Well, I did two 24-hour fasts this week, just to see how it felt. I did it the Eat-Stop-Eat way, so I was eating each day. On the fast days, my calories were within my normal range, just compressed into a smaller time period rather than spread across the days. On the non-fast days, I found myself RAVENOUS, & my calories were actually a bit higher than what I consider my normal weight-loss range. Weight-wise, it was a successful week as I got rid of all the increase I'd seen over the Easter long weekend.

Obviously I can't say anything definitive from one week's experience - but if all weeks using IF are like this one, then it would seem that IF might allow me to continue weight loss at a higher weekly caloric range than I've been using for my loss so far.

Congratulations on your first fasting week Su-Bee!

Glad to hear you lost your Easter weight, as I am working on losing a pound of pure chocolate weight at the moment lol

Keep us posted on your experiences with ESE

Sarah x

Thanks, Sarah, I will!

Right now I am adding in the ESE on top of calorie counting, as I am just so scared of derailing myself from losing these last few pounds. But my goal is to wean myself away from the calorie counting in maintenance.

I found the fasting days a bit challenging, but not horrible. I was able to continue my normal exercise. I definitely see the value in trying to schedule the fasting days for days when you plan to be really busy - it is a LOT easier if you are distracted!

Hi Su-Bee

You may be interested to know that I managed to drop my weight from easter and now I'm just 7lbs away from my goal weight - yay!

I love Brad Pilon lol

Adding in the program on top of your existing diet regime sounds like a good idea to me - you'd be really put off if you gained in your first week on a new diet.

I'm on my fasting day today and I haven't planned as much as normal to see how I get on, and it is so much harder! I will stick to scheduling a lot of work for these days like you said

i just did my first fast today. i felt pretty weak especially towards the end, but i had also spent the morning swimming in the sun, so that's going to take some energy away! one thing i noticed right off the bat was when i stopped my fast at 11pm, i only craved a bowl of cheerios with bananas -- and halfway into the bowl, i was full. i was pretty surprised, but happy.

i think i'm going to keep trying this, though. i refuse to calorie count, but i do pay attention to what i eat. i'm not sure if i want to use ESE for long term or until i reach my goal weight.

i;d love to hear more experiences of people on it, though. like -- did you only drink water on your fast, or did you want to include black coffee, tea? did you notice weight loss within a week that WASN'T water loss?

I have about 4 hours to go on my first fast. I feel a lot better today than I did when I went to bed last night at around 2 AM. I'm always one of those people that feels the need to eat ever 3 hours or so, so this is really hard for me, but it's giving me a nice sense of control. I've only been drinking water.

I have been trying the Fast-5 method of IF. I have a question for those of you who have been doing IF. Do you have to eat lo-carb in order to see weight loss? And do you worry about not eating enough in your eating window? The other day I broke my fast at 5p with a small snack of baby carrots and then ate dinner. That was all I was hungry for. I am just worried that if I don't eat enough my metabolism will stall.... and even though I don't eat a ton of carbs, I do like my occasional pasta or rice dish. Would that just sabatoge any positive effect from the fast?

Hi teacode!

On my fasting days, I just drink water, but I can't see tea or coffee being too negative, as long as they're not full of sugar of course

I would watch out for caffeine crash as well - you may feel like you have more energy to expend than you do, and could be left feeling exhausted after it's worn off...

I think I noticed weight loss within two weeks, but everyone's different so don't worry if it takes a bit longer than that to notice any real results.

Hey Leafgirl

I LOVE carbs (god I hated Atkins so much lol), so no, you don't have to cut them out, or reduce your carb intake to lose weight. On non-fasting days, I just eat normally - 3 healthy meals, with healthy snacks inbetween if I need them. I'm sure you won't be sabotaging your weight loss if you eat rice or pasta - I do it all the time.

You don't have to worry about your metabolism slowing unless you fast for more than 72 hours in a row, otherwise IF can actually help to speed it up

Hi Sarah-
Thanks for the reply. You seem to have had phenomenal success with IF. How long have you been doing it and what kind of results did you experience (i.e. 1 lb a week). I just wonder if your weight loss can be attributed to IF or did you start with something else to lose your weight and then switched to IF?

Hi again Leafgirl

When I started out losing weight I tried lots of things like low carb, calorie counting, diet pills - all the usual suspects lol. I saw some success with these, but always plateaued then gained again, so my starting weight of 180lbs was actually what I started with when I decided to try IF.

The 45lbs has come off in around 7 months, and that has been fairly steady weight loss - about 1 to 2lbs each week. I certainly attribute my success to Eat Stop Eat, it's not just IF though - it's weight training too, so I can't put it all down to IF alone.

Hope that helps you out!

Sarah x

Sarah and others on IF, help me from freaking out. Have been doing the Fast-5 for 6 days now and I am weighing 2 lbs more than when I started!! I am not eating copious amounts of food...and I am eating healthy. What is going on? I am not happy about this!! I need experience and someone to tell me this is normal and to talk me off the ledge.

Hi Leafgirl,

Don't worry! Did you weigh yourself at the same time as you normally do each day? Or do you just step on the scales whenever? During the day your weight can fluctuate by around 2lbs on average, sometimes more, so it's important to weigh yourself at a similar time each day to get accurate results.

Could it be possible that you weighed yourself in the evening after your dinner? I have freaked myself out a few times weighing a little while after eating and drinking, without using the bathroom yet lol It's surprising how much your weight can change before your body has had chance to digest everything properly, even if you haven't eaten that much!

I am not familiar with Fast 5, how often do you fast? What else is involved? This might help me get to grips with exactly what you're doing.

In the meantime, I can definitely say that this is completely normal. It could easily be bad timing, and 2lbs is not the end of the world. In terms of timing, hormone cycles can also affect things like water retention, which, in turn, affect weight.

I hope this helps you off the ledge anyway, I'm sure you're doing everything right, so just stay on track and see what happens. Remember to let me know too!

Sarah x

thanks for the reply sarah!

i've done two fasts in one week now. the biggest thing i've noticed is that my appetite on non-fasting days has completely decreased. the only bad thing is that two days after fast #1, i was already back up to my normal weight. now three days after fast #2, i'm down about two pounds.

i have a thesis paper (30-60 pages) due at the end of the week and tend to eat a lot when working, so i'm hoping i don't this time. not sure if i want to fast though either, since i do feel a little more weak when i am fasting. fast #2 was better than fast #1, so i'm hoping it gets better!

No problem teacode,

I can't believe how quickly you've noticed your appetite decreasing - it took weeks for me to stop feeling liking gorging myself when I had the chance lol Go you! 2lbs is awesome as well, you're weight can fluctuate between fasts I've noticed, but at the end of the week there's that steady weight loss to keep you motivated.

To stop myself eating while I'm working, I will usually have a glass of water to sip each time I want something, or even a fruit smoothie that's more filling. Sometimes I will make myself a healthy pasta salad in the morning with lots of tuna (brain food) and peppers in it, so if I really need to eat, I can pick away at that without feeling guilty.

Fasting does get better over time, but if you start feeling weak, maybe do a shorter fast - have a light breakfast first thing or something, and fast the rest of the day. I've never felt weak on a fast before, so keep track of it and don't push yourself too hard. Maybe when you're a bit more used to it you will start to feel more refreshed and energised from the fasting, you will have to let us all know

Hi all,
I'm glad to have found a forum to discuss Eat Stop Eat.
I'm on the plan and doing great.

But lately I'm losing too much muscle tone and others have noticed as well. So I guess that I can't skip (as I believed) the lifting weights part.

The problem is that I was lifting weights on my previous unsuccesful diets and I developed an intolerance to it. I was losing my mind with all the complexity of various scheme pyramids, upper body and lower body, different exercises to target different zones.

Can you please suggest me a straightfoward, simple and yet effective way to add weight lifting to my regimen in order to stop losing muscles?

Thank you!