Fasting Weekly

[Seth Ananda]

Glad to Seth.

 

The Alternate Day Diet isn't really a true fasting diet. It's just that every other day you have a very low calorie day. From the time you wake up to the time you go to sleep you restrict yourself to 500 calories or less on alternating days. The other days you eat as normal. According to the author he got the idea based off of many decades of research both with humans and lab rats and mice. Metabolically it has many of the same effects as that of the Longevity Diet and fasting except it does allow you to eat at least a little something on the alternate days. You could of course even eat complete junk food (though he doesn't recommend it) if you wanted as long as it didn't break that 500 cal limit. It has some similar effects to the book I list next though not completely because this diet does not Mini-Max.

 

 

The Longevity Diet's main focus is drawing from 70+ years of research showing calorie restriction hugely extends both youth and maximum lifespan. That is - it would be as if you perpetually had the body of say - a 35 - 40 year old (assuming you started then) - right up until the last 2 - 3 years of your 120 year life. The final 2 - 3 years you'd finally start seeing signs of traditional old age kick in. Now to get the above you'd have to do the Longevity Diet hardcore. Cut your overall calorie intake every single day for the rest of your life by 30% of what is necessary for what science says is a normal, healthy weighted individual in your category. That's exceedingly difficult to pull off and very, very, VERY few people are able to do it. So most aim for a more modest and doable 10%.

 

You try to maximize the variety of nutrients per calorie for your target calorie goal. You want to try to gradually bring your bodyweight slightly under what science says is a healthy weight for your body structure. It has a whole host of knockon effects and the book has lengthy chapters detailing the effects and the science behind it. Your body's everyday temp will fall for example. A marker that 70+ years of research consistently shows happens alongside extending maximum lifespan. You'll get cold easier too since your body won't be as metabolically active as at a "normal" weight.

 

 

In the beginning it's not an easy diet to follow simply because it's not easy to eat the right mix of foods in a minimized calorie target that fulfills those two requirements at the same time. You're Mini-Maxing. People who follow this diet typically call it CRON - Calorie Restriction with Optimal Nutrition.

 

Here's a link to a website that details it and some of the science behind it with advice on how to get started along with tracking software to help you mini-max.

 

 

I myself have wondered if I could mix a once a week fasting day with a slight CRON style diet. For example...by mixing the two would I only need to cut calories by 5% instead of the usual 10% of most CRONers? I don't know. I can't tell you what or how to eat because I'm only beginning this myself. Those two books are pretty flexible. They don't really tell you what to eat or when to eat in a strict regimen. They're more telling you here is the research to show why you might want to do it. Then you figure out how to implement it yourself following their suggestions.

 

CRON's something I'm considering testing out once I get habituated to the once a week fast day.

Thanks Serene! You Rock!

[Rishi Das]

I've started trying to fast one day a week. I thought I would be ravenously hungry but I'm not. It's a wee bit uncomfortable just because I'm not used to it but nothing I haven't been able to deal with. I was finally convinced to give it a shot after reading several sources.

 

One that was really influential was this one:

 

Top Ten Fasting Myths Debunked.

 

I cracked up at the photo included.

 

Gotta luv that Broscience.

The Longevity Diet

 

Great thread! I myself have been venturing down this path for awhile now. Very funny you mention Lean Gains SereneBlue as it is what got me started with the fasting approach. For the past couple months now I have been eating only one meal a day and absolutely love it. I appreciate all the contributions to the thread, I am definitely going to take the time to look into CRON, sounds very interesting and something I might really enjoy!

[Ish]

This may sound counter-inuitive but is it possible for fasting to help you GAIN weight? This is of course for someone who is underweight.

 

I.e. the cleasing effect on your energy and physical systems clear away whatever was stopping you from putting on weight. So after the fast your body functions naturally again and you can gain weight.

[Elliot]

Some interesting things to read here, When I have fasted, it hasn't been longer than a day, but that's just me!