Quote:
Originally Posted by Karriegem
Nibbles, do you mean that you didn't eat anything at all on alternate days?Just out of interest - how effective did you find the diet? How much did you lose in the month?
K x
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That's right, Karriegem. I only ate every other day. I drank a lot of water on the days when I didn't eat, and I may have had a hot tea here and there, but that was it.
It sounds extreme, but for me it worked very well (apart from the gallbladder problem, which not everyone will have).
During the day, I tend not to get hungry until I eat something. So skipping breakfast, for example, is a pretty smart thing in my case because my system just doesn't remember that it wants food until I've put some in it. With this diet, I didn't miss having breakfast or lunch on the fasting days. I'd usually be pretty darn hungry by suppertime, but I would stave it off by promising myself really lovely meals the next day.
The next morning, my feasting day, I would usually eat whatever my family had had for supper the night before. I felt like the extra protein, extra calories in that part of my day was a good idea since I was only eating every other day. Then I would do lunch, supper, and snacks like normal.
A lot of people think you would gorge yourself if you ate like this, but I found it had the opposite effect. I was actually
less hungry than I should have been when I did eat, and I ate more moderate portions. So on my feasting days, I was probably eating about 100-125% of my maintenance calories, instead of 200% like you might think.
I lost about twelve pounds over the course of the month, which I could have done through calorie restriction and exercise of course. But for me, it was the convenience that made the diet enjoyable. I didn't have to count calories or debate whether or not I could have something I really wanted. (I could on my feast day; I couldn't on my fast day.)
It took a ton of the forced willpower out of it for me, because there's not really much temptation when you know you can't eat. You avoid the one-more-bite-couldn't-hurt phenomenon, because the first bite is against the rules.
It's not for everyone of course, but I can see why a lot of people choose this route. I'll stick with my calorie counting for now, but I do think fondly of my ADF diet every time I have to turn down a serving of mac and cheese because I've already had too many calories in a day. Obviously, I liked the results enough to keep it up even though I was in pain every other night. Stupid, Nibbles.
Good luck, Guys!