hour fasts every week, which I think is the eat, stop, eat version. I didn’t buy the book, don’t really see it as necessary, but if anyone out there has it and thinks it’s worthwhile, let me know.
I’ll say it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. But, Sunday is def not a good day for it. I think I’m going to switch to Monday and Thursday or something so I’ll be more distracted. It was okay though, I tried to stay moving around, doing chores and getting some fresh air so I wouldn’t be just lying around being a couch potato. I didn’t get any dizziness, I had a little bit of bad hunger pangs that came and went pretty fast, and I did have a steady, not too severe, headache the last 2 hours before I ate. I don’t think it helped that the last thing I ate last night was chocolate lol.
I broke the fast with a pretty healthy meal, romaine lettuce with salsa and chicken, some broccoli and wild rice, and a banana. I was stuffed after that! On my eat days, I’m going to be eating as clean and healthy as possible. I don’t see the point in gorging on junk when I just went through something not too easy or fun (although it’s supposed to get easier each time).
I feel like this will help me be more mindful of what I eat. I’m also looking forward to the mental clarity and ‘cleansing’ type effect I’ve read about people experiencing. We’ll see how it goes as I continue with it. It’s really not too difficult, certainly not a bad as eating 6 small meals a day as others have stated.
I’m going to talk to my doctor about it at my next check-up but that’s another 5 months or so. Can’t wait to see how my body responds to this!
I too have researched ESE. The benefits sound great (HGH production, stabilizing any food obsessions, smaller eating window = less overall calories). I've tried it and it's a little tough at first, esp since I'm a competitive athlete and because of my busy work/training schedule my window has "opened" from the recommended 6-8 hrs to about 9... I'd love to hear how peeps worked this program... how big was your window? did you do any activity on full-day fasts? (I haven't tried one of those yet, do my training - I've trained fasted, but haven't been able to fast a full day yet)
I just finished my 4th fast today.. I really like it. I've lost a few pounds, and it's not hard to do. You're basically just skipping breakfast and lunch twice a week, aiming for 24 hrs between dinners. The author recommends weight training/strength training, which I want to start doing, but I haven't yet.. just walking about 15 miles a week.
I feel really good doing this.. I'm really low-maintenance and hate counting calories and measuring food, so this makes losing weight a lot easier. I've yet to see if I continue losing, but I'm excited to see what happens in the coming weeks and months.
Another point the author of ESE emphasizes is to not obsess over food and to enjoy it.
Eat Stop Eat by Brad Pilon: he does state this is for healthy people looking to drop weight. He states that using resistance training (weight lifting) (isometrics, power bands, Classical Stretch, my suggestions) helps the muscles burn fat not muscle. And it does work, I've used it before but in a very sloppy manner...still, I loss inches. Now I'm using it as directed and fasting the entire 24 hours. I'm also changing my eating habits and passing on donuts 9 times out of 10. Remember, too, muscle weighs more than fat. Consider not weighing yourself but (maybe) once a week (at the most) AND go by measurements. The drop in inches is really encouraging. Drinks LOTS of water to keep your kidneys working well and flushing out impurities. Dehydration is a bad thing. I'm a Registered Nurse and have finally started using my own advise...with some help from my friends, like you!
im going to try this, if i do it on really busy days at work , i doubt i will even notice.Sounds good! Def worth a try
(as the main thing ive stopped is Eating in the Van while im driving)
I"m on my first day of fasting, it"s 10:30 and i feel pretty great. I no by 3:00 I" m going to be starving, so I will take some psyllium fiber capsules(8) to make my hunger go away , it also helps the absorption of toxins being released durning fasting.
I have actually been enjoying my "modified Warrior Diet." Although it's not a diet. It's a way of life! I've read all the books you all have been discussing. They all have the same message; Fast, feel great, live... The difference between the diets is on the warrior diet I eat once a day around 8pm. I don't binge, I don't eat super unhealthy etc. The beauty of it is I don't worry about having to go out to eat or eating "unhealthy" the key to all of this is MODERATION!
I actually started this when I was in a mood of depression. It was easy for me to go days without eating. Which is not good for you after you hit the 72 hour mark your body goes into starvation mode. In all honesty my depressed mood made it much simpler for me to get a jump start.
Some days I mix it up. I may eat earlier or later than usual. It all depends on what my schedule is looking like. This way I can let my body never know the "plan." It's like building muscle. Never do the same thing over and over. Your body gets use to it! However, If one day I cut back and eat at 4.. Then I can't eat until after 4 on the next day. Once a week (if necessary) I reset my time.
I work out or try to work out 5 to 6 days a week (no less than 5). This includes 50 to 60 minutes of cardio. Then about 30 minutes of weight training. I am not going to weigh myself until about June. I have learned that your mind will play tricks and it's easy to get discouraged. I love the guessing game. I know it's working though. Just a month ago I was squeezing into my dress pants. About two weeks ago I went to put them on and they went on with no problem. It makes me more focused and makes my brain work harder to figure out how i'm doing.
I've been an avid studier of all the diets. This is sort of like my own lifestyle. I've been feeling great. It even helped me with my depression. Which it is completely unlike me to feel depressed. Since I always try to stay in control of my emotions. Master your mind, design your destiny!
If I do feel the need to eat something (which is rare) I stick with fresh. Fresh green beans, fresh carrots, fresh fruits, mushrooms, etc. You can eat a whole 10 oz bag of shredded carrots and it's only 105 calories! Which you never eat the whole bag anyway! Same goes for any of the other things. Remember the key here is Moderation.
Many people have talked about not losing weight etc. Remember the key to losing weight is Calories In, Calories Out! The big misconception is those who believe they can eat ANYTHING they want on the diet. It's far from the truth. I got so use to the healthy way of things. It's just a routine. When I finally do get a chance to go out to eat. It is the most amazing taste ever. Treat yourself as you would treat a child. Do good, reward yourself. Do bad, punish yourself.
Okay enough rambling on. As you can tell i'm into psychology hahaha. However, a few things to leave you with...
Self-motivation is the ONLY motivation that allows you to live.
I started reading last night and throught about ESE, but after reading the rest (!) I think that fast5 would work perfectly for me. I quite naturally only consume tea and a piece of fruit until mid-afternoon anyway so the adjustment should be easy...can anyone tell me of their weight loss results? I would like to lose around 15 pounds in the next 6 weeks and then continue on.
Also, as the 5 hour window will be in the evening, is there any worries about eating carbs? As many plans say dont eat carbs after lunch etc.
I would live your thoughts and support, I will be eating healthy today and starting at 8.00 tonight. Wish me luck!
This thread is not very active but there is a lot of activity on the intermittent fasting thread.
Goodluck. I'm sure you'll do great based on your normal eating pattens. Just keep it mind it all comes down to calories. Eat Stop Eat or other intermittent fasting protocols help make restricting calories easier but weight loss always comes back to calories in vs calories out.
What intermittent fasting thread? Could someone post a link, I've been looking for another thread and I can't find anything Really interested to hear other people's experiences with intermittent fasting....
Hey all. I thought it would be a great idea to start a thread in the "support groups" section so that those doing IF have a place to come together and give and get support
I did a 24 hour fast for the first time. I used water, sugarless chewing gum, prayer and devotional reading. It was pretty easy, up until he last few hours. I started to feel slightly physically weak. my main goal with this was to try a spiritual fast. Which was really cool actually. It was almost like I lost track of a whole day. I didn't watch TV or get online or talk on the phone. I just read, prayed and passed the time thinking. I think this is something I can do occasionally. I'm not sure if I could do the eat stop eat every other day. It seems like, from this experience, that it would be very hard on the body physically and mentally.
Last edited by YoYoKimmy; 05-13-2011 at 02:27 AM.
Reason: typo correction
I'm probably another example of the exact sort of person who isn't suited to this. I know it's generally recommended for healthy people, but I've seen a few claims that it's good for treating illness as well. In my case, it certainly wasn't. I've got severe ME/CFIDS, and about ten years ago I was living alone, pretty ill, sleep disorders up the wazoo, and getting very little help from social services. As a result, I kept on missing meals because I was simply too ill to get out of bed and get some food, was eating at random times, and definitely was not getting enough to eat overall. The result was that my illness got worse and I actually put on weight. My GP said that this made sense, that my metabolism was in a mess, but unfortunately social services refuse to give enough help to people with this sort of illness, especially young people, and they won't believe that you're not getting enough food unless you are experiencing drastic weight loss.
I've been eating more and more regularly over the past few years. I now live with my partner and I get 6 hours' support a week, which isn't really enough but certainly helps a fair amount with cooking. Getting my sleep disorders solved helped a lot, and sticking to a good routine has also helped. Now that I've started restricting calories, I've found that I have to be very strict with keeping regular mealtimes, otherwise I start to conk out from low blood sugar. That said, I'm getting used to working through occasional mild hunger when I've already reached my calorie limit for the day, and it doesn't seem to be worsening the fatigue.
This is probably the easiest 'diet' out there. You don't need to buy any special supplements etc. and it's surprising how you don't really feel hungry on a fast day
Really interested to hear other people's experiences with intermittent fasting....
