Hi there,

I have been If'ing for awhile now (specifically Eat Stop Eat). I have been playing around with my fast times and I find that a 4pm to 4pm fast is the easiest for me. HOWEVER, I think I am eating too many calories because you can still do a lot of "damage" before 4 one day and after 4 the next day.

I have been searching and searching but can't find a guideline for how much ESE should reduce your calories. On your fasting days (your cutoff days) how many calories do you normally eat?

For example, I normally aim to eat 1600 calories. Today I started by fast at 4pm but ate 1500 cals prior to that. Tomorrow I have my food planned out for when I break my fast and it is set at 600 cals. Two days @ 1600 would equal 3200 cals, does my 2100 cals (1500 + 600) make up enough deficit?

Very interested to hear your thoughts and/or experiences. Thanks!

Yes. When I have a fast, I stop my fast by eating how I normally would for the rest of the day. For example, my eating window if from 2-8pm. If I ended my fast at 4pm then I would eat as I normally would from 4pm - 8pm. Whatever you eat would be a deficiency. You asked if it were enough?? It depends on your goal. Do the math of what your fast and regular days add up to so you can see what you are calorie wise. Ex, when you finish your week will you be at 1200 or 1400 calories or whatever a day. Hope this helps. Here is a link where the IFers post : http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/gene...her-if-18.html

Maybe you will get some ideas or more details for IF. Best of luck!

The calories are averaged over a week in ESE, so if you're setting your daily average for 1600 calories, then your fasting cycle of 1500 + 600 =2100 averages to 1050 per day over the two days. You're definitely in a deficit.

I am a member of Brad Pilon's Venus Index forum. Through that I got his "Body Centric Eating Manual" where he talks about how many calories to eat. For your height, Brad suggests an average minimum of 1200 calories a day while eating to lose weight. So, for the week, your calories could be a total of 8400 calories. The average calories you're shooting for, according to Brad, is about 500 calories/day less than your RMR.

For me, I'm taller, so my average minimum daily caloric intake while trying to lose weight is 1580 cal. (Brad does the math for us in his other book.) So at the end of a 24-hour fast, I could drop down to 1000 calories for dinner and then the next day I could eat 2160 calories. I would still the see benefits from fasting for the 24 hours (reduction of insulin levels which increases fat burning). If I added one more 24-hour fast cycle for the week, then kept myself to a six-hour eating window, according to Brad, I'd still see a benefit from the lowered insulin levels, even though I'd be eating just over 1800 calories a day for five days of the week.

As you get closer to your goal, you get to eat more calories until you find what level of calories maintains your goal weight. Weight loss rate is supposed to slow way down as you get closer to goal.

Thank you guys for the quick reply! I am still playing w/ the numbers but the direction you gave me is great starting point.

What exactly is Brad Pilon's Venus Index forum? I am off to google it right now!

Your numbers sound good to me. The key is to eat the same amount that you normally would at your next meal- don't overeat. Sometimes that can be really hard! If you do follow that (and count your calories, points or whatever you do) then you should have success. It can be hard for me to keep my portions down though. However, it is hard for me to do that no matter how many meals a day I eat (or don't eat). I am a hungry gal with a big appetite.

Oh that is so true of me too!!!

The Venus Index is a forum for women who are shooting for a specific shape, usually towards achieving a fitness model shape. We don't necessarily want to become fitness models. I certainly don't. But I like the support I get there for the weight training and ESE. A lot more than I can find here due to their experience with the method. And I can actually ask Brad questions directly! There are two other guys who run that forum with Brad. They all worked on developing the complete system, eating method and workouts. They first developed the Adonis Index for men. The workouts are HARD!!! Not for everyone, and I've had to modify a lot of them because I simply can't do them. But I enjoy their forum a lot. It's got a very different vibe than 3FC. More hardcore.

I think my issue lies with "eat the same amount you normally would" because I dont eat normal persay. I dont know if my cals should be at 300 or 700 or 500 after I break my fast. Maybe it leads me to my other question...is it the fast or the reduction in cals as a result of the fast that plays the larger role in fat loss?

Ive read ESEand many other IF sites but camt figure out that answer.

Thanks again for your support!

It is mainly the calorie deficit you create by eating less by using ESE or IF. However, studies show that there is a great amount of fat buring that takes place after (I think) about 16 hours of fasting. I think it is between 16 and 24 hours that you are burning optimal amounts of fat. I def won't lose, or can even gain if I overeat during my window though.