Every Other Day Diet--anyone else on this diet?

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  • psicocat
    psicocat Posts: 60 Member
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    I'm currently following the 5:2 diet and enjoy it, it helps with my ibs symptoms and was recommended by my consultant. It's not the same as the alternative days you want to do but happy it you want a buddy that won't judge :-)
  • fluffyasacat
    fluffyasacat Posts: 242 Member
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    "science"

    You do know what science is, don't you?
  • angelamb1970
    angelamb1970 Posts: 122 Member
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    First time ever I've not felt deprived on a "diet" I'm doing 5:2; some weeks 4:3, depending on my mood. I look forward to the fasting days. It's refreshing almost.

    It's amazing how on 1500/day restriction I was always wanting something..always felt deprived. I can do those diets, but for me it's not sustainable, I'd fizzle out after about 3wks...start adding "cheat" days, then fall off the wagon. With 5:2 there are no restrictions. I can eat anything I want, tomorrow :) I'm finding though I don't want the same things I wanted while on restriction diets. I crave different things now. A run through a drive-thru window is allowed, every other day if I want it. Did I want it before while struggling on 1500 calories a day? You bet I did, strangely though, I've no desire now. "Feast" days are naturally controlled, as my appetite is not ravenous (counter-intuitive I know, but it's true!) I'm usually not even thinking about food until the afternoon as I'm still feeling great from the fasting day.

    I log everything, because I'm still pretty new to this way of eating, the only challenge I'm having is eating up to TDEE on non-fasting days. The books say "eat normally" so I don't worry too much about the calories, just eat until satisfied. Normal for me is not CRAZY, its not "cheating", it's not I can eat ANYTHING and in huge quantities, normal, is normal. Normal is maintenance, normal is not gaining even without fasting days. Normal is easy, when you don't feel deprived or restricted.

    It's truly amazing how well you learn to know your body so well on fasting days. You KNOW what true hunger and exactly what every degree leading up to it feels like, intimately. I can now truly feel the difference between thirst, boredom, habit and true hunger... these were all blurred before. It's been a truly wonderful, life changing experience for me, and the bonus is... I've actually lost weight!

    Anyone looking for ADF or 5:2 friends, please feel free to add me, my diary is public. :)
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
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    I made it through day one, at around 400 calories. It wasn't as hard as I thought. I went that low because I'm reading The Alternate Day Diet, which recommends 20% of maintenance calories on your fast days.

    I'm excited for this. I'm close to 150lbs. and am anxious to break under it so it's a good time to try something new.

    I read the first 20% or so of the book since yesterday. It's striking how many health benefits there are from calorie restricting. But it makes it harder to see the usual forum fear of sub-1200 (or really anything near 1200) diet days. I'm going to go check out the JUDDD forum on Lowcarbfriends that someone mentioned here.

    Thanks for the book rec and links! If I can pull this off for more than a week, I'll get a hold of the EOD book, too, and read that next. :smile:
  • elisa123gal
    elisa123gal Posts: 4,287 Member
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    i think my nephew is doing this..as he posts pizza and all sorts of junk food on the feast days. then on other days.he posts pictures of steamed broccoli. He is a nerd…and very smart…so i'm sure it is a diet that works.

    but I will add the one thing i know for sure. HOW YOU LOSE YOUR WEIGHT IS HOW YOU WILL HAVE TO MAINTAIN YOUR WEIGHT !!!!!

    so if you want to starve every other day of your life for the rest of your life.. go for it. if not. .you will YOU WILL GAIN IT ALL BACk!

    this truth is the same for low carb diets…popping pills diet…and extreme exercise diets. HOW YOU LOSE IT IS HOW YOU HAVE TO MAINTIAN IT!

    So, pick a plan that you can live with if you want long lasting results.
  • onefortyone
    onefortyone Posts: 531 Member
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    I truly believe that my weight gain is due to my emotional relationship with food - I eat when I'm depressed, I eat to celebrate, I eat to feel comfortable and I eat to reward myself - or used to, anyway. I do not think that a fast/feast diet will ever correct my deep-seated emotional issues that have caused my overeating, which is what I really need to be working on in order to maintain a healthy weight for the rest of my life. So I wouldn't do this diet, and I'd advise most emotional eaters against it too.

    That said, each to their own. We're all in this for ourselves ultimately.
  • angelamb1970
    angelamb1970 Posts: 122 Member
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    I truly believe that my weight gain is due to my emotional relationship with food - I eat when I'm depressed, I eat to celebrate, I eat to feel comfortable and I eat to reward myself - or used to, anyway. I do not think that a fast/feast diet will ever correct my deep-seated emotional issues that have caused my overeating, which is what I really need to be working on in order to maintain a healthy weight for the rest of my life. So I wouldn't do this diet, and I'd advise most emotional eaters against it too.

    That said, each to their own. We're all in this for ourselves ultimately.


    Along these lines, it's also probably not a good idea for people who are prone to disordered eating as it could trigger both binge eating and severely restricting tendencies.
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
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    I truly believe that my weight gain is due to my emotional relationship with food - I eat when I'm depressed, I eat to celebrate, I eat to feel comfortable and I eat to reward myself - or used to, anyway.
    I think this is true of most humans. We're born crying and soothed with feeding. Food will always be intertwined with feelings of comfort and well-being and celebration. Stopping intentional rewarding yourself with food is a huge step.

    I agree that anyone prone to bingeing or overrestricting would probably be better off with another plan.
    HOW YOU LOSE YOUR WEIGHT IS HOW YOU WILL HAVE TO MAINTAIN YOUR WEIGHT !!!!!

    Like all published diet plans, it has a maintenance plan. Though there is no need to maintain under a particular method you lost with, just as long as you have some sort of plan for maintenance. But it's probably a good idea to have a maintenance plan you've 'practiced' and know is livable for you.
  • angie007az
    angie007az Posts: 406 Member
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    Yes, I use it all the time. Love the plan.
  • angela233Z
    angela233Z Posts: 312 Member
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    so I eat 500 calories twice a week and maintenance the other 5. Once I have lost the weight, I plan to eat maintenance everyday. Not sure what is so complicated about that??

    angelamb - i totally agree with you. When I was eating 1500 a day - I felt deprived everyday and could not take it. Plus since I am 49, 5 feet tall and sedentary, my TDEE is ~1700 so weight loss was super slow.

    Now that I can eat fast food or anything else on non-fast days, my desire has decreased as I see how unfulfilling those meals are.

    I am excited that others are having success with this plan.

    good luck
  • angie007az
    angie007az Posts: 406 Member
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    I'm not trying to be a smartass, but how are you supposed to eat when it's over?

    The good thing about this plan is that it's so easy to put into action. Keep an eye on the scale. If you see it creeping up, start fasting. It's very simple to use.
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
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    I'm on day 6 of JUDDD. I really like it so far.

    His plan is you just keep doing it in maintenance for all the health benefits, but you can do 50-60% of your maintenance calories those days instead of 20%, if you want.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
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    I'm on day 6 of JUDDD. I really like it so far.

    His plan is you just keep doing it in maintenance for all the health benefits, but you can do 50-60% of your maintenance calories those days instead of 20%, if you want.

    Yeah, that's actually what she mentioned too, to go at 1000 calories and 2 meals instead of a 500 calorie meal.
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
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    I actually feel physically better on my fasting days. I've noticed that soon after my first feast day meal I get a headache and today heartburn, too. I feel more sensitive to the foods or something. Which is good. I don't think I needed that flour tortilla with my chili. White bread does tend to make me feel icky sometimes but it's such a verboten thing when dieting I indulged. I think I'll go back to skipping it and use more avocado instead!
  • fluffyasacat
    fluffyasacat Posts: 242 Member
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    I actually feel physically better on my fasting days. I've noticed that soon after my first feast day meal I get a headache and today heartburn, too. I feel more sensitive to the foods or something. Which is good. I don't think I needed that flour tortilla with my chili. White bread does tend to make me feel icky sometimes but it's such a verboten thing when dieting I indulged. I think I'll go back to skipping it and use more avocado instead!

    Till I started logging I never quite realised how many calories there are in a slice of market sourdough. No wonder it's verboten!
  • willodawisp85
    willodawisp85 Posts: 25 Member
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    i think my nephew is doing this..as he posts pizza and all sorts of junk food on the feast days. then on other days.he posts pictures of steamed broccoli. He is a nerd…and very smart…so i'm sure it is a diet that works.

    but I will add the one thing i know for sure. HOW YOU LOSE YOUR WEIGHT IS HOW YOU WILL HAVE TO MAINTAIN YOUR WEIGHT !!!!!

    so if you want to starve every other day of your life for the rest of your life.. go for it. if not. .you will YOU WILL GAIN IT ALL BACk!

    this truth is the same for low carb diets…popping pills diet…and extreme exercise diets. HOW YOU LOSE IT IS HOW YOU HAVE TO MAINTIAN IT!

    So, pick a plan that you can live with if you want long lasting results.

    You will only put the weight back on if you start overeating when you reach your goal.
  • fluffyasacat
    fluffyasacat Posts: 242 Member
    Options
    i think my nephew is doing this..as he posts pizza and all sorts of junk food on the feast days. then on other days.he posts pictures of steamed broccoli. He is a nerd…and very smart…so i'm sure it is a diet that works.

    but I will add the one thing i know for sure. HOW YOU LOSE YOUR WEIGHT IS HOW YOU WILL HAVE TO MAINTAIN YOUR WEIGHT !!!!!

    so if you want to starve every other day of your life for the rest of your life.. go for it. if not. .you will YOU WILL GAIN IT ALL BACk!

    this truth is the same for low carb diets…popping pills diet…and extreme exercise diets. HOW YOU LOSE IT IS HOW YOU HAVE TO MAINTIAN IT!

    So, pick a plan that you can live with if you want long lasting results.

    I guess I'm happy to throw a fast day in whenever I'm tipping the scales a few lbs over goal. Maybe you ought to ask your very smart nephew about it and quit shouting at strangers about stuff you don't seem to understand.
  • PatriciaGentileschi
    PatriciaGentileschi Posts: 27 Member
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    Guys i started today this diet and I ate 532kcal...do you think it would be fine?it is hard just eat 500kcal
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
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    Guys i started today this diet and I ate 532kcal...do you think it would be fine?it is hard just eat 500kcal

    It should be fine. The whole point is to create a larger deficit on one day to be able to eat at maintenance/smaller deficit on another. It's really just a strategy for adherence. Eat 532 (or 600, or 1000, or whatever number you happen land at), and as long as you don't overdo it on the next day you will lose weight.
  • Autk79
    Autk79 Posts: 283 Member
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    Im not bashing this at all, Im actually curious. When I skip breakfast I get sleepy, irritable, and dizzy and I get headaches. Why would anyone want to feel like that? I cant imagine if I skipped breakfast and lunch. Ive seen some of you say that that goes away once you get use to it but that just makes me think of a starting of a eating disorder. Like I said Im not bashing by any means, I just don't understand how you can do it? Believe me, eating a cheeseburger every other day sounds great but I just think it will mess you up in the long run??

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