I'm losing weight, but I need advice about a one-day fasting?

storemyfanfic

I'm eating 1200 calories a day, to lose weight, and yes: it's the right amount for me at 5"2.

I pulled an all-nighter two nights ago, and my circadian rhythm is way out of wack because of it. So, I decided to follow along with what was done in an experiment: don't eat for a day and then eat at the time you want to wake up, the very next day. This has been used successfully in combating severe jet lag. Why go through a week of misery when you can just not eat for a day? So, I'm trying to do the same thing--not eating anything and then going to wake up and eat as normal tomorrow.

Here is the link

The neat thing about this second clock is that it can override the main clock ... and you should just flip into that new time zone in one day. "For a small mammal, finding food on a daily basis is a critical mission. Even a few days of starvation, a common threat in natural environments, may result in death," the study said.

"Hence, it is adaptive for animals to have a secondary "master clock" that can allow the animal to switch its behavioral patterns rapidly after a period of starvation to maximize the opportunity of finding food sources at the same time on following days."

The shift is a survival mechanism in small mammals that forces them to change their sleeping patterns, Fuller suggests. One starvation cycle is enough to override the traditional light-based circadian clock, the study suggests.

"This new timepiece enables animals to switch their sleep and wake schedules in order to maximize their opportunity of finding food."

"A period of fasting with no food at all for about 16 hours is enough to engage this new clock," says Saper.

"So, in this case, simply avoiding any food on the plane, and then eating as soon as you land, should help you to adjust — and avoid some of the uncomfortable feelings of jet lag."

So, my question is: after a day of fasting how many calories should I eat tomorrow?

Should I only eat the usual 1200 calories, or can I go over? And if I can go over, how much should I go over? I know my metabolism is going to be very slow because of my fasting, but I have a feeling that my body will want more calories than usual, and I'm already at the 500 calorie deficit for current maintenance weight on my diet. So, if I eat 1200 calories tomorrow, should I just ignore the hunger, if there is hunger, or should I intentionally go over it?

Thank you for your help!

capaul42

I'd say eat 200-300 over for a few days just to make sure you get all the nutrients you miss on the fasting day.

I have heard of this before. A friend of mine travels a lot so she does this probably twice a month. Swears by it for jetlag.

kirstinethornburg

Good luck with you decision

SideSteel

Evidence would suggest that your metabolism will not slow down after a single day fast.

In fact there's some evidence that it will speed up slightly.

This is not me suggesting that it's a good idea, FTR.