fasting?

hi all,

ive been being quite unhealthy recently cos it was exam time/ end of term. chocolate sweets crisps etc. and cakes!

so i was wondering if fasting for a few days would be a good idea? to get my weight back down quickly and then maintain by going back to my fruit and veg filled diet?

by fasting i dont mean starving myself i mean having alot of water, raw veg + no bread/starchy products?

anyone tried this? let me know.

ames xxxx

It's a terrible idea.  You'd likely not get enough calories and you would definitley be missing lots of important nutrients.

Eat a reasonable amount of healthy balanced food, severly limiting your intake won't counteract poor decisions you made previously and usually just do more harm than good.

Yea, i would agree with floggingsully here. Not eating a balanced meal for a few days, and then going back on a normal diet afterwards usually puts more weight on, rather then keeping weight off.

Yeah, fasting is really bad. It actually kills your metabolism and can make your body go into starvation mode. I do however fast once a week for weighing purposes. Not recommended but I am able to get everything out of my system. 

From personal experience, fasting can be very rigorous and tiring.  It also must be done with special considerations of any possible medical problems. I don't think fasting in and of itself is unhealthy.  It's a practice that has been done for thousands of years for spiritual or health reasons.  It can help cut addictions to sugar and caffeine and detoxify the body from environmental factors and chemicals. 

But for your purposes yo-yoing back and forth by fasting is unhealthy.  Eating lots of junk food and then switching to veggies for a few days will only end up with you eating more junk food when you get off the fast or when things get stressful.  I would recommend a balanced diet of veggies, fruit, whole grains, plenty of water, and small portions of chicken/meat.  You'll lose the weight faster than you think just by sticking to a healthy diet.  And keep it off!! :)

By all means eat plenty of fruit, vegetables and wholegrains rather than sugary junk but there's no need to do anything drastic.   Your liver and kidneys will naturally 'detox' you beautifully if you feed them good food and wash it down with plenty of water.  Get some exercise to burn off the extra calories.  People who rely on purges, fasts or enemas to compensate for their unhealthy eating habits aren't really doing their health any favours.