Day On Day Off Diet

MeditationMom

This is interesting. Spiritually/psychologically, which is what is always the most interesting to me, this approach takes all the "good/bad" out of the diet thinking. Also, people would feel less that "others" make them go off their diet.

This method has you eat what you want one day, and the next day you only eat 500 calories. Some people report to do better if those 500 calories are mostly protein. Here are the links I found on this so far. There is more if you google it. It seems to be a big hit with yoyo dieters. At the traineo site you can read how much people are losing on this diet.

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn3668
http://www.traineo.com/9_1184_0.html
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn3668

p-nut

IMO restricting to as little as 500 calories in one day, even if it is after a pig-out day, just doesnt seem healthy. Thats not to say it isnt, just my own opinion, but it shud be interesting to see what the more experienced posters have to say on this......

Hanley

All I can think after reading that is "binge and purge".

Chucky the tree

So if i binge drink for one day, then take a day off it wont harm me at all?! Excellnt.



Or not.

juanveron45

do you realise how unhealthy doing something like that is, its like saying the only thing that matters is weightloss and not health, calories arent they only thing that counts nutrition is very very important.

So what your proposing is eat crap one day and next to nothing the next, your body needs nutriets certain foods provide like proteins like chicken/fish/lean cuts of red meat,eggs and carbohydrates like potatoes/brown rice/fresh fruit/porridge/ and veg like broccoli/green beans/brussel sprouts etc

Once you get into the habbit of eating plenty of healthy foods your appetite for crap gets diminished, although is ok to pick one day a week to have a few treats life to too short to be so spartan like that all junkfood is forbiddon forever

People always associate food with pleasure before they eat something but they dont take into account how crap some of these food make you feel after eating them

Have you ever ate a high sugar meal for lunch and felt comatosed an hour later in the afternoon, food literally has drug ike affects on the body,alot more than people realise

g'em

MeditationMom wrote:

This is interesting. Spiritually/psychologically, which is what is always the most interesting to me, this approach takes all the "good/bad" out of the diet thinking. Also, people would feel less that "others" make them go off their diet.

This method has you eat what you want one day, and the next day you only eat 500 calories. Some people report to do better if those 500 calories are mostly protein. Here are the links I found on this so far. There is more if you google it. It seems to be a big hit with yoyo dieters. At the traineo site you can read how much peopler are losing on this diet.

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn3668
http://www.traineo.com/9_1184_0.html
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn3668

Hi MM. First off, just as a word of warning, this thread is likely to get quite a few rather harsh critiques!!

There are lots and lots of people who come to this forum looking to lose weight, and that's a good thing. We try to go out of our way to help people in their endeavors in weight loss but we tend to take it from a more holistic point of view, which hopefully you'll be appreciate given your interest in spirituality Let me explain:

Here we maintain that "Fitness" is about physical health and well-being. At first glance the concept of weight-loss would seem to fit neatly into that category, and it does, but we advocate weight-loss via healthy eating, balanced nutritional meals and regular exercise.

Unfortunately yo-yo dieting and faddy diets don't really follow what being "fit" is all about. In fact yo-yo dieting is very unhealthy for both body and mind and more often than not results in long-term weight gain.

I'm sure there are people who've tried the dieting strategy you've described and succesfully lost weight on it, most diets will. But the real question is whether the weight stays off. My guess would be no.

A diet, by nature, is a restriction of food intake. This causes an energy deficiency in the body and we're forced to burn our own tissues (fat and muscle) to supplement our food energy. But when the diet ends and normal eating patterns are resumed, if the eating patterns are the same as they were pre-diet, the weight will inevitably return and probably more, and the metabolism is left sluggish and suppressed.

The tried and tested most succesful weight loss plan is really quite simple. That is to say, the idea behind it is simple, putting it into action may not always be quite so easy. But it's entirely do-able and just requires some initial effort. It basically involves:

- eating small, frequent meals throughout the day to maintain a high metabolism
- avoiding all processed foods
- getting lots of fruit and veg in the daily eating plan
- eating protein with every meal (lean meats, eggs, nuts, pulses, fish)
- keeping highly processed carbs ("white" foods like white bread, pasta, rice) to an absolute minimum and instead using wholemeal substitutes
- eating plenty of good fats from nuts, oils, fish, avocadoes
- drinking lots of water and green tea (if you like it!!)

This is just the bare basics of balanced healthy eating and there's lots more information about it in the stickies. It doesn't matter if you're an athlete, a student, an office worker, a parent or weekend warrior, the same basic nutritional guidelines apply to us all.

I would suggest you avoid the inevitable heartache that will come with yo-yo dieting and instead have a think about how to incorporate some (and hopefully all - eventually!!) of these ideas into your daily habits, and if you've any questions just ask!

MeditationMom

More on that Upday Downday Diet - remember, I am never endorsing anything. Also I am not going on this diet. I just thought you might enjoy knowing about this in general. This is the more educational link I should have posted to begin with.

http://www.johnsonupdaydowndaydiet.samsbiz.com/

by g'em -But it's entirely do-able and just requires some initial effort. It basically involves:

- eating small, frequent meals throughout the day to maintain a high metabolism
- avoiding all processed foods
- getting lots of fruit and veg in the daily eating plan
- eating protein with every meal (lean meats, eggs, nuts, pulses, fish)
- keeping highly processed carbs ("white" foods like white bread, pasta, rice) to an absolute minimum and instead using wholemeal substitutes
- eating plenty of good fats from nuts, oils, fish, avocadoes
- drinking lots of water and green tea (if you like it!!)
-

This wholistic view is exactly where I am coming from. It is in a nutshell the Macrobiotic way of eating for healthy people. For sick people there are special diets. I am so happy you posted this. I have lived this and taught this my whole life and raised five healthy children that way. I just need some help sticking to it lately, since those sweets and coffee have snuck back into my life a little too much this winter. The weight-loss, as I said, is not the main thing to me at all. It is always a nice side effect from good habits.

g'em

MeditationMom wrote:

This wholistic view is exactly where I am coming from. It is in a nutshell the Macrobiotic way of eating for healthy people. For sick people there are special diets. I am so happy you posted this. I have lived this and taught this my whole life and raised five healthy children that way. I just need some help sticking to it lately, since those sweets and coffee have snuck back into my life a little too much this winter. The weight-loss, as I said, is not the main thing to me at all. It is always a nice side effect from good habits.

Excellent!! Well good on you so, and if this is the kind of nutritional plan you follow regulalry you're already doing better than most If you're having trouble with parts of it, can you identify specifically the areas that are hard?

i.e. is it after dinner snacks? Or can't resist biscuits with tea? Eating your kids' leftovers? (I'm not trying to sound frivolous with the last one- lots of people do it and it can add up to the equivalent of eating an extra dinner every day !!)

Once we can work out where the hard parts are we can address how to go about remedying them, so hopefully we'll help you stick to the best laid plans after all

MeditationMom

g'em - how did you know?

Those two exactly. Can't resist that chocolate chip cookie after dinner - and that is just a "recent" three year habit. And the kid's left overs - that's the other one. Over the day I think you're right, it is an additional meal. Mostly english muffins - the equivalent of an extra english muffin a day, apples, leftover pesto pasta, left over oatmeal with cinnamon sugar.

And, since I have been posting - it's the kid's leftovers that I have avoided for the last three days. Yeah!! Too embarrassing to post when you've sworn to tell the truth. Rooted in the old "don't waste food" attitude, but since posting it has been a bit easier to through the food out. It used to be a good diet for me, since I cooked well for the kids and then didn't eat anything else, but since my hubby is home more and we like to cook - well, that one has to go. Not the hubby - the left over snacking

Any tricks or recommendations to make that easier?

g'em

I'd love to say it's down to my unique psychic powers but the truth is most people succumb to the same habits!!

There aren't really any tricks or easy ways out of it - for the most part it really involves you saying to yourself "Step.. away.. from the biscuit tin... slowly... slowly"

If you have a sweet tooth after dinner have fruit or yoghurt. If you find yourself picking at the kids' leftovers get them to clear up and put their food in the bin (if they're old enough!!). Most of the time you want actually *need* the food, but as it's there in front of you, you'll eat it. And the same with the biccies - we can train ourselves to associate cups of tea with sweet things, it's a habit more than anything else. So try to find behaviours to replace that. Go for a walk or do something with the kids, put off your cup of tea until later. Or, if you find yourself craving a food, drink a big glass of water and wait ten minutes. If you're really hungry you can eat (although ideally some nuts or fruit not biscuits ), but if it's just a craving it'll pass.

rubadub

MeditationMom wrote:

Any tricks or recommendations to make that easier?

Make smaller portion sizes. If the kids are still hungry they can eat something like an apple that will not require cooking.

I know 2 girls that have lunch together, both buy same amount but one is really picky, throws a lot out, and usually leaves some which the other one eats. But if you asked them they would say they had eaten the same amount, even though one could be eating over 50% more.

There was TV program that showed 2 friends who claimed the same, yet they gave them some water with an additive and it showed the thin one ate less than the bigger one. Not huge amounts, but the math added up. It was dispelling the myth of naturally high/low metabolism. A thin person has less tissue to support/move about so needs less energy.

Instead of "wasted food", I had a notion of "wasted energy". So if the oven or stove was on I would cook a lot planning on saving it for later, but scoffing the lot within an hour. If you have to cook each time by the time you get out a pan & heat it up etc the craving is usually gone.

MeditationMom

Thanks - good ideas.

The water thing - I am convinced I often eat when I am actually thirsty. All the little snacking is getting a lot better just by posting - which I have been behind on - but thinking of posting alone is helping.

Once I break this habitual impulse - it is almost a cleaning up impulse - so making the kids clean up more is a great idea, too - it will be a lot easier.

And, I'll become a picky eater. I like that. To me that is someone who is paying attention to the messages from the body while eating. Maybe it is the higher brain centers versus the body cravings, but there is definitely two things going on. One noisier than the other. One almost has to be in a more relaxed, humble, listening attitude rather than a boisterous, energetic, or even rushed one. Rushed - does that sound familiar to the Moms here?