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I am totally confused. Over the last 24 hours I have discredited a lot of my preconceived ideas about food, energy and lifting heavy weights.

Last time I fasted there was no workout. I reported that my energy levels seemed fine and that adding a workout to the mix shouldn’t be a problem.

So me being me, decided that I would try to fast for 24 hours and do my heaviest workout of the week between hours 22 and 23! That way I would be confronting all of my doubts and realise what was possible (or not so possible) without eating.

This time I started my fast at 4pm. First time around I started at 7pm and thought that if I started earlier then I could finish earlier. Even though it is still 24 hours most of the challenge is mental.

Getting started is the easy part. Basically I didn’t have dinner and went to bed after having a cup of tea. Add 7 hours of sleep and I’m past the half way mark.

Being at work, and being busy at work, made life easier. I know that when I’m not busy on weekends, or when there is downtime at work, my first thought is food. Not that I’m hungry but is gives me something to do. This is just a habit and can either be kept or broken. And with short, intermittent fasting, this is an easy habit to bust.

To be honest with you, second time around this was easier. I knew what I was going to feel like (no different really) and I knew that I would be having cups of tea and coffee instead of food. And I knew that I wasn’t really going to be hungry, because I have decided that being hungry is a mindset. If you can control your thoughts about food and hunger you will master weight control.

If you can control your thoughts about food and hunger you will master weight control.

That’s not a typo or editorial mistake. Read it again.

I’m sure that if you read Eat Stop Eat and give short term fasting a go, you will change the way you think about food, hunger and your weight in less than two days. That’s a pretty big call, but when you try this you will learn so much about yourself and what eating habits and triggers you have and how easily they can be changed.

So back to my workout. At the moment I am working towards maximal strength gains with my resistance training. This means I am doing three week micro cycles. Each week gets harder and heavier with the third week being the maximum effort before changing exercises. Without going into heaps of detail, my Wednesday workout is the toughest. It is a lower body workout and starts with deadlifts.

Before I decided to fast for this period, I had already planned out what weight i would be lifting based on the previous 4 or 5 weeks of training. With the deadlifts I was going to work up to a maximum set (aiming for more that 3 reps) with the bar set to 170 kilograms (375lbs). Now this isn’t a world beating deadlift, but it is reasonable considering that my current body weight is about 72 kilos (160lbs).

I must admit that leading up to the workout I had images of myself passing out, flaking it and not having the energy and power to get through the workout. But this was all in my mind and I actually had normally energy levels and smashed the whole workout. Deadlifts went for 5 reps @ 170 kilos, followed by weighted walking lunges, single leg weighted back extensions and a killer core circuit.

So why do I have the same amount of energy and strength I would normally possess after not eating for 24 (well 22 hours)? Why do I feel ‘weak’ if I haven’t ‘eaten enough’ during the day? A lot of it has to do with the incredibly powerful grey matter that sits between my ears. After doing two fasts, I am going to read the book again, this time with a better understanding of what happens physiologically and psychologically to better understand the philosophy behind fasting for fat loss.

This is to date the longest post I have written, but that is because I am blown away with this method. It is not something that I would have tried or recommended not having read Eat Stop Eat.

Let me sum it up like this:

• Fasting is by far the simplest ‘dieting’ method I know of
• You will learn more about yourself and your eating habits in 24 hours than you would otherwise in months or years.
• You can train heavy and hard at the end of a 24 hr fast with great results.
• Your brain really does control your body.

If you haven’t already, grab a copy of Brad’s book, Eat Stop Eat. It comes with my full recommendation and a 100% satisfaction guarantee. If after 8 weeks you are not satisfied with the package, simply get your money back. How much easier could it be?

My 24 Hour Fasting Journal

Hey there,

I picked up this great book which has opened my eyes to probably the oldest new concept for fat loss. The book is called ‘Eat Stop Eat‘ by Brad Pillon and in a nutshell it is about intermittent fasting.
So this weekend I am going to try my first 24 hour planned fast. Basically this means I will be going without food for 24 hours between dinner last night and dinner tonight. There is a lot of uncertainty with what I am doing simply because I have never done this before.

As with my training ideas, you will know that simple doesn’t always, well rarely, means easy. I expect the same to come of this. So sit back, relax and lets see what happens!

6:45 pm Friday

I wanted to have dinner as early as possible tonight so that I could eat sooner tomorrow. That didn’t happen though. I smashed through my dinner and probably ate too much in anticipation of not eating for another 24 hours. Then I have my first ‘food’ thought. I am in the kitchen making a cup of tea and went to grab some food off the dinner plate that hadn’t been finished. Whoops, I can’t eat that. But I don’t actually want to eat it, I am stuffed like a pig. But it is there and I felt like eating it. I didn’t eat it but all I can think about for now is food and the fact that I can’t be eating for the next 23 hours and 48 minutes!

After playing the Wii for a while it is time for bed, and I haven’t thought of food or felt hungry again. Normally I would have something to eat before bed but not tonight, no big deal really.

8:07 am Saturday

I was lucky enough to get a sleep in this morning. Rach and Ash were up a bit earlier but I was catching Z’s. When I got up, I’m thinking of what I can’t have for breakfast, although I’m not actually hungry. So it’s just a black coffee and that’s fine. Everything seems normal, plenty of energy, no jitters or shakes or anything different to be honest.

10:23 am Saturday

About to head into town to see a friend in hospital. Just had the coffee and water today. Thoughts of food are far away, although I suspect that will change when we pass all of the food outlets and Rach and Ash have lunch.

1.14 pm Saturday

We have been somewhat busy this morning and the time has gone quite quickly. It isn’t until I look at the clock and realise how late it is (compared to what I would have normally eaten by now). Rach and Ash are getting into some corn chips as we wait in the car at my mom’s house. I would have said I’m hungry but I wasn’t before the chips came out and I started salivating! So am I really hungry or do I just want food? I’d suggest it’s the latter as I don’t care to eat anything else once I have had a green tea and black coffee.

I am starting to think that dinner time will come around quickly now and the 24 hours will have passed without any bother. It’s strange because I normally feel ‘hungry’ if I have a late breakfast.

4.19 pm Saturday

The girls are asleep and I have just had a quick 20 minute recharging nap. I would probably do this 3 times per week depending on how I feel. So it has nothing to do with my energy levels because of the fasting. In fact I feel completely normal (well as normal as I have ever felt!!)

I can’t believe there is only just over two hours to go. I must admit that I have been thinking about what I will be eating for dinner tonight quite regularly, but that is fairly common for me.

6:02 pm Saturday

I’ve been working on the website and doing some research for my bootcamp launch and the time has passed me by. The girls are still asleep!! so I might get a start on dinner. Some meat and veges should do the trick.

7:01 pm Saturday

Well the 24 hours has been and gone and I am amazed at how simple (and easy) that was. I was a bit scared of the unknown last night because I hadn’t done anything like this before. Now i think it has to be the easiest weight loss solution going around. I feel as though I could go for longer as well. Now that I can eat there isn’t an overwhelming feeling that I need to stuff my face because I am hungry.

I don’t actually know what real hunger feels like anymore. I haven’t eaten in over 24 hours yet I don’t feel compelled to eat. Strange I know but very hard to explain.

Because my energy levels were so good I want to try a 24 hour fast during the work week and throw in a training session as well. That will be a bigger test but after the ease of this phase I can’t see why that would be any more difficult.

If you want to give this a try I would recommend getting Brad’s book (Eat Stop Eat) because there is a lot more to this than not just eating for a day. Brad covers a lot of topics and goes through all of the misconceptions, industry lies and shows you a massive amount of research that backs up this approach.

My next fast will be on the 9th/10th June and like I said will include my normal day at work and an intense lower body workout.

James Kerrison signing off.

Update –>> Check out the details of my second 24 Hour Fast