[roastedcoffeebean]

Hi, new here.

On Monday, I plan on starting alternate day fasting, counting calories to 500 on one day and then eating what you want the next. There's a new book coming out in December by the researcher who has done years of studies on this. It's called The Every Other Day Diet by Dr. Krista Varady. I have it on pre order on amazon.

For a great synopsis of the plan (it's really simple), you can google her article.

I've been hearing so much about alternate day fasting. There's another book that's being revised called The Alternate Day Diet by Dr. Johnson. So there, I already have my two Christmas gifts.

Anyone else do this?

[LisaLou]

I've heard of this but haven't done the research. Do you increase your calories on the other days in order to have a weekly calorie in the typical calorie range?

I've heard this does something to trick your metabolism. I guess I worry about how much that deprivation would cause me to really over do it the next day. Have you seen that to be a struggle?

[dstalksalot]

I could probably do a calorie cycle of 1100 one day and 1700 the next but not a 500 cal budget several times a week. That would drive me batty and probably would not last long at all.

[DLS1]

Here in Britain the "2 Day Fast Diet" and the "5:2 Diet" and the original "The Fast Diet" by Dr. Michael Mosely have been very popular for the past couple of years. I tried Dr. Mosley's diet, but found myself too hungry on the fast days. It's better for me to stick to 1300-1400 kcals a day. My advice, give it a try it works really well for a lot of people, and as I'm fairly new to dieting (I'm in my first 4 weeks), it was too tough for me, but I may try it again when I'm more used to dieting, or perhaps as a maintenance option. Best of luck

[FlutterbyButterfly]

I have been doing alternate day fasting since July and think it's great!

My Mum recommended it to me and at first I thought there's no way I could ever survive on just 500 calories for 2 days per week but honestly I find it very easy now. Of course at the start I struggled and found myself getting very hungry so I cheated a bit but now I drink plenty of water which reduces the hunger and I can easily manage 500 cals a day.

I did a lot of travelling over the summer so was eating out 3 times a day for several weeks. I literally ate whatever I wanted during this time (Ice-cream, fast food etc) but continued with the intermittent fasting and managed to maintain my weight for the duration. I dread to think how much I would have gained if I hadn't been fasting!

I'm now back monitoring my intake on the other days as well as fasting twice a week and so far so good

Everyone is different so I think it's just a case of trialling it for a few weeks to see if it works for you. Decide on when to consume your 500 cals (eg. all in one meal at lunchtime or a couple of smaller meals throughout the day etc.) and if you tend to overcompensate by eating lots on the other days then maybe this diet isn't for you!