Alternate Day Fasting Diet

Tiddlypeeps

The basic premis is that you eat only 500 calories every other day, and eat your normal amount of calories on the other days.

http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/diet/reviews/alternate-day-fasting.htm

A friend recently told me they were on this diet and described it pretty much as what's on the page linked. The only difference they described was that they fasted just twice a week instead of every other day because they weren't trying to loose weight.

My immediate reaction is that it should have the opposite effect to what it claims. Instead of boosting your metabolism I would imagine it would slow it down because of the body going into starvation mode. I have no idea how long it takes for your body to go into starvation mode tho, so my gut reaction could be totally wrong.

This diet probably will result in most people loosing weight because of the drastic reduction in calorie intake. What I want to know is weather the benefits of eating this way are real or is it better to just reduce calorie intake by the same amount everyday?

--Kaiser--

Tiddlypeeps wrote: »

The basic premis is that you eat only 500 calories every other day, and eat your normal amount of calories on the other days.

http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/diet/reviews/alternate-day-fasting.htm

A friend recently told me they were on this diet and described it pretty much as what's on the page linked. The only difference they described was that they fasted just twice a week instead of every other day because they weren't trying to loose weight.

My immediate reaction is that it should have the opposite effect to what it claims. Instead of boosting your metabolism I would imagine it would slow it down because of the body going into starvation mode. I have no idea how long it takes for your body to go into starvation mode tho, so my gut reaction could be totally wrong.

This diet probably will result in most people loosing weight because of the drastic reduction in calorie intake. What I want to know is weather the benefits of eating this way are real or is it better to just reduce calorie intake by the same amount everyday?

Do you know what starvation is? Starvation occurs after weeks without food, not days. Most people should be able to go a few days without food without any issues. If you want to read about the benefits, look up intermittent fasting

Tiddlypeeps

--Kaiser-- wrote: »

Do you know what starvation is? Starvation occurs after weeks without food, not days. Most people should be able to go a few days without food without any issues. If you want to read about the benefits, look up intermittent fasting

Starvation mode is probably a bad term for it. I've heard that if you skip meals and eat a lot less calories than the body needs then the bodies metabolism slows down. I have also read the opposite on sites talking about intermittent fasting.

I'm not a dietician so I have no idea which school of thought is actually correct. That's why I'm on here looking for a discussion.

The Dagda

It's a relatively easy way to cut your calorie intake. There's no downside.