Alternate day / Intermittent fasting results anyone?

Thanks for all the responses guys it's really helpful and I'm sure everyone reading finds it helpful too!
I'm glad to hear people are having varying degree's of success with each approach, and more importantly seem to be enjoying the process.

I'm going to continue alternate day fasting for another 2/3 weeks (to take me up to a full month) and then I'l post my results at the end. After this I aim to switch to another form of intermittent fasting for a month - possibly a 16:8 or 20:4 approach as some of you guys have, and then post my results again, then possibly switch to the 5:2 approach for a month.

I just started my first 24 hour fast today- only 5 more hours left. I am not so interested in the losing weight part of it but more about being able to truly distinguish "hunger pains vs. I am bored so I eat pains".
So far it is going really well. The hardest part is cooking food for the kids and not eating it! But I am drinking lots of water and tea. I think I may try the 2 fasts a week- perhaps Monday & Friday.

I'm glad to hear it's going well for you. Though I haven't been doing it long, one of the first things I have learned is the huge difference between the "need" to eat and boredom / habbit making me "want" to eat. On my up days I'm not eating half as frequently as I used to, and in doing so appreciate my meals so much more, I swear they even taste different now! :P
I've found the following drinks great on the fast days:

Coffee (probably an obvious one-though I try to limit my intake to before 5pm)
Water with half a squeezed lemon juice p/glass ( I absolutely swear by this at the moment. As well as helping with hunger, its really refreshing and I always feel great after finishing a glass)
Tea / green tea

I'm using the IF 5:2 (this week is 4:3 because next week I won't be able to because of holidays!). Is it for everyone? No. Is it working for me? Yes! It creates an overall weekly deficit and for me it's easier to manage if I can include during my diet social dinners, some drinks, and frappuchinos.

Will I go back to my old habits because this is a "fad" diet? I don't think so. If I keep a weekly overall deficit or management, and I keep being active I don't see how I will gain weight... For me, low carb was more fad than this.. I ALWAYS gained weight as soon as I moved from the firsts stages of South Beach to the last...

PS: I don't usually fast two days in a row.. I mostly fast Tuesday and Thursday and I'm not too strict with the 500 cals rule (I'm always over by 80 calories or so). I skip breakfast and have two small meals mainly of salads and a protein snack before gym.

Great to hear the 5:2 is working for you! It was actually after reading the 5:2 diet book that I approached my doctor and decided to experiment with alternate day fasting. I thought that I would try no food fast days for a period of time, then intermittent (16:8/20:4) and then go back and try 5:2 (all hopefully for about a month each so I can compare the 3 approaches).

Hey, guys, check this out - http://bradpilon.com/introduction-to-intermittent-fasting/
I've done 1x 24-hr this week and it's been amazing!

Hey thanks for the link I'l have a look at this too

Thanks again all, its great to hear from everyone!

I did the Hodgetwins style of Intermittent Fasting so only eating between 12-8pm but still getting in my 2000 calories. I lost 30lbs in about 2 months and now im losing weight a slower, healthier pace.

Hey thanks for the response. That's a great loss! I've just been watching a Hodgetwins video a few minutes ago :P They are crazy haha, but by the looks of things they seem to have had a lot of success and people swearing by them.
By the sounds of things here, a lot of people are having success with the 16:8 style - which I suppose makes sense as it probably isn't too much of a daily adjustment. I will definitely be moving onto this after I'm finished with AD.
Great to hear about your results again btw, congrats

I did this with great success (lost 2 stone). I got a bit bored with it eventually and I just watch my cals now. Some people worry that it doesn't sound healthy but I read up a lot before I did the diet and couldn't find anything bad about it (except some people saying they didn't like it). Could be stuff now, it was a few years ago. I stopped doing IF about a year or a year and half ago and have not put the weight back on.

The only word or warning I would give though is that you mentioned doing two days together, which they tell you not to do. You can do two up days together but not two down days as apparently you body would go into starvation mode. Doing it day on and off tricks your body so just as it is thinking you are starving you start eating again. I don't know all the scientific jargon though lol

Good luck anyway and I hope you have as much success as I did :flowerforyou:

Hey thanks for the response
Which approach did you take sorry? D you mean alternate day (on zero cal fast days) or 5:2 or intermittent?

So far I've only had 2 fast days together once. It was Saturday and Sunday of last week - I only really decided to do this so that I could keep every Monday as a "normal" day, otherwise it would have been Sat=down, Sun=up, Mon=down etc..
I've read a few articles which talk about starvation mode, and though opinions vary, I based my decision to put the two together on reading that starvation mode wasn't an issue until after 60hours of not eating- so for the sake of keeping my Mondays (and the rest of the week the same) I felt fine taking my chances with 48 hours.

It's great to hear you had success with it, but even better to hear that you've also managed to keep it all off too

I had good success doing the 16:8 approach. Its about finding what works for you. Once think I would advise is that if you are concerned about muscle loss, take some BCAA. Also just eat clean.

Great to hear another 16:8 approach success =] Seems to be a really popular one!
Thanks for the advice on muscle maintenance too. My doctor did something about mention BCAA, especially if I wasn't working out enough to maintain or build any muscle, it is one thing I have been a little bit worried about so I'l definitely look into this

Sorry if I don't manage to get back to everyone, I'm trying to keep up with all the responses and it is really helpful to hear from you all