Dr.
Krista Varady wrote a book entitled The
Every-Other-Day Diet: The Diet That Lets You Eat All You Want (Half the Time)
and Keep the Weight Off. The title really says it all; Dr. Varady has
explored the health benefits and weight loss results achieved by fasting only
on alternate days, and eating what you want on the other days of the week. She
was prompted to research this topic “to find out: do you really have to diet
every single day to lose weight?” and “noticed that people just weren’t able to
stick to calorie restriction programs for more than about a month or two.
Everyone dropped off of their diet.”[1]
If
you’re wondering what exactly “fasting” means in terms of this diet regimen,
read on. First, it’s important to know the difference between complete and
intermittent fasting. Complete fasting is when you consume no food whatsoever
for 24-hour periods, drinking only water during that time. While there are documented
health benefits—even longer life expectancy—for this kind of calorie
restriction, it just isn’t practical for most people. Like Dr. Varady said, the
severity of complete fasting causes people to “drop off” their diet.
Alternate-day
fasting, the type Dr. Varady encourages, falls under the umbrella category of
intermittent fasting. Intermittent fasting is when you cut calories from your
diet a couple or a few days a week. Dr. Varady’s fasting routine calls for
eating only 500 calories on fasting days, and eating whatever you want on
non-fasting (or “feasting”) days. Not only has she documented the positive
health results of this weight loss routine, but people also found it much
easier to do alternate-day fasting than complete fasting.
She
recommends eating all 500 calories on your fasting day in the same meal,
usually lunch or dinner. If you start with breakfast, psychologically you’ll be
focusing on the fact that you can’t eat anything again until breakfast the
following day. If you eat lunch or dinner instead, you have less time to wait until
your next meal. Also, according to Dr. Varady’s research, people who split the
500-calorie meal into smaller meals/snacks throughout the fasting day were not
as successful as those who ate just one meal, once a day. They were more
tempted to cheat throughout the day.
Chances
are, you’ve probably heard of the recent trend in the “Paleo” diets and
exercise routines, and alternate-day fasting actually fits into that lifestyle.
Our cavemen ancestors often went through alternating periods of feast and
famine, and “modern research shows [that feasting and fasting] actually has
biochemical benefits.”[2]
It
may be hard to imagine eating so few calories, even if you don’t have to do it
every day. This is largely because our modern bodies are accustomed to eating
continuously, often times when we’re not even truly hungry. We’ve adapted to
burning sugar as our primary fuel rather than fat. Fasting is a great way to
“reboot” your body so that it can burn fat instead, using up your unwanted fat
stores. Then, naturally, you will begin to lose weight.
In
Dr. Varady’s experience, “It takes about a week to 10 days or so to get used to
that up-down pattern of eating…But it’s amazing. Even though people struggle
through the first week, they always say, ‘After a week, I had no problem eating
just 500 calories every other day.’”[3]
If
you decide that you’d like to try alternate-day fasting, keep in mind that you
may experience side effects like headaches and, above all, feeling hungry. It’s
as much of a physical as it is a psychological challenge; you have to remember
that you’re used to eating constantly, sometimes out of boredom or habit. Also,
drink plenty of water while you’re fasting. (As you probably know, we often
mistake thirst for hunger.) Dr. Varady also suggests watching less television,
since the majority of commercials on TV are advertising food.
Don’t
worry about completely changing your diet on feast days, at least not at first.
It can seem to be too much of a challenge to fast intermittently and overhaul your diet, so focus on the
fasting first, and stick with it! As your body reboots and you start getting
the weight loss results you want, though, you may even find yourself craving
healthier foods. When that happens, try to incorporate foods that are:
- High in healthy fats (both on feasting and fasting days. Good examples include avocados; coconuts and coconut oil; grass-fed, organic butter; unheated organic nut oils; raw dairy; raw nuts; organic pastured egg yolks; and grass-fed meats)
- Moderate amounts of high-quality protein (most people won’t need more than 40-80 grams of protein per day)
- Unrestricted amounts of fresh vegetables (organic, if possible).[4]
Don’t
forget that exercise is a crucial part of any diet, alternate-day fasting
included. Dr. Varady’s research found that you can in fact exercise on a fasting
day. It helps to exercise about an hour before your fasting day meal, since
people usually experience a surge of hunger after exercising.
Important
note: if you are pregnant, have adrenal fatigue, or cortisol dysregulation, you
should avoid fasting. If you are hypoglycemic or diabetic, you may be able to fast, but you must be
especially cautious and are advised to speak to your doctor.
If
you’d like to read more about alternate-day fasting or Dr. Varady’s research,
check out her book, The Every-Other-Day
Diet: The Diet That Lets You Eat All You Want (Half the Time) and Keep the
Weight Off.
“Working
to restore GOD’s perfect design in you!”
