A Personal Review of the "Eat Stop Eat" Diet

I was extremely doubtful about fasting, I wasrun errands or work, depending on the day. On
anxious about being hungry, lacking energy, andthis fasting day, I skipped breakfast, and headed
simply not making it through the day. The Eatout the door. I hit the 1st snag around 10am, at
Stop Eat plan revolves round the idea ofTarget.
intermittent fasting, or fasting for short periods,Why? Thanks to the Starbucks right within the
and then eating again. The basic idea is that thedoor. I always have a cup of coffee and am a
human body is designed for feast or famine.latte addict. I pushed on past, did my shopping,
When our ancestors hunted for food, they eitherand got out of there, practically running past the
caught something or they did not. When they didStarbucks on my way out the door! Lunch is
bag a mammoth, then everybody stuffedgenerally something at home - either leftovers or
themselves - without refrigeration ora sandwich. I skipped this too and officially stared
preservation, food would go bad extremelyto feel hungry around 12 pm. The afternoon was
swiftly.the toughest part, but keeping busy truly helped. I
On the days that nothing was caught, they didwas not starving, just used to eating due to habit.
not eat. Your body is made to follow thisI did get a mild headache, but I think that was
schedule, even in the modern time.from the absence of caffeine, not the fast itself.
The difficulty is that today, we feast each day,Understanding that 6pm was only a few hours
and seldom fast. Eat Stop Eat places you back onaway actually helped.
the trail your body is designed for. Fasting for aBy 3, it was time to pick up the children, and the
day is rather easy ( the toughest thing for meentire fasting thing got lost in the shuffle of
was skipping my morning latte ), and the banquetgetting 3 young children home from school, doing
days more than make up for what you havehomework, and getting everybody settled in. The
missed. To me, it is worthwhile to fast if I'm ableremainder of the time flew by - this is the most
to eat just about whatever I desire on the otherfrantic part of any day, and this fasting day was
days!no exception. 5:30pm, and time to make dinner! I
Calorie counting, weighing food, giving up bread,determined to embrace my inner cavern girl,
eating no carbohydrates, eating onlyimpressed by the Eat Stop Eat caveman analogy,
carbohydrates, the list of plans is never-ending.and made steak and salad. Dinner was awesome,
None of these options address the way yourI think things taste better when you're actually
body is designed to be fed, and how selecting ahungry, and not eating due to habit, or because
more natural schedule can help you in losingit's time to. Twenty-four hours and I made it!
weight and gain energy. So, back to my disbeliefAfter the fast : some notes, and my thoughts on
about fasting : I believed a single day could not befasting.
too hard, and was worth a try. Some things wereI was stunned how long it took to really feel
simpler than I was expecting, and some werehungry. It was much tougher to pass up cues
shockingly difficult. I did feel great at the end, andthat it was time to eat, like knowing what time it
felt as if I had a new start.was, or driving past a junk food place at dinner
Twenty-four hour fast notes.time.
I started my fast in the evening. I can't sleepPassing up the coffee gave me a headache during
when I'm hungry, so I needed to do my sleepingthe day. I would have liked a coffee more than I
at the beginning. On a good night, I am getting 7-8would have liked a snack.
hours so I believed that may be virtually a 3rd ofThis makes me think I have to back off on the
the fast done before I even woke up! With thiscaffeine a bit generally. I was expecting to feel
under consideration, I had a regular dinner (pizza, iftired or sick, and felt pretty normal, if anything, I
it counts ) and officially started my fast at 6pm.did not get hit with a mid afternoon sugar crash
The night was pretty simple - I customarily dofrom eating something sweet before dinner. I'd
not eat after dinner anyhow, so it was norecommend Eat Stop Eat to anybody wanting to
problem to do my usual thing, and call it a fast!give a freshly discovered way of eating a try.
Bedtime rolled around at 11pm. At 7:00 am, theThis pattern of eating isn't for everyone, if you
alarm went off as always, and I got the childrentake medicine that needs food, or if you're a
off to school (also my usual schedule ) thirteendiabetic, it clearly will not suit your way of life. For
hours of twenty-four done, with no problem inotherwise healthy folks with some pounds to lose,
the slightest. I generally have breakfast, and thenthough, it's a great match.