Alternative Day Fasting

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jsygurl
jsygurl Posts: 28 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi, I watched a programme last night which discussed the health benefits of ADF - in the experiment discussed, people ate 25% of their calorie requirement in one meal on one day, and the next day ate whatever they wanted to. They lost weight, their cholesterol and blood sugars dropped (as well as other bad markers that I cannot remember), and I sat there watching enthralled. Researching online I have come accross many articles, and they seem to say that this is the way we were designed to eat - not the same level of calorific intake every day, but bursts of food, so our bodies respond well to it. Anyone tried this? It sounds exciting to me.
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Replies

  • juliefrog6
    juliefrog6 Posts: 11
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    I couldn't do anything that extreme and not be a total B! But I notice I get better weight loss if I stay at or a little above my calorie goal for a couple days and then eat less one day, and so on.
  • Assassins_Angel
    Assassins_Angel Posts: 329
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    I personally would not recommend it, like all fad diets it's a quick fix that you cannot stick to long term meaning all the weight you lose you will pile back on once you started eating normally again
  • nicola1812
    nicola1812 Posts: 32 Member
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    bump
  • needles85365
    needles85365 Posts: 491 Member
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    Sounds too hard to me and too much planning, not something that you could keep up long term. But best of luck if you try it out.
  • MissShancey
    MissShancey Posts: 464
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    bump
  • kaseysospacey
    kaseysospacey Posts: 499 Member
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    The idea behind it makes sense- in a pre-civilization human, food would be found, consumed, and then it could take a while to find more. I disagree with the idea that a diet you cannot keep up forever will cause regaining. There are plenty of super low cal temp diets that doctors use for the very obese. If you lose 100 lbs "unhealthily" but then do a healthy diet, not your old crappy diet, I don't see any regain in the future.
  • idabentley
    idabentley Posts: 59 Member
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    I too watched the programme, if you recall he eventually chose the 2 + 5 approach, 2 days fast per week, 5 days eating normally, though on his normal days he seemed to eat good food, not fast food. if you recall his wife is a GP. I was really impressed with the impact fasting had on the brain and reduction of the such things as Dementia. Well researched programme, I think it was one of the horrizon series. Good luck if you try it, I thought I would do as he has 5 + 2.
  • AlabasterVerve
    AlabasterVerve Posts: 3,171 Member
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    I'm going to try fasting roughly 36 hours every week or so just to hedge my bets health wise (cancer, diabetes & heart disease are all in my family). I tried it Monday and Tuesday and it wasn't that bad. I ate like usual on Sunday, didn't eat at all on Monday and broke my fast on Tuesday with dinner. Sometimes I was hungry but not very, and for a couple hours I was really cold and tired after exercising but I warmed up and my energy levels were high after that. It was surprisingly no big deal.

    That type of fasting schedule seems much more doable and less interuptive than 400 or 500 calories every other day.

    But I'm on a low carb diet now and routinely slip in and out of ketosis so my appetite is under control, I don't need to snack in between meals or I can even skip a meal and still feel fine -- which I think made all the difference. When I was burning carbs for fuel I had to eat every few hours and I imagine this would have been a miserable experience and extremely hard to pull off.
  • siliisobel
    siliisobel Posts: 49
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    I too watched this program. It sounds great to me and the science behind it totally makes sense, its pretty exciting. I will be trying it soon but doing the alternate day fast, im just not sure yet what I should be eating for the one meal on the fast day......?
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    I too watched this program. It sounds great to me and the science behind it totally makes sense, its pretty exciting. I will be trying it soon but doing the alternate day fast, im just not sure yet what I should be eating for the one meal on the fast day......?

    500 calories with 30g of protein, or thereabouts.

    Here's some meals from a related study on alternate days at reduced calories
    http://www.ajcn.org/content/90/5/1138/T1.expansion.html
  • llstacy
    llstacy Posts: 91 Member
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    bump
  • firstsip
    firstsip Posts: 8,399 Member
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    This is similar to the JUDDD/IF type stuff (if that gives you more specific things to look up). These "diets" are built to end up in maintenance, so as usual... don't listen to the "OMG YOU CAN'T JUST GO UNDER 1200 CALORIES. STARVATION" people. There's research behind this, and specifically JUDDD is built to gradually up your "Down Day" calories until you are in a maintenance mode where you're not ~starving~.

    Even apes don't eat "three square meals" a day ;)
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    http://www.genesisuk.org/downloads/pdf/1420b8e9b5773ce4108849b7b9e9f9c1.pdf is a similar 2/5 (2 days a week restricted, 5 ad-lib) diet devised for medical / hormonal benefits.
  • siliisobel
    siliisobel Posts: 49
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    I too watched this program. It sounds great to me and the science behind it totally makes sense, its pretty exciting. I will be trying it soon but doing the alternate day fast, im just not sure yet what I should be eating for the one meal on the fast day......?

    500 calories with 30g of protein, or thereabouts.

    Here's some meals from a related study on alternate days at reduced calories
    http://www.ajcn.org/content/90/5/1138/T1.expansion.html

    Brilliant thank you!
  • jsygurl
    jsygurl Posts: 28 Member
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    Well, due to circumstances my 500 cals were a coffee with sugar, and a pack of driet fruit, nuts and seeds. I wont be doing it again, it was kind of an emergency today as my dog got really ill and I had to rush out from work to get her to the vet. But to be honest, I haven't been that hungry yet (4pm).
  • AlabasterVerve
    AlabasterVerve Posts: 3,171 Member
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    I'm sorry to hear about your dog, jsygurl. I hope she's doing better and good luck with the rest of your day. :smile:
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
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    http://www.longecity.org/forum/topic/47354-mess-up-your-heart-with-intermittent-fasting/page__p__473475#entry473475
  • Vansy
    Vansy Posts: 419 Member
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    There is a science behind Intermittent Fasting and how it works. I would do research before attempting a diet such as that.
  • jshort152
    jshort152 Posts: 80
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    Also known as Intermittent Fasting, the basis is that you will spike growth hormone and metabolic rate but actually its basically a balance of calories in vs calories out. I've studied this on my way to getting my personal training certification (ISSA) and you will lose weight but its predominantly because of your calories in. It works but just be careful because for one, some people become binge eaters during their eating days and see no results and may even GAIN weight. Also, a lot of people feel sick and irritable fasting for that long. My advice would be starting off with an 8 hour feeding window to get all your calories in and fast the other 16. After a week of that then progress to 24 hours fasting with two-three days eating (keeping calories at the number to lose weight) then doing it again. Hope this helps!! Anyone feel free to contact me if you have any questions :)
  • Sheirai
    Sheirai Posts: 79 Member
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    The primary benefit to intermittent fasting is that you lose insulin resistance, which is key not only to weight loss, but to good health. A low carb diet and exercise also reduce insulin resistance over the long term. I have done the intermittent for short periods, and based on my experience, it does work. If you are basically healthy, think that it's a good way to jump start a weight loss program, or to overcome a plateau, but probably not a good idea for most of us over a long period of time.

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