Every Other Day Diet--anyone else on this diet?

I started in January, still going strong! I have lost nearly 40 lbs and it feels like something I can do a version of forever. I know meal timing is not supposed to matter, but I find I lose best when I wait to eat until dinner on my fast days. Have u checked out the forum over on lowcarbfriends for JUDDD? I am not low carb, but it's a great group of ladies who have had much success with EOD. Good luck!

"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."

^^ This was my favorite exchange of this whole thread! And for the record, I used EOD but without any calories at all on fast days, and then Warrior Diet window on Feast days. And don't worry, I can put down some serious cals in a short window.

In my many years of Yo-yo dieting, something I am not proud of, I have found that when I "diet" I think about food constantly and that is what gets me in trouble.

I started doing the 16:8 fast and It was great, I didn't think about food and I enjoyed the extra time saved from not having to make breakfast in the morning. But weight loss was a little slow. I did more searching and found 5:2 which lead me to read Dr. Varady's work.

Ten years of study and still studying, on human subjects, not mice, not theory, human studies. And not just any humans, obese humans, people like me. Her findings and her research led me to give it a go. So far I am liking it, though I admit that the first few feed days I did over eat by a lot, I still lost a little bit. As the time progressed my feast days became less feast like.

I don't think it is unhealthy or unnatural, (and ten years of studies saying it is safe). I sometimes wonder if the "norm" of eating constantly is natural. I certainly don't feel normal when I am constantly fussing, worrying and thinking about food. I find the every other day diet way of eating is incredibly freeing.

I am doing 5:2 and love it. It is the first diet that I do not feel constantly deprived. I eat 500 calories twice a week and close to my TDEE on other 5 days. Once I have lost the weight, I plan to eat TDEE everyday as that should maintain.

amusedmonkey - thanks for your input on EOD, have you ever done 4:3? I am interested in that only because I could do same 3 every week.

good luck to anybody trying it.

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!

We definitely understand what you're talking about without having to read the book. Previous posters just tried to explain that if you're not in a caloric deficit overall, on average, then you still won't lose weight. If I eat 10,000 calories on my feast days and only 500 on my fast days, I will be eating well over 30,000 calories per week. If I eat above 15,400 on a weekly average, I will gain weight.

So this method may work for you and, yes, the science behind CAN be completely sound if one is still in an average deficit, but this may not work for everybody. I am glad that you found something that is giving you results. Good job! If you're weight loss stalls at some point, consider setting a maximum caloric intake on those days and keep on losing until you reach your goal!

We definitely understand what you're talking about without having to read the book. Previous posters just tried to explain that if you're not in a caloric deficit overall, on average, then you still won't lose weight. If I eat 10,000 calories on my feast days and only 500 on my fast days, I will be eating well over 30,000 calories per week. If I eat above 15,400 on a weekly average, I will gain weight.

To be blunt, duh. No one is going to eat 10,000 calories on a feast day, or expect to lose weight if they do. This has been the one tired argument constantly made by people NOT on the diet who have no idea how feast day eating is limited by common sense, a shrunken stomach AND the diet guidelines... IN THE BOOK!

I totally agree. On feast days I eat all my heart desires, within reason. I don't track calories as I eat them, I just keep a note of them on the side. In the evening when I log everything I usually come in at around 1800-2500

I totally agree. On feast days I eat all my heart desires, within reason. I don't track calories as I eat them, I just keep a note of them on the side. In the evening when I log everything I usually come in at around 1800-2500

I've been logging everything because I've only been on the diet for 4 weeks, but more out of interest in seeing how my macros break down than for any fear of going overboard. I average 2000 on my feast days. Have you lost the whole 41kg on EOD? such an amazing outcome!

No, I haven't lost it all on this diet. I'm an easily bored person so I switch around my approach ever so often. Most of the time I just eat within a range (800-maintenance) depending on the kinds of food I feel like having that day, but the progress can be slow since at times I spend weeks in maintenance, especially when my mother gets the baking bug. I resort to EOD or other strict approaches when I'm close to a certain personal milestone and want a quick rush to reach it, then I usually revert to just eating whatever I want. Sometimes I just randomly get curious about a certain diet and try it out for a couple of weeks.

The main key to losing for me was to take the easiest route at all times and not to stress myself too much about overeating/undereating or even macros. I have a problem hitting my ideal protein and that made me into a nervous wreck trying to gulp down things I didn't like just to hit it, then I decided to go for a very reasonable and easy to hit target (a minimum of 50 grams per day) even though it's quite low. Losing a bit of muscle is fine for me if it keeps me from quitting all together because of fussing too much.

That said, EOD diet works like a charm for me when I decide to go on it.

It works exactly the way any other diet works. Calories in are less than calories out. It isn't a magic bullet. Great if it works for you, but any "science" that says it works better than other diets is bogus. This woman is just taking your money and telling you things you could look up on the internet for free. If you spend a dime on learning how to diet, you are being taken for a fool.

There is no "easy" way to lose weight. :laugh:

It works exactly the way any other diet works. Calories in are less than calories out. It isn't a magic bullet. Great if it works for you, but any "science" that says it works better than other diets is bogus. This woman is just taking your money and telling you things you could look up on the internet for free. If you spend a dime on learning how to diet, you are being taken for a fool.

There is no "easy" way to lose weight. :laugh:

What you're saying is actually true. It's all about calories and there is no easy way to lose weight (although there an easiest and smartest way for each individual). The author does not make any of the above claims. The science is legit and published specifically for this diet. It's actually the only diet book that I didn't groan while reading. No outrageous claims, not magic promises, no claims that it's better than other diets, just an approach to regulate calories in a way where it is possible to eat respectable quantities of the high calorie foods you like, with strategies and fun studies thrown in.

I actually bought the book knowing exactly how the diet works without it. I bought it for the fun of reading. I was curious to see what is this book that, for once, does not push some "what they won't tell you" agenda. I did not need to learn how to diet, as you can see from my tracker I already know how to, but where is the fun in not being curious and hungry for knowledge or plain good reading time?

This woman is just taking your money and telling you things you could look up on the internet for free. If you spend a dime on learning how to diet, you are being taken for a fool. ...

Education is the best money spent, if you ask me. And a book is about the cost of one fast food meal.

I wish more people would read diet books. It'd help them spot the obvious diet myths all over the internet, including here.

If we were talking about fat burner pills, I'd agree.

I'm currently following the 5:2 diet and enjoy it, it helps with my ibs symptoms and was recommended by my consultant. It's not the same as the alternative days you want to do but happy it you want a buddy that won't judge :-)

First time ever I've not felt deprived on a "diet" I'm doing 5:2; some weeks 4:3, depending on my mood. I look forward to the fasting days. It's refreshing almost.

It's amazing how on 1500/day restriction I was always wanting something..always felt deprived. I can do those diets, but for me it's not sustainable, I'd fizzle out after about 3wks...start adding "cheat" days, then fall off the wagon. With 5:2 there are no restrictions. I can eat anything I want, tomorrow I'm finding though I don't want the same things I wanted while on restriction diets. I crave different things now. A run through a drive-thru window is allowed, every other day if I want it. Did I want it before while struggling on 1500 calories a day? You bet I did, strangely though, I've no desire now. "Feast" days are naturally controlled, as my appetite is not ravenous (counter-intuitive I know, but it's true!) I'm usually not even thinking about food until the afternoon as I'm still feeling great from the fasting day.

I log everything, because I'm still pretty new to this way of eating, the only challenge I'm having is eating up to TDEE on non-fasting days. The books say "eat normally" so I don't worry too much about the calories, just eat until satisfied. Normal for me is not CRAZY, its not "cheating", it's not I can eat ANYTHING and in huge quantities, normal, is normal. Normal is maintenance, normal is not gaining even without fasting days. Normal is easy, when you don't feel deprived or restricted.

It's truly amazing how well you learn to know your body so well on fasting days. You KNOW what true hunger and exactly what every degree leading up to it feels like, intimately. I can now truly feel the difference between thirst, boredom, habit and true hunger... these were all blurred before. It's been a truly wonderful, life changing experience for me, and the bonus is... I've actually lost weight!

Anyone looking for ADF or 5:2 friends, please feel free to add me, my diary is public.

i think my nephew is doing this..as he posts pizza and all sorts of junk food on the feast days. then on other days.he posts pictures of steamed broccoli. He is a nerd…and very smart…so i'm sure it is a diet that works.

but I will add the one thing i know for sure. HOW YOU LOSE YOUR WEIGHT IS HOW YOU WILL HAVE TO MAINTAIN YOUR WEIGHT !!!!!

so if you want to starve every other day of your life for the rest of your life.. go for it. if not. .you will YOU WILL GAIN IT ALL BACk!

this truth is the same for low carb diets…popping pills diet…and extreme exercise diets. HOW YOU LOSE IT IS HOW YOU HAVE TO MAINTIAN IT!

So, pick a plan that you can live with if you want long lasting results.

I truly believe that my weight gain is due to my emotional relationship with food - I eat when I'm depressed, I eat to celebrate, I eat to feel comfortable and I eat to reward myself - or used to, anyway. I do not think that a fast/feast diet will ever correct my deep-seated emotional issues that have caused my overeating, which is what I really need to be working on in order to maintain a healthy weight for the rest of my life. So I wouldn't do this diet, and I'd advise most emotional eaters against it too.

That said, each to their own. We're all in this for ourselves ultimately.

Along these lines, it's also probably not a good idea for people who are prone to disordered eating as it could trigger both binge eating and severely restricting tendencies.

Yes, I use it all the time. Love the plan.