I am a die-hard Tosca Reno fan, who advocates 5-6 mini meals per day, so I've always been skeptical of IF. But when I think back to (years and years) ago when I was thin, I actually intuitively followed IF. So I think I am going to give it a try in the new year.

I'm going to read a few books about it, do a little more research, and then jump into it New Year's day (or perhaps the day after, since my worse hangovers need serious carbs for cure lol).

I'm not sure yet if ESE or Fast 5 is a better plan for me. I actually think my body/mind would prefer Fast 5, but ESE fits better into my lifestyle/activities.

I'm one of those people who feel that everyone has to find their own path. I have done it all and I found that when I was eating often, I was thinking about food all the time. This has given me freedom. I love to cook and eat and no other calorie restricted format enables me to do that the way IF has for me. So....... we'll see!
There are aspects of ESE and Fast 5 that I like. I'm still test driving each of them.
Good luck banananutmuffin
I hope we all keep checking in with updates.

Hi! I only came across both this forum and this diet today but I really think it could work for me! I really like the idea of a diet that doesn't revolve around constantly monitoring and counting calories or carbs or whatever else excessively.

So I'm on day 1 of fasting Planning on doing the 2 times a week fasting drinking only liquids (coffee, tea, diet coke, maybe cuppa soup if I'm desperate I'll see how I get on with it) on those days. I live on a farm and do plenty walking of dogs/cleaning stuff out so that's going to count as my exercise for now!

So today is day 1 and I've been fasting all day.. since I last ate at midnight (eek yeah I know ) it's been about 19 hours now. Going to be having turkey with oven chips for dinner with plenty of fruit as well.

I think next planned fast day will be Tuesday (unless I did it again tomorrow but that seems kind of soon) because I'll probably be out new year's eve and don't fancy either fasting with a hangover and drinking on an empty stomach is dangerous I know from painful experience!

Painted Butterfly - Welcome! I'm in week 3. Today was really the first day I found the fasting a challenge, I was actually starving and could not distract myself. I did end up holding off, and now I'm fine. Other than today, it's been fairly easy for me.

I made a huge salad for dinner and ordered pizza and wings for my family to go with it. I had one slice of pizza and a couple of wings, found they were way too heavy/salty/greasy for me (yuck). I would have found this before I started Intermittent Fasting, but it is even more so now - before IF, I would have had 2-3 slices of pizza and 3-4 wings. This leads me to believe that there is more to it than just the fasting windows. It does "clean" your palette. You definitely crave whole, clean foods. It's all good.

Stay focused on healthy foods during your eating times (sounds like you're doing that), eat until you are satisfied and you'll be fine. Be good to yourself. Good luck and check in to let everyone know how you're doing.

sapphiregirl - Are you still out there? How are you doing?

Hey thanks for the welcome! It's really helpful hearing your experience of this too so thanks for that
I got on the scale today and weighed 148 so I've somehow lost 3lbs in a day lol. It's probably mainly water fluctuation but it's inspiring

Yup I'm going to try and stick to the healthy foods on the other days. I try to eat a mainly low GI diet anyway because I find that really helps my energy and blood sugar levels (and apart from anything else makes me less irrational emotional ) so I'm going to concentrate more on that and today for example started with a bowl of porridge (made 50/50 milk and water) with a large handful of nuts and some sliced tinned peach in there and I'm now off to go do things on the farm (in the drizzle but oh well )

morning all hope you don't mind if i join you. i tried intermittent fasting a few months ago and was impressed when i realized i never actually got hungry unless i fasted. its weird knowing that i eat on schedule instead of when my body is telling me when to eat. anyways, i found the eat stop eat book online last night and sat up and read the whole thing. it is definately something i am up for and not really what i expected. so i'm starting today

mom2threebratz - Welcome from me as well! The ebook can be purchased online at eatstopeat.com I think you can gather enough information from his interviews on you tube, and the web page. I did buy the ebook, but don't know if it was necessary. It's about $39, but there is virtually no other expense involved, and he has been sending little email newsletters every few days. Kind of fun and helps me stay focused.

I'm also experimenting with Fast-5, which can be found online. It is about eating in a 5 hour window every day. They are similar, and both have great intermittent fasting benefits. I am doing a few weeks on each to see which will fit into my lifestyle better. I will probably always use a combo of both of them. Fast-5 has a web page also, and their manual is a free download. Neither place has sent me any spam, so I think they're good.

I must say that yesterday was my only difficult day with IF, it's much more of a lifestyle than a diet, as I eat what I want, no deprivation, just delayed gratification.

There is another thread for intermittent fasting as well. It seems to be geared toward those who are looking for pre and post work-out fasting and has lots of technical info. If you're into that, you may want to check that thread out too.

I'm a fairly active person, (hiking, swimming, walking, gardening, etc). So I'm not the go to the gym type. I have a busy family life and run my own business, and I was looking for something that I could do, enjoy and would make me happy. IF has been great. Easy peasy.

Once again, welcome aboard!

i would link you to where i got it but well i can't...not enough posts

Paintedbutterfly - just type eatstopeat into your browser, it will take you right there. I can't post links yet either

Hey Italiannie,

I'm still around. One of my family's dogs passed away this week, so I haven't been doing ESE for several days now. I'm getting back on track though and thankfully my weight has stayed the same, 189.

Aww I'm sorry to hear about your dog

I did my second day of fasting yesterday. Aha I found it hard to concentrate on things How do people manage that? I was alright once I'd eaten in the evening but that's no good! I need to be able to concentrate during the day too I have too much stuff to do atm! Does it get better with time?
Today I'm still 148 so since it's been a couple days now (including new year where I drank and ate high calorie haggis!) I'm thinking I can think of that as real weight loss now!

Next fast day I'm planning to be Wednesday (or Thursday if Wednesday doesn't work out) then Saturday.

Hi!
Saphhiregirl - I'm sorry about your dog. We went through it last year.

Paintedbutterfly - I find that I concentrate better on my fast days, especially because I don't get groggy in the middle of the afternoon. Everyone is different, and yes, you do need to be able to concentrate at work. Perhaps an extra cup of coffee, tea or glass of water with some fresh lemon would be enough stimulation to get you through - you probably tried that already. I would definitely try until you've done half a dozen fast or so to see if you adjust. It is very different for your body to get used to.

I'm up 1.6 from my last weigh-in, I begin a 24 hour fast this evening, so that will help. I do find that with ESE it is a two steps forward, one step back weigh in process, so I'm finding it better to focus on my numbers on a weekly basis and to remember the other heath benefits associated with IF.

Yeah I tend to find although caffeine (or energy drinks which I'm banning myself from drinking cos else I end up living on them= not healthy or good!) gives me more energy it actually makes concentrating worse and makes me more jittery :\

However today I did my 3rd day.. admittedly it was more like 20 hours than the full 24 but oh well.. and today I didn't have difficulty concentrating nearly as much during the day (although it was a really hectic day and I think that helped!) but what I did find was when I ate my evening meal I had an absoloute plummet in energy and fell asleep for about three hours and woke up just now feeling really groggy. I think that may have been due to it being a heavy meal perhaps? I don't know anyway I'm getting into this I think. Next day planned for Saturday. Hoping when I weigh myself tomorrow I might have hit 147lbs after todays fast.. fingers crossed. I'm really hoping to get to 146lbs by the 8th cos then I'll have lost 5lbs in 10 days on this diet!


Did you fast help your weigh in?

This is going to sound really random and possibly TMI but I'm finding on fast days I need to pee all the time! I don't know if I'm subconsciously drinking more or something but I was just wondering if anyone else found the same.

Well, if you're going to the bathroom a lot that is a wonderful thing, as your body is flushing out. Just make sure you keep drinking plenty of liquids. When I break my fast, I usually eat a couple of pieces of fruit to take the edge off and the I eat a normal dinner. I really don't overdo it, but I do eat what I want.

You will probably see a good loss from your fast, but some of it will come back on, ESE is kind of 2 steps forward one step back. It is not a quick weight loss program, although the first few fasts should bring pretty good results.

I am doing Fast 5 this week. I did ESE for a couple of weeks. I loved it for the holidays. I'm going to compare the two and see which I like better. My guess is that I will do a combo of the two for the rest of my life. We'll see.

It's one day, or one week at a time. Remember, don't overeat before or after your fast, just eat regularly, that is how we create the calorie deficit.

I really do like it. It is freedom for me.