Intermittent Fasting....Lose 1 pound of fat every two days

I am one of those guys that has reached his 40's and carried with me ... the added "baggage" around my mid section.

I am on my feet all day (not sitting at a desk) and work out regularly. I eat very well...meaning non-GMO, organic meats, cheeses, veggies and fruits. I don't eat much sugar and never drink soda etc.

Even so...I was still packing on a few pounds per year. My ultimate body weight should be around 160 to 175 pounds but I have been hovering around 200 lbs for years now. This winter my weight spiked to 206 lbs.

This is when I knew I had to try something different....there had to be something that would bring my weight down. I have tried every diet out there and never had luck except with the no-carb diets but those are not sustainable....especially without veggies and fruit. (for me anyway)

I found something called intermittent fasting and I want to share it with ATS. You may have heard of it...maybe not. But if you have extra weight and want to get rid of it...this needs to be at the top of your list to try.

Intermittent fasting is essentially keeping your daily food intake from noon to 8 pm. You do not eat after 8 pm and you do not eat until noon. You completely bypass breakfast.

From noon to 8 pm...you eat as much as you need but it is recommended that you eat healthy....no sugars, low carbs, higher good fats like cheese, nuts, meats and things like avocados. And any veggies and fruits you want.

I have seen an average loss of 1 pound every two days. The first week was fairly hard but you can break into it as slow as you want. If you eat breakfast at 6 am....move it to 7 am, then 8 am....and so on. If you find yourself eating at 10 pm (this was my biggest struggle) simply move it closer and closer to the 8 pm mark.

Once you get on schedule....you will find some days where you don't feel hungry even at noon....and it becomes fun to see how far you can make it without eating....I have found myself making it all the way to dinner without food some days (but not all the time)

With intermittent fasting, you are teaching your body to burn your fat stores instead of fast carbs. You are making your body run as it should.

This is not something I would normally bring here to ATS but with our country losing the battle with obesity and my personal struggles with being overweight even though I was eating right and exercising....I though others might benefit from this amazing life changing and simple tactic to get your body running correctly.

Here are some links to info etc if you should want to dig further:

www.nerdfitness.com...

www.precisionnutrition.com...

fitness.mercola.com...

www.artofmanliness.com...

Thanks and hope you find this as beneficial as I have.

P.S. My wife is a runner (half marathons) and kettle bell instructor and martial arts practitioner and she has struggled losing some mid section weight as well after the births of our three boys. She has been dropping closer to a pound a day. I attribute this to her higher level of exercise than me but it is really pealing off. So even if you have a high level of exercise and excellent eating habits....this can still benefit.

Neat idea, thanks for posting; by the title I thought this was going to be a 'eat only every other day' thing, which would be much harder; this actually seems doable; the alternative to no breakfast might be a small pure protein breakfast that wouldn't inhibit the slight ketosis you'd be in from the night before; normal weight people go into fat burning mode quite often; that would be that 'I'm not really hungry' feeling that sometimes occurs. A lot of fat burning can occur if a meal is skipped here and there, and it adds up, just like the extra 200 calorie cookie every day adds up in the other direction...

For the people who wonder how this works; You're basically manipulating your metabolism because when you wake up your body has zero calories, so up until you have your first meal your body is using the current fat that your body has already stored to run on from your previous meals. This is pretty much why people are fat - Because they eat so much that their body has no way of using all them calories, so all they do is store as fat, waiting for the day the person gets stuck in the desert for months & months. (sarcasm)

I have my calorie intake pretty much to a T, I'm around 2200 - Give or take one protein cookie depending on munchies. Before I started the low calorie intake to loose the fat, I was having around 5,000+. But that was from good food, Brown rice, Beef, Bison, Chicken and all them good proteins!

OP you say you want to aim for low carbs, so if you don't already then I'd suggest swapping white wheat (white Bread/Pasta) with brown wheat, it is much much better.

Good luck buddy

reply to post by UxoriousMagnus


I can absolutely vouch for this. I began something like this about a month ago and I've already lost 16 pounds. I did it instinctively and I've never been a breakfast guy to begin with but it's working.

The only difference is that I just eat one meal at night and that's it. No snacking. No lunch. Just one meal (and not stuffing myself, either). Your 8pm cut-off time is something I will be more aware of just to see if it helps.

I usually just eat once after I get off work and sometimes that's after 8pm but... man, it's nice to see somebody else doing this. My wife thinks I'm an oddity for it but now I can tell her it's a "thing".

I learned about this on Dr. Mercolas website. I lost about 20lbs in two weeks. I have unfortunately gained it back due to moving to an area with harsher winters resulting in less physical activity for me than I used to get during California winters. On top of an increase in sugary coffee drinks.

I really should do this again. Especially, since I had such great results the first time.

Here is a tip that worked for me if you are struggling with blood sugar drops during the first couple of days. Snack on something like Beef Jerky or almonds, if you feel like you are getting light headed from low blood sugar, with in a couple days your blood sugar will stabilize and you won't need too.

I'm definitely going to give this a shot. I've been exercising regularly but have had a lot of trouble with the eating part. It sounds a little like Ramadan except I think they can only eat at night instead of the day.

This can work, but, be careful with it. Going too long without food can actually have the opposite effect, in several ways.

1. You can push your body into "starvation mode", where the body goes into a panic state, not sure when the next meal will come, and starts storing more food as fat. Eating lower carb while doing this type of diet is vital, exactly because of this. I would advise trying to keep the carbs no higher than 40 per day, at most.

2. For some people, skipping meals that are not used to it, can cause binge eating, or overeating at mealtimes. Again, lower carb and healthy fats will help stem this, because fats and proteins together satiate appetite.

Many people are so frightened of ingesting fats, they eat everything "low fat" which has sugar in in it repair the flavor, or they avoid fats all together.

Dietary fat, coupled with proteins and lower carb and an active lifestyle actually induces weight loss.

If people are just cautious of the above, this can be very functional for weightloss, and is simply like the on-going weight loss portion of the Atkins diet, just skipping the induction period.

calstorm
I learned about this on Dr. Mercolas website. I lost about 20lbs in two weeks. I have unfortunately gained it back due to moving to an area with harsher winters resulting in less physical activity for me than I used to get during California winters. On top of an increase in sugary coffee drinks.

I really should do this again. Especially, since I had such great results the first time.

Here is a tip that worked for me if you are struggling with blood sugar drops during the first couple of days. Snack on something like Beef Jerky or almonds, if you feel like you are getting light headed from low blood sugar, with in a couple days your blood sugar will stabilize and you won't need too.

edit on 16-2-2014 by calstorm because: (no reason given)

Yeah...I am a big fan of Dr. Mercola. I get a ton of stuff from him.

Switched to Himalayan salt because of his info....just as an example.

cleverhans
I'm definitely going to give this a shot. I've been exercising regularly but have had a lot of trouble with the eating part. It sounds a little like Ramadan except I think they can only eat at night instead of the day.

You won't be disappointed. It really helps to just control the amount of food you are taking in as well. It helps to stabilize your blood sugar level....

Libertygal
This can work, but, be careful with it. Going too long without food can actually have the opposite effect, in several ways.

1. You can push your body into "starvation mode", where the body goes into a panic state, not sure when the next meal will come, and starts storing more food as fat. Eating lower carb while doing this type of diet is vital, exactly because of this. I would advise trying to keep the carbs no higher than 40 per day, at most.

2. For some people, skipping meals that are not used to it, can cause binge eating, or overeating at mealtimes. Again, lower carb and healthy fats will help stem this, because fats and proteins together satiate appetite.

Many people are so frightened of ingesting fats, they eat everything "low fat" which has sugar in in it repair the flavor, or they avoid fats all together.

Dietary fat, coupled with proteins and lower carb and an active lifestyle actually induces weight loss.

If people are just cautious of the above, this can be very functional for weightloss, and is simply like the on-going weight loss portion of the Atkins diet, just skipping the induction period.

edit on 16-2-2014 by Libertygal because: (no reason given)

good points....it is very important to get good fats in your diet. Everyone has been told for decades now that fats are bad but they are not only good for you but necessary and essential especially for optimum brain function ....

reply to post by UxoriousMagnus


Yes this really does work. I never eat breakfast. When you wake up your body is dehydrated so I drink liquids til later in the day then I start eating. Its true when you eat more then you burn in a day you start gaining weight. So many people really do eat too much food and don't get enough exercise. There's a very old saying, Eat to live, not Live to eat. I've known plenty of people who say I don't understand why I'm gaining so much weight I don't eat a lot, yet they are eating all day. People have made fun of me and say I eat like a bird, yet I've never been fat. People say oh you have a good metabolism, no people I don't over eat that's why, plus I'm active.

reply to post by UxoriousMagnus


7 doctors of nature: pure food, pure water, clean air, sunshine, exercise, FASTING and positive emotion.

DIEts are dangerous. Eat healthy foods, eat less food and exercise. That is only diet anyone needs.

yamammasamonkey
DIEts are dangerous. Eat healthy foods, eat less food and exercise. That is only diet anyone needs.

sort of what is being said here.

this...having a grocery store and a fast food restaurant on every street corner is sort of a new thing.

This is a way to get your body back running the way it is supposed to. It isn't a diet as you aren't changing your DIET (what you eat)....you are changing how often you eat and when you eat and it leads to portion control as well.