Starting 4:3 alternate day fasting

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Ladybird1103
Ladybird1103 Posts: 36 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
After reading two books (and countless articles) on the subject of intermittent fasting, I'm finally ready to give it a real go. Beyond the potential weight loss, there seem to be many other health benefits achieved by fasting and I'm excited to try it.

I'm over half way through week one and so far enjoying it. I've decided to start with 4:3 (3 days "fasting" on 500 calories, and 4 days eating "normally". If that works, I will eventually move to 5:2). After two fast days this week, I'm really suprised that I haven't binged on food. I definitely feel free to eat more on non-fast days...I eat whenever I'm hungry, but I get full faster and just knowing that I can eat more frees me from the "diet" mindset.

My biggest struggle initially was figuring out what eating "normally" is for me....what does that mean exactly? Based on my reading and calcuations, I can eat enough calories to maintain my current weight 4 days out of the week. I changed my goal in MFP to "maintain current weight" which gives me 1,800 cals a day on those non-fast days. I'm still tracking everything I eat, on fast days AND non-fast days. After going from 1,200 a day, 1,800 feels amazing!

Anyone have positive/negative experience with this technique? I won't know how it works until I weigh myself on Monday morning. I've lost 25 pounds so far using MFP, but have been hovering at the the same weight (165) for over a long time. Hoping this will get the last 25 pounds off!

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  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    I've tried 5:2 - I would never do 4:3 because I'm close to goal. 4:3 is very aggressive unless you have lots of weight to lose.

    Anyway, if you are okay with the 500 calorie days....good for you. I just zig-zag now, lower calories during the week (1200) and maintenance Friday thru Sunday.
  • LosingLaurensWay
    LosingLaurensWay Posts: 86 Member
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    Just be careful of where you are getting your information from and who is saying it. I've lost 170+ pounds by eating a healthy, clean diet based on my height and body weight with daily exercise (basically how your Doctor or Nutritionist would tell you to do it).

    Plateaus happen, I've gone through nine of them (one even lasted six months). If you are stuck in one I suggest changing your diet (more natural foods) and a slight increase in exercise before doing something like this.
  • tiffkittyw
    tiffkittyw Posts: 366 Member
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    I still don't quite get how the 5:2 would work. A pound a week is 3,500 calories so to lose a pound in 2 days is a deficit of 1,750 a day. If you add the 500 calories you eat that is 2,250 you would have to burn (TDEE) those 2 days. I don't ever burn that much. I guess some people do, but it just seems difficult to lose weight on that plan.
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
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    tiffkittyw wrote: »
    I still don't quite get how the 5:2 would work. A pound a week is 3,500 calories so to lose a pound in 2 days is a deficit of 1,750 a day. If you add the 500 calories you eat that is 2,250 you would have to burn (TDEE) those 2 days. I don't ever burn that much. I guess some people do, but it just seems difficult to lose weight on that plan.



    You don't have to burn off those "extra" Calories in just those two days.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    tiffkittyw wrote: »
    I still don't quite get how the 5:2 would work. A pound a week is 3,500 calories so to lose a pound in 2 days is a deficit of 1,750 a day. If you add the 500 calories you eat that is 2,250 you would have to burn (TDEE) those 2 days. I don't ever burn that much. I guess some people do, but it just seems difficult to lose weight on that plan.

    Your entire deficit comes from 2 days. For example if my TDEE is 1,800....then my deficit for the 2 days of dieting is 1800 x 2 - (500 x 2) = 2,600 calories. That's .74 pounds a week.........Not bad for 2 days of dieting.

    I'm not at a place where I can expect (or even want to lose 1 pound a week). Closer to goal, weekly weight loss goals should decrease. Like I said above, 4:3 for those with more weight to lose.....5:2 for less to lose.

    Large deficits when you are merely overweight makes it hard for your body to support existing lean muscle mass.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    TR0berts wrote: »
    tiffkittyw wrote: »
    I still don't quite get how the 5:2 would work. A pound a week is 3,500 calories so to lose a pound in 2 days is a deficit of 1,750 a day. If you add the 500 calories you eat that is 2,250 you would have to burn (TDEE) those 2 days. I don't ever burn that much. I guess some people do, but it just seems difficult to lose weight on that plan.



    You don't have to burn off those "extra" Calories in just those two days.

    This too^

    If I wanted 1 pound a week I could exercise (beyond my usual TDEE)....to increase the deficit for the week.
  • tiffkittyw
    tiffkittyw Posts: 366 Member
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    TR0berts wrote: »
    tiffkittyw wrote: »
    I still don't quite get how the 5:2 would work. A pound a week is 3,500 calories so to lose a pound in 2 days is a deficit of 1,750 a day. If you add the 500 calories you eat that is 2,250 you would have to burn (TDEE) those 2 days. I don't ever burn that much. I guess some people do, but it just seems difficult to lose weight on that plan.



    You don't have to burn off those "extra" Calories in just those two days.

    It just seemed like you would have to since your eating at your TDEE the other 5 days. If you're losing less than 1 lb a week it makes sense to me.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    tiffkittyw wrote: »
    I still don't quite get how the 5:2 would work. A pound a week is 3,500 calories so to lose a pound in 2 days is a deficit of 1,750 a day. If you add the 500 calories you eat that is 2,250 you would have to burn (TDEE) those 2 days. I don't ever burn that much. I guess some people do, but it just seems difficult to lose weight on that plan.

    If your maintenance TDEE is 2250 and you eat 500 for two days, that means a loss of a pound a week.

    (2*2250) - (2*500) = 4500 - 1000 = 3500

    2250 is not an unusually high TDEE for many people so it's definitely doable. Also, not everybody aims to lose 1 pound per week. It's a safe rate for many people but it's not a required rate.
  • Ladybird1103
    Ladybird1103 Posts: 36 Member
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    Part of the reason I'm starting with 4:3 instead of 5:2 is I want to lose faster.
    Here is how I think of it:
    3 days a week I eat 500 cals
    4 days a week I eat 1,800 cals
    Total weekly cals: 8,700

    If you divide 8,700 by seven days in a week, thats roughly 1,200 cals a day. If I eat 1,200 cals a day, I do lose weight (about 1-2 pounds a week)....but unfortunately I feel deprived ALL the time, and in that constant state of dieting I OBSESS about what I can and can't eat. This method provides the same overall calorie count for the week, but allows me to eat like a normal person *most* of the time.
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
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    Ladybird1103 wrote: »
    Part of the reason I'm starting with 4:3 instead of 5:2 is I want to lose faster.
    Here is how I think of it:
    3 days a week I eat 500 cals
    4 days a week I eat 1,800 cals
    Total weekly cals: 8,700

    If you divide 8,700 by seven days in a week, thats roughly 1,200 cals a day. If I eat 1,200 cals a day, I do lose weight (about 1-2 pounds a week)....but unfortunately I feel deprived ALL the time, and in that constant state of dieting I OBSESS about what I can and can't eat. This method provides the same overall calorie count for the week, but allows me to eat like a normal person *most* of the time.

    One reason you might feel deprived all the time is because your deficit is too aggressive and you aren't finding it sustainable; it's a common problem. That said, while the deficit is aggressive, it sounds doable if it works for you. I don't think I'd ever be able to eat 500 calories a day once a week, let alone 3 (obviously, alternate day fasting isn't for me).

    I guess try it out and see how you do. If you feel faint or have problems STOP. And perhaps consider a more reasonable deficit if you can't find a way to make your aggressive deficit work.
  • SkinnyFit_105
    SkinnyFit_105 Posts: 7 Member
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    I'm starting 4:3 as well, I'm hoping it will help with my terrible bingeing habit. I will be doing a complete fast on fasting days, which means no food at all for 24 hours, I'm an all or nothing type of person and I know if I start eating on my fast day I wont stop at 500. Good Luck to you!
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
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    Ladybird1103 wrote: »
    Part of the reason I'm starting with 4:3 instead of 5:2 is I want to lose faster.
    Here is how I think of it:
    3 days a week I eat 500 cals
    4 days a week I eat 1,800 cals
    Total weekly cals: 8,700

    If you divide 8,700 by seven days in a week, thats roughly 1,200 cals a day. If I eat 1,200 cals a day, I do lose weight (about 1-2 pounds a week)....but unfortunately I feel deprived ALL the time, and in that constant state of dieting I OBSESS about what I can and can't eat. This method provides the same overall calorie count for the week, but allows me to eat like a normal person *most* of the time.

    When you do 5:2, you are supposed to fast for two days at 500 calories or so and eat at maintenance the other days of the week.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5:2_diet
    The 5:2 diet, or fast diet, is a fad diet which stipulates calorie restriction for two non-consecutive days a week and unconstrained eating the other five days.
  • Mediocrates55
    Mediocrates55 Posts: 326 Member
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    Maybe 1800 is the OP's maintenance? Mine is around 1800, though I'm short, middle age, female, and already reasonably light. I just don't do that much on non-exercise days.
  • lulalacroix
    lulalacroix Posts: 1,082 Member
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    I have been doing some intermittent fasting myself. I'm trying to figure out which structure works best for me. I'm sending you a friend request because I'd love to follow how this works for you. :)

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