Alternative Day Fasting

jsygurl
jsygurl Posts: 28 Member
edited December 27 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
    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
    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
    bump
  • needles85365
    needles85365 Posts: 491 Member
    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
    bump
  • kaseysospacey
    kaseysospacey Posts: 499 Member
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    bump
  • firstsip
    firstsip Posts: 8,399 Member
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    http://www.longecity.org/forum/topic/47354-mess-up-your-heart-with-intermittent-fasting/page__p__473475#entry473475
  • Vansy
    Vansy Posts: 419 Member
    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
    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
    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.
  • jsygurl
    jsygurl Posts: 28 Member
    Lots of different opinions here, but I am trialling this for 4 weeks, and if I start binge eating, or find I am eating double the calories on the unrestricted day, then I will re-think. I'm still only mildly hungry, at 6.20pm.

    I thought that the most interesting information online came from someone who uses this way of eating to control the inflamation in his knee, and definitely does not want to lose weight - his blog post is at:

    <http://predicatedlife.wordpress.com/2008/10/16/nuts-and-bolts-of-alternate-day-fasting&gt;
  • jsygurl
    jsygurl Posts: 28 Member
    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:

    Thank you, Daisy has Kennel cough, and was not choking to death as feared. She has already started responding to the antibiotics and anti-inflamatories, and is breathing much easier. No idea where she picked it up, she hasn't been near any other dogs, apart from our other dog, as she is scared of them.

    I'm quite enjoying today too thank you - it's good to do without my old adversary food for a bit - a bit of a relief not thinking what to buy, or cook!
  • bagge72
    bagge72 Posts: 1,377 Member
    I think this can work if you don't take it literal, and actually eat anything you want on the non-fasting periods. Like anything else if you eat crap foods, and go way over your calories this isn't going to work, and I gaurantee you the people who lost weight doing this knew that. So just do a lot of research, and you should be fine, but don't go buying everything on the dollar menu on the non-fasting days!
  • bagge72
    bagge72 Posts: 1,377 Member
    Also while you're on your fasting days take some BCAA's to help your body from using your muscle as a source of energy instead of fat, and I found green tea, and lots of water kept the cravings down when I tried it. I did be a little bit of an a$$hat towards the end of the day though which is the only time I really felt hungry or tired.
  • phoenix8633
    phoenix8633 Posts: 137 Member
    I'm going to watch the programme at some point this week, I am considering giving it a go for maybe a month just to see if anything happens.
  • jsygurl
    jsygurl Posts: 28 Member
    Sounds like a plan. Different things suit different people, maybe this will suit us!
  • jsygurl
    jsygurl Posts: 28 Member
    Also while you're on your fasting days take some BCAA's to help your body from using your muscle as a source of energy instead of fat, and I found green tea, and lots of water kept the cravings down when I tried it. I did be a little bit of an a$$hat towards the end of the day though which is the only time I really felt hungry or tired.

    What is a BCAA? And I wondered - were you on a total fast? On this plan I eat one meal of up to 522 calories on my restricted days, so maybe I just wont get that hungry. I did see a blog from someone who did 24 hour fasting/ 24 hour eating, but she started at 6pm, which seemed a sensible idea, and may suit you if you do it again.
  • jsygurl
    jsygurl Posts: 28 Member
    Interesting blog who came up with an intermittent fasting idea all by themselves

    http://forgetdietingforever.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/experimenting.html
  • bagge72
    bagge72 Posts: 1,377 Member
    Also while you're on your fasting days take some BCAA's to help your body from using your muscle as a source of energy instead of fat, and I found green tea, and lots of water kept the cravings down when I tried it. I did be a little bit of an a$$hat towards the end of the day though which is the only time I really felt hungry or tired.

    What is a BCAA? And I wondered - were you on a total fast? On this plan I eat one meal of up to 522 calories on my restricted days, so maybe I just wont get that hungry. I did see a blog from someone who did 24 hour fasting/ 24 hour eating, but she started at 6pm, which seemed a sensible idea, and may suit you if you do it again.

    They are Branched Chain Amino Acids, and they help keep your body in an anabolic state, pretty much only useful if you are in caloric deficit.
    I did a 24 hour fast. So I had my last meal at dinner time, and then didn't eat until dinner time the next day, and it was pretty easy, beacuse you are a sleep for a big chunk of time!
  • theartichoke
    theartichoke Posts: 816 Member
    http://www.longecity.org/forum/topic/47354-mess-up-your-heart-with-intermittent-fasting/page__p__473475#entry473475

    I read this link and don't understand half of what he was saying. This in particular:

    "However, whereas calorie restriction improved tissue redox state, food restriction and intermittent feedings did not. In fact, long-term intermittent feeding resulted in largely enhanced tissue release of oxidants."

    I you could translate for me I'd be grateful!

    ETA: I started IF (leangains) last week and am quickly realising that, though I love it, I know very little about it.
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