Occasional "starvation" day ?

Is it good sometimes to starve for one day ? I'm just interested whether it does  help somehow your body, does it "cleanse" it, and doesn't it even slightly ruin your metabolism for not eating anything at all but drinking water for one entire day ?

Is it good to exercise during that day ?

A day like that would likely set you up for overeating the next day.  I doubt there are any benefits either...

If you're conducting a fast for religious or spirtual reasons, please contact your religious or spirtual advisor as they'll be better informed of what preparations you should make.

As far as cleanses go, there's nothing like eating a healthy balance of foods (whole grains, good fats, lean protein, fruits and vegetables) to really take care of your body.  If you are inclined to do a low calorie day, then make sure you eat your minimum calories and just spread them out throughout the day so that you're not starving.

No, there is no benefit to starvation.

As the previous posters have said, you would be better off just eating a balanced and healthy diet - otherwise you are just setting yourself up for binge behaviour.

I don't know about starving yourself, but I have done 1 day under 1000 calories to break a plateau. although I could not maintian the weight it did break the plateau, but I wouldn't do it unless you are really stuck and please make sure to take you vitamins!

Original Post by meluko:

I don't know about starving yourself, but I have done 1 day under 1000 calories to break a plateau. although I could not maintian the weight it did break the plateau, but I wouldn't do it unless you are really stuck and please make sure to take you vitamins!

I wouldn't do it at all. You can't maintain it, so why do it?

You'll feel like crap and get no real benefit.

I think it's okay to have a "starvation" day every now and then on accident. Just as I think it's okay to have an occasional overeating day. 

Don't plan starvation days, though. But if you notice that every now and then you haven't reached 1000 calories, don't worry about it. That'll happen to me probably around once or twice a month - usually it's because I'm sick and have no appetite. It'll also happen sometimes if I'm cramping from my period. But it's not something I plan or intend to do. I just don't force myself to eat.

Original Post by cellotlhicks:

Original Post by meluko:

I don't know about starving yourself, but I have done 1 day under 1000 calories to break a plateau. although I could not maintian the weight it did break the plateau, but I wouldn't do it unless you are really stuck and please make sure to take you vitamins!

I wouldn't do it at all. You can't maintain it, so why do it?

You'll feel like crap and get no real benefit.

 Yes, but it helped to break a plateau, there is a point to its use. It should not be used as a strategy for weight loss, but sometimes to break a plateau in weight it can be a useful tool. Its not something I would recommend unless you are absolutely struck, just remember you should be taking a multi-vitamin.

Fasting to break a plateau sounds fairly noniproductive to me, because you are likely to get so hungry you eat more the following day. It's probably the overeating after fasting that breaks the plateau rather than the fast. Calorie Count does not support the use of fasts even for one day for Weight Loss purposes.

See some info below from Ask Mary section of Calorie Count.

Is it safe to do a cleansing fast?

In many cultures, fasting is used to achieve physical, mental and spiritual wellbeing. Brief fasting is harmless, although there is no evidence that it benefits the body. After one day of fasting, the body starts to break down protein from the muscles and organs. Protein is converted into glucose to feed the brain and central nervous system. Less muscle means lower calorie requirements, which can promote weight gain in the future. Food deprivation may also lead to overeating when food is available again. Pregnant and lactating women, growing children, insulin-dependent diabetics, and people taking certain medications should never fast.

Will fasting hinder my attempts to lose weight?

Brief fasting is harmless, but in prolonged fasting, protein from your muscles and organs is converted to glucose to feed your brain.  Since muscle tissue burns a significant number of calories, if you have less muscle, you will need fewer calories and that can make it more difficult to lose weight.  But if you train with weights when you are not fasting, you should be able to retain more muscle during the fast, and build muscle more quickly when the fast is over. Read about strength training with weights from the Guide to Sports Medicine at About.com.

What is the best way to break a five-month plateau?

Use the Calorie Target calculator to find your requirements to lose 0.5 – 1 pound per week.  Stick to that calorie allowance and follow a low fat, high fiber diet.  If you exercise for less than 30 minutes a day, increase it to 60 minutes.  Consider changing to different exercise to burn more calories by taxing new muscles. If you are not lifting weights, start right now because muscle burns calories and so you need a lot. Read about breaking through weight loss plateaus form the Exercise Guide and the Weight Loss Guide at About.com 

What foods do I need to limit to end this plateau?

You probably don’t need to limit any foods, but you do need to start exercising. At a sedentary activity level, you personally need 1200 calories a day to lose 1 lb per week, but with light activity, you can lose the same 1lb on 1500 calories a day. Unless you increase your calorie output, you won’t create the deficit needed for steady weight loss, and exercise prevents some of the metabolic adaptation to low calorie diets as well. Research shows that daily exercise is essential to maintaining the weight you lose. Read about how to make time to exercise at About.com.

i can understand how starving yourself one day to make up for over eatting the day before or breaking a plateu would make sence in people minds, since i was once guilty of it ... but now that i have been reading about nutrition and healthy eatting i relize that its really not that great of an idea.
for one, your proboly just going to over eat again tomorrow
and plus, you feel weak and grumpy and i get REALLY irritable when i get too hungry.

Well, it worked for me and I did not over eat the next day. I am not talking about fasting, I talking about limiting your calorie intake to under 1000 for one day.

There is a difference between fasting which is ZERO calories and I would never advocating that, but you do need to some time reduce your caloric intake to break a plateau. Everyone has a different metabolism, mine is if I do not eat when I am hungry and the hunger passes, I am not hungry.

In fact I have to force myself to eat when this happens, just so it doesn't screw my metabolism up. I see no difference in reducing calories or performing extra regular exercise to get out of a plateau when nothing else is working.

The whole idea here is to lose weight, save the plateau for maintenance!

Original Post by xohmyx:

i can understand how starving yourself one day to make up for over eating the day before or breaking a plateau would make sense in people minds, since i was once guilty of it ... but now that i have been reading about nutrition and healthy eating i realize that its really not that great of an idea.
for one, your proboly just going to over eat again tomorrow
and plus, you feel weak and grumpy and i get REALLY irritable when i get too hungry.

 I am not talking about over eating the day before, I am talking about you are sticking with your diet and exercise plan and the weight chart is moving side ways instead of downward after a few weeks.

Rather than planning to starve, why not just listen to your body? There will be days when you're not as hungry as others. Sometimes you're gonna be hungrier. If you pay attention to your hunger, generally the calories are going to balance out (unless you have an eating disorder, are actually tired, or dehydrated, important factors to take into account :P)