Alternate day fasting

jwid0808

just started this week doing adf, so far its been great. Has anyone done this long term? If so what were your results?

lemurcat2

I know someone who has been doing 5-2 (which seems more doable to me) longterm. She doesn't count on the 5 days, and lost vanity weight (pregnancy-related) and now has been maintaining for a few years.

Unicorn_Bacon

I've personally never really had an interest in fasting, my stomach growling is the main reason lol.

lgfrie

I found it the hardest of all IF protocols, personally. My body and especially mind/emotions could never get used to the fasting, since every other day I was eating normally, so it started to be stressful the night before fasting day. I lasted about 2 weeks on that protocol. I do 18:6 or 17:7 now and find it comfortable and easy. The day to day consistency is something I need with my diet system. Others might thrive on ADF, it's very individual. Obviously, any protocol that totals out to a calorie deficit for the week will work if you stick with it.

lorrpb

I just don’t get it. 🤔

jackiegmz1

I'm starting this week actually, good luck to you!

hacked0ff

I've been doing the 18/6 fasting since October of last year. It was a little difficult at first.but Once I got used to it, I started sleeping better and felt better overall.

JenObRN

No, I do OMAD. Please let us know how it works for you.

joyanna2016

One thing that I think would be difficult about this plan is that it keeps your body confused. I fast every day in the same window of time. Most days I dont get hungry until my eating hours are about to start...my body knows the routine. It has worked really well for me without excessive hunger.

harper16

Can someone please explain how alternate day fasting works?

Lillymoo01

Doesn't sound like something I could maintain for any period of time. In fact, for me, alternative days fasting sounds like a horrible way to live. I don't start anything I know I can't stick with long term because doing that just ends in disaster. If it is too hard I give up and just go back to old habits. This just means I put all that weight back on, and often it will invite a few of its friends to join.

sijomial

I did 5:2 to lose weight and found it far less unpleasant and easier to stick too compared to an everyday deficit.

What do you call "long term"? The duration of your weight loss period or are you thinking of continuing at maintenance too?

I don't fast at maintenance (well I skip breakfast frequently but not religiously....) and doubt I could do ADF with my high calorie needs. I would have to eat 6000 to 7000 cals one day to balance out the zero calorie fasting days - sounds really awful to even contemplate!

heybales

harper16 wrote: »

Can someone please explain how alternate day fasting works?

Eat one day normal maintenance level, don't eat the next. Repeat.

An alternative to that is eat normal avg weekly maintenance 5 days a week, then on 2 non-consecutive days eat 25% of your maintenance, likely 1 meal so it feels like eating something.

Maintenance in this meaning is NOT MFP estimate of daily burn, which includes no exercise, and most people undercut too.

paperpudding

no intention of doing this.

The non eating days would not work for me at all.

harper16

heybales wrote: »

harper16 wrote: »

Can someone please explain how alternate day fasting works?

Eat one day normal maintenance level, don't eat the next. Repeat.

An alternative to that is eat normal avg weekly maintenance 5 days a week, then on 2 non-consecutive days eat 25% of your maintenance, likely 1 meal so it feels like eating something.

Maintenance in this meaning is NOT MFP estimate of daily burn, which includes no exercise, and most people undercut too.

Thank you. I don't think fasting would work for me.

Strudders67

Thanks heybales. Given my deficit is quite small (I'm short and don't have much to lose), not eating every other day would make my weekly calories way way way below what's safe to be doing. Even with higher calories allocated, unless you're morbidly obese to start with, I'm struggling to understand how eating on alternate days isn't an eating disorder if you're only eating at maintenance three of four days a week. Someone who would maintain at 2,500 calories a day would only be eating 7,500 or 10,000 calories a week, versus 14,000 if they had a 500 cal deficit and ate 2,000 calories each day to lose at a steady pace.