The "every other day" diet

Hi all! Intermittent fasting... Anyone doing this? I naturally somewhat do this but never realized it was a "thing". I tend to eat decent one day and not be so hungry the next. Was thinking of trying to stick to a schedule. read about the 5:2 diet too but fasting every other day would be better for me. Any thoughts, success stories, etc?

Replies

  • thavoice
    thavoice Posts: 1,326 Member
    Hi all! Intermittent fasting... Anyone doing this? I naturally somewhat do this but never realized it was a "thing". I tend to eat decent one day and not be so hungry the next. Was thinking of trying to stick to a schedule. read about the 5:2 diet too but fasting every other day would be better for me. Any thoughts, success stories, etc?
    Check out the 5:2 groups on here and on facebook.
    Personally, I love it and lost just over 20 in one month.

    I do the 4:3 with fasting m-w-f and eating maintenance on the other 3 days.
    I do it on a 24 hour basis, not a calender day.
    Example dinner sunday at 7pm, fast until mon at 7pm.
    Mon 7pm to tues 7pm will eat maintenance.
    Repeat.

    Many do the 5:2 with success, I am doing the 4/3 fora while to jump start.

    I love it because I still eat the foods I love, just less of them of course, and I dont go a day without because even a fasting day, like yesterday, I can still eat at 7pm tha evening.

    SOme tout eating 500 calories during the fast. Sometimes I do, sometimes I dont.
  • _lyndseybrooke_
    _lyndseybrooke_ Posts: 2,561 Member
    I think I'd rather die than go 24 hours without eating. I'd rather lose weight by eating like a normal person.
    Personally, I love it and lost just over 20 in one month.

    That's extremely unhealthy.
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  • aft85
    aft85 Posts: 54 Member
    i think whether or not you can alternate fasting and eating like that depends on the stability and regularity of your life, to avoid it going out of sync
  • So when your fasting is up at 7pm, are you eating dinner that evening? I will naturally go all day with eating very little and have a small dinner, then I'm more hungry the next day. It's seems to be the natural rhythm of my body Haha. I'd love to check out the group, if I can find it lol!
  • thavoice
    thavoice Posts: 1,326 Member
    So when your fasting is up at 7pm, are you eating dinner that evening? I will naturally go all day with eating very little and have a small dinner, then I'm more hungry the next day. It's seems to be the natural rhythm of my body Haha. I'd love to check out the group, if I can find it lol!
    Yeah. I eat a normal dinner that evening.
    As I said, some tout eating up to 500 during the fasting time, and at times I do but sometimes not.

    Some worry about binging, but for me I find it tougher and tougher to eat up to my maintenance calories in the 24 hour cycle th more I am doing this.
  • Oh I'm a huge night eater too! I may try this to see if it's for me or not. Counting calories isn't working for me anymore. My knees are in bad shape from the extra weight and I'd like to loose a little bit more before I get back I to running and weights (had a baby 2 months ago)
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  • thavoice
    thavoice Posts: 1,326 Member
    I think I'd rather die than go 24 hours without eating. I'd rather lose weight by eating like a normal person.
    Personally, I love it and lost just over 20 in one month.

    That's extremely unhealthy.
    Thanks for your dynamite drop it.

    When I want advice from you I will ask for it.

    During this month not only have I found a healhty medium with eating what I like and in better portions, but my run times have improved, as has my endurance, and the weight lifting has also improved

    Before I could barely get out of bed for work, now I get up an hour earlier and get a run in before my 10-12 hour work day
  • thavoice
    thavoice Posts: 1,326 Member
    Oh I'm a huge night eater too! I may try this to see if it's for me or not. Counting calories isn't working for me anymore. My knees are in bad shape from the extra weight and I'd like to loose a little bit more before I get back I to running and weights (had a baby 2 months ago)
    Oh,you still have to count.
    It just means instead of making sure you eat a deficit every day, you eat/fast at a much bigger deficit the 2-3 days you fast.

    IF you eat alot and bings...it wont help.No way of eating will work if you overeat consistantly
  • I meant as in just counting calories isn't working for me anymore, I need something else and have yet to find it lol
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  • thavoice
    thavoice Posts: 1,326 Member
    I meant as in just counting calories isn't working for me anymore, I need something else and have yet to find it lol
    BUt you still have to count on this, but I think I know what you are getting at.

    I could do this without basically counting and go on feel...but you still internally count them.

    For instance...I could do a fast day and have a bowl of cereal or a sandwich and know its below 500. In a way you are still counting, but it isnt as stressful.

    On feast days I have to stay under 2500. I am at the point now I dont have to meticulously plan and count out because I know what it takes to get to and under that, IF you do it every day having to stay 500-700 under your maintenence...that probably takes a little more effort to document.

    So...yeah, you still count but you can not count......if that makes any sense!
  • _lyndseybrooke_
    _lyndseybrooke_ Posts: 2,561 Member
    I meant as in just counting calories isn't working for me anymore, I need something else and have yet to find it lol

    Sorry, but that's BS. If you eat at a sufficient deficit, you'll lose weight. If you think you're eating at a deficit and you're not losing, then you're not eating at a deficit. You should be weighing and measuring your foods and logging everything that goes into your mouth. That's it. If you're doing everything right and still can't lose, you should see a doctor about a possible thyroid issue. My guess is that you're not doing things like they need to be done.
  • thavoice
    thavoice Posts: 1,326 Member
    I think I'd rather die than go 24 hours without eating. I'd rather lose weight by eating like a normal person.
    Personally, I love it and lost just over 20 in one month.

    That's extremely unhealthy.
    Thanks for your dynamite drop it.

    When I want advice from you I will ask for it.

    During this month not only have I found a healhty medium with eating what I like and in better portions, but my run times have improved, as has my endurance, and the weight lifting has also improved

    Before I could barely get out of bed for work, now I get up an hour earlier and get a run in before my 10-12 hour work day

    Don't take it wrong. It is very bad for the body to lose such large amounts of weight in that time. Typically the maximum for healthy loss is 2 lbs per week. Any faster and you start to bring a lot of muscle along with the fat and it just is not a good thing at all on the body. So, you can relax because anyone who knows anything will tell you the same. I'm happy that it's working for you. Maybe you just had a quick flush and now it's mellowing out. But, that still is not healthy. Also, research suggests that most people that lose weight that way gain it back within a year. Losing it slowly, research suggests that people tend to keep it off over the long term because they settle better into a way of life that doesn't include stuffing their face with food, but is more moderate over a longer period of time. And, they have the benefit of experiencing the ups and downs of weight loss, along with the set backs and binges and they learn how to deal with all that, while they slowly lose the weight.

    In general, 1 lb a week is regarded as a really good rate of loss. The media has bastardized that standard with stupid TV shows and silly cleanses and detoxes that don't really work.

    Yeah..I know. Just didnt like her calling me out like that.

    Much of the early on was a good flush, and since then it has been at 2-3 a week which is within the good limits. I know it will start to slow down and am careful to keep up with weight training during this as the literature pushes.

    I just love the fact I dont have to skimp every day to get the results. Sleep 6-8 hours, and at work where it is easy to regulate food intake and then just have to deal with it for 2-3 hours after work is what works great for me.

    We all know that yeah, weight loss is a numbers game, but it is also a mental game. If you buy into something, and believe in in, and enjoy it, and see results, you are most likely to keep on it.

    My trainer buddy does a 6:1 now to maintain. Very easy to do and allows a complete blowout day if you choose. Makes it so much easier than an every day thing
  • I have been at a steady weight for 2 weeks, even gaining a pound maybe, sticking to 1350 calories a day. (okay okay some days I go a tad over). Maybe I just need different foods or something, switch it up. But I could use something extra and thought intermittent fasting would jump start my weight loss gain.
  • thomaszabel
    thomaszabel Posts: 203 Member
    I simply counted calories and go with the MFP suggestion. On days I saw I was going to go over, I tacked on a few extra miles of running.

    I can't do the fast/non-fast days. I am training for a marathon, and need to get my calories and protein and other macros in.
  • laurenawolf
    laurenawolf Posts: 262 Member
    I have been at a steady weight for 2 weeks, even gaining a pound maybe, sticking to 1350 calories a day. (okay okay some days I go a tad over). Maybe I just need different foods or something, switch it up. But I could use something extra and thought intermittent fasting would jump start my weight loss gain.

    Intermittent fasting is not easy the first few days. If you can't stick to counting calories, then it might be tough for you to stick to fasting, honestly.
  • Jarahal
    Jarahal Posts: 36 Member
    I don't think there is anything wrong with this, I dont think you should completely not eat, but maybe eat very little.
  • GothyFaery
    GothyFaery Posts: 762 Member
    I've never really tried Intermittent fasting but here is a really neat calculator to help you plan and project your weight loss:

    http://www.1percentedge.com/ifcalc/

    I end up bastardizing it to work as a decent weight loss projector and so far it has actually been pretty much spot on.
  • thavoice
    thavoice Posts: 1,326 Member
    I don't think there is anything wrong with this, I dont think you should completely not eat, but maybe eat very little.
    Many tout eating up to 500 calories on your fast day.
    500 can be filling and tolerable espeically when you know the next day you can eat up to your maintenance.
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  • Hi everyone
    I started the 5:2 diet on Thursday last week and so far I've lost 8 lb ! Mind you I do the jillian michaels DVD (20 mins Monday - Friday , weights Monday Wednesday and Friday plus 20 mins treadmill!
    It is a good diet ... I never feel hungry on the feast days and I was a really awful binge eater .... I would recommend the diet to everyone ( and I've tried a few)