Fasting as a diet

[del62]

If you really want to lose weight eat 200 less calories than you burn each day, calculate it from your height, weight and age + the exercise you do.

Weight loss should be gradual and steady, if you eat too little your body will go into starvation mode and you burn less.

 

[del62]

Luiz's fitness formula:

-
-Do at least 40 minutes of weight lifting per day, at least 4 days a week.

Generally good tips but weight lifting 4 days a week, I though you would have to have a full days rest between each weight session.

 

[Caprine Synesth]

I pretty much live like this anyway, some days I barely eat at all, others i'll eat normally.

 

[Caprine Synesth]

go into starvation mode and you burn less.

You will actually gain weight if you go into starvation mode. In starvation mode your muscles begin to be converted to fat. Fat is a store rather than active like muscle so your metabolism will drop. Even returning to a normal diet you won't naturally burn as much away! Any food you do take in will be converted to fat rather than allowed to turn into muscle.

If you hold yourself in an unhealthily low diet for too long, your weight loss will plateau out and your body will start to go stodgy as it collapses.

 

[Borachio]

Is that right? I thought you burnt, in order, blood store, the liver store, then the fat store, then the muscles and then the vital organ tissue.

 

[Quackers]

you cannot fall below 1500 calories/day otherwise you fall into starvation mode. but if you fall into that - you will know it.

 

[Quackers]

Generally good tips but weight lifting 4 days a week, I though you would have to have a full days rest between each weight session.

it really depends on the intensity of your workouts and your genetics. if your just starting out going to the gym everyday will earn you an increase in muscle mass assuming all else is good (like diet) but after a while you will probably plateau and won't put on any extra muscle - thats when you have to implement rest days. some people have genetics where they'll need a rest to gain any muscle.

 

[del62]

Slow release carbs such as pasta and rice are good on a diet, cut down on fat but eat just less than you burn.

 

[Caprine Synesth]

Is that right? I thought you burnt, in order, blood store, the liver store, then the fat store, then the muscles and then the vital organ tissue.

My partner suffers from bulimia and anorexia, so rarely meets her RDA calorie wise, this is for years. I've researched quite a bit myself, but also consulted doctors on the matter.

 

[LucyDuke]

If you got the time you can go these places that do 30-day water fasting to lose weight and restore your health (that's the claim anyway). During that time you drink lots of water and rest. The idea is that it's as natural a form of cleansing as you can find. It's just too time consuming for most people.

What the hell is "cleansing"?

Vegetables are overrated.

Vegetables are the best kind of food, out of all of the kinds of food. Or are you saying food is overrated?

 

[Murky]

What the hell is "cleansing"?

Supposedly, it removes toxins from the body. It's a sort of natural cure for a lot ailments since many health problems are traced to toxins staying in the body and not being eliminated When you cleanse it helps them to exit. The most common is detoxing/fasting.

 

[Caprine Synesth]

What the hell is "cleansing"?

Mumbo-jumbo that sells well to a western hippy. People worry they are putting too many modern chemicals into their bodies, too much alcohol, too much E numbers etc.. what better way than to drink pure tibetan monk spring water for days and "flush" it all out.

 

[Quackers]

If you ever find yourself ill at hospital the doctors will recommend you to scoff down lots of food because you need the calories. Thats why they give you icecream which is effectively frozen sugar which is bad for you but has the energy your cells need.
Drinking lots of water will only make you go to the toilet more and put you in starvation mode. There are no proven health benefits beyond dubious diet of the week health books and weird online blogs and of course the odd terrible academic.

Mumbo-jumbo that sells well to a western hippy. People worry they are putting too many modern chemicals into their bodies, too much alcohol, too much E numbers etc.. what better way than to drink pure tibetan monk spring water for days and "flush" it all out.

haha said it better then i could, bravo

 

[Borachio]

Have you tried hospital food, Mr Q? It is appalling, in my experience. If you're not dreadfully ill when you go in, you are when you get out. Well, I'm only exaggerating a little bit.

 

[luiz]

Generally good tips but weight lifting 4 days a week, I though you would have to have a full days rest between each weight session.

Depends on the intensity, I guess. I try to lift weights 6 days a week. I avoid doing 7, but that'sabout it.

In reality though, due to business trips, late meetings, etc., I do an average of 3 to 4 gym sessions per week.

 

[Quackers]

Have you tried hospital food, Mr Q? It is appalling, in my experience. If you're not dreadfully ill when you go in, you are when you get out. Well, I'm only exaggerating a little bit.

Yeah I stayed at a hospital overnight as a tadpole. I distinctivel remember having chicken in breadcrumbs shaped as DINOSAURS! It wasn't that bad. Anyway, if you don't like it you can go to Burger King on the ground floor (yes there is one in my local hospital ).

 

[LucyDuke]

Supposedly, it removes toxins from the body. It's a sort of natural cure for a lot ailments since many health problems are traced to toxins staying in the body and not being eliminated When you cleanse it helps them to exit. The most common is detoxing/fasting.

What the hell are these toxins, what ailments do they cause, and how does not eating make them go away?

 

[Rashiminos]

I should have clarified.
If you eat less carbs, you will have less energy, and not be as active...

In the meanwhile, the fats/etc will start clogging up your arteries that aren't being utilized as much.

You're basically talking about the South Beach Diet... low carb.

In other words... sure, it works, but it isn't really healthy.
Starvation also works, but isn't healthy.

12 reasons to avoid SBD
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2004/06/09/south-beach-part-one.aspx
Some Dr
http://www.drfuhrman.com/company/pr_2004_09_21.aspx

These articles are hardly conclusive, but why risk it?

I'd stick with the work out/eat small portions more often. I lost 50lbs in a year when I did that (I'd stopped working out after I got out of the army)... that's about a pound a week, through hard work. It has stayed off and I'm healthy.

It's nice that you link a low-carb supporting article and then assume someone was talking about SBD instead of Atkins or paleo. All of those diets encourage fat metabolism instead of fat storage.

 

[Murky]

What the hell are these toxins, what ailments do they cause, and how does not eating make them go away?

Toxins are chemicals that you come in contact with. It could be from secondhand smoke, pollution, tap water, pesticides and biological processes that produce waste products. Detoxing is a way to get some or most of them out of your body.

 

[Borachio]

Is it scientifically valid though? I thought detoxing is just a fad. Like taking the spa waters.