(< == Brad Pilon chillin at Wet Republic behind the MGM Grand in Vegas) What I'm about to tell you revolves around both my own experiences and failures with Eat Stop Eat AND the experiences and failures of others who have embarked on the Eat Stop Eat Lifestyle.
Does this mean that Eat Stop Eat is a failure of a program?
In 2 words…
HELL. NO.
In fact, the power of ESE is unmistakable to someone that’s been struggling with extra weight. Quite frankly, it’s a god send.
BUT, there are a few places where people can get hung up on the program so what I’m going to do right now is give you a “plug in” if you will, and this “plug in” will show you how to use Eat Stop Eat as a powerful framework to getting the low body fat levels you deserve.
First of all, let me tell you the ONE thing that ESE will do for you that completely trumps any other benefit.
“After you take a break from eating for 24 hours a few times and magically discover that you haven’t DIED or broken down or that your skin hasn’t fallen off from malnutrition or that your pecker hasn’t shrank (come on, guys, you KNOW you think about it… lol) – you suddenly feel this incredible WEIGHT rapidly lift off of your shoulders as you realize that everything you’ve ever read or been told by big media just DOESN’T APPLY to you any more…”
Your mind opens up to other possibilities.
You start to stress less about this weight loss thing because you now KNOW beyond a shadow of a doubt that you can actually LIVE YOUR LIFE and get the body you want at the same time.
No sacrificing time with the kids.
No drinking cat urine or whatever the next great superfood is.
No worries about spending 57.35 hours in the gym a week – only to get hurt and/or break a knee
(and yes I’m exaggerating a bit… )
So with that being said. Let me give you 4 solid tips on how to MAXIMIZE your ESE experience.
Tip #1: Don’t call it fasting. Call it “taking a break from eating”.
Look, point blank, you mention the word “fasting” in forums or around your friends or family and you’d think that you’d clubbed a baby seal with the response you’ll get back. The fact is, NO ONE will understand it and this is a losing battle all the way around. No need to test the mettle of your friends and family, because they ALL care about you and will only give you their uneducated opinion of the subject in the effort to HELP you. Why add the drama? Which leads to…
Tip #2: Try to arrange your “breaks” in such a way that the NON eating portions of your day go under the radar.
Why?
Simple. Diet “persecution” is still the MAIN reason people never lose weight. And, when you broadcast your “diet” to the world, whether you tell them out right or skip a meal or outing due to “diet”, you can generally expect all sorts of BLOWBACK, whether it’s a friend telling you a ‘better’ way to do it, or the co worker that says “Oh, one beer won’t hurt”.
In other words, just like we talked about in the “Proven Fat Loss Formula” post, try to arrange your fasts around your social life if possible.
If you’re finding (like myself) that dinner is ON everynight, then a dinner to dinner fast is in order.
(plus, if you’re at work, you can just say you’re not hungry or are slammed, etc – easy way to deflect)
In other words, let ESE be YOUR LITTLE SECRET until you are well on your way to getting the results you want. Then tell people the secret.
More weight loss progress is lost due to people not being able to develop CONSISTENTLY due to failure to launch or social blowback.
Don’t be that person. Better to share with people that are going the the exact same process (other ESE’ers) for now and get your motivation/inspiration from those people and not from those NOT-in-the-know.
Tip #3: When you eat your first meal after your fast, eat the EXACT same as you normally would for that particular meal. Same portions, etc. So, if you normally eat 3 meals per day, then ideally, on your fasting day, you’re just looking to MINUS out the 2 meals without impacting the 3rd.
Too many people just relax and think that the fast itself is doing all of the work… that the fast is the magic.
But if you pound a 2000 calorie meal… you just fasted for nothing.
In other words, the idea is to have the same eating profile as normal – and just “forget” about the meals you missed, then just keep on trucking like you normally would. Don’t COMPENSATE for the fast by eating more for your next meal.
Tip #4: Get a grip on your maintenance load of calories. This is easier than it sounds.
If you haven’t been gaining weight over the last few weeks, you’re at maintenance. Just insert your fast (or fasts) into your strategic places and you’re off to the races (but remember the other tips)
However, if you’ve been gaining weight recently, just adding in a few fasts MY only bring you down to maintenance. So you feel like you’re doing all of this “work” but not losing weight.
Listen, if you’re ramming 3000 calories down your gullet every day, 1 to 2 fasts per week isn’t going to cut it.
You’re gonna need to show SOME restraint on your off days as well.
Basically, here’s the gist of it… if you don’t get a handle on what your maintenance levels are… then you’ll balloon back up to where you were once you stop the “diet”. You can’t continue to eat the way you were because that’s what got you there in the first place. So loosely determining maintenance is a HUGE key both in the short term and long term.
Remember, the goal is to either hold an AVERAGE caloric deficit over time OR to hold an AVERAGE caloric equilibrium over time. Thinking in weekly chunks definitely helps remove all of the statistical fluctuations and “food errors” that can occur…
… and also keeps you sane.
In closing, Eat Stop Eat is a great – but most importantly – a FREEING system for almost effortless weight loss.
If you pick up Brad’s book, read it, and then apply these 4 “plugins”…
… you’re off to the races.
About Allen Elliott