I've read that this diet could actually work.

This is pretty old news -- and based on a mouse study of course.

I haven't gone that far, but I've lost over fifty pounds and kept it off by switching to one good-sized meal every 24 hours.

RoyBatty: This is pretty old news -- and based on a mouse study of course.

Couldn't be a great study if the author didn't even use their name.

Calorie restriction has been shown to increase lifespan in some animals, yes.
It's not really a diet. It's just eating big, then not eating, and repeat.

Go eat an entire pizza and then tell me how hungry you are the next day.

The study showed animals could thrive on the bare minimum caloric intake. So the logic of the diet is to reduce your caloric intake to zero half the time, instead of halving your intake all of the time?

I did this and lost 150 lbs. Oh, also treadmill and pushups.

Personally, I think this is the main reason so many Japanese live into their 90s. They eat very small amounts of mostly low-fat food.

Bathia_Mapes: I'm sure that wouldn't work too well for diabetics.

Not so fast ther, BM.

I have been diabetic for over 30 years, and I fast. The meds never did much good, but every January, I turn to a liquids-only diet for 21 days. Yes, 21 days. After just 4 days, my eye sight is improved, heart rate lowers, blood pressure drops, blood sugar drops by over 50 points, and except for a lower stamina, I just feel great. By the 21st day, real hunger kicks in and I break the fast. At the end of my fasting period, I have usually lost 20 pounds, my blood sugar plateaus at 90, down from 200+, and I am healthier than I I had been in months. A very gradual return to being diabetic ensues once I begin to eat again. I should do this every 6 months, but I have a company to run.

The cause of diabetes is not understood by the medical establishment - yet. Today, they treat the symptoms, but have no cure. If I must have "treatments", I shall continue to treat myself. Works pretty good!

The stupid, it burns.

EVERYBODY PANIC: Bathia_Mapes: I'm sure that wouldn't work too well for diabetics.

Not so fast ther, BM.

I have been diabetic for over 30 years, and I fast. The meds never did much good, but every January, I turn to a liquids-only diet for 21 days. Yes, 21 days. After just 4 days, my eye sight is improved, heart rate lowers, blood pressure drops, blood sugar drops by over 50 points, and except for a lower stamina, I just feel great. By the 21st day, real hunger kicks in and I break the fast. At the end of my fasting period, I have usually lost 20 pounds, my blood sugar plateaus at 90, down from 200+, and I am healthier than I I had been in months. A very gradual return to being diabetic ensues once I begin to eat again. I should do this every 6 months, but I have a company to run.

The cause of diabetes is not understood by the medical establishment - yet. Today, they treat the symptoms, but have no cure. If I must have "treatments", I shall continue to treat myself. Works pretty good!

If you fast twice as long you'll be twice as healthy. Stands to reason.

Also, I'd balance the liquids only period with a solids only phase.

We are omnivores and predators. No big deal to go a couple days without food. Not fun, but hardly fatal.

Too lazy to read the article. Is it keto and IF fasting? If So that's actually quite effective. Use it for cutting, dunno how it would be long term for someone to lose weight.

It makes biological sense. We did not always have 24/7 all you can eat buffets at our disposal. We were hunter-gatherers, We would eat big, then not eat for a little while, then eat big when food came back around.

Or you know, in modern days known as the welfare diet

Dow Jones and the Temple of Doom: Pkkk Mel: Too lazy to read the article. Is it keto and IF fasting? If So that's actually quite effective. Use it for cutting, dunno how it would be long term for someone to lose weight.

Nope. Not IF, definitely not keto.

Should have known the daily mail would probably not put real diets on their site.

Puh, more power to you if you want to starve every other day. Me, I can't miss a meal without getting the shakes and suffering murder fantasies.

Smackledorfer: If you fast twice as long you'll be twice as healthy. Stands to reason.

Also, I'd balance the liquids only period with a solids only phase.

You of course know better than I. I've only done experimentation on this for about 20 years. What was I thinking? I had failed to consult an expert like you. I am such a fool.

You are a god to me smackie. I will never again dare to take care of my own health without your consultation and guidance. It's EXPERTS for me from now on. Experts know everything. Thanks!

FunkOut: I eat small amounts constantly but starch and grease make me sick. Then again, like a hummingbird, I'm small, buzzy, and berserk. No food = passing out.

The body's ability to digest fats decreases as we age, naturally. That's not alien. It's just our bodies not making as many of the enzymes and as bile salts as we used to. If you're young, you might want to get a check up.

One of my exes did this. She's a vegetarian/vegan too. I had a hard time dining with her.

/best body and cans I've ever had the pleasure to play with.
//loves me a steak so rare it is mooing.
///almost worth looking her up...almost.

I'm not sure I could do this and function enough to be any use to anyone at work. I already only eat two meals a day with the occasional snack, but if I go too long without eating I get all foggy/groggy/stabby.

FunkOut: I can eat something like some butter cookies or cheesecake or avocado no problem. But I can't sit down and eat a big plate of fish & chips. I can only eat half the portion and what I do eat makes me queasy. Everyone around me is tucking in the full portion and wishing for more.

Don't tell me. Tell your doctor.
Not all fats are the same.

So, as happens when one gets older, I found myself putting on some extra weight over the winter. Having a marathon to run in the near future, I figured it was time to pay attention to my diet & drop the extra 5.

I figured that if the average guy eats 2000 cal/day, I should try maybe 1800. Turns out that was about what I was already eating (I'm kinda small, 5'9, 150, and have a desk job). So, figured I'd try 1500.

Got used to that immediately, even keeping up a 25-30 mi., 8-min. pace weekly average, plus climbing & (lightweight) lifting. So, 1200.

Same thing. Down to 1000.

Now I'm feeling it, but it's not bad. I don't always feel like exercising, but kept up the running at the same pace & distances. Now I'm wondering just how low I can go?

So, I kept up an 800-a-day calorie diet for 2 straight weeks, no cheating. Weight stabilized at 140, I did feel hungry but it wasn't bad. Very vivid dreams. Biggest thing I noticed was that when I hit the 'wall', such as at the end of a longer run (10+), there was zero reserve - when I ran out of gas, it was naptime. Also got sleepy in the afternoons, but a little caffeine took care of that.

The body adapts.

I've bumped it back to "about 1200" so I don't drop any more weight & can increase mileage, but I was surprised how easy it was. The first few days are tough, but after that, it gets surprisingly easy.

EVERYBODY PANIC: Smackledorfer: If you fast twice as long you'll be twice as healthy. Stands to reason.

Also, I'd balance the liquids only period with a solids only phase.

You of course know better than I. I've only done experimentation on this for about 20 years. What was I thinking? I had failed to consult an expert like you. I am such a fool.

You are a god to me smackie. I will never again dare to take care of my own health without your consultation and guidance. It's EXPERTS for me from now on. Experts know everything. Thanks!

Oh no, I think you are totally right. homeopathy works, and psychics are real. Other people believe it, so any skeptical views are just the kind of bullshiat the scientists want us to believe. Stupid people trying to learn how the body works.

But I've taken enough of your time, you've got a company to run! I'm a billionaire weapons designer working in Russia for Medvedev, so I understand those pressures.

Sentient: Biggest thing I noticed was that when I hit the 'wall', such as at the end of a longer run (10+), there was zero reserve - when I ran out of gas, it was naptime.

On that few calories, you'll have very little glycogen stored in your body. Yes, you'll tire quickly and stay tired.

A human can go without any food at all for several weeks. That's nothing special. First your body eats up its glycogen. Then it eats away at the muscles. Then it eats up the fat reserves. Then it starts to cannibalize the minor and major organs.

You really don't want to live like that, though. You want to maintain your BMR needs. It's better for your brain. The brain uses up to 30% of the body's glucose. Without adequate supply, you will have increased anxiety, decreased emotional stability, decreased memory, and decreased decision making.

If'n you got my retirement, it's a lifestyle, not a choice

/Life sucks, then you die
//but the kids got thru college
///and the Ex is happy

natmar_76: You really don't want to live like that, though. You want to maintain your BMR needs. It's better for your brain. The brain uses up to 30% of the body's glucose. Without adequate supply, you will have increased anxiety, decreased emotional stability, decreased memory, and decreased decision making.

Yeah, toward the end of week 2, I definitely noticed my concentration was dropping off, not a good thing. I was trying to stick to 40/30/30, which (I think) helped keep things level, BMI dropping without losing weight, suggesting I wasn't sacrificing much muscle mass.

An interesting experiment though. I'd read somewhere that that NK gov't had decreed that 1200 Kcal was the "new standard" and wondered how that felt.

Whatever. Last year I started eating paleo (mostly) and doing LeanGains (new window). I went from 230lbs down to 160, and can now almost squat 2x my body weight. Might not work for everyone, but it worked well for me.

Sentient: I was trying to stick to 40/30/30, which (I think) helped keep things level, BMI dropping without losing weight, suggesting I wasn't sacrificing much muscle mass.

Fiber, complex carbs, healthy fats, and lots of protein. That'll keep your muscle on. Fiber and fats slow down the release of glucose into your blood stream, which keeps your body from cannibalizing protein from your muscles.

1200 isn't so bad for awhile. I've gone months barely eating at all. One week, after eating just one $1 Jack-in-the-Box hamburger a day for months, I didn't eat at all. At the end of the week, time started to lose all meaning. I just didn't feel "connected" to anything. Half an hour seemed like an entire day. The life of a poor university student.

How does it feel when you got no food? Shiatty. Pass the dutchie.

Sentient: Yeah, toward the end of week 2, I definitely noticed my concentration was dropping off, not a good thing. I was trying to stick to 40/30/30, which (I think) helped keep things level, BMI dropping without losing weight, suggesting I wasn't sacrificing much muscle mass.

You got taller?

The Manchurian Abortionist: Whatever. Last year I started eating paleo (mostly) and doing LeanGains (new window). I went from 230lbs down to 160, and can now almost squat 2x my body weight. Might not work for everyone, but it worked well for me.

Congrats on the progress. A three plate squat isn't too shabby. That's a pile of weight to lose.

natmar_76: Calorie restriction has been shown to increase lifespan in some animals, yes.
It's not really a diet. It's just eating big, then not eating, and repeat.

Go eat an entire pizza and then tell me how hungry you are the next day.

Honestly, I'd be normally hungry by 10am at the latest. Thanks to not having an ileocecal valve, food tends to go through me a little faster than average. Plus I'm a pig.

Max Awesome: I'm not sure I could do this and function enough to be any use to anyone at work. I already only eat two meals a day with the occasional snack, but if I go too long without eating I get all foggy/groggy/stabby.

This makes me wonder if religious fasting has some value to it. Aside from the self-denial and discipline aspect. All the comments here about people getting foggy mentally or feeling raging hunger after not eating for less than 24hrs just seems lame. We're real pussies about hunger in this country.

I do a variation of this. I stop eating at noon. For some reason, I don't feel particularly hungry until the next morning, really. Even then, if I have to get something important done early, I'm not so ravenous that I need to eat first.

I guess you could call it the Monk diet. No, not this one:



Some monks (Tibetan?) stop eating at noon. I have a hard time knowing when to say "when," so I just do what's easy for me - stop altogether at a predetermined point..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intermittent_fasting