Craig's Weekend Diet

I finally gave in.

After months of bugging me, I finally gave in to Brad Pilon's persistence that I try his Eat Stop Eat (ESE) program.

If you don't know, Brad's ESE program is the "Anti-diet" and a lot of TT Membersare using it for their TT Transformations. But to be honest, when Brad first told me about the program, my initial reaction was, "Oh great, now I have a reason to avoid Brad at parties."

You see, frankly, I thought he was crazy.

Then I read the book. The research he covers showed me just how brainwashed I had become by the supplement company ads (even though I was smart enough to not buy their supplements, I was still
convinced that all fat loss dieting had to be borderline obsessive- compulsive).

Brad's ESE is one of the best nutrition books I've ever read, and I went through it in just one evening, because not only was I fascinated by the science, but also by the dieting myths Brad destroyed.

In fact, Brad created this "anti-diet" program for people that are sick and tired of trying to measure out and eat 6 small meals per day. If you are frustrated and overwhelmed by trying to follow that
"bodybuilder nutrition lifestyle", then Eat-Stop-Eat is for you.

But I'll leave his book to convince you. In the meantime, here's my experience with Brad's Eat-Stop-Eat (ESE) diet plan...I like to call it "Craig's Weekend Diet", because that's simply all it is if you do Brad's diet my way.

You live a normal life Sunday through Friday, and then do "Craig's Weekend Diet" from Friday night to Saturday night, and then it's back to normal for the rest of the week.

For more on Brad's book, visit:
=> www.CraigsWeekendDiet.com

So let's start at the beginning of my ESE weekend diet, shall we?

Last Friday, we had dinner around 8 and then a fun an evening out with some friends. I consumed only water for the remainder of the night, so my 24 hour ESE duration officially started at 8pm Friday.

It turned out to be a late night, so I slept in, and then started Saturday morning like I do every weekend, with a 90 minute dog walk over to High Park's "Dog Hill" here in Toronto.

Not surprisingly, my dog was not interested in following Brad's program, and instead he insisted on trying to eat everything along the way, from garbage to bird seed, so by the time we got home, it was noon and I only had 8 hours left to go on my "weekend diet".

Now to be honest, I was getting hungrier as the day progressed. However, it didn't matter because my mind was made up that breaking from the ESE program was not an option. So the hunger didn't bother
me.

Nor was I tired, cranky, or lethargic. In fact, I was as energetic and alert as any of my best days.

After spending a couple of hours in the afternoon on some TT projects, it was time for another long dog walk.

For 90 minutes we hit the streets of Toronto, and again, I washungry enough to eat, but I wouldn't say that I had hunger "pains", and I certainly wasn't light-headed or weak. I just had an empty stomach.

And as we walked by the bistros on Queen Street serving up all-day breakfasts, it smelled even more tempting than usual. Same with the return walk on College Street, through Toronto's famous Little Italy and Little Portugal where the smells wafting from the bakeries were mouthwatering.

But it wasn't a big deal. I knew I was on the ESE plan, and I'd eat again at 8pm. Once we got back home, I managed to get some more work done on a TT project, and I have to say, I appreciated not having to prepare 6 meals per day...or worse, clean up after 6 meals.

The Eat Stop Eat program saves you a lot time on your fasting day - probably over an hour saved on not cooking or cleaning. And I experienced a high-level of mental alertness all day, as so many other ESE users report.

Since you aren't eating food and jacking up your insulin and blood sugar levels, you don't experience the post-meal sleepiness like you probably experience during the workweek at your desk.

Many people following Eat Stop Eat have told Brad that they are the most productive when they are fasting. Perhaps this is because they aren't spending any time worrying about what and where they are going to eat next.

Finally, at 8pm, my "weekend diet" was over, and it was time for dinner of steak, vegetables, and a sweet potato. I think I even waited till 8:30pm because I just wasn't hungry at 8.

And here's the kicker. I had a big fat burning workout planned for Sunday of deadlifts and heavy dumbell presses. I worried that I'd be weaker, but Brad assured me otherwise.

Sure enough, I went to the gym after lunch on Sunday, and deadlifted 375 for 2 sets of 4, followed by dumbell chest presses, using 105 pound dumbells for 3 sets of 5 repetitions.

Both were improvements over the previous week's workout, even though I did this workout the day after ESE. So it didn't have a negative impact on my workouts.

You don't need to worry about losing muscle on this plan, Brad covers all of the science and myths on diets and muscle loss in his book.

Overall, I know you'll find fasting for 24 hours much easier than you think and it might even help you improve your productivity.

Personally, I won't be using Brad's diet every weekend because I have a hard enough time trying to gain weight as it is, but I know that it will be a part of my lifestyle if and when I need to lose belly fat without having to suffer to do it.

Like many TT Members currently using ESE, I know that you'll appreciate Brad's refreshing take on dieting for weight loss.

So say goodbye to diet plans that involve alarm clocks to tell you when it's time for your next meal,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training

PS - The whole point...

...of Brad's Eat Stop Eat program is to take the stress out of dieting, and put the living back into your fat loss lifestyle.

"I'm just starting my third week on this program, and it has been painless, there is no weighing, no measuring and best of all no guilt associated with eating what I wanted. Finally, I have found a program that I do not have to put any thought, counting or effort into. Its just EASY!"
Rosanne Clemente, former fitness competitor

Click here to give Brad's diet program a try, and say goodbye to obsessive-compulsive diet habits:
=> CraigsWeekendDiet.com