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-   -   Alternate day diet (https://www.fitday.com/fitness/forums/diets/4829-alternate-day-diet.html)

Annax6 07-26-2011 05:18 PM

Alternate day diet
 
Hi all well out of all the diets I have ever done this has to be the best for my body and weight loss. I am on the low calorie day system where one day is a "down" day and you consume only 500 calories. The next day is an "up" day where you can eat what you like within reason. So typically I have 2000 calories a day so by having 3 down days in a week I am cutting back significantly for an overall calori deficit for the week. It averages out that I eat about 1200 cals a day. I find this quite good for me as I can diet easily for one day at a time. Also it seems to not slow my metabolism down as I eat well one day and small the next. And if I do exercise on my down day I can use those cals burned for extra food!!!! Once you have reached your target weight you increase your down day calories untill you get to a maintenance level. You can also play around with it a bit and if you have a bad down day you make it an in between day, and just eat less the next day! Sounds confusing but it's really not. has anybody done this type of dieting before and if so, how did it work for you? Thanks.

cjohnson728 07-26-2011 05:47 PM

I didn't follow a specific diet to do this, but I did employ the concept of calorie cycling, or zig zagging calories. My swings were not as severe, with the lowest days being about 1000, the highest ones about 1800, and some moderate ones thrown in. This site Calorie Calculator - Daily Caloric Needs will give you calorie suggestions for each day if you type in your weight, height, etc. and click on the 7-day-calorie cycle link. I found it was pretty effective.

Kathy13118 07-27-2011 08:02 AM

It makes sense that this would work. When I log my foods into fitday, and I see the total calories for the day, it doesn't mean as much to me as what the report for the week, or two weeks, or month. It's how the total daily calories average out.

Interesting way of looking at the average: If you eat 2000 calories one day and 1000 calories the next, then your average for those two days is 2000 + 1000 = 3000. 3000/2 (days) is 1500 calories. That's your average calories for those two days. You would have gotten the same average if you had eaten 1500 calories both days! 1500+1500=3000 calories. 3000/2 = 1500 calories. The average, 1500 calories, is the same if you ate that number of calories both days, as when you ate 2000 calories one day and 1000 calories the next. Cool!

It sounds simple and mundane. But, if you OVEREAT (have a binge day or weekend), you bring the average calories for each day - in a week, say - UP. All that careful dieting and it was like adding food every day. On the other hand, it speaks to the power of really cutting down on calories one day. It's as if you ate fewer calories each day of the week, without actually having to do that!

That's why I don't really like the idea of having 'cheat days' if I'm really mildly cutting calories. If I'm cutting calories a lot, every day of the week, a cheat day is going to impact the average, but I might be willing to live with that... it's not a whole, whole lot of impact. But if I've been kind of rolling along, eating less, but not a whole lot fewer calories, a 'binge' is going to undo even my mild efforts by slightly raising my average for each day. Easy enough to fix, given more time (and more time added to the average) - just 'get back on the horse' and really cut down on calories the next day and see if I can try to 'fix' the damage.

Easy enough to see when you run reports and try the different time periods (week, two weeks, four weeks, etc.)

azazelsfyre 07-31-2011 01:02 AM

I LOVE love LOVE those reports :P

Annax6 08-03-2011 02:48 PM

Defnitly enjoyin this way of eating. I find on my down days if I do lots of exercise then I earn calories to eat!! Today I have walked through our orchard for 3 hours looking at vines and marking out plants. I burned 436 calories just from doing that!!! So that defnitly gives me extra calories to eat at night for tea!! Down about a kilo from last week so now on 65 kilos. Goal weight is 61 kilo.

Kissacottontail 11-13-2011 06:25 AM

I have been following this way of eating, JUDDD, for 3 weeks and have reached goal today I was Low Carbing before that and although I had good success I am enjoying the greater variety of foods I can eat using this.

liverpoollynne 08-05-2012 07:43 PM

ADF (alternate day fasting)
 
I have just read an article about ADF diets and was wondering if anyone has tried this and what were the restults.

It sounds good, I would like to try it, but am worried about feelin ill or faint on the fasting days.

I was planning to fast for 2 days a week.

I would restrict my calories to under 500 a day and then eat sensibly the other 5 days.

Any advice or opinions would be great.

Regards.

Lynne

Jaques2go 08-06-2012 08:22 PM

Hello, im interested in this diet having seen it on a tv documentary last night. Im going to do the 500 cals. on the down day, but want to spread them over the whole day, has anyone any good tips for this, i.e. maybe 3 small snacks please? I dont fancy drinking those shakes:)

Icewithin 08-06-2012 09:29 PM

500 calories is not a lot to spread throughout the day so I would suggest you give yourself a good 200 calories for breakfast and then 150 twice during the day.

fantisee 08-11-2012 08:51 AM

So let's say 2% milk, scrambled eggs for breakfast, low calorie yogurt for lunch and a low calorie soup for dinner? I can totally do that!

Jaques2go 08-12-2012 07:05 PM

thank you both, i have had 2 down days now, i suppose it takes time to get into the swing of things, though i must say on both these days ive felt light headed, listless and nauseous right through till the following day, its possibly the body adjusting to low blood sugar

ftshadow 08-13-2012 12:29 AM


Originally Posted by Jaques2go (Post 87390)
thank you both, i have had 2 down days now, i suppose it takes time to get into the swing of things, though i must say on both these days ive felt light headed, listless and nauseous right through till the following day, its possibly the body adjusting to low blood sugar

If you're getting lightheaded, thats not good. You probably need more protein, whole grains and fiber and less sugar. Look at the meal plan above yours. Milk and eggs = protein. Yogurt = protein + fruit. Soup could be veggies + protein, depends on what kind you have. The point is, whole grains, fiber, and protein help your blood sugar to stay at a more even level, not go up and down so much.

Jaques2go 08-15-2012 07:49 PM


Originally Posted by ftshadow (Post 87396)
If you're getting lightheaded, thats not good. You probably need more protein, whole grains and fiber and less sugar. Look at the meal plan above yours. Milk and eggs = protein. Yogurt = protein + fruit. Soup could be veggies + protein, depends on what kind you have. The point is, whole grains, fiber, and protein help your blood sugar to stay at a more even level, not go up and down so much.

thank you for your reply. yes, ive had chicken and salmon, bananas, clementines, salad and home grown veg. this is only the lst week which ive now done and lost only l lb - and i have done it correctly so maybe this isnt the diet for me, though i have tried weight watchers and actually put on 3 lbs. Im 2 stones overweight with hi blood pressure and colestorol, so i really thought the alternate diet would work as it made sense in theory.

meiza 08-16-2012 11:50 PM

Hi,

I have been trying ADF for the past week. I am finding it a lot easier than usual calorie counting as i can just tell myself, tomorrow i can have it instead and i wont be breaking the diet.

I have been on 500 calories every other day, usually small munches throughout the day, ie an apple first, then another piece of fruit, later some seeds or some fish, then maybe some yoghurt, steamed veg later in the evening..

Yesterday however i was reading into eat stop eat and intermittent fasting, and i tried a 24 hour fast and so only ate my 500 calories at 7pm giving me 24 hours inbetween meals (as the last time i ate before that was on my eat day at 7pm the previous night.) i felt fine most of the day but towards the last couple of hours i felt a little light headed.

I think personally ADF is working for me if i allow 500 calories every other day and keep munching these in small amounts throughout the day. I have found that on my normal eating days i dont feel hungry so much and find myself eating less than i would normally. (even though i am not restricting myself these days, i just dont fancy eating so much!).

As far as weight loss is concerned i have lost quite quickly this week - 7 lbs. I feel more energized and active and find myself more proactive. I find in the eat days it is important you are getting a good balance of nutritious food, to counter balance the fact you will not be getting everything you need on the fast days.

I find it working for me right now, so i plan to keep this up for a long while!

Hope this helps :)

Ja55mck 08-27-2012 07:11 PM

2nd week query
 
Hi all

I also saw the horizon program on this and was very interested. I bought a book off amazon called the alternate day diet and went to work. I did three fast days (500 calories per day) a week, Monday, Wednesday and friday. on the other days I literally ate whatever I wanted, takeaways, wine, whatever.

First week was amazing! I lost 6.5 pounds and my body fat dropped 2 percent. However week 2 and I haven't lost anything. I saw that someone else had the same problem on week 2. Anyone else had this issue and if so what happened week 3?

Emsie83 09-15-2012 07:37 AM


Originally Posted by Ja55mck (Post 88255)
Hi all

I also saw the horizon program on this and was very interested. I bought a book off amazon called the alternate day diet and went to work. I did three fast days (500 calories per day) a week, Monday, Wednesday and friday. on the other days I literally ate whatever I wanted, takeaways, wine, whatever.

First week was amazing! I lost 6.5 pounds and my body fat dropped 2 percent. However week 2 and I haven't lost anything. I saw that someone else had the same problem on week 2. Anyone else had this issue and if so what happened week 3?

Hi,

I have been doing this for 2 weeks now and lost 6lbs I do drink tea with sugar so only have 2weetabix with milk for breakfast then just drink tea and water until the next day. Currently I love it.

My skin is so much better I'm no longer bloated and sleep loads better.

I do eat what I like on my up days but I love fruit n veg so still get a lot of that.

I only started out to try the first 2 weeks but will now carry on.

boojess 09-18-2012 06:16 PM

how long
 
Hi please can any one tell me is the alternate day diet fasting for 24 hours straight through.
Thnaks

JennySG01 09-22-2012 05:27 AM

Hi, I am very interested in what you are doing. How is your progress so far?

boojess 09-24-2012 04:17 PM

getting there
 
Hello
I am doing the alternate day diet as it says, so I have a down day every other day. At first it was hard because it was so different to what I was used to but now that I am in my third week I am in a good routine. On my down days I use Slim Fast milk shake to use my 500 cals. This works for me because I travel and I don’t always have time to think about what I am going to eat. If I am home I will have veg/fruit/yogurt to keep in my 500 cals a day. The main reason I am doing this diet is to get my cholesterol down but my weight is coming off at a steady rate with over half a stone already lost :D
The one thing that has surprised me is my mental resilience, as I did not think I would be able to stick to this diet but I am learning to change my attitude to food and hunger. I am never really as hungry as I think so I am learning to distract myself more, drink more and take more responsibility for what I put in my body!

Ezzza 11-26-2012 09:22 PM

Anyone been doing ADF for 8 weeks or more?
 
Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone has been doing ADF for 8 weeks or more and how you're getting on with it. The studies I've read about ADF only have results for the first 8 weeks of the diet and the posts I've read on forums only seem to have success stories from the first few weeks.

Myself, I've been doing ADF for 12 weeks now and I've lost 7kg so far (13kg to go) which I'm pretty happy with. I always lose weight slowly whenever I try traditional calorie restriction methods, so I always end up giving up after a couple of months, but with ADF I've found I don't need as much will power. Also, as I'm studying abroad in China for 6 months it's been really great not having to count calories on my up days so that I can sample the local cuisine without worrying!

I've hit a bit of a plateau now and I wonder if anyone else who has been doing ADF for a while has plateaued too, and if so, have you started losing weight again?

bluejay77 04-24-2013 09:04 AM

Any updates? I'm thinking of trying Mosley's Fast Diet.

oglalagirl 05-30-2013 12:02 PM

Is anyone doing JUDDD?
 
I would like to meet others doing JUDDD. I tried it a couple of weeks ago and lost some, then fell off when I went home to Ohio for a family funeral.
I have a lot of weight to lose and would be doing low carb/ Juddd.
I started my plan again:
Monday- dd/400 Tuesday-ud/2000 Wednesday/dd/400 Thursday-ud/2000 so far so good. I weighed this morning and had lost 4# already.
Friday-dd/400 Saturday-ud 2000 Sunday- md/1000
.
My body is rebelling against all the carbs and salt I ate in the last ten days, eating in restaurants and family dinners so I have to get back on low carb/low salt.
I want a plan I can stick to the rest of my life and because I know my body can't handle a lot of sugar, wheat, pastas and starches and salt.

oglalagirl 05-30-2013 12:04 PM

What is Mosley's Fast Diet?

anneyauster 05-31-2013 07:59 PM

Healthy eating means eating a variety of foods that give you the nutrients you need to maintain your health, feel good, and have energy. These nutrients include protein, carbohydrates, fat, water, vitamins, and minerals.


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