Eating after fasting...

I have done fasting, but a different type...not sure what I've done helps your situation though. I have fasted with consuming only liquids (limited though, not unlimited!) for 40 days at a time. I would drink protein shakes, fruit smoothies, and thin vegetable soups. My fasting was based on me needing to break my connection to using food as a coping strategy for stress and feelings. I had to take 40 days of not 'eating' to remind myself that there are other ways to deal with my problems.

That being said...I usually consumed 1000-1200 calories a day during that time, which is a little low for me. I didn't do vigorous exercise during those 40 days, but started to add lower intensity exercise in at the end.

I don't have too much advice for you because your situation is very different, but maybe a doctor would have advice or maybe even people that fast such as you do for religious reasons (I work in a middle school library and have had kids spend the whole lunch period with me due to fasting).

As far as exercise goes, I would stick with low intensity on the days that you fast...I think you said you walk, which should be fine. Depending on when you wake up, waiting to eat until 6pm might not be too bad...although some people say to feed the metabolic fire right away... you could try something for a week or so, keeping track in your journal and also note your weight, mood, energy level ect. then makes changes...

I hope that helps a teeny bit! Good luck!

When I fast, I usually mostly make up for the lack of calorie intake over the next few days. I try to average my calories over the week, rather than focusing on making each day hit my calorie goal.

Q - my first question is: will this lack of calorie intake push my body into starvation mode?
A - No. Many days at a severe restriction wouldn't be good for you.

Q - which consequently will absorb every bit of fat, sugar, carbohydrate I eat after breaking the fast and store it? thus slowing my weight reduction progress?
A - No, if you are at a calorie deficit for the day you will not have surplus calories to store.

Q - would then eating a 1200 calorie dinner solve my problem?
A - If you want to.

Q - Although achieving such a high calorie number in one sitting sounds unhealthy.
A - Meal timing and size is down to personal preference, if you can/want to eat a big meal then do so. You might find your food choices get skewed trying to eat that many calories at once - so if you can hit reasonable macros then can't see any issue with it for health reasons.

Q - which mentioning exercise prompts me to ask this last question. when fasting or abstaining from food if you rather please. will exercising such as a brisk 3.5 mph walk for 1 hour do me good or do me harm?
A - Good, exercising fasted is very common and won't harm you. Personally I stick to low intensity exercise rather than high intensity on fasting days to avoid making myself feel more hungry.


(These are my personal opinions based on being a 5:2 intermittent faster by the way.)

hello, I would like to start by saying this is my first post on this friendly, good help forum. now to the point.

lolol sorry - just kidding, you totally set me up for it though :P Now for the real stuff...

for personal reasons I fast twice a week. they are not whole day fasts but rather finish in time for a 6:00 pm dinner. my dinner on those days do not make me reach the 1000/1200 minimum daily calories intake recommended by nutritionists.

I also fast twice a week for personal reasons. It's a variation of the Eat-Stop-Eat program/leangains etc.

I'm one of those girls that has the opposite kind of problem than binging. I dont have an eating disorder of any kind. Im not overly hung up on food, I dont associate my value or worth by my caloric intake or gravitational pull, etc. Instead, I have a couple days a week where I have absolutely no appetite.

Forcing myself to cook on those days, and then to clean up the mess - or forcing myself to spend money on food that I don't want - WILL cause me to have issues against food and I dont want that. I enjoy food. I REALLY love cooking beautiful meals. Sometimes I cook just to plate the stuff and take a picture. Then I go upload the picture to Instagram, turn on my movie and an hour later I go in the kitchen to refill my water bottle and see my dinner sitting there and Im like UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH AGAIN????

So I usually fast from about 9 pm to about 3 or 4 pm the next day. On the days I lift heavy - on SQUATS day and on OHP day. I find that weight training on those mornings makes me more focused, more alert, my brain is whip smart.

Think about it.

When people had to hunt and gather for their food, getting hungrier made them better hunters, sharper instincts and senses. They didnt get weak and run down unless that lasted tooooooooooo long - like days and days. But not eating for 16-24 hours just makes you sharper.*

On those days, once my fast is over - I will snack and graze until dinner. Having maybe an apple or a couple handfuls of almonds, walnuts and craisins (about 300 calories worth of snacks) then I have a 1000 calorie dinner. Including a shot of bourbon, bread, vegetables, meat, starch, healthy fats and the ENTIRE rainbow. Except blue. I dont trust blue food. And Im not putting blueberries in my dinner. And they are pretty much violet anyway.

my first question is: will this lack of calorie intake push my body into starvation mode? which consequently will absorb every bit of fat, sugar, carbohydrate I eat after breaking the fast and store it? thus slowing my weight reduction progress?

Not if it's only 2 or 3 times a week. No. BUT - I would absolutely suggest paying very very close attention (until it becomes easy and natural second nature) to your nutrition and where your calories are coming from if you want to keep that up. I take a multivitamin and iron. I measure my bodyfat% and figure out how much lean body mass I have and I AIM for one gram of protein per pound of LBM. So I have 126.5 pounds of LBM, I aim for 125g of protein - I usually fall around 90.

I make sure to completely NAIL my nutrition/macros on the rest of the days of the week. If I feel that I need to fast, for my own healthy, mentally stable reasons, then I feel that it's awesome if I back up that decision with other good decisions.

I dont like defending what works for me. making sure the other days are amazing, helps me stand up for myself. In my head and to other people.

You won't go into starvation mode if it's just a couple days a week. Go ahead and keep doing it, but make sure WHAT you eat after you fast, is unbelievably good for you. If you dont eat for 24 hours and then eat a pint of Ben & Jerrys and an extra large fry from McD's.... you still wont starve, but you'll develop ugly problems.

if not, could you guys be kind to explain why this won't affect my body? but if it does affect my body, would then eating a 1200 calorie dinner solve my problem? (although achieving such a high calorie number in one sitting sounds unhealthy.). my dinners vary between 400-800 calories depending on what I've eaten and exercised during the day.

There is this mentality based on propaganda and myth that your body runs on a twenty-four hour schedule and it knows if it is Tuesday or Friday or not. This isn't true. Your body just needs regular infusions of fuel.

your question is tantamount to saying, Hey - if I have less than a quarter tank of gas in my car - should I not fill it up all the way when I get back to the gas station? is only putting half a tank easier on my car instead?

The truth is - it's better to eat healthy foods until you are sated, than it is to force feed yourself a certain number of calories. It isnt the math you need to focus on, it's the kind of fuel you're running on. Get enough protein to keep you strong, enough carbs for instant energy and enough fat to heal your body and care for your joints, etc. Lots of Vitamins and minerals. if it only comes to 800, fine - but tomorrow - remember that. There isnt anything unhealthy about splitting your daily calorie goal between snacks and dinner. I love a solid 1400 calorie post-workout break fast meal OMNOMNOM

you dont get a reset when you go to sleep, your body is always feeling what you did to it in the previous 72 hours. When someone says, dont worry about yesterday, today is a new day.... they are bullpooping you. If you make bad nutritional decisions, you may forgive yourself and not have guilt about it, but it does not erase it.

Back up your fasts with bada$$ nutritional rockstardom. Word?

which mentioning exercise prompts me to ask this last question. when fasting or abstaining from food if you rather please. will exercising such as a brisk 3.5 mph walk for 1 hour do me good or do me harm?

Nope. Not even a little. On my fast days I walk for two sets of 40 minutes, 2.25 miles each at 3.5 to 4.0 mph.

What I would NOT recommend on fasting days is high intensity cardio. It could leave you weak, shaky, dizzy - NO BUENO! Weights are fine at the end of a fast, low impact cardio like walking or yoga or pilates or something like that - totally cool. HIIT/Elliptical/Sprints/Kickboxing/etc... good lord, please no

:flowerforyou: Hope this helps!! It's helped me lose weight AND maintain!

*this is all my personal experience and if anyone else is reading this and doesn't agree, I would like to kindly remind you that you cannot DISAGREE that something works for me. :drinker: you can only INFORM me that it doesnt work for you.

anytime puddin britches!

anytime puddin britches!

You, Dear, I like. :happy:

:blushing: runs and hides