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Fasting For Weight Loss

Fasting For Weight Loss

Fasting For Weight Loss

Fasting For Weight Loss – The effective method to cut calories and burn body fat


After more than 15 years of struggling with my weight, and trying  just about every diet there is, I realised diets don’t work long term. I had set a target to lose 56lbs ( 4 Stone – 26 Kilos ). No diet I had ever done had helped with my weight loss long term. Yes I would lose weight initially, I could even follow low carb diets like Atkins and the south beach diet  for around 12 weeks, then the same problems would hit me, I would start to miss the foods I was not supposed to eat, and this is the biggest problem with diets, they restrict and deprive.

So what made fasting for weight loss different  ?

The main difference with using fasting to lose weight is I did not stop eating any foods I like,  by using periods of intermittent fasting , I was just eating less.  You also become much more aware of your own body and your eating habits , this in turn helps you start to eat less at other times.

Using a form of flexible intermittent  fasting to help with your  weight loss can provide you the same calorie restriction as a diet, but in a shorter period of time. In my own experience this has enabled me to lose body fat, yet not feel deprived of the foods I enjoy. In my case I found it easier to use fasting periods of 24 hours to reduce my calories than a steady calorie restriction of say 5oo calories per day. After over 12 months of using this method to, first reduce and then maintain my weight, I continue to find it easy. Compare this to the numerous diets I had tried over a period of 15 years.

Fasting For Weight Loss – Getting Started

The only proven way to lose weight, is to eat less calories than our daily needs over a period of time. Many people like to make weight loss complicated, but the truth is , losing weight is simple, it’s just not easy.

If  the idea of fasting for weight loss appeals to you, then I suggest you read through this blog to learn more about how intermittent fasting works and why it is a healthy way to manage your weight. I am living proof that you don’t have to give up the foods you love in order to lose weight.

If you have tried every other way to try and lose weight, then it’s about time you considered fasting for weight loss.

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  • kristin

    Hi Dave,
    I was excited to find your site! I am just starting ESE….bought the book 2 weeks ago. I have been trying the fasts for 2 weeks (2 times a week) but 3 times out of 4 only made it to 18 hours (leanagins) but I am going to continue, because like you said, I just have to get used to it and then it will come easy. So next week I will try different times. So you are 100% clean eater…no alcohol, cupcakes, etc here and there? I work out 3 times with weights and kickbox 3 times a week, but I do like my wine and an occasional sweet.
    Thanks for your answer!
    kristin

    • Julie

      Hi Kristin and Dave, I’m so glad to have found your site too, the more literature/knowledge online helps to keep commited to my new eating plan of ADF (6pm to 6pm every other day). Although after a little over 3 weeks and 7.6 pounds lost, the scale and how I feel is reason enough to stay committed. I would venture to say I did NOT have a drink of alcohol about 4 of the past 23 days, so if you are working out as much as you say and eating mostly clean I would say, go enjoy yourself girl, have 2 or 3! I keep it w/in my feeding time and no problems! I’ve been doing light weight workouts and crunches, nothing like what I use to do (cardio/weights) at the gym, but I feel all my muscle is STILL miraculously there and the belly fat has melted off. I want to lose about 25 pounds by May 1st idealy. Although I woudn’t call this a day, but a WOE, this is the BEST thing I’ve ever tried, I really feel like I’m cheating the system somehow.

    • http://RetiredDieter.com Dave

      Hi Kristin,

      I am far from a 100% clean eater. I certainly drink alcohol and continued to do so while I was losing the weight. I focus more on calories than anything else, however I try to ensure that most foods I eat are filling, but I still eat foods that many would tell me to avoid.

  • Jennifer

    Hello Dave! I just today found your site and I’ve been reading and the more I read the more excited I get. I have one question though, what about your body kicking into starvation mode and keeping all the calories you eat, instead of your body burning the fat you currently have?

    • http://RetiredDieter.com Dave

      Hi Jennifer,

      Starvation mode is a myth, that is perpetuated on weight forums and blogs, but not on this one ;)

      Starvation means exactly that. starvation. It does not mean skipping a meal or not eating for 24 hours. There are studies showing no drop in your metabolism even when fasted for 72 hours. Also this study http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2405717 shows that in short term fasting, metabolism increases, so quite the opposite of ” starvation mode ” .

      On top of all this theory, the best example I can give is my own results, I lost the weight without and metabolic slow downs.. three years later I am still waiting !

  • cathy

    I am also doing the intermittent fasting, this is my 5th week. I fast every other day, and I find it gets easier and easier. I’ve lost approx. 8 lbs, goal was to lose 15 lbs for now and my goal day was March 9th. I plan to continue with this though. I might try the 3 hour eating window every day or continue with what I am doing. I find I have more energy on my fasting days than on my non fasting days! I’ve been keeping track of calories and exercise on Loseit.com. I too like the fact that you don’t really feel deprived as in some diets, you can look forward to a nice meal on your non fasting day, and there is also a lot of flexibility. If you have social function on a fasting day then what I did was fast until the event and did the same the following day, so in essence was following a 3-4hour eating window.Then went back to my every other day during the week.

  • karen

    Hi Dave
    I have read you book and Im keen to get started and Ive decided to eat only once a day being dinner for 7 days everyweek . Im still wondering about the whole metabolism thing or starvation mode as Ive always thought mine was stuffed so to speak. Ive been a yo yo dieter over the years and 20 years ago had anorexia but I could never go there again as now I have 3 beautiful children. But last year I was doing lite n easy here in Australia were they deliver your meals etc. Anyway I did it for 10 weeks and lost 3 kgs. I stuck to it and sometimes skip dinner as I wasnt losing anything but I kept going and ended up so disheartened and gave up. I weighted 87kg at the time but 90kg now and Im only 157cm tall I went on a calorie plan of 1200 a day so I was eating under my daily intake and walked 4 times a week. So what do you think went wrong there ? I remember a few years ago having food poisioning and I didnt eat for a week and I hopped on the scales and I couldnt believe it I had only lost 1 kg and after my first meal again I put that kg back on, its so not fair . I once saw a specialist doctor years ago and had to keep a food diary and what I was doing at the gym etc so he could go over it and he said to me well put it this way if a famine broke out you would be one of the ones still standing at the end. He told me with my diet and strenght training and group fitness classes I should be losing weight but also your body never forgets what you have done to it in the past . I think he was refering to having and eating disorder all those years ago . Anyway I will keep you all posted as it will be so interesting to see how it goes .
    From karen/ Australia

  • Cat

    Hi Dave — First, I want to thank you very much for this website. I have tried everything to lose weight and just can’t keep it up, but this I can do. I thought it was funny in your article when you mentioned that the easiest route is just not to tell anyone that you are doing intermittent fasting to lose weight. I am a vegan, and that would be my advice to a new vegan as well — better to educate yourself and do what you need to do than to waste time arguing with everyone who thinks your choices are wrong. I have been fasting two days per week for the past two weeks and have lost about 4 pounds (as far as I can tell — the scale sure does jump drastically when fasting), but I am also starting to tell by how my clothes fit as confirmation. So here’s my question, and it’s sort of delicate. Did you have any problems with, ahem, irregularity when you first started intermittently fasting? I have become very irregular and I am wondering, is it just because my digestive system isn’t moving along with constant food, or do I need to drink more water or something? It is the only downside (other than trying to remind myself not to ‘reward’ myself with more food the day after a fast). I would appreciate you sharing if you are comfortable with that. Thanks, Cat

    • http://retireddieter.com/ Dave

      Hi Cat, no I didn’t have an issue here. I think my secret weapon might be my morning double espresso ! seems to get me moving pretty quick ;). I’t may be you need to more water, and I would certainly try that, sadly I am not really to help too much here as I have not had the problem myself.