Fasting Anyone?
 

When i was younger i used to suffer from an eating dissorder.. and fasting was my addiction.
But now that im older and mostly recovered i decided to go on a fast again.. only this time with a lil help and advice from the dr.

Has anyone ever used fasting as a weightloss method or am i the only one lol?:confused:

Hi I'm not fasting but am doing the St Tropez well say doing I stopped taking it after 3 days as I couldnt work on them I was too speedy and distracted. I have lost 5 lb in 3 days and today I have not taken a tablet but keeping my calorie intake between 500 and 1000 ( I'm not excersing ) I know its drastic but for me its working I need to lose 4 stone !

Needing to lose 4 stone is one thing, trying to do it by fasting or dramatically reducing calorie intake is very different.

I am not sure what Doctor would subscribe to fasting especially with someone with a history of eating disorders of this kind. Just think this through... just because your Doctor is supporting you, is this really sensible with your history when other sensible options are available?

I think that the best advice anyone could give, is to stop doing things that are bad for your body (you should have had enough of that once you realised you had gained weight). Fasting is bad for your body and will encourage the body to burn lean tissue (Muscle) rather than fat. Your chances of maintaining the weight loss are next to zero as you will not have changed your lifestyle. (you cannot fast forever so you are most likely to return to the habits that caused the weight gain).

If you have weight to lose, eat a healthy amount of food that gives you the goodness your body needs. Exercise regularly at an elevated heart rate and you will see the weight come off. You should also get some personal satisfaction and you might even learn to love the lifestyle.

I baffles me that despite all the available evidence of what actually works, people are prepared to put their health at risk by doing this kind of thing....

I only fast when I'm asleep;)

sometimes
 

I usually fast one day aweek. Like sundays. Iusually stay away from solids and just drink a lot of juice. once or twice a week I go vegitarian. I find it a good way to maintain and clean out in a natural way.

fasting as a form of weight loss dieting is nearly always a very bad idea.Anyone who has suffered from an eating disorder should be doubly cautious about fasting.Remember, you are depriving your body and mind of much needed nutrients.Healthy eating is always the best option

I'm still eating a healthy diet just reducing my calorie intake and portion size... I'm not hungry and unfortunately due to my job I don't burn off the calories because I am sitting down most of the day. I do agree if there has been an eating disorder in the past then this is a very risky line to cross. But I personally feel as a kick start to shed a few unwanted pounds and to detox and cleanse the body fasting for 24 hours and only drinking lemon mint or juniper tea is an wonderful body cleanse.

There is some information at [URL="http://www.leangains.com"] . It is called Intermittent Fasting or the Warrior Diet.

VLCD works pretty well...
 

I'm on a VLCD, I eat less then 800 calories per day. Most days I eat probably about 600 calories or less. I'm trying to stay as far under 800 as possible to get the best results. My metabolism has slowed down some but not enough to stop me from losing body fat. I have a scale that measures body fat and it shows the % has lessened greatly since when I started. I am not hungry much and I have been able to readjust my eating habits for the long haul. I look a lot different from when I started. I've lost about 19 LBS in six weeks, so I guess that's like 3 LBS per week on average. I think the not being hungry is the most appealing part of this and the reason that I wouldn't diet any other way but this one. I take multi-vitamins and try to balance out what I am eating making sure I have protein in my low calorie meals, whether it's something that was prepared at home or a frozen meal or even if I go out to eat at a restaurant. It's really not as difficult as it was in the beginning and counting calories has become a habit for me and I'm very happy about that, since that will keep me at my ideal weight.

Lost 19 Lbs, 47 more to go... I'll get there! Best wishes everyone!:D

this is one of the stupidest threads i've ever read.. i know im a new member, but reading countless threads across various forums, this VLCD is a good way to fail, make yourself sick, be miserable, etc, etc....

u lost 19lbs in 6weeks?

i just started, im 215, after 6weeks of a 2000 cal diet a day, lifting weights 3x a week for 40-50min, and ZERO cardio, i have lost 15lbs... and put on muscle...

your low cal is just dropping water weight mostly, along with muscle, and fat of course, you need to eat more...

ppl can not grasp how important eating is to losing fat... keeping muscle, having good health... and being happy..

all you are doing is starving yourself, and its sad... i hope you change your mind about this VLCD garbage..

sry to be harsh but so be it

Dear 1anamia,

As someone who has suffered from an eating disorder in the past, who draws references to anorexia and bulemia in her forum name and who considers herself "mostly recovered", you might wanna reconsider your decision to fast yet again, especially since you described your past experiences with fasting as addictive. I'm not a trained doctor and I don't wanna oversimplify the topic, but you wouldn't recommend an ex alcoholic to go out for a night of binge drinking or offer a package of cigarettes to a "mostly recovered" smoker, would you?
I know that VLCDs can be an option for obese people who wish to lose a lot of weight quickly, since the health risks obesity presents are considered greater than possible risks of the diet itself, but I would be super-careful if I were you (it's so easy to slip back into old patterns). So, personally, I would look into longterm options such as a maintainable calorie restriction, regular workouts etc., but I guess as long as your fasting is undertaken with medical supervision and you do actually fall into the range of obesity it might be a way to kickstart your weight loss journey.
Just make sure you put your health first, that's what it comes down to.

Best of luck anyways!

Fasting spas
 

Hello dear,

I've never done fasting but I confess I am very excited about Fasting SPAS!
Here in Europe there are many of them! Only surviving by tea and doing massages.

I am probably going to one with friends in a month :).
Afterward I might post my experience.

Cheers,
Magritcha.

I've done a couple of 30 day water fasts and more one and two week ones. I can see how they would be addicting (fasting really feels euphoric after the first day or two of hunger). Although you can lose weight really fast, they are probably not a good idea to do very often. I've pretty much given them (as well as super low cal diets) up in favor of a reasonable 1500 cals a day for a slow and steady weight loss.

I'm sorry to say this, but a 30-day water fast just sounds irresponsible to me. The ultimate goal of all this fat loss that people are trying to achieve on this forum is to get down to a weight where their health is no longer threatened by looming dangers of diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, and everything that comes with overweight/obesity. Which means... you shouldn't trade away your health to get there.

While a 24-hour fast sounds reasonable to me (especially when giving the body a chance to recover from a weekend of brutal eating), I'd imagine 30 days causes some serious nutritional depletion in addition to a high caloric deficit. I wouldn't recommend it at all.

Quite on the contrary. Intermittent fasting has been proven to increase longevity and over-all health. Now, I'm not in favor of long term water fasts, but diets like the Warrior Diet, EOD (Every Other Day), or other forms of IF can lead to a very healthy lifestyle choice.


Intermittent fasting - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It can work, but do it safely and responsibly.

Interesting thread. For those who are in a tizzy, please note that I never recommended that anyone try fasting (though most of us do it for at least eight hours a night), I only share my own experience. Everyone should do their own research and make informed decisions regarding their eating plans--blindly following anyone is seldom a good idea.

Regards,
Michael

I'm fasting from 6 to 6, I do this to pretty much detox my body and shrink my stomach. I will do this for three days, to kickstary my body. I did it before, and it streamlined me for weighloss, but that was two kids ago. I hope it works!!:)

I suggest you read "The Ketogenic Diet" by Lyle McDonald. In that book you will find out that the reason you lose weight while fasting is that your body is mobilizing both your fat stores and your lean muscle mass. That might bring you a lower number on the scale, but at the cost of muscle deterioration. You can get a similar result on a ketogenic diet, in which you are ingesting enough protein to prevent lean muscle loss. An added bonus is that, coupled with a good multivitamin, you will also get the nutrients to prevent some of the other uncomfortable side effects of fasting (like headaches, diziness, etc.).

The exception to this is if you strength train regularly. And by strength train, I mean lifting heavy weight for 10 reps or less per set. Your body adapts to hold on to muscle mass if it knows it's going to need it again soon, even if you IF (fast intermittently).

Hi anamia...you sn stand for anorexia bulimia...if you feel that you are relapsing than you should probably ask for help. I'm not sure when you put up your post but I strongly recommend that you do not fast especially with your history. Minimizing caloric intake to lower than 800 calories is not healthy at all. All your doing is causing your body to eat away at its own muscles not fat...thats why alot of anas and mia continue to starve and binge and purge bc they maintain a skinny fat. The body is holding on to that fat so that it can survive due to its starvation. Your stomach grumbling is your acid eating away at the lining around your stomach that can cause ulcers. If you really wanna lose weight and feel good about your self 1. EXERCISE HELLO!!!! 2. Eat 5 small healthy meals throughout the day 3. Look in the mirror and pick out the things that you like and love about yourself rather than hating and wanting to fix the unfixable. I say this because I felt the same way about fasting and I promise it is a temporary fix to a permanent problem. You should try to live healthier bc there is no miracle cure to lose weight you have to want to lose the weight at feel good about yourself. P90X is a good start, running bodyrock.tv and bodyspace.com can help you get motivated and stay that way.

not sure if anyone has pointed it out yet because its late and i need to sleep so i only skimmed the thread, but I'd like to point out the following website

Leangains - Intermittent Fasting for Strength Training and Fat Loss

the guy purports a method he dubs "intermittent fasting" where he makes use of 16 hour fasts every day in order to take advantage of the lipolysis-enabling hormonal state that your body finds itself in during a fasting period. He does include adequate daily feeding so this is not in any way akin to self-inducing an eating disorder.

IFing is fairly common. A lot of people have their own systems that work for them, like doing one 24-hr fast per week or an 18-hr fast twice a week. As with all things, it's finding a rhythm and schedule that works for you.