Every Other Day Diet--anyone else on this diet?
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Been doing it since end of January and I am hooked! I love the freedom of the feast days, though I make sure not to go over 2700 and the 500 days have been fine. The first few were hard but then the hunger goes away and you are in the groove. I truly believe I will eat this way for years to come. Enjoy!0
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I did 5:2 and lost.
If you plan carefully 500cals can be quite a lot of food!
It does only work if you don't go mental on the feast days. Still need to track your cals and not eat a billion calories
As long as you're reasonably sensible n use some common sense, it does work.
I've moved on to little and often now as my feast days I was sometimes struggling to eat as much as I should and I'm finding this method easier. But that's working for me. Go with whatever works for you!! 0 -
Interesting. I have not heard of this type of diet. I don't think it could work for me, but that's good that people are finding out different ways to lose if it works for them. I guess i'm confused of the benefit of this compared to eating a regular deficit every day instead of eating 500 calories one day and 2000 the next. But hell, if you can do it, and find that it's easier, :drinker:0
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Oh for goodness sake. It is things like this which irritate the hell out of me.
Some "genius" making a load of money from publishing books on stupid diets.
By the way, when I lost weight, I used the 'Eat Less Sh1t Than Normal' diet. I invented this myself. It involved eating less food than what got me overweight in the first place. So yes, you can eat whatever you want, just that, when you eat a bit too much, you do some exercise to balance things out.
And yes!!! It worked. I lost weight on a diet that allowed me to eat burgers, chocolate, pizza and all my other treats, just in smaller portions. And in taking on running as an exercise, I got fitter, stronger, and now that I dont need to lose weight, running allows me to eat whatever I want, pretty much.
Wowww!!!!!
you jelly?
I agee tho I made the eat the food I want and stay in a deficet diet up too....the food in this diet varies and can be found anywhere there is a grocery store. You just need to buy a food scale and weigh portions...it's an amazing diet too we should get together and write a book.
Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, apparently. Honestly, no need to be horrid to people! Everybody is different - each to their own.0 -
But you did.Just got my copy of her new book, Krista Varady,PhD "The Every Other Day Diet". She conducted scientific research and developed this plan: on the Modified Fast day, you eat (total) 500 calories for either lunch or dinner, and then the next day, the Feast day, you eat whatever you want and keep alternating days--Fast day, Feast day, etc. The book is very convincing because she backs up her statements with research that was published in various medical journals.
I've tried it on and off since I heard of it about a month ago, but I haven't been consistent. Even what I've done, though, I see benefits.
Now that I have the book, I want to practice the diet in earnest. Information about the diet is here: http://www.eoddiet.com.
Is there anyone else who has tried or is going to try EOD?
Oh for goodness sake. It is things like this which irritate the hell out of me.
Some "genius" making a load of money from publishing books on stupid diets.
By the way, when I lost weight, I used the 'Eat Less Sh1t Than Normal' diet. I invented this myself. It involved eating less food than what got me overweight in the first place. So yes, you can eat whatever you want, just that, when you eat a bit too much, you do some exercise to balance things out.
And yes!!! It worked. I lost weight on a diet that allowed me to eat burgers, chocolate, pizza and all my other treats, just in smaller portions. And in taking on running as an exercise, I got fitter, stronger, and now that I dont need to lose weight, running allows me to eat whatever I want, pretty much.
Wowww!!!!!
Oh goodie! Another "my way is the only way" post.
Oh goodie! another post bashing the calorie deficet diet from you...
There is only one way to los weight a calorie deficet...but there are 1000's of ways to get that deficet....no where did the poster say their way was the only way...
You were the one that came in and said "I eat whatever I want just in smaller portions"....who cares if the OP wants to create a deficit by limiting every other day? Obviously you think you're something special with think people are "jelly" of you, but for some just staying within calories every single day won't make them stick to that calorie deficit. Just another way, but of course you have to come in and say "I eat whatever I want!!!!?! Why would you do it that way?!".0 -
That is basically waht it is..just how you explain.Interesting. I have not heard of this type of diet. I don't think it could work for me, but that's good that people are finding out different ways to lose if it works for them. I guess i'm confused of the benefit of this compared to eating a regular deficit every day instead of eating 500 calories one day and 2000 the next. But hell, if you can do it, and find that it's easier, :drinker:
Some tout as no calories at all when you fast, some say on fast days to eat 500 calories.
I go about it a different way though and use a 24 hour cycle.
I personally go about it by nothing for 24 hours, then eat my maintain for 24 hours, and repeat that 3 times a week. I count calories on the traditonal daily schedule, but fast on a 24 hour cycle and it basically equals out to 1500 a day and a deficit for me of 7000 calories a week. So far my 'worst' week has been losing just two pounds. "Today" is my fast day, or Down Day (DD) as some say. So, for dinner tonite I am having a big, juicy bleu cheeseburger and a salad at the end of my 24 hour fast.
the thing that makes the ADF so attractive to me is this. For example, dinner on sunday at lets say 6pm. I wont eat again until 6pm monday, but if I want a steak, or a sub, or something else I can and alot of times do. Throughout the week it avgs to about 1500/day but I am still able to enjoy the food I love so much like pzza, steaks, burgers. The body starts to really kick in the burning about the 18-24 hour mark of you fast so in reality it is better than doing it the traditional way of eating 1500 a day with 3-5 meals.
In reality it is not a whole lot diff than many other ways to do it, but for me it keeps me knowing that even if I get hungry during the day I can, and will, have a dinner I really like.
Then for the next 24 hours including my meal tonite I will eat sensibly, up to 2500 calories but probably closer to 2000 so probably 700-900 tonite and a total of 2000 maybe tomorrow.0 -
As for 'money makers' out there - it's cost me the price of the book, Kindle and printed. However, I am spending far less on food every week and obviously no more on alcohol. So already have the payback. Several times over
I love what you are saying right here! So many diets are trying to get you to buy product, this one is just very simple, Eat Less (EOD). I just started this week and so far feel good. I even was too full from lunch on my feast day so went ahead and skipped dinner.0 -
oops:blushing:0
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Ehh only 500 calories in a day doesn't sound healthy to me =\ And eating that little food one day just makes it seem too likely you'll just go way over on your "feast day." And I don't think that's really sustainable in the long-run. I think a moderate daily deficit with healthy food choices is the best way to go. No need for these fancy diets and programs - pick a healthy lifestyle change you can make to stay healthy the rest of your life.
What is "fancy" about eating less one day and more the next?0 -
I'm on it. I love it. The first week was a little challenging and of course, if you eat too much or the wrong foods prior to starting ANY lowering of calories, you will feel uncomfortable the first week. To be expected. People refuse to suffer even for one second. That's why the diet industry is a multi-billion dollar industry AND why no one ever sticks to anything. They feel they cannot do without.
WRONG! Of course you can live without and being in constant feast mode is not healthy.
Now that I have settled in, I feel great and eat my one 500 calorie meal around 2:00 pm-ish. I do not eat whatever I want on my eat days. I think that's just wrong but I am pretty disciplined. I have lost weight. I feel great. I will do this forever. No reason not too. Maybe cut my fast days down at a later date.
Have fun and stay strong.
Be well!0 -
I have never succeeded with daily calorie restriction. I tried eat stop eat but never found it easy. It is weirdly easier to do a semi fast EOD. My appetite has shrunk on the eat days also. Plus the author Dr Varady is also a researcher with 10 years of studies under her belt. I find her tips and research extremely helpful. I highly rec com end this program. PS - maintain dance is 1000. Calories EOD.0
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Nice to see people having success with this eating plan! My husband and I started EOD on July 1. So far he's lost 8 pounds and I've lost 12! Some days are easier than others but overall it seems to be working. I was curious if anyone was experiencing headaches! I'm pretty sure its related to water intake.0
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Nice to see people having success with this eating plan! My husband and I started EOD on July 1. So far he's lost 8 pounds and I've lost 12! Some days are easier than others but overall it seems to be working. I was curious if anyone was experiencing headaches! I'm pretty sure its related to water intake.
your body will typically adapt
the circadian rhythm will adapt0 -
I guess you have to read her book to understand what I'm talking about.
I appreciate all your feedback and thank you for your input.
I have been researching this subject for a couple of months now, and I was kind of looking for someone who was familiar with Dr. V's EOD so we could do it together.
I won't go into all my reasons for preferring this diet over eating 1500 calories a day--except for this one: with the EOD, I am not hungry all the time, whereas if I try to eat a restricted calorie diet every day, I feel like I'm starving and I usually go off the diet.
Thanks again everyone, and hope the best for you all!
I use the books on 5:2 and ADF to lose weight. I sometimes fast for no reason at all. I feel great when I fast and I've been using that method since I was a teenager. I also just fresh lemons in my water when I fast. The juice is just enough to keep me from feeling yucky or getting a headache. I will send you a friend request.0 -
Just got my copy of her new book, Krista Varady,PhD "The Every Other Day Diet". She conducted scientific research and developed this plan: on the Modified Fast day, you eat (total) 500 calories for either lunch or dinner, and then the next day, the Feast day, you eat whatever you want and keep alternating days--Fast day, Feast day, etc. The book is very convincing because she backs up her statements with research that was published in various medical journals.
I've tried it on and off since I heard of it about a month ago, but I haven't been consistent. Even what I've done, though, I see benefits.
Now that I have the book, I want to practice the diet in earnest. Information about the diet is here: http://www.eoddiet.com.
Is there anyone else who has tried or is going to try EOD?
How do you work out on days when you've only consumed 500 calories?
Easily. I walk 5 miles every day no matter how many calories I've had. Your body gets use to it I guess.0 -
"Diets" don't work. Changes in lifestyle that are sustainable do. Sure, you lose the weight, but if you don't adopt changes that will be easy to stick to for the rest of your life, it will all come back on. Maybe you can eat 500 calories every other day for the rest of your life. I know I couldn't. And the moment you go back to eating full calories everyday, you will have problems. If I were you, I'd try to find a way to lose weight that means making a commitment every day. But of course, I'm not you.
My fear would be not being able to cut back on my "eat anything I want" days when I stop doing the 500 calorie days. The happy medium would teach you how to be disciplined all the time. I think that's why this is more a fad diet and not something that most people can or would do. You are still not really dealing with the binging and overeating that got you where you are if you give in to those binges 3-4 times a week.
I could be totally wrong obviously and I really hope this will work for you forever. But I know I would not want to be stuck eating like that for the rest of my (hopefully) long life.0 -
I have started this but combined it with the 8 hour diet on "feast days". I am really enjoying not thinking about food at all. It is working extremely well for me.0
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I have heard of it but it doesnt seem like a healthy management plan. For example I did cardio today and also a lot of movement with the dog grandkids etc. So accorfing to MFP and Fitbit I burned 680 odd calories over my BMR which if I ate only 500 calories then I would be -183 calories. So where do you get the energy to exercise or even exist? I am not knocking it but at my age, weight and fitness levels I reckon the insulin levels would be all over the place.0
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I have read about it and the two diet books that have been around before are actually based on the studies performed by the author of this book (and she has been researching the subject for years). From what I understand she is releasing this book because her research was taken out of context and results applied to a method that may not produce the same results as her findings which may or may not apply to fasting 2 days a week.
I have no problem with this approach personally, and I have tried some variation of it a few times, but it's not for me. Sends my blood sugar out of whack. My own diet is pretty variable in calories so it's pretty similar, though not as extreme as 500 calories. I can see this working.
One of the findings of one of her studies is that after the first week or two adaptation period the hunger signals on feeding days taper off so you aren't bringing as much as you thought you would. If I remember correctly the energy intake on feeding days averaged around 110% of energy expenditure and is mediated by the fasting days.0 -
I have heard of it but it doesnt seem like a healthy management plan. For example I did cardio today and also a lot of movement with the dog grandkids etc. So accorfing to MFP and Fitbit I burned 680 odd calories over my BMR which if I ate only 500 calories then I would be -183 calories. So where do you get the energy to exercise or even exist?
From your fat stores, that is the point of a weight loss diet - to make you use up some of your reserves.
Practically everybody has 100,000 calories or more of fat on board.0 -
Have been on this for a little over a month now - I LOOOVE it.
It is has been easy for me since the start as I almost never eat until noontime anyway so had already come close to intermittent fasting.
Have been eating only healthy (and grain-free) foods for many months but still wasn't losing weight.
Since I started this I have lost at least 12 lbs., maybe more.
On the fast day I do one meal (approx. 400 cals.) and one snack (approx. 100 cals.) and for the person who mentioned they wouldn't try it because they would be using up all the 500 cals. on their fast day in exercise, I "use" those too if I feel like it and I still lose.
I enjoy both days - eat as much (within reason) as I want of good food on the feast day - and much less meal preparation and dishes to do on the fast day:) Hubby has to make his own meals that day;) He is retired so it doesn't hurt him at all!0 -
that sounds horrendous!0
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If you are commenting on my post - WHAT do you know???that sounds horrendous!
I feel great, am not at all starving or feeling even a little deprived
AND it works for me
I guess your name says it all for you;)0 -
This topic is perfect for me, I wanted to give it a try but wasn't sure it would work. I was finding mantaining a 1.200 cal a day diet really hard and was going out of options. I started de EOD diet yesterday as a fasting day and today as a feast day. Even if I'm still careful not to buy processed or sugary foods, I was able to eat a home made falafel burger and a small dark chocolate as a treat and stay under 2000 cal. And the fast day wasn't that terrible, I had to be really careful on what I chose to eat (a 350 cal salad, a banana, green apple and fat free yogurt) but wasn't feeling too hungry by the end of the day.
I think this might really work for me!0 -
I'm on it. I hit somewhere between 450 and 600 calls on "fast" days (try to target near 500) and eat at my 'maintenance' calorie intake on "feast" days. I've had 2 or 3 days where I've done the "eat anything I want" routine and gone over maintenance calories, but that's not typical...however even with two of those in one week I still lost a pound.
I read Varaday's book and was convinced by the research which is still not "definitive" but is highly suggestive that this way of eating can help lose and maintain weight (she provides a 'maintenance' approach in the book too) plus have other benefits; the most important to me is reduction of inflammation since I have issues in that area (of course I like the stuff about avoiding cognitive decline, too, but didn't find that research compelling - still early; I look forward to more studies).
I find this way of eating the "best" approach for me; it's easier to stick to than the daily reduction routine. Hardest part has been figuring out exercise so as to not make myself really hungry on fast days but I'm getting into a routine now that seems to be working.0 -
Just remember, energy balance is key.
I've done 5/2 before not logging and was able to eat enough on eating days to stay at maintenance. I've got a pretty big appetite though.
I stick to 16/8 ish method most of the time though. (daily)0 -
Just remember, energy balance is key.
I've done 5/2 before not logging and was able to eat enough on eating days to stay at maintenance. I've got a pretty big appetite though.
I stick to 16/8 ish method most of the time though. (daily)
I agree with this. I have to remember to manage activity levels (less) on the 'fast' days.0 -
Hi everybody, I've been doing this for about 3 weeks and this week I started to workout, my question is, on fast days (500 cals) should I eat my calories back?
Thanks!0 -
I've been doing the 5:2 and have amazing results. I make sure that my weekly calorie goal is under because, in my opinion, it is far too easy for me to eat too many calories on feast days. What I do is track my calories. On feast days, I'll allow myself to go up to 200 calories over what MFP has suggested I eat to lose 1 pound a week. On fast days, I eat 500-600 calories. It all comes out in the end. My weekly deficit is usually larger than what MFP has suggested and I have a more satisfying loss. Also, I have a heart condition that causes me to breathe poorly and retain water. 5:2 helps me keep my water retention under control and I have less trouble breathing. Not just on fast days, mind you, through the entire week. It almost feels like a mini flush of the system. I feel far healthier when I do it this way. In fact, I am fasting today before I visit my cardiologist tomorrow.
Not looking for judgment. Just offering the OP my thoughts.0 -
I'm on EOD and loving it. I've lost about 5lbs since starting about 12 days ago. I've struggled with the idea of prohibiting myself forever from the things I like to eat, and the sense of failure that a "bad day" can bring if I weakened in my resolve to abstain for even a moment. The idea that "I can eat that tomorrow" is very soothing, even if you don't end up doing so it's psychologically reassuring that you're not tied to abstinence for the long haul.
For those assuming someone can eat 3000-4000 calories on a "feast" day... you've obviously never noted the stomach shrinking effect of a 500 calorie day! While you might *think* you'd like to gorge like that when given free rein, the reality for me is I rarely break 2000 calories and I'm in no way holding back. If I ate more I'd be physically very uncomfortable.
The first week is a little rough. I fully expected to feel hungry and have a headache or two (and I was and did) but one of the unexpected side effects was feeling very wide awake on a fast day as I was trying to go to sleep. Being hungry makes you super ALERT. Thankfully this has calmed down a little too as my body has been able to switch to burning fat rather than looking for sugars all the time.
Good luck to all trying an intermittent fasting diet! It's the first weight loss method I've tried which I feel I'll have no trouble maintaining for the long term. If anyone from earlier in the thread (a couple of you started in January?) could give an update I'd love to hear how you're going.0
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