Every Other Day Eating

Wanted to see if any other members have ever tried this before. Fasting for short periods are supposed to have all kinds of benefits; maintenance of bodyweight (not weight loss) lower rates of major diseases; diabetes, cardiovascular, and cancer, lower blood pressure.

I have been fasting for 21 hours straight and intend on eating from 6pm tonight til 6pm tommorow night when I will then resume the fast.  Definitely lower energy today but hasn't kept me from normal routine.

The possibility of feeling better on a regular basis and not worrying about counting calories daily plus the possibility of a longer, healthier life are appealing to me.

What do you think?

http://caloriecount.about.com/fasting-prevent -cancer-ft110874

I posted about this before. The article in my thread talked about bunches of benefits.  But I still feel you need a healthy diet in general. Doing the whole fasting things won't work for you health benefit wise if you cram mcdonalds down your throat the following day, ya know what I mean??

It's overrated. There are some benefits to fasting perhaps 1-2 times a year, for health or religious reasons (Muslims fast durring daylight hours for one month per year.) But you don't need to fast in order to be healthy.

This is coming from someone who used to fast a couple of times per year for 4-5 days or so (juice fast) and eventually found them to be unhelpful. I read about them, I tried it, I moved on. Anyway, it's your decision, but here is my 2 cents, one person who did not benefit from fasting.

I would pass out.  I can't go without food for more than a couple of hours anymore. I've heard mixed things about fasting, though, but I know some people that do a juice fast once in a while. They say it helps improve digestion and brain function, etc. 

I'll stick with my solid food but I'm interested to hear how it turns out for you! Best of luck.

I heard about the "AMAZING" benefits second hand, so I tried it. I lasted a week until I cracked and binged. And when I say binge, I mean binge. Since then, I decided to eat every 2-4 hours and I feel way better emotionally as well as physically.

Fasting no more then once a month could be beneficial to some people. It could potentially allow people more room for “ error”

However, fasting would only give you this benefit if you can continue exactly as you normally would: for example, if you stay within your calories mot of the time, and have the odd occasion where you eat a little extra, then you should still maintain this normal behavior if you fast.

If fasting makes you change your normal behavior then it is not going to help you.

Fasting occasionally can only give you more room for “ off days” but you should not fast because you want to be able to eat more then you already do; having on days fast specifically so you can alter your normal plan is not healthy.

BE CAREFUL - certain people cannot fast without eventually binging. Once a month could possible be okay, but any more then that and you ate likely to have too large a deficit and your body will inevitably catch up with you and let you know it wants more food, which can result in a binge

Eating as many natural unaltered raw foods and proteins with as little man made additives and chemicals as possible will detox your body more then a fast will. You body struggles to process certain things, and fasting will not effectively eliminate ALL the impurities and etc if you do not make permanent changed to your diet.

I used to do up-day down-day when I first started dieting, and lost some weight.  I'd like to do it again but I don't have the kind of self-control it requires.  Kudos to you though.  Up/Down worked for me, and your method just seems like a more extreme version.

Just wanted to let everyone know I am still on the  Every Other Day- EOD routine.  At first, I did find myself binging when my "on" day started. Or my stomach shrunk from not eating for 24 hours and it seemed I was a lot fuller than normal when I resumed eating.  Ok, I must confess I did binge for the first 2 days upon resuming eating.

This eating plan does take a lot of self discipline but I am getting used to it.  I also will eat small amounts of food on my off day if I am at a social function/party or a consume small amount of calories to curb hunger. I also drink about a half gallon of water a day on off days.

I normally eat healthy amounts of fruits and vegetables and on my ON eating  day that is still the case but have eaten more toxic foods (like McDonald's).

I  have more energy than normal in the last two weeks but there have been brief energy "slumps" on some of the "off days" and the occasional hunger pain. And I am moodier than normal when not eating. but that is manageable.

My blood pressure numbers have improved slightly, and have been measuring on both on/off days.  I don't have high blood pressure but am not too far from it. My seasonal allergies seem better on my "off" day.

I will continue this EOD routine and post to let you know how well I do.  It's not as hard as I thought and may adopt this "eating lifestyle" but right now it is an experiment.

If I had large weight fluctuations due to diets or had a history of binging I would avoid this way of nourishing the body. Or if you are high strung, moody or temper-mental you may want to avoid this, or are dealing with any serious health issues. But I'm feeling good about this for me .

Since I'm not generally a big fan of counting calories for everything I eat (though, as a new member to the site, I'm hoping it will be easier now), my doctor had suggested trying a "fasting day" one or two days a week (of course, not in a row). He told me more than two fasting days in a week would be more detrimental than beneficial. The important thing to keep in mind is that on the "off" days, I wasn't to consume ANY calories -- really just drink lots and LOTS of water.

I tried it for about a week, and couldn't do it. He'd warned me that it's not for everyone. But if you can handle it, then all the more power to you! I think, though, that every other day is too infrequent to be eating; check with your physician, since he/she is supposed to be an expert, right?

You may not worry about having to count calories to prevent overeating, but I am concerned with an EOD approach you may actually end up UNDEREATING, especially as you continue to do it long-term.

It really sounds like a bad idea to me, unhealthy, and I strongly recommend you do not pursue this diet.

Calorie Count's mission is to promote healthy and sustainable weight management.

Here is some info from our in-house nutritionist Mary Hartley on her "Ask Mary" page:

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.

Sophomore year of college. Trying to lose the Freshman 70 (I went off of Paxil and it was a big old mess. I ate Ben and Jerries and candy before bed every night. Just gosh awful). So... Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday were "fasting" days. I walked - to class, but also aerobically, and ate 1 bag of those fat free potato chips with olestra. Grand total = 350. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday were free days and now I understand that those were more like binges. Probably in the area of 4,000-5,000 calories on those days. I lost a lot of weight, and I was loopy and had to not only kick the fasting cycle but kick the BINGEING ALL DAY on days when I was "allowed" to eat cycle.

It may trick your metabolism but I don't think its a good way to go through life. It was HARD to start eating normally again, really and truly HARD, and it reinforced the binge mentality or starve mentality. Nope. I can't say I recommend it.

Tried it.  Lead to binging. Lead to purging. Lead to fasting. Lead to binging. Lead to purging....   get it?

i agree and have had similar experiences as the above two :/

nevertheless, good luck mkp6652 - let us know how it continues to pan out for you.  Also I'm curious what your GP has to say about your EOD routine..

agreed with all three above me. it's way too easy to get into the fast-binge-guilt-fast-binge-guilt-repeat cycle, and it makes you very sick. even if you don't lose weight, or even gain (like i did), you're still pretty nutritionally deficit because you bet i didn't care about fruits or vegetables or lean meats when i ate again. i wanted cakes, and muffins, and candy!

it's just stupid because your body isn't mean to eat every other day. and if you're eating small amounts of calories, you're not fasting, you're starving (which is incredibly different). it also is going to severely impact your social life, whether you say it or not. eventually you'll get tired of the "would you just EAT!" comments. you shouldn't let food control you, whether you're eating too much or not eating at all.

I still at this EOD approach.  I find it is getting easier for me.  I no longer have the urge to binge after an "off day".  I also am interested in healthier food versus the urge to feast on convenience foods/fast foods.

Lipo posted about not letting food control me.  The great thing about this for me (at this stage in the game) is I feel totally in control over my food habits. My cravings for ice cream and cookies are not the same as they were.  But I don't avoid all foods that are not healthy.  Just a sense of control I feel.

I didn't feel that way until recently.  I don't experience as much low back pain as I used to, my BP numbers are good.  My moods on days when I don't eat are better.  My energy levels are greater on both on/off days although I have had small battles on "off eating days" from time to time.  I remedy this with a piece of fruit.  My seasonal allergies are still there.  Hard to say if they are slightly better or the same.  My sex drive has increased.  My wife thinks this is because I have returned to college and enjoy looking at the younger girls. Perhaps! :)

I have also noticed that my body fat levels are lower while my weight has decreased a couple of pounds.  So I am basically losing fat.

I am getting all nutrients in my diet.  I look better and feel better. This lifestyle has gotten easier.

I will continue to post.  Bottom line is EOD is working for me and maybe down the road more research will bear out long-term benefits for the masses.

I love my GP and may decide to enlighten him into this "eating style" I pretty much know his stance on this.  I will listen to my own body.  When I have an ache or pain I will consult him.

I'm glad to see all the posts about potential negative consequences about this type of "diet".  This isn't for everybody and I have no idea on how long I will continue.  I must admit I don't want to look like an oddity even to my own family.  The social pressure is there but I take comfort in how I feel and the mirror and see no stopping now.  The benefits outweigh the negative. also, remember that I am eating every 24 hours and my fasting will include a small amount of calories.

Best wishes to all

I can't see how there could be any benefit to this.  Obviously just my opinion- but this could lead to disordered eating.

instinctively, I would probably agree with the above statement.  But honestly? mkp really seems to be approaching this in an extremely health-conscious, objective way. 

The human body is such a strange and amazing thing.  No one body is the same.  Perhaps this is indeed working for mkp. 

Good luck! Keep us informed :)