Eat-Stop-Eat Questions answered

I just have to start with an emotional offload, because I'm traumatised and need some girly support. This morning I was futzing around, just finished my TT workout and was getting my oatwhites nuked when I realised that I was supposed to be at my sisters house already because she had an early meeting and I was on toddler duty. So I did a 2 minute hair and makeup which involved basically assembling my mop into a messy ball on the top of my head and applying eyeliner. First stop was the coffee shop (sister does not operate until caffeinated) and, as I'm making a rushed pass by the large open windows of Coffee Culture, I am greeted my a smooth French accented 'Hellooooo Sara' and of course, the accent comes attached to an exotically handsome, perfectly turned out, grinning French-Palestinian man.... my hairdresser. I don't think I need to elaborate on the trauma of the situation. Running into your hairdresser when your hair (complete with dodgy home-applied colourant) resembles a birdsnest is a universally understood horror.

I've had a few emails asking about the details of how I fit Eat-Stop-Eat into my week and, rather than repeat myself endlessly in emails, I thought I'd just put it out here. And, while it's on my mind, if you have any questions about Eat-Stop-Eat or Turbulence Training, or even Magic 100, then please feel free to email me. I like to help; it's one of the ways I get my kicks.

What do you allow yourself to consume when you are fasting - water, soup, coffee or what?

Water and espresso coffees. It's only a short fast and I want to stay out of the kitchen. If you read Eat-Stop-Eat, Brad has some suggestions about what you could do if the urge to eat becomes overwhelming (e.g. chew sugar-free gum), but I find that there is no need. I make a list... 'fasting day fun stuff' and keep myself occupied.

I'm on Weight Watchers and am thinking that if I stick to my points allowance and then do a few fasts every week then I'll get faster fatloss, what do you think?

I have a friend on Weight Watchers and had to go and do a bit of research here because I'm not too familiar with how it works. I had a look at what she is allowed and figured it to be somewhere around 1300-1500 calories per day, depending on how many 'point free' veges she eats and her points allowance decreases as she loses weight. On those calories, I would be food obsessed and probably tempted to eat my own hand in a weak moment. I think you don't want to go lower than that, but, if you are not prone to rebound bingeing, then you could do a fast and then use the 'saved' points to eat more on non-fasting days. There is a woman on the TT forum that is doing this and getting some decent results. Of course, you are then not really following the Weight Watchers system at all and might get expelled.

To repeat the basic concept of Eat-Stop-Eat. When you are not fasting, you eat normally. In my case, I fast from after dinner on Monday to dinnertime on Tuesday, then again from after dinner Friday until Saturday's evening meal. This works out at 20-24 hours each time. On fasting days I usually still eat about 1000 calories, so it's not exactly a hardship. Then I aim for about 1900 calories a day on other days, but usually it swings a little, like 1700 cals for three days and then more, about 2300, on the other two. This seems to work really well for me and I can even manage to indulge myself in my real favourite but fattening foods once or twice a week. You can't live without chocolate caramel slice, or maybe you can, but who'd want to?