The Eat Stop Eat diet uses a weight loss technique that’s been used for centuries – fasting. Most people instantly think that fasting involves starving yourself, but fasting is actual a common ritual that is used by individuals around the world for personal and faith-based reasons. When used correctly, fasting offers multiple health benefits and can help you lose weight, and the Eat Stop Eat program is designed to help you enjoy these benefits while following important guidelines that ensure you don’t lose muscle or slow down your metabolism.
The Creator of the Eat Stop Eat Diet
Brad Pilon, a weight trainer and nutritionist created the Eat Stop Eat diet. Not only does he have a degree in nutrition, he spent many years working in the weight loss industry doing research on various eating methods and their effect on muscle mass and weight loss. Brad spent a lot of time researching intermittent fasting, particularly its effect on weight loss and metabolism. After his research, he came up with the Eat Stop Eat weight loss plan that combines intermittent fasting periods with weight training.
The Idea of Intermittent Fasting
One of the central principles of the Eat Stop Eat diet is intermittent fasting. While several diets use intermittent fasting, the Eat Stop Eat program requires you to fast for two nonconsecutive days each week. You’ll choose 24 hours to fast, and then you’ll eat again the next day. Many people choose to fast from 6pm to 6pm the following day. This allows you to enjoy dinner before 6pm, and the next day you’ll be able to eat dinner after 6pm, making it easier to do the 24 hours of fasting. Since you can choose your days to fast, this diet can be flexible, allowing you to work your fasting days around your schedule.
Intermittent fasting offers several benefits. First, it naturally helps you to restrict your calories, which helps you lose weight. It also helps to increase insulin sensitivity while putting your body into fat burning mode. Short term fasting also gives the body the time it needs to cleanse itself, eliminating excess waste and toxins from the body.
Of course, while you can technically eat anything you want on your eating days, it’s important to avoid eating an unhealthy diet on the days that you can eat. The diet stresses that you should eating plenty of whole foods including lean protein, fresh veggies and fruits, healthy fats, and healthy carbs.
Will Fasting Put Your Body in Starvation Mode?
The body needs food to survive, which is why long-term fasting can be dangerous. Fasting too long can also result in metabolic slowdown, since the body goes into starvation mode. This is why many low-fat, low-carb, and low-calorie diets don’t work. The Eat Stop Eat diet uses short-term fasting that won’t disrupt your metabolic rate. You won’t need to worry about your metabolism slowing and your body won’t begin breaking down muscle when you follow this program correctly.
Strength Training to Build Muscle Tissue
While intermittent fasting is an important part of the Eat Stop Eat diet, the program also focuses on regular strength training. This helps dieters to build muscle tissue. By adding more muscle tissue, the body begins burning calories faster, increasing the results that people see while they are following the diet. However, on fasting days, it’s best to stick with low intensity for your Eat Stop Eat exercises since you won’t be eating throughout the day.
A Final Warning
Many people make the mistake of trying to fast for longer periods on the Eat Stop Eat diet. After they see great results with the diet, they often try to fast for longer periods to increase their results. It’s important to avoid fasting for more than 24 hours. Doing so could slow your metabolism, sabotaging your weight loss results and resulting in damage to your body.
