Wednesday, August 27, 2008

The 80/20 rule of Fasting

Do you every have someone totally surprise you by saying something completely unexpected?

Well this happened to me the other day.

I needed a break from a project I was working on. But since I was under some very tight time constraints, the best I could to was go for a quick change of scenery and take a trip to the Starbuck's down the road.

Now the Baristas at this particular Starbuck's know me pretty well, except for the fact that they all think I'm a college prof, (I guess that beats trying to explain to them what I really do for a living)

Anyways, this particular day, as my barista handed me my tall Americano, she happened to glance down at the paper I was reading then looked up at me and said, "Do you teach math?"

Confused I asked her "why would you ask that?"

She pointed to my paper and said, "your reading about the Pareto principle, the rule of the vital few"

I answer: "uh, yeah, I guess I am...it's for a paper I'm working on"

She just smiled and handed me my coffee.

Either way, it was a response I wasn't expecting, however it was an enjoyable change from the typical small talk you usually get during a customer-employee interaction.

Long story short, this conversation got me to thinking about the Pareto principle.

The Pareto principle basically states that for many things in life, 80% of the your results come from 20% of your actions. And the remaining 80% of your actions only get you're the other 20% of your results.

The Pareto principle teaches us to concentrate on those small actions that get us the biggest results.

So it was in a Starbucks that I realized Eat Stop Eat follows the pareto principle - funny how that works.

If you are fasting once every 5 or so days then you could say that 80% of your fat loss results come from the 20% of the time that you spend fasting.

So 80% of your weight loss results come as a result of your fasting.

The important thing to remember is this: Even though the other 80% of the time (when you are eating normally) only contributes 20%, it still does contributes.

And if you are you trying to get into TOP PHYSICAL condition then that 20% can make a BIG difference.

So while the Eat Stop Eat lifestyle makes weight loss very easy, and allows you A LOT of freedom when it comes to what you can eat on your eating days, for optimal weight loss, you should still try to eat responsibly.

Eat less and enjoy the foods you eat. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables, and lots of herbs and spices. And maybe most importantly, spend less time stressing over the types of food you are eating.

Combining this approach with the Eat Stop Eat philosophy of flexible intermittent fasting and weight training and you will be guaranteed impressive weight loss results.

BP

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