intermittent fasting - does it REALLY work?!

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Maldivesbeachbodplease
Maldivesbeachbodplease Posts: 444
in Food and Nutrition
Hi guys,

I'm reading a lot into intermittent fasting....i.e. where you eat normally 5 days a week and then eat 500 calories a day for 2 days a week.

Does it REALLY work?!
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Replies

  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
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    Hi guys,

    I'm reading a lot into intermittent fasting....i.e. where you eat normally 5 days a week and then eat 500 calories a day for 2 days a week.

    Does it REALLY work?!

    To tell you the truth that is not an IF protocol I'm familiar with. IF is no magic bullet for weight loss, it may be something to try out if you enjoy eating larger meals and is something that is more convenient for you
  • melaniecheeks
    melaniecheeks Posts: 6,349 Member
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    Is this after the Horizon programme on Monday night? There's a few threads on here already about it.

    What do you mean by "work". The Horizon programme found it had useful health benefits, but it wasn't primarily a weight loss thing, that was just a side effect.
  • Sidesteal
    Sidesteal Posts: 5,510 Member
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    Any program that allows you to eat at a calorie deficit with macronutrient sufficiency will work, whether it's a leangains style IF, 6 meals per day, 3 meals per day, Eat Stop Eat, etc etc.

    IMO the big difference is that some people will find one that fits their lifestyle and this helps a ton with adherence.
  • Maldivesbeachbodplease
    Maldivesbeachbodplease Posts: 444
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    Any program that allows you to eat at a calorie deficit with macronutrient sufficiency will work, whether it's a leangains style IF, 6 meals per day, 3 meals per day, Eat Stop Eat, etc etc.

    IMO the big difference is that some people will find one that fits their lifestyle and this helps a ton with adherence.

    Yeh i agree. Do you know if it has to be 2 days in a row that you do the 500 calories? i could probably do it i think!
  • ruksha123
    ruksha123 Posts: 42 Member
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    bump
  • mandypizzle
    mandypizzle Posts: 633 Member
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    I have no idea but I was wondering the same thing. I would like to do a juice fast once a week. And just drink about 500-700 calories that day in fresh fruit/veggie juices.
  • Sidesteal
    Sidesteal Posts: 5,510 Member
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    Any program that allows you to eat at a calorie deficit with macronutrient sufficiency will work, whether it's a leangains style IF, 6 meals per day, 3 meals per day, Eat Stop Eat, etc etc.

    IMO the big difference is that some people will find one that fits their lifestyle and this helps a ton with adherence.

    Yeh i agree. Do you know if it has to be 2 days in a row that you do the 500 calories? i could probably do it i think!

    I think that if you're going to do something like this you should have a good idea as to what your TDEE is and you should create a weekly deficit rather than a daily one so that your 500 calorie days are balanced by a higher calorie intake on one or more days.

    Beyond that I'm not familiar with the specific program you're referencing.
  • Maldivesbeachbodplease
    Maldivesbeachbodplease Posts: 444
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    hmmmm looks like i need to do a bit more research. I don't know if i could realistically manage it or if i'm kidding myself! xxx
  • opuntia
    opuntia Posts: 860 Member
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    Yeh i agree. Do you know if it has to be 2 days in a row that you do the 500 calories? i could probably do it i think!

    From what I understood of the documentary, it doesn't have to be 2 days in a row - they could be spaced out however you like. I think it's just that for people who work Monday to Friday, it's likely to be more convenient to do the fasting at the weekend.
  • Tinkerbell1010
    Tinkerbell1010 Posts: 134 Member
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    look into the alternate day diet by James Johnson MD
  • autumnk921
    autumnk921 Posts: 1,376 Member
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    Here is the original article on this....It's 5 days of eating whatever and 2 days in a row of 500cals....Or you can do the alternate days...1 day of eating anything and one day of 500cals and the next eat whatever and so on....The 5:2 sounds doable to me at least.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-19112549
  • Maldivesbeachbodplease
    Maldivesbeachbodplease Posts: 444
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    Here is the original article on this....It's 5 days of eating whatever and 2 days in a row of 500cals....Or you can do the alternate days...1 day of eating anything and one day of 500cals and the next eat whatever and so on....The 5:2 sounds doable to me at least.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-19112549

    Oooo thank you!! I'm tempted to give it a go!! will be a challenge but im willing to try anything right now :) xxx
  • adamsilva
    adamsilva Posts: 261 Member
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    not familiar with that kind of IF style. IF is not for everyone, but i do find it easier to hit a cal deficit consistanly. which is the key really, what ever you choose. I do 16/8 everyday and a 20-24hr every once in awhile.

    good luck.
  • Smuterella
    Smuterella Posts: 1,623 Member
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    for those doing 16/8 - I recently tried the IF calculator and am not sure which activity level to use. I do 5-6 hours of activity a week - half strength, half cardio. Dio I just count the cardio = lightly active or all of it = moderately active.

    Also - do I only eat the higher calorie amounts on strength days and the lower on my cardio days?

    Thanks!
  • taylor5877
    taylor5877 Posts: 1,792 Member
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    http://www.precisionnutrition.com/intermittent-fasting

    read for yourself, pretty good source as I've read a lot of his articles in the past.
  • Smuterella
    Smuterella Posts: 1,623 Member
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    thank you - that site didn't come up in any of my 1 million google searches. :-)
  • BerryH
    BerryH Posts: 4,698 Member
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    My thoughts are that I wouldn't be able to sustain my exercise programme on the days I only ate 500 calories (for women) and would probably struggle the next day too, so it's of no interest to me.
  • Smuterella
    Smuterella Posts: 1,623 Member
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    http://www.precisionnutrition.com/intermittent-fasting

    read for yourself, pretty good source as I've read a lot of his articles in the past.

    OK, that did help but I didn't see my specific questions answered.
  • PaleoPath4Lyfe
    PaleoPath4Lyfe Posts: 3,161 Member
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    Hi guys,

    I'm reading a lot into intermittent fasting....i.e. where you eat normally 5 days a week and then eat 500 calories a day for 2 days a week.

    Does it REALLY work?!

    To tell you the truth that is not an IF protocol I'm familiar with. IF is no magic bullet for weight loss, it may be something to try out if you enjoy eating larger meals and is something that is more convenient for you

    I don't know what IF site you got this information from, but that is not the way I IF either.

    I eat all of my food in about 6-8 hour setting after IF for 16-18 hours.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    http://www.genesisuk.org/downloads/pdf/1420b8e9b5773ce4108849b7b9e9f9c1.pdf this is the Breast Cancer Diet version - two days of restricted calories, five of "normal".

    http://www.genesisuk.org/media-centre/articles/The Intermittent diet .html

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