Human nature is a tricky thing. We all seem to have some form of innate competitiveness built into our genetic code.

And while this competitive streak doesn’t always manifest itself into a love of conflict or confrontation, it does drive us to constantly seek the extreme.

It’s this drive that can turn tools meant to make our lives easier into tools that burden us.

Think of laptops, Black Berries and iPhones.

All of these are tools that were meant to give us more freedom, but that have ultimately turned into tools that make us work harder and longer.

The idea of answering your cellphone while on family vacation simply did not exist 20 years ago, nevermind the idea of answering emails, texts, Skype calls, etc…

Many experts refer to this as “The Technology Trap”

From my experience this same trap happens in health and fitness.

Eat Stop Eat was designed to be freeing and flexible. To free us from having to count calories, measure portions and stress about our food. To be flexible in the fact that we can fit it into our lives without drastically altering our lifestyle.

With Flexible Intermittent Fasting the idea is to lose weight while breaking free of Obsessive Compulsive Eating.

1 or 2 24-hour fasts per week.

It is simple, and incredibly effective. It is the best way to get results while doing nothing. A great way to lose weight without stressing over what to eat.

The key is to stay loose with it.

1 or 2…not 4 or 5

24 hours, not 35,42, 50 or 72.

Eat Stop Eat is about fitting short periods of fasting into your life, Not turning your life into fasting…

The bottom line is that forcing yourself to agonize through a 100 hour fast just for the sake of seeing how far you can go is NO DIFFERENT than packing 8 Tupperware containers full of chicken and broccoli and carrying them around with you all day…They are both OCE.

When it comes to health and fitness, keeping it free means keeping it simple. You don’t need to workout 8 times per week. Your workouts don’t need to be 3 hours long. you don’t need to fast 4 times per week, and your fasts certainly don’t need to be 72 hours long.

1 or 2 24-hour fasts per week. – This is Eat Stop Eat

Anything more is a much different form of fasting.

It’s not Flexible Intermittent Fasting and it’s certainly not Eat Stop Eat.

If you lose the Flexibility, your just dieting all over again.

BP

Keep it Flexible with these steps.

1. Don’t try fasting without reading Eat Stop Eat. This may seem a little self-serving on my part, but I get close to 100 fasting related questions and comments per day, and the people having the hardest time are always the ones trying to follow Eat Stop Eat without reading Eat Stop Eat.

2. Start with ONE fast per week. I am a firm believer that many people would be surprised at how effective even one fast can be for weight loss.

3. Fight the temptation to fast more than twice a week, or to extend your fasts into 2 or 3 days straight. There’s nothing wrong with cutting a fast short at 22 hours, or extending a fast to 27 or 28 hours IF IT FITS INTO YOUR SCHEDULE. But if you end up fasting for 40, 50 or even 70 hours I simply don’t see how this CANNOT become intrusive on your life.

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What should I break my fast with?

What should I eat after my fast?

What’s the best thing to eat after my fast?

The answer to all of these questions is exactly the same.

When you finish your fast you need to pretend that your fast NEVER HAPPENED.

No compensation, no reward, no special way of eating, no special shakes, drinks or pills.

The minute you decide to stop fasting, you need to wipe the fast from your memory, and eat the exact way you would normally eat at that specific time of the day (responsibly of course).

If you end your fast at dinner time, have dinner. If you end your fast at 4 PM, and you don’t typically have dinner until 6 or 7 PM, then have a light snack…but nothing larger than you would normally have at that time.

There is no magic way to end your fast. The absolute best thing you can do is simply pretend your fast never happened and begin eating in the exact way you would normally eat at that specific time of day.

BP

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Here’s a great question:

…Also, aside from fasting, what is your next most recommended weight loss regimen? I really need to lose 10 lbs but no way can I fast.

Now, obviously I could be “that guy” and get on my soap box and start lecturing on the benefits of fasting, however since I’m not a one trick pony, I think it would be fun to investigate this question a little further.

Of course, to do this, we have to start with fasting.

So what is fasting?

Really, fasting is nothing more than a food custom or ritual that allows you to eat less.

Forget all the metabolism and hormonal benefits, because none of it matters if you aren’t fasting. So the benefit of fasting is how easily the RITUAL or CUSTOM of flexible intermittent fasting fits into your life.

In fact, the REAL “secret” to the Eat Stop Eat lifestyle is eating less while enjoying the foods you eat – Fasting is just the easiest means to get there.

So if you don’t want to fast then you simply need to find other rituals or customs that fit into your life and allow you eat less.

I talk about this extensively in “The Ten Day Diet Solution” and some interviews I did with Craig Ballantyne for his TTmembers.com site.

Here are some of my favorite ‘diet’ rituals:

• No eating in the car – Cuts down on a lot of mindless eating for the commuters (and keeps your car clean).

• No eating after a certain time of night – Cuts down on mindless snacking in front of the TV and sets practical limits.

And here is one of my all time favorites – at night, clean your kitchen.

Once you are done cleaning your kitchen is officially ‘closed’. The benefit of this is

A) no night time eating and

B) You wake up to a nice clean kitchen the next morning (I find the cleaner the kitchen the better you eat – not sure why).

The bottom line is that weight loss is all about eating less. Sustainable weight loss is all about eating less while enjoying the foods you eat.

Rather then follow a super regimented diet program, look for simple, easy customs that you can implement into your life that help you eat less without compromising your lifestyle.

I think the ‘on/off’ switch mentality of fasting is the ultimate way to do this, but if you aren’t into fasting, then look for other, just as easy alternatives.

BP

PS – Here’s one more Eat Stop Eat Q n’ A for you:

Question:

Hi Brad–I bought your ebook Eat Stop Eat and aced the first fast. #2 fast is today–I’m going for every 5 days but if something comes up it seems like it’ll be easy to adjust. It’s also pretty easy to do this around my shift work.

Quick question though—Is it okay to chew gum while fasting on Eat Stop Eat? My wife was scolded for chewing gum once by an anesthesiologist before her procedure. She was told chewing gum ‘tricks’ the body into thinking it’s going to eat…

Thanks Jim.

My Answer:

Hi Jim,

I’m glad your are finding your fasts easy. Regarding gum, I’d say this is more a matter of personal preference. If one or two pieces helps you make it through your fasts then I see no problems with it. However, if the gum makes your fasts MORE difficult, then avoid it. Realistically, it’s very hard to “tick” your body – it’s pretty darn smart.

BP

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Here’s another great Diary of an Eat Stop Eat style fast:

http://thetruthaboutfatlossforwomen.com/2009/03/17/diary-of-a-mini-fast/

This particular blog post points out why staying busy while you fast is VERY important if you want your fast to be easy and “barely noticeable”.

BP

PS- Are you fasting today? ==> www.EatStopEat.com

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Here’s a great blog post about fasting written by Craig Ballantyne. I usually find Craig’s posts entertaining, but this particular post was ‘extra special’ for a number of reasons:

1. It starts with a picture of Steak AND a picture of a pint of Guinness!
2. Craig talks in great detail about his experience with fasting
3. Craig was a HUGE fasting skeptic, especially when it came to fasting during exercise! So it’s nice to read that he finds Eat Stop Eat so easy.
4. Craig mentions one of my biggest pet peeves (Hint: He mentions it while talking about the other passengers on his plane)
5. Last but not least, Craig mentions hitting a personal best with the Deadlift  – It’s always motivating to read about people making progress in the gym – Makes me want to do deadlifts tonight.

You can read Craig’s post here ==> http://www.ttfatloss.com/fat-loss/fasting-for-fat-loss/

BP

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Here is some reader mail (and my answers in red) regarding using Eat Stop Eat to get 6 Pack Abs:

Hi Brad,

I Recently bought your book “Eat Stop Eat” and just started applying it by fasting once a week. I am not an obese person but have some fat around my gut.

Every week I exercise for 3 times using weights , swim for 30 min and skip rope for 30 min .

I also watch what I eat and monitor my weight. My One and only goal is to have a 6 Pack. I can feel I have it but the fat around my gut hide it from showing.

My Questions are:

1) Is a 6 pack reachable if I continue doing what I am doing ? Or is it that some people can never see their 6 Pack ever.

My Answer – Yes, a 6 pack is reachable. It may take some time and some changes to your current lifestyle, but I believe that everyone has the ability to have a six pack, especially if they are following Eat Stop Eat and weight training.

2) Will your Eat Stop Eat plan help me in seeing my 6 Pack?

My Answer – Yes, as long as you are fasting, weight training, eating responsibly AND follow these 5 tips ==> http://tinyurl.com/aqh9kw, Eat Stop Eat will definitely help you get a visible six pack.

3) What’s the Body fat percentage that I must have in order to see my 6 pack.

From my experience using Air Displacement measurements men typically have visible abs when they are under 10% body fat. However, it really depends on how you measure body fat and on how you carry your fat (some men have more or less subcutaneous fat covering their abs…this is mostly due to genetic factors)

4) How thick/thin does the fat around my gut need to be in order for me to see my 6 Pack?

Here is an easy way for guys to ‘bench mark’ their body fat loss – Take your height in inches and multiply it by 0.447 this is your IDEAL waist circumference (Approx 45% of your height). To have visible abs, you will probably need to have a waist circumference that is at maximum %46-47% of your height.

5) I am afraid of taking any supplements. Can I reach my goal without taking any supplements ?

Good news – There is no need for you to take any supplements to get a six pack. In other words it is completely possible to get a 6 pack without taking supplements.

Thank you for your time answering my questions.

6) I heard you have to take growth hormone while you are following Eat Stop Eat, is this true

NO, not at all, Eat Stop Eat is a method of naturally increasing your Growth Hormone during the times that you are fasting. You do not have to take any drugs or supplements to make Eat Stop Eat work for you.

BP

(as always my answers apply to natural people only…steroids make many of these measures obsolete)

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Most people can lose weight, and many of them can get lean…but most people have a hard time getting really, really lean.

If you want to get really lean, I mean SUPER shredded then I have 5 tips to help you get there:*

(*As always, my recommendations are for people whom are not on steroids. If you are using, I have no clue what does and doesn’t work for you)

—–

1. Give yourself permission to get “light”.

This one is mostly for the guys…

NEWSFLASH! ==> If you want to lose body fat then chances are you are going to have to lose some body weight too.

Unless you are 23, or just started weight training, your days of packing on 20 pounds of muscle while losing 20 pounds of fat are long past. I’m not saying you can’t gain muscle, but more than likely you will gain 1 or 2 pounds of muscle while dropping 10-20 pounds of fat..meaning..to get leaner you are going to have to weigh less..probably less than you think is ideal.

Here’s a good rule of thumb: Take the weight you think you are going to weigh when you eventually get shredded, then look yourself in the mirror and give yourself permission to get below that number…typically you will be lean at 90-95% of what you THINK will be the weight you should hit.

If you are positive that you will be lean at 195 pounds, plan to hit at least 185.

Doing this will remove a HUGE mental block that is preventing you from getting truly shredded. After all, do you want to be shredded or do you want to weigh some predetermined number?

2. Give your diet the opportunity to do the work for you.

Let’s face it, if you are going to get super lean, it’s going to come from caloric restriction. In other words, you absolutely must take in less calories then you are burning in a day.

And, whether you are following Eat Stop Eat or some other diet program, it is very easy to let “protein guilt” or “muscle anxiety” roadblock your diet, thus hindering it’s ability to get you lean.

For instance, let’s say you feel guilty about not eating enough calories or protein after your workouts while you are dieting so you start taking in an extra nutrition shake with 50 grams of protein and 100 grams of carbs after your workout…well BAM! You have pretty much just erased the calorie deficit you spent all day creating.

To get really lean, you need to put your trust in your diet program. Do your absolute best to block out ‘protein guilt’ and ‘muscle anxiety’.

If you are weight training properly you are NOT losing muscle, not even if you are eating 1000 calories and under a 100 grams of protein. let me repeat that you are most likely NOT LOSING MUSCLE. Let your diet do what it does…help you get lean.

3. Avoid using Cardio to Compensate.

I see this way to often – people don’t want to diet TOO hard, so they only cut calories a little bit, and then try to use cardio to create the rest of their calorie deficit. This just doesn’t seem to work. Most of us VASTLY over-estimate how many calories we truly burn during a workout session. I have yet to meet someone who has gotten themselves competition shredded by only doing cardio.

Use your diet to lose fat and use your workouts to maintain your muscle mass. You can do things like intervals and circuits to help speed up the process, but the effects are small compared to diet, and without a proper diet, I think many of these techniques are useless for weight loss.

4. Don’t let the Sine Wave get you.

OH NO! Brad’s doing advanced math again!

Don’t worry, its not that complicated. If you are not familiar with a sine wave, it looks something like this:

The one of the secrets to getting shredded

So If you can imagine the dotted line is your normal activity level…If you do a hard core, intense workout, full of intervals and crazy things like that, then you have obviously increased your activity level and thus have burned some extra calories…so the top of the red line would be your activity level during your workout.

Now (this is the kicker) imagine you are so beat from your workout that you come home and crash on the couch for the evening, and ‘recover’ while watching American Idol…This is the bottom of the red line…you are actually LESS active than you would be normally. Guess what? You are now starting to eat into the effectiveness of your workout.

To make your workouts TRULY effective, you have to act like they NEVER HAPPENED and just keep on moving like you normally would. NO COMPENSATING!

5. MEASURE, Measure and measure some more.

If you want to get shredded then MEASUREMENTS are your best friend. They let you know if you are progressing. They save you from the LIES that your mirror and your scale tell you. Measure your arms, your legs, your waist, your hips, your shoulders everything and anything.

If you keep track of your measurements, then the days when you look in the mirror and think you’ve lost muscle, or the days you step on the scale and think you’ve gained weight, you can refer to your measurements.

After all, if you are losing in your waist, and keeping the areas you want to keep, does the rest of it really matter?

—–

There you have it, these are my top 5 tips for anyone who wants to get truly shredded.

Surprisingly, when most people decide they want to get lean they go looking for secret nutrition programs or underground training programs, but the truth is, if you follow these five tips, you will see results.

BP

PS- you ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY can get shredded following EAT STOP EAT. The exact same principles that get you from average to lean can also get you from lean to shredded. (It’ll just take a little longer)

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You know what is really, really disturbing?

The fact that for many men it is a mental block that is probably preventing them from getting really, really lean.

In fact, sometimes a mental block can be a bigger culprit then either their diet or exercise program for preventing guys from getting lean.

Here’s a perfect example.

I use to see this in bodybuilders all the time:  They would spend an entire year (maybe more) ‘bulking’ enjoying the feeling of hitting milestone weights like, 200, 225, 250, even 275 pounds…every time a bodybuilder hit one of these weights it was a giant feeling of achievement.

But, when it came competition time these same bodybuilders could never get truly shredded because they had a mental block that would keep them from getting below 200 pounds..Even if they weren’t competition ready, they simply could not get passed the mental block of dropping into the 190’s especially after being so large beforehand.

In other words, they would rather LOSE THEIR COMPETITION then drop below 200 pounds!

I was thinking about this other day when it suddenly hit me…this doesn’t just effect bodybuilders…it effects a lot of men.

It even effects me too.

If I want to get leaner than I am now, I’d have to drop below 170.

Honestly, this is a fact that I’ve never really considered.

Now don’t get me wrong, I am extremely happy with my weight (175ish) and my  body composition. But the fact remains, If I did want to get leaner, I would also have to get lighter.

I know my lean body mass is between 150-155. I also know that I’m an experienced lifter in my thirties who has been seriously lifting weights for more than 15 years. My bench, squat and dead lift are not going to increase by more then ten to fifteen pounds in the next year.

I’ve also tracked my weight for years…so I know (obviously) I’m way leaner in the 170’s then I was in the 180’s and 190’s (again obvious, but needed to be stated).

This means that my Lean Body Mass is A) not going to change quickly and  B) Will most likely never to go outside of this 5 pound range.

So based on these facts if for some reason I wanted to drop into TRUE single digits for my percent body fat (7 or 8%), I’d have to weight between 165 and 170 pounds.

(The whole ‘gain 20 pounds of muscle and lost 20 pounds of fat at the same time’ thing only really happens when you are young (17 to 25), just started training, or are on steroids)

The bottom line is that weight can be a GIANT mental hurdle for guys who want to get lean. We’re often misled by the padded stats of professional athletes and celebrities, and have a very strong aversion to being “too light”.

If you want to get truly lean, then you may benefit from ignoring the scale and just go by your body measurements and how you look in the mirror.

BP

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Here’s a great question that’s applicable to a lot of the personal trainers / diet coaches, (and oddly enough) naturopaths that I speak with…

Hi Brad,

I am a trainer and have for all my years endorsed the 5-6 meals a day to speed up the metabolism to all of my clients and people who ask me how to trim down.

Now that I am suggesting your approach they seem to be a bit apprehensive about it and ask why I have changed my opinion.

I advise them that this is only one approach and they should do what best suits their needs, lifestyle and mentality to food.

You obviously would have encountered many of these same questions. Did you ever train or advise people using the 5-6 meals per day and how did you overcome (persuade) them to give Eat Stop eat a go?

Keep up the great work!

Here is my answer:

Hi N,

I used to eat 5 or 6 meals per day. In fact, I used this system with success to get in shape for a body building show.

It is important to let your clients know that using this style of eating is not wrong per se. It is possible to get lean eating this way.

However, I believe it is far too strict for some people, I also think it’s important for people to realize that they don’t HAVE to eat this way to get lean (It’s not the ONLY way).

So eating 5 or 6 meals per day is not wrong, it’s just that for many people Eat Stop Eat is a much easier way to get the same results.

When I explain this to people they seem much more open to the concept.

B

The bottom line is that there are many ways of eating that will help your clients lose weight – You just need to find the easiest way that will allow them to spend more time under-eating vs over-eating.

BP

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