ESE: Common Mistakes

Common Mistakes I've Seen (or Made)

This will be a list I will update as needed.

#1 The Laurel Eater

The primary mistake people make is the one Brad warns about over and over: YOU DO NOT REWARD YOURSELF FOR FASTING. If that is your mentality, you're not doing it right. ESE is about a change in your perception.

Yes, you can still lose weight on ESE with post-fast reward meals. But you'll plateau more quickly AND you're more likely to give up completely. This is about a change in the way you see nutrition as much as anything (don't worry... the change happens as you fast and begin to understand our society's obsession with food).

Yes, I have "bookended" big eating events with 24-hour fasts (before and after the event). However, I don't use that method every week. I fast when it's convenient on a weekly basis.

#2 The Stopwatcher

I don't know how Brad feels about this one. He's been pretty clear about sticking to 24-hour fasts, but I have a slightly different approach based on something else he said: resume eating as you normally would.

For me, that means if I start a fast at noon (having finished a small lunch, taking my typical calorie total to 400-500 calories for the day), I end it tomorrow at noon, but I don't eat again until I normally would, which would be later that afternoon, either my afternoon broccoli or a post-workout shake. I'm not suggesting that this is the only way to go about it, but if you're eating because it's been 24 hours and not because it's a natural or convenient time, you're really adding in calories.

Bottom line: if you want to cut out a day's worth of calories, you can't move you lunch to later in the day.

#3 The Coffee Drinker

Sometimes it seems like people just do the opposite of what they're told. Black coffee is fine. Calorie-free sweetener is fine (although I'm aware of some research about negative effects). Start adding cream or such, and you risk getting out of the fasted state. Brad explains this more in-depth in his book.